The Obsessive Male Lead Is Obsessed With Me! - Chapter 45

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 45

 

“Du, Duke’s daughter?”

 

“Yes. It’s been a while, aide.”

 

Cecilia smiled brightly and waved her hand gently, then linked arms with Lionel as if that greeting was sufficient.

 

“I’ll go have a brief conversation with my fiancé. That’s alright, isn’t it?”

 

“Ah, yes. That’s fine, but…”

 

“We won’t go into any secluded room alone, so you don’t need to worry about that!”

 

Though that wasn’t particularly what he was worried about, Cecilia took Lionel to the orphanage garden as she had said.

 

The two moved away from people to a place where their conversation couldn’t be heard, and chatted quietly in front of a flower garden planted with charming flowers.

 

I couldn’t tell exactly what they were talking about, but Lionel had his usual expressionless face.

 

Cecilia, who was holding his hand tightly with interlocked fingers, looked absolutely delighted, making the contrast between the two quite striking.

 

‘…His Highness is being too much.’

 

Perhaps I could somewhat understand why Cecilia was so obsessed with Lionel.

 

Maybe because my younger sister was exactly the same age as the Duke’s daughter? I felt a little sorry for her.

 

‘I should look after her a bit.’

 

When the apprentice priest approached to inform them of the next destination, the two had just finished their conversation and were walking over.

 

Maximus bowed his head toward the two and spoke respectfully.

 

“Your Highness. They say you must now go to the renovation area of the Eastern Temple chapel.”

 

Unlike Lionel who silently nodded, Cecilia, who was firmly holding his hand, made a sound of surprise.

 

“The chapel renovation area? Do volunteers repair the chapel too?”

 

“So they say…”

 

“What do you do there? Don’t tell me you carry bricks and such?”

 

“Probably…”

 

The probability was high.

 

The fact that Lionel had ordered them to make a separate list of nobles who intentionally approached him spread instantly, and from the very next day, no one came to see him anymore.

 

What this meant was that the donations that had been going into the priests’ pockets were completely cut off.

 

Since they couldn’t earn more donations, the Second Prince had become nothing but a nuisance to the priests.

 

They assigned Lionel all sorts of unpleasant volunteer work, hoping he would return to the Imperial Palace on his own, but Lionel simply carried out the tasks given to him without a single complaint.

 

‘But the Duke’s daughter would be different.’

 

Since it was a renovation area, there would surely be a lot of dust flying around. How could he dissuade Cecilia, who would certainly insist on following Lionel?

 

It was when Maximus was thinking of gentle words to separate her that…

 

“Then I would only be in the way if I followed.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Since I’ve come this far anyway, I’ll stay here and play with the children a bit more before leaving. Please go ahead.”

 

“Uh… would that really be alright?”

 

Hadn’t she come all this way because she wanted to be with His Highness?

 

Maximus looked back at Lionel, somewhat flustered.

 

After all, wasn’t she someone who had traveled a long way to see him? Maximus hoped that Lionel would say something, even if just empty words, asking her to come along.

 

But that was too much to expect from the Second Prince.

 

“Then I’ll see you again next time.”

 

“Yes. See you again next time!”

 

Lionel gave Cecilia a small bow without offering a single empty pleasantry, and Cecilia also briefly curtsied before his blunt face.

 

In front of that stern face where not even a trace of a smile appeared, Cecilia just kept smiling brightly.

 

“Hello, children! Anyone who wants to play with big sister, come here! Big sister will sing for you!”

 

After greeting Lionel, Cecilia turned around and ran to the orphanage children, looking incredibly cheerful.

 

The children, who had been peering at Cecilia with curious faces, gradually approached her as she sat down on the ground in her dress without a care and gestured for them to play.

 

That sight was somehow too modest, too friendly for a Duke’s daughter to show… Suddenly, Maximus wondered if this might be Cecilia’s own way of attracting attention.

 

“Let’s go then.”

 

“Yes? Ah, that… yes.”

 

However, this heartless man turned and began walking instead of saying another word to his fiancée.

 

Wondering anxiously if it was really okay to leave like this, Maximus reflexively ran toward Lionel when he noticed the distance had grown.

 

“Y-Your Highness.”

 

The face that glanced back at the calling voice was like smooth porcelain, containing no emotion whatsoever.

 

Maximus had intended to tell him that he was being too heartless, that perhaps he could treat the Duke’s daughter a little more kindly.

 

He was worried about Cecilia’s feelings being hurt, but also that if he continued to show such behavior, others might mock her as a woman unloved by her fiancé.

 

But when he saw Lionel’s face, all the words he had thought of were completely erased.

 

He became convinced that adding a word or two wouldn’t change this man’s attitude at all.

 

‘Only the Duke’s daughter ends up pitiful. How did she end up with such a fiancé…’

 

Maximus swallowed the rising sigh and shook his head, saying it was nothing.

 

“Let’s hurry and go.”

 

Lionel nodded and walked ahead again, with Maximus following behind.

 

Because of that, he didn’t know.

 

He didn’t know that a small smile had appeared on Lionel’s lips at the sound of Cecilia’s singing coming from behind.

 

* * *

 

I’d been in a really good mood lately. I found myself humming without realizing it.

 

“La la la, la la. I am a mage, a genius mage.”

 

Thanks to the location tracking magic tool, I could find Lionel whenever I wanted to, making mana supply very easy.

 

Thanks to that, I’d recently been living a very luxurious life, using magic freely all day long.

 

‘This is really too good. I want to live like this forever!’

 

I was so happy with this life where magic flowed freely every time I chanted incantations, and I could make magic tools at will without consuming magic stones.

 

So when my mana was completely depleted and I missed Lionel terribly, I even had thoughts like this.

 

‘If only he wasn’t the prospective Crown Prince, I would have kidnapped and confined him at our house!’

 

But since I couldn’t possibly do that, I had no choice but to follow Lionel wherever he went.

 

But had I been following him too obviously? Eventually, when I went to the Imperial Palace for bridal lessons, I ended up hearing this from the Empress.

 

“I heard you’ve been following the Second Prince everywhere he goes for volunteer work recently. Is this true?”

 

It was obvious she already knew and was just asking, so I couldn’t lie.

 

Also, there was no particular reason to lie, so I immediately nodded.

 

“Yes. It’s true.”

 

“Ha!”

 

The Empress looked me up and down with contemptuous eyes.

 

“How brazenly you answer with such a shameless face! Do you not know the emotion called shame?”

 

I asked the Empress with a puzzled expression.

 

“Is this something I should be ashamed of?”

 

“What? You don’t know and have to ask? You are the prospective Princess. You should be a model for all the ladies, knowing how to maintain dignity with modest behavior. What kind of lady in the world chases after a man because her body is heated with desire?”

 

Ah, well, yes. That would be natural in this era.

 

‘But then I wouldn’t be able to charge my mana, would I?’

 

“Your Majesty the Empress. There is one thing you have misunderstood.”

 

“Misunderstood? Fine, let’s hear it. What have I misunderstood?”

 

“I did visit the places where His Highness the Prince does volunteer work. But that wasn’t to see His Highness the Prince, but to do volunteer work together!”

 

“What?”

 

Of course, I did go to meet Lionel. I went to charge my mana.

 

But that was a secret only Lionel and I knew, so who would know?

 

“If I had been chasing the Second Prince with private feelings as you’re concerned about, I would have followed him everywhere he went. But I only saw the Second Prince once a day, and when he went elsewhere, I stayed there to continue the volunteer work.”

 

“That’s…”

 

Right, it seemed she had received detailed reports on how I had been following Lionel.

 

While the Empress couldn’t refute because my words were true, I quickly continued speaking to keep this momentum going.

 

This kind of thing is all about momentum!

 

“Why do you think the Second Prince started volunteer work? Wasn’t it to express his will that the Imperial Family is not in some unreachable distant place, but right beside the people, that he will not turn away from your suffering?”

 

“No…”

 

“I wanted to support him by being with the Second Prince. It’s not just performative charity for show, his actions contain sincerity! So I hoped people wouldn’t be suspicious!”

 

“That…”

 

“I too stepped forward with the heart that if I dedicate myself and serve faithfully, perhaps even one more citizen might come to understand that intention. I thought that was exactly what I should do as a fiancée.”

 

“…”

 

“Was my thinking wrong? I humbly ask that Your Majesty the Empress bestow upon me your wise teachings.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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