The Obsessive Male Lead Is Obsessed With Me! - Chapter 86

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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 86

 

“An engagement ceremony?”

 

Cecilia showed a surprised reaction as if she had heard something completely unexpected.

 

“We agreed to skip that.”

 

“That was in the past.”

 

Come to think of it, his opinion hadn’t been reflected in that decision either. He had only been informed that they decided to skip the engagement ceremony.

 

“Now I want to do it.”

 

“Really? That’s unexpected. I thought Lionel wouldn’t care about such things.”

 

“Don’t you care, Liri?”

 

“Me? I was in the position that since we’re going to have a wedding later anyway, an engagement ceremony wasn’t really necessary…”

 

Liri placed one wing under the lower part of her head, in a pose that would be like resting her chin if she were human, making a humming sound as she pondered, then soon gripped her wing tightly and spoke.

 

“Alright. Let’s do it, the engagement ceremony! But I have a condition.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“Spread some rumors that Lionel wants to do this. People still think I’m the only one who likes Lionel and am clinging to him, you know?”

 

Lionel smiled softly at Cecilia, who grumbled about not understanding why the rumors still hadn’t died down when their last official meeting was more than three years ago.

 

He was about to speak when Cecilia flapped her wings at him.

 

“That being a problem is forbidden!”

 

“I didn’t say anything.”

 

“Weren’t you about to? Suspicious.”

 

Cecilia flew up in front of Lionel’s face with a flutter and moved her bead-like eyes to scan various parts of Lionel’s face.

 

Even though she was in bird form, how could he so clearly picture Cecilia’s sulky expression?

 

Just as a gentle smile appeared on Lionel’s lips, Cecilia’s gaze turned toward empty space.

 

“Huh? I hear knocking. Someone must be trying to wake me up.”

 

“Go ahead. I’ll contact you when I return to the capital.”

 

“Who knows when that’ll be? I’ll come back tomorrow evening, so let’s talk about the engagement ceremony properly then! Bye!”

 

After waving her wings as if waving her hand, the blue bird blinked several times and her blue eyes returned to black.

 

“Chirp?”

 

Ruda tilted her head as if asking whether the conversation with Cecilia went well. Lionel answered by gently stroking Ruda’s head.

 

“Soon you’ll be able to return to your master.”

 

“Chirp? Chirp chirp, chirp!”

 

At Lionel’s words, the blue bird wiggled her bottom like Cecilia had done moments before. Ruda also seemed very much looking forward to reuniting with her.

 

‘Three years… and five months, was it.’

 

It was shorter than he had prepared for, but still not a short time.

 

But it was fine. In the end, he had obtained what he wanted to obtain.

 

“The content of the oracle the duchess received was that she would bear a holy ruler who will be remembered in history…”

 

“Bearing a holy ruler recognized by God means producing the next emperor, which means she’ll become empress.”

 

Even though he had grown up hearing countless times from childhood that he would become crown prince, that he should become one, and that he would become emperor someday, he had no particular attachment, obsession, or feeling about that position.

 

However, seeing that he ended up coveting the crown prince position like this, he finally understood why he had received an oracle with such content.

 

It wouldn’t have mattered if the fate arranged for him wasn’t such a lofty position as emperor.

 

If he could occupy the seat next to her, even if that were…

 

“C-Commander! Urgent news! Urgent news from the capital!”

 

At that moment, before he could hide the blue bird in his pocket, the tent entrance was pulled aside and a messenger rushed in.

 

“Urgent news?”

 

Lionel stood up and blocked the desk with his body to hide the blue bird’s presence. Meanwhile, the messenger urgently shouted.

 

“Th-that is, just a moment ago…!”

 

The messenger, with shock and confusion clearly etched on his face, made it clear to Lionel that he hadn’t misheard.

 

“H-His Majesty the Emperor…!”

 

* * *

 

-Knock knock, knock knock knock.

 

As my consciousness returned to my body, I heard the sound of someone carefully tapping the window in an unusual rhythm.

 

‘It was Nix, not Uni.’

 

“Long time no see, Nix. It’s been almost half a year, hasn’t it?”

 

“Yes, it’s been a long time.”

 

“What’s the matter this time?”

 

Let’s see, the last time Nix came, the news she brought was that they had finally informed Nicole of the truth about the rebellion…

 

“Did Bishop Nicole do something?”

 

“Yes, that’s correct.”

 

Nix spoke slowly with a mumbled pronunciation as she chewed the chocolate I gave her.

 

“You remember the news I brought you before, right? About informing Nicole of the truth about the rebellion under the pretext of confession.”

 

“Yeah. You said you even told her where the physical evidence was in case she wouldn’t believe it.”

 

“Bishop Nicole finally secured the evidence.”

 

“Really? Didn’t you say that music box containing the evidence had security magic that only the owner could open? How on earth did she steal it?”

 

“We don’t know the exact method either. We think she probably used some kind of drug.”

 

“What kind of drug?”

 

“We don’t know that either. However, Bishop Nicole’s behavior was suspicious after she was summoned by the Empress one day and returned to her quarters, so we searched her room that night and found letters exchanged between the Emperor and the Duchess.”

 

The Duchess must refer to Nicole’s birth mother, right?

 

“What was in those letters that made them evidence of the rebellion frame-up?”

 

“The Duchess was angry at the Emperor, saying ‘Haven’t you peeked at my alchemist notes before and used poison privately? No matter what threats you make, I cannot give you the alchemist notes.'”

 

Nix, who had been searching through her belongings saying she brought a separate copy, made a “here it is” sound and handed me an old notebook.

 

“The alchemist notes. We succeeded in stealing them.”

 

Finally!

 

“Well done. You’re so reliable.”

 

“Hehe, we’re quite capable, aren’t we?”

 

I praised Nix, who was rubbing under her nose with her index finger and acting proud, then examined the contents of the notebook.

 

‘Let’s see…’

 

The old notebook, showing traces of time, contained formulas for making specific drugs and antidotes, as well as the complete process of making and testing such drugs.

 

A drug that allows transformation into animals. A drug that makes one tell only the truth. A drug that erases memories. A drug that makes the body transparent and eliminates presence. A drug that can put someone to sleep for hours without them knowing they fell asleep. And…

 

[Puppet Brainwashing Drug: A drug that can subtly brainwash a target to believe specific actions are their own will and act accordingly.

 

→ If instructions that violate the subject’s beliefs or emotions are given when the potion is first administered, the ego and brainwashing will clash, potentially causing emotions to amplify several times or go berserk. Behavior is unpredictable during berserk state.

 

→ If the potion is administered twice or more, the ego may collapse, causing the side effect of becoming an idiot.

 

→ If brainwashing drugs are continuously administered to someone who has become an idiot, they can be turned into a doll that only follows one’s commands.

 

(Sometimes acts independently. Presumed to be phantom-like behavior based on remnants of emotions that remained intensely before the ego collapsed.)

 

→ When antidote is administered, the ego shows signs of intermittent revival, but ultimately cannot escape the idiot state.

 

Conclusion: After one dose, if there are no problems with the instructed action, the drug effect disappears after taking that action.

 

If the test subject goes berserk, rather administer the drug once more to turn them into a complete idiot. Or kill the test subject before they go berserk.]

 

…This is it.

 

There was no doubt. The Nicole in the dream must have used this drug to brainwash Lionel and the Holy Knights.

 

At the same time, I became certain. The content of the dream I had through contact with Ruda wasn’t just a simple dream.

 

That dream was definitely content from the novel that I couldn’t remember.

 

‘So Lionel starting a rebellion regardless of his own will, and kidnapping and confining me, were all due to the influence of this drug.’

 

Actually, thinking back to my words and actions in the dream, the term “kidnapping and confinement” was a bit ambiguous. Clearly, the me in the dream stayed in the imperial palace of my own will.

 

…Then what about Lionel’s will?

 

At the point when the rebellion was almost finished, the Lionel in the dream kissed the me in the dream.

 

Was that due to the influence of brainwashing, or…

 

[(Sometimes acts independently. Presumed to be phantom-like behavior based on remnants of emotions that remained intensely before the ego collapsed.)]

 

…Did he love me too?

 

I felt restless. Even knowing that what I saw in the dream was a scene from the novel unrelated to current reality, I kept thinking about it.

 

The thought that if things had gone just slightly wrong, if I hadn’t recalled my memories from before reincarnation, the current me and Lionel might have missed each other like that made me shudder.

 

‘…No! Anyway, the current reality has changed a lot from the novel!’

 

The proof of that was right in my hands. I stood up and threw the notebook I was holding into the fireplace.

 

The fire quickly spread and the notebook that blazed up became black ash in an instant.

 

“Was it okay to burn that like that?”

 

“It’s not that it was okay to burn it, but it had to be burned. There are too many medicines with great potential for misuse. You didn’t copy any of this separately, did you?”

 

“No. But just in case, I did copy the poison remaining in the First Prince’s body and its antidote recipe separately.”

 

Hmm. That’s definitely worth writing down as a precaution.

 

While I was thinking that.

 

-Dong.

 

“Huh? A bell?”

 

I thought maybe Father or Mother, who had gone out early in the morning, had returned, but the bell didn’t stop at just once—it kept ringing.

 

…A total of nine times!

 

“Nix, did you hear that? That bell just rang nine times, right?”

 

“I-I think so.”

 

The two of us rushed to the window in shock.

 

A moment of silence.

 

And then from outside, the bell began to ring once more.

 

Since we counted out loud together, there was no mistaking it. This time it was also nine times.

 

Nine bell tolls.

 

In the Empire, this fact could only mean one thing.

 

The Emperor’s death.

 

This was truly an unexpected turn of events.

 

The Emperor’s end that I remembered was three years from now, meeting his death at the hands of Lionel who had staged a rebellion.

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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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