The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 108

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 108
Beautiful violet eyes curved innocently.
“Marriage to Marquis Winston or the Crown Prince would be too burdensome. That marriage would last a ‘lifetime,’ after all.”
“….”
“But if you marry me and divorce after one year, the problem becomes simple, doesn’t it?”
“…!”
Anette’s eyes widened slightly. Heinrich swallowed an amused laugh internally.
That’s right…
Come here, Anette.
A pale, firm fox’s hand drew near, gently grasping the rabbit’s hand.
“And living with me would be the most comfortable, wouldn’t it? It’s me, after all—your younger brother Heinrich.”
“….”
“Think about when we lived in The Forest together, sister. We’d just need to live like that for one year.”
“…Ah.”
Anette nodded. A handsome man with beautifully gleaming eyes, an arrogantly raised nose, and deep red lips smiled subtly.
As if enchanting her.
“After the divorce, you can freely find a marriage partner.”
You won’t have freedom, Anette.
“I’ll recommend you a good match.”
If you find another man, he’ll vanish from sight starting the very next day.
―From nowhere in this world.
“What do you think?”
“….”
Anette seemed to be thinking carefully.
When their eyes met, Heinrich smiled even wider with ‘a bright grin,’ his face the very picture of harmlessness.
“…It’s a good proposal, Heinrich.”
Ah, caught.
An indescribable thrill flashed through Heinrich’s violet eyes for a moment.
“But.”
…Why but?
“I’m sorry! I’ll have to decline your kindness.”
“Why? Why are you declining?”
Anette spoke with emphasis, raising her index finger.
“In the books I’ve read, whenever people do ‘contract marriages,’ the protagonists can never get divorced! The other person just tears up the divorce papers and everything.”
Heinrich’s sparkling eyes went blank for a moment, like a cat robbed of its snack.
“…What? What are you talking about?”
“I’m sorry, leave me be.”
Click!
Opening the door, Anette confidently pointed outside the carriage with her index finger and issued an eviction order.
The carriage was still racing at tremendous speed.
It was at a speed that sounded like, ‘I’m sorry, please die for me!’
* * *
“Wow…!”
The moment I arrived in Eldorado, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the window.
This place, which I’d returned to after more than ten years.
Since I’d only ever lived in the Forest, I rarely had the chance to see the Entertainment District.
‘The atmosphere is just as I remembered.’
The pristine air of Eldorado without a hint of salt that I’d often missed, the elegantly dressed people, and the shops that were far more professional and diverse than those on Bayonere Island.
Just gazing out the carriage window, the entire street was so dazzling it captivated my senses.
For a moment, I nearly forgot the very purpose of my visit.
Soon after, the carriage arrived at the Valienne Estate.
―I’d sent word ahead before arriving (Sisrain had taken care of it).
For an ordinary duke’s estate, it would be difficult to secure a reservation after notifying them of a same-day visit, but the authority of the Crown Prince was indeed different.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince, it is an honor that you have graced the Valienne Estate with your presence. Please, come inside.”
The gatekeepers, recognizing Sisrain, threw open the grand gates of the estate. A sprawling garden then came into view.
‘…It’s incredibly vast and beautiful!’
There must be a ducal palace elsewhere, yet the estate here in the Capital was of such magnificent scale.
The ornamental trees of modest height were landscaped with such meticulous care that it brought peace to the heart, and seasonal flowers bloomed nearby with fragrant sweetness.
At the center, a colossal stone fountain sprayed water as transparent as glass, creating a faint rainbow in the crisp air.
‘Even with the Duke bedridden, the estate is being maintained beautifully.’
This meant the servants’ loyalty was high, and the estate’s finances remained sound.
As I stepped out of the carriage, I saw the family emblem carved into the relief.
‘Valienne, the goddess of benevolence and compassion.’
She held an armful of blooming flowers, her eyes gently closed.
The House of Valienne was unique in carving the image of a noble goddess rather than an animal into their family emblem.
Click―
As the carriage door opened, I couldn’t help but be startled.
“…!!!”
―Sisrain, Heinrich, and Kyle were standing outside my carriage in that order.
Why? Why are all of you standing here?
This is somewhat… overwhelming.
“Anette.”
“Sister!”
“My lady….”
All three extended their hands toward me simultaneously.
“…!!!”
My pupils wavered.
No matter whose hand I take, it will end in disaster.
“Thank you.”
Honestly, I’m not grateful at all, you lunatics.
After a moment of deep hesitation, I took Kyle’s hand—it seemed the safest option, at least.
After all, he was the only gentleman who hadn’t forced his way into the carriage.
Sisrain’s eyes instantly froze into something barren and cold, while Heinrich’s irritable temperament flared visibly as he glared openly at Kyle.
In the end, he spoke.
“Tch. Why did you follow us all the way here? …You should’ve stayed in Bayonere and minded your own business.”
“Heinrich.”
I gave him a meaningful look, and Kyle responded without so much as a blink.
“It was I who escorted Miss Anette here. Your Highness, are you not merely tagging along?”
“What?! Tagging along?”
As Heinrich bristled with indignation, I stepped down from the carriage and naturally positioned myself between them.
“This is the Valienne Estate. The Duchess has been bedridden for a long time, and she may be my mother.”
“….”
“….”
The two men who had been at odds fell silent at once.
They clearly understood this was no place for discord.
“Come.”
Sisrain smoothly took my hand from Kyle’s grasp—Kyle lost it without resistance—and led me forward.
I stopped in my tracks.
“No. If three people visit—Imperial Family, a Grand Noble, and another—it will burden her too much.”
“It won’t.”
“I’ll visit with Marquis Winston instead.”
Just as Heinrich was about to protest, I spoke quickly again.
“Please allow it.”
“….”
“The two of you should return to your respective positions in Eldorado and look after Prince Gerard.”
This is also a very important matter.
I drove the point home.
“If the Duchess truly is my mother, I want to meet her as quietly as possible.”
“….”
“….”
Sisrain and Heinrich, who would normally have opposed Kyle’s visit, had no choice but to hold their tongues.
Eventually, Sisrain nodded first. Heinrich spoke reluctantly.
“We have no choice.”
“Thank you both so much for understanding.”
Then Heinrich leaned close to Kyle’s ear, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he whispered.
Quietly enough that I couldn’t hear.
“If you take advantage of her while she’s vulnerable, you’re dead.”
“How contemptible—a contemptible thought befitting only the base.”
Eyes tinged with verdant disdain looked upon him with scorn.
This bastard—
Her crimson lips twisted. I swore to myself that I would kill this hypocrite who played the virtuous child only in front of that sister—and soon at that.
Very soon.
“Then, shall we go in together, my lord?”
“Of course.”
Kyle escorted her toward the Valienne Estate.
* * *
The reason I chose Kyle was simple.
He knew the most about the locket, and he was the only gentleman who wouldn’t push marriage by exploiting my circumstances.
―And somehow, he felt the warmest.
‘If she really were my mother….’
If Duchess Valienne truly was my lost mother, I sensed my heart would ache deeply today.
She had never regained consciousness since giving birth.
‘The servants might despise me.’
Duchess Valienne was undoubtedly a woman of great respect.
Even with her confined to bed, the Mansion remained impeccably maintained—a testament to that.
It was hardly an uncommon tale.
When someone beloved dies or loses consciousness during childbirth, it was natural for people to think the child had ‘consumed and been born from her.’
If I had to endure those reproachful glances to confirm my mother,
even for just a moment,
I wished for someone warm and comforting to be beside me.
“You seem tense, my lord.”
“…Yes.”
Cold sweat seemed to form, so I rubbed my hands against my dress. Kyle gently clasped that trembling hand.
“It will be alright.”
“….”
“You needn’t be so anxious.”
His tender voice eased my tension, if only slightly.
I gathered my courage and nodded.
Then I sent word to the servant who had guided us from the gate.
“Please inform them that we have arrived.”
“Yes.”
The man respectfully relayed the message inside.
And moments later,
the door opened from within, and a woman appeared.
“…!”
‘This isn’t what I imagined the head maid to look like.’
I had vaguely pictured a dignified elderly male butler in uniform, but she was young, with her hair pulled back severely into a single knot.
Her uniform bore not a single wrinkle, and the aura emanating from her spectacles felt razor-sharp.
In a moment like this, merely looking at her was enough to make one’s spirit falter.
‘Now I understand who manages this Mansion.’
“Welcome. I am Victoria Schmerz, the head butler of Valienne Estate.”
Her voice was husky, yet her pronunciation was precise.
“Are you with the Crown Prince’s entourage?”
“We are, but only we’ve come. This is Marquis Winston and I’m Anette.”
Kyle seemed to be deliberately waiting for me to speak.
“….”
The butler’s arched eyebrows shot up sharply in an instant.
It was a distinctly suspicious gaze.
I withdrew an old cord from my bosom and showed it to her.
From the worn cord, a gleaming locket that spun with radiant light.
In that moment.
The stern butler’s expression crumbled ever so slightly.
“I was told my mother left this with me. Do you happen to know of this object?”
“….”
She gazed at the brilliantly glowing locket for a long while, as if overwhelmed by indescribable emotion.
Then she looked at me.
Perhaps resembling the Duchess herself—she studied my face for quite some time.
When her husky voice emerged again, emotion colored her words far more than before.
“The Duchess told me. That someday, the young lady would come bearing that locket.”
“…!”
Immediately, she stepped back.
The cautiously guarded doors of Valienne Estate swung wide open at once—and led by her, the butler and attendants with hands clasped sharply at their abdomens bowed deeply from both sides.
“Welcome, young lady.”

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