The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 111

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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 111
Prince Gerard’s brow furrowed.
‘What is this momentum?’
Why was she so confident? …Was it mere bluster? No—this transcended the recklessness he’d witnessed in her youth. Her very posture had sharpened into something predatory, like a beast baring its claws.
Prince Gerard found himself unexpectedly flustered.
Anette released his collar with perfect composure (which only deepened his embarrassment) and smiled gracefully as she offered her greeting.
“Thank you for the invitation, Your Highness.”
“…!”
Blood rushed to Prince Gerard’s temples.
Humiliation surged up his throat—the fact that he, a prince, had been caught off-guard by this insignificant girl.
His lips twisted into a smile.
‘…Yes, struggle all you like. The more you resist, the sweeter the taste of crushing you.’
You’re finished here, little thing.
A perfect prince, revered like a saint, his reputation utterly unblemished.
Whatever unspeakable acts such a prince committed against his adopted daughter would never see the light of day.
Living hypocritically was exhausting, but his ‘perfect reputation’ wielded tremendous power.
―Public opinion had always been his ally.
She must have realized by now that the Bayonere Island incident had left her nowhere to flee, and if she became his daughter, she would have no choice but to obey. Otherwise, she could not draw a single free breath in Eldorado.
She would suffocate in this empire.
‘If I gain that power, even the Crown Prince cannot stand against me.’
With that power,
I could brainwash Anette as well.
Venenum’s abilities were ‘mental manipulation’ and ‘time’ itself.
After that, there would be no rivals.
A life born in lowliness, yet ruling from a station more noble than any other’s, revered by all, dying in glory.
The final puzzle to complete that desire stood before him now.
His bloodshot crimson eyes fixed upon Anette’s throat as though to devour it.
‘How deliciously venomous you are.’
This puzzle, dressed in crimson and blooming as brilliantly as a rose,
would be plucked and seized today.
‘I can already taste your despair.’
His damp lips twisted.
* * *
The Banquet Hall buzzed with whispers about the ‘crimson flower’ who had suddenly appeared.
“So that woman is ‘Anette’?”
“…She is beautiful, certainly. But she seems more ordinary than I expected.”
“Indeed. I thought she’d be more exceptional, given the Crown Prince’s favor, the Grand Duke’s affection, and Prince Gerard’s desire to adopt her.”
“I heard it was vengeance, not affection?”
“Vengeance?!”
A nobleman leaned toward the startled noblewoman and whispered conspiratorially.
“There are persistent rumors that the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke both hail from ‘The Forest’—an illegal breeding ground.”
Though The Forest had been closed for some time, the rumors never faded, still circulating quietly among the nobility.
A nobleman’s eyes swept across Anette with suspicion.
“They say he committed unspeakable crimes within those walls and fled.”
“…!”
“That’s why he ran away despite the Prince’s adoption petition.”
“Good heavens! And now she has the audacity to appear and claim a place in the Imperial Family!”
The nobleman let out a derisive snort.
“She’s nothing but a commoner, isn’t she? Not a drop of noble blood runs through her veins. Such a lowborn creature—of course she’d be shameless.”
“My goodness.”
Intoxicated by such delicious gossip, a noblewoman’s eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her fan and laughed.
“She must be descended from slaves, no? Hehehehe.”
“….”
In that moment, her gaze met directly with the cold violet eyes beneath silver hair. The noblewoman flinched and fell silent.
But they were not alone in their sentiments.
Everyone in this Banquet Hall harbored nothing but ill will toward Anette.
A commoner who had been sought out by the Crown Prince and Grand Duke, spreading wild rumors, and now suddenly appeared claiming to become the Prince’s daughter.
―The kindling for such gossip was perfectly dry, and it was none other than Gerard who had set it ablaze.
“Spread the rumors. Back her into a corner.”
He excelled at public opinion warfare, masterfully gathering those burgeoning rumors and deciding who to cast stones at.
His nature had been vile since age twelve,
irresponsible enough to flee,
―a lowborn creature who, for her own gain, had the audacity to claim the Prince’s daughter after reaching adulthood.
That was the identity Gerard had constructed for Anette.
“She is nothing but livestock wearing a collar. The more isolated she becomes, the better she’ll obey my commands.”
Today’s newspaper carried this headline:
「 Prince Gerard
“Graciously accepts the prodigal daughter”
」
Gerard wrapped himself in hypocrisy, positioning himself as a magnanimous and flawless prince.
“Sister.”
Heinrich’s complexion had turned ashen. Beneath his deepened gaze, barely restrained fury accumulated.
“Let me silence every last one of those mouths. …They’re all spouting nonsense without knowing anything. Just leave it to me, please.”
“Heinrich.”
Anette regarded him calmly.
“No matter what happens today, don’t intervene.”
“….”
“This is my battle.”
In that moment, he glimpsed a deep, scorching fire burning within her eyes.
Even Heinrich, seeing that expression for the first time, flinched momentarily.
After a moment, Heinrich whispered to her, his cheeks flushed.
“Sister. You’re sexy.”
“…!”
It was precisely when Anette looked at Heinrich with astonished eyes.
Dong— dong— dong—
The bells of the Banquet Hall rang out as the High Priest took his seat at the highest position.
“Today marks a blessed occasion—a pitiful woman who has lived her life alone finally finds her father, and becomes ‘Anette von Axelperrion.’ This day shall be recorded in history.”
All the nobility listened respectfully to the High Priest’s words.
“May God’s blessing be upon us. Prince Gerard, are you prepared to become a father?”
“….”
Between strands of silver hair, those crimson eyes had grown warm.
“Of course. From the moment I first saw this poor orphan, I wished to make her my daughter. Even now, she appears as a child to my eyes.”
His gaze was disturbingly tender.
“Though I missed the joys of raising her from childhood, for Anette….”
“….”
“For my daughter, I wish to bestow a lifetime of abundance and happiness as a member of the Imperial Family.”
Soft murmurs of admiration rippled through the nobility. Truly, what a prince he was.
Everyone spoke of how magnanimous he was, how perfectly suited he was to be a prince.
Even the wrinkled eyes of the High Priest now carried a warm smile.
The old man too seemed moved by Gerard’s words.
“Then, Miss Anette. Do you accept becoming ‘Anette von Axelperrion’?”
—Of course she would accept it.
Who would refuse a life among the Imperial Family?
But if she accepted, wouldn’t it be far too shameless?
To commit a crime, flee, return, and then cling to a magnanimous prince to gain a life of nobility—it was audacious.
This time, eyes filled with displeasure fixed upon Anette.
“No. Please cancel the formal adoption.”
“…!!!”
The assembly fell silent in shock, their mouths closing without a sound.
Then, immediately after, voices surged like waves.
Gerard’s veins bulged on his forehead.
“Miss Anette, the is not a jest. It cannot simply be cancelled.”
Anette’s jade-green eyes gleamed as she smiled calmly.
“According to the Empire’s adoption law…!”
“….”
“There are two circumstances under which cancellation is possible.”
Everyone had become drawn to her, as if pulled in by a current.
Anette spoke slowly, her gaze sweeping across the assembly as if commanding their very attention.
“First. When one has already established a household and possesses a family of one’s own. Second, when one inherits a ‘title.'”
It was at that very moment.
Thump, thump—
A towering man parted through the crowd like water, approaching Anette with deliberate steps.
It was the Crown Prince, who had claimed he would not attend.
Sisrain handed Anette a parchment scroll without a word.
Whoosh—
The parchment unfurled boldly before the assembly.
Anette held the parchment and spoke.
“I have recently found my biological mother.”
“…!”
She was not an orphan?
The crowd stirred again with hushed murmurs.
“She is none other than Derkis Valienne, the Duchess.”
“…Is that so?!”
The nobleman who had called Anette a “lowborn wench” clamped his mouth shut, his face draining of color.
The noblewoman who had questioned whether she carried slave blood widened her eyes until they seemed ready to burst from their sockets.
“The Duchess Valienne has, regrettably, passed away. …Now, I am the new head of House of Valienne.”
Upon the parchment—
was stamped the seal certifying the change of household head for House of Valienne. It was the Imperial seal that Sisrain possessed—authoritative and undeniably legitimate.
Anette calmly slipped the ring of household head, inherited from her mother, onto her finger.
“This is… absurd.”
Gerard’s brow twisted openly. He had no time to maintain his pretense.
In that moment, the woman he thought he had finally secured was slipping through his grasp once more.
‘So that reckless woman found her mother. That’s why she was so confident.’
Gerard lowered his head briefly, displaying bewilderment, but then—
“Heh.”
He laughed.
He burst into laughter, unable to contain himself.
Was this woman truly so audacious with merely this in hand?
It was almost pitiable in its absurdity.
“Miss Anette.”
Gerard twisted his brow and opened his mouth.
“Or should I now call you ‘Duchess Valienne’?”
“….”
“However, regrettably, the formal adoption documents were actually completed long ago. Today was merely a formality.”
“That cannot be.”
Heinrich’s expression flickered with shock. Gerard’s contemptuous eyes gleamed with renewed confidence.
You wouldn’t have known this, would you, woman?
“Ten years ago, when you fled, I completed the formal adoption documents using a proxy’s signature.”
“…!!!”
“High Priest, please show them.”
The High Priest slowly presented the official documents.
―And there it was.
A credible signature from someone with sufficient authority to serve as Anette’s proxy.
It was none other than Mimosa’s signature.
“Therefore, the Duchess Valienne became ‘my daughter’ before receiving the title of Duchess Valienne.”
“….”
Gerard’s crimson eyes curved with satisfaction.
“There is no way to cancel the adoption.”
I wanted to laugh aloud. I wanted to ask him what it felt like to be trampled after squirming. By anyone’s measure, Gerard was intoxicated with elation.
That was precisely when it happened.
“Mimosa cannot be my official proxy. She is a woman who operated the Forest, an illegal childcare facility―”
Anette’s jade-green eyes gleamed brilliantly. Her index finger pointed with precision directly at Prince Gerard.
“Because she operated the facility in illegal collusion with Prince Gerard over there!”
“…!!!”
What nonsense was this?
Gerard’s face crumpled like tissue paper.
“High Priest.”
Anette turned calmly toward the High Priest and spoke.
Deliberately, one character at a time.
“I did not participate in this gathering because of the adoption.”
Her clear voice resonated through the ears of all present.
“I came to this place to Prince Gerard.”
“….”
“The suspicion of operating the ‘Forest,’ an illegal childcare facility, and selling children for personal gain. And.”
Her piercing gaze turned toward Gerard.
Her lips moved as she shattered the reputation she had cherished like her very life.
“The suspicion of murdering ‘Arthur High Priest,’ who passed away ten years ago without even being able to attend his grandson’s wedding two days hence.”
“…!!!”
Gerard’s face flushed crimson in an instant. For the first time, the ‘perfect prince’ was cornered like this before everyone.
“This is absurd!! Utter nonsense――! Such baseless slander.”
“There is a witness.”
Anette gazed calmly toward the door. At that moment, the heavy doors of the Banquet Hall swung open and a man stepped inside.
Thud, thud.
The reversal would be swift and sudden.
Since the rumors had no substance, the moment people witnessed the truth, public opinion would inevitably overturn.
“You…!!!”
Recognizing the man, Gerard’s pupils dilated enormously.

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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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