The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 120

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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 120
“You always exceed my expectations, Master. …In the best way possible.”
She looked momentarily surprised before breaking into a mature, graceful smile.
“Thank you for seeing me so kindly.”
Her face showed no awareness of how brilliantly she shone, utterly oblivious to her own radiance.
Captivated anew by that fresh smile, Kyle soon collected himself and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand.
“I will surely find them.”
―The final closure to ten years of duty protecting her.
Uncovering the identity of the informant.
As a courtesy to her, who lived each day with such earnest dedication, Kyle resolved to do his utmost, as he always had.
“Yes, Kyle!”
Anette answered with spirited determination.
His emerald eyes gleamed with tenderness as he gazed upon her.
“…And yet, should unbearable sorrow ever overwhelm you, please seek me out.”
“….”
“Master.”
His voice deepened.
“I wish to be your solace.”
The person you think of first when sorrow strikes. The one you wish to lean upon.
Perhaps that was simply another word for love.
“….”
Anette regarded Kyle for a moment before slowly lifting the corners of her mouth.
“I’m always truly grateful. I mean it sincerely.”
Her face was the very picture of genuine emotion.
Kyle’s heart raced and warmth flooded his ears, so he rose from his seat and bowed respectfully.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
With that, he departed, escorted out by the servants of House of Valienne.
Only then did Anette reach for the teacup from the untouched tea set—the one Victoria had prepared while waiting for Kyle—and take a sip.
The tea had cooled slightly, but its flavor remained exquisite.
* * *
“The way Marquis Winston, who just left, looked at you was quite extraordinary.”
“…!”
Oh no, those hawk eyes.
Does she see everything?
I found myself marveling anew at Victoria’s perceptiveness.
‘First impressions truly never fade.’
While organizing my mother’s belongings with her in the study, I naturally began shelving books—though in my flustered state, I was placing them upside down—and spoke.
“Well, I suppose…”
―I haven’t revealed my romantic situation to you yet, Victoria.
But the head maid spoke with eyes that seemed to know everything.
“I’ve also met quite a few men in my younger days.”
…Excuse me? Even many?
“Victoria must have been very popular, being beautiful and confident!”
Somehow I’d slipped back into formal speech. I thought I’d managed to drop it last time.
It’s difficult to speak casually to a head butler who radiates such an overwhelming presence, sob.
‘And there’s something oddly teacher-like about her aura.’
The teacher spoke with a smile, her words surprisingly bold.
“Of course. In my youth, I had all the men of Eldorado wrapped around my finger.”
“…”
Wow, a line perfectly befitting her image.
“The previous Duchess was much the same.”
“…!!!”
My mother?
Please don’t casually mention my mother’s romantic history like that.
“The women of House of Valienne tend to share such inclinations.”
At this point, I couldn’t help but recall the three rings I’d hidden away in my drawer.
‘So it was a family trait.’
It felt like learning a tremendous secret about my bloodline. It was more shocking than when I inherited the family head’s ring.
“Please tell me, Duchess.”
“Yes?”
“You’re at an age to start your own family now, are you not? It’s time to consider a husband. There are three gentlemen around you, correct?”
“…!”
She’s practically a mind reader.
It seemed clear that Victoria’s handiwork was evident in this Duchess’s Residence—meticulously managed without a single flaw, yet tastefully so. From what I’d experienced, she had both good instincts and keen observational skills.
For a head butler to ask the family head about romance would normally be impertinent, but she had cared for me so attentively and treated me with such warmth that it didn’t feel rude at all.
Rather, for the first time, a worry I’d never shared with anyone tickled at my throat.
Victoria had handed me my mother’s jewelry as she spoke.
“One would be the Crown Prince, I presume. He’s been calling for you quite frequently of late.”
“…”
Indeed, Sisrain had made headlines declaring he’d wage war for me.
…There was no way not to notice.
“The other would be Grand Duke Heinrich Hyacinth, I imagine.”
Same situation.
Moreover, Heinrich had a habit of appearing suddenly from my bed, yet when leaving, he always used the front door with complete confidence.
Hmm, I honestly couldn’t fathom why he did that—it was like watching a pet cat play contentedly before suddenly knocking a vase off the table with a loud meow.
―He does incomprehensible things quite often, my dear one.
Victoria continued, her sharp eyes gleaming.
“Finally, Marquis Winston shows his affection clearly every time he looks at you. It’s written all over his face.”
“…”
Was it that obvious? It seems everyone else can see it.
I hadn’t noticed it before because I saw that look in his eyes all the time.
“That’s right, Victoria. Those three men.”
As I answered, she smiled quietly.
“What do you think of them, Your Grace?”
Heinrich, Sisrain, Kyle.
It was the first time anyone had asked me what I thought of these three men.
“Is there someone you feel certain about?”
“….”
Victoria was subtly probing my heart.
My true feelings.
I fingered the worn old tome in my hand, organizing the emotions I’d harbored for so long.
And for the first time, I confessed.
“One of them draws me in instinctively, but I don’t know if his feelings are genuine.”
Victoria listened quietly.
“Whether he truly loves me, or if it’s just the desire to pluck a beautiful flower from the roadside and slip it into his pocket.”
“Is there a reason you don’t feel it’s the former?”
“…I know another side of him.”
The original Sisrain. Sisrain’s inherent nature as written.
“And the other one is familiar and comfortable, but I’m always anxious, like a child left by a well.”
I could never let my guard down with Heinrich.
He was my favorite, a boy I loved dearly, and I still genuinely wished for his happy ending.
Victoria nodded.
“And the last one….”
I thought of the last man who smiled so charmingly. Whenever I thought of Kyle, my heart felt the same way.
It always grew warm.
“He’s someone I owe so very much to.”
“You might be able to apply for asylum in the Helata Empire to the west.”
“…?”
What? Asylum, suddenly?
I thought it might be a joke I didn’t understand, but Victoria’s expression was entirely serious, not amused at all.
She adjusted her glasses with a calculating look and spoke.
“Women in the Helata Empire don’t take just one husband. It’s quite common for ladies to have ‘three’ husbands.”
“…?!!”
“My intuition tells me that if you sought asylum, all three would gladly follow you.”
She said it with utmost seriousness.
“Since you are a duchess, you cannot marry three times in Eldorado. You cannot engage in such impropriety that violates our customs. Absolutely not.”
So conservative yet so progressive!
…You’re like a monument against foreign influence that’s thoroughly absorbed Western culture, Madam Butler.
To think you’d come up with such a difficult concept.
I spoke, my pupils trembling.
“I… would never think of such a thing. I’d prefer to have just one husband.”
She spoke with genuine regret.
“What a shame. A day has twenty-four hours, yet you insist on keeping only one husband.”
“Ahahaha.”
By that logic, since the earth is round and vast, shouldn’t one be allowed to keep a husband on each continent?
I laughed awkwardly and declared I would finish organizing alone, and Victoria graciously left.
“―Sigh.”
I exhaled quietly and continued organizing my mother’s study.
It was then.
Gleam.
“…?”
There was something shimmering in the corner. It was an old tome, yet it glowed as if alive.
Open me.
Open me, now.
That thick, crimson leather-bound book seemed to enchant and draw me toward it.
I pulled the book out.
A large palm was drawn on the cover.
“What is this?”
As I tried to open the book,
Strangely, it wouldn’t open—sealed shut like a clamshell.
Doubtfully, I placed my palm against the large palm pattern, though it didn’t quite match.
Could it be this?
And, at that very moment.
Whoooosh―!
The large palm shrank to fit perfectly with my own hand’s shape.
Then, brilliant light flooded the room, and the book opened.
“…!”
My eyes widened in astonishment.
* * *
Kyle sat alone in contemplation, turning over the conversations he’d had with Anette.
“I must take revenge. Just as I resolved to do against Gerard.”
This afternoon.
One-Eye, who had gone out to verify Duncan and Owen’s alibis, sent word.
And said he had ‘found’ the informant.
It wouldn’t take even an hour to find perfect evidence.
It was a timing that naturally invited deeper thought. For Kyle.
“Gerard took my mother’s life, but it was the ‘informant’ who created the circumstances for it to happen.”
“….”
“I will hold them accountable for that responsibility.”
―Which would be better.
For Anette’s sake.
If the culprit were Sisrain or Heinrich, the situation would spiral completely beyond control.
As I sat tapping the table absently, lost in thought, a knock finally sounded at the door and One-Eye entered.
“Master, I’ve finally found them.”
“Who is it?”
To my prompt question, One-Eye answered at once with clarity.
“The informant was Duncan.”
―The culprit is Heinrich!

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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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