The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 141

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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 141
* * *
Marquis Winston’s Estate.
It was the day of the regular meeting, and Winston’s Shield gathered in a bustling commotion, though several of them kept glancing at Kyle.
Whisper, whisper.
“Master’s face has wilted like a harvested cabbage, all droopy and sad.”
At Number 19’s words, Bulk—who sat beside him munching on a strawberry jam soboro bread as large as his own frame (baked by Number 19, who had discovered a talent for baking)—spoke up.
“Something must have happened at the banquet hall yesterday. …Could it be that Master couldn’t find Anette with the mask on?”
Number 19 shook his head vigorously.
“If it were our Master, even if a hundred people lined up with burlap sacks pulled over their heads from crown to toe, he’d still pick out which one was Anette!”
“…That’s true enough.”
Bulk, who had wolfed down the bread in an instant, drained an entire bottle of milk in one go before speaking.
“But Number 19, your baking skills improve day by day.”
Number 19 rubbed his nose with satisfaction, much like Anette would.
“The Little Bakery’s sales are holding steady. We’re even doing marketing in other regions now!”
“Ooh.”
“We’re planning to open a second Little Bakery location.”
“Please open one in Eldorado! So people in the Capital can buy bread too!”
Just then, a fierce-looking member of Montague interjected, excited as if he’d discovered a diamond mine.
“Oh, if only that were true…! If that incredible cream bread landed in Eldorado!!!”
As Number 19, Bulk, and several other Montague members grew heated discussing the Little Bakery, there remained a group still focused on Kyle.
One member of Montague spoke quietly.
“…Master, could it be you were rejected when you proposed?”
One-Eye beside him answered quietly.
“That wouldn’t be it.”
“But Master was so vigorous before, and now he’s fallen apart like this?”
“‘Merely’ that reason wouldn’t cause it.”
“…!”
The fierce-looking member of Montague stared at One-Eye in shock at his dismissal of a proposal rejection as ‘merely’ that.
One-Eye rolled his singular eye, observing Kyle intently.
“Even if Master had been rejected, it wouldn’t have changed him. He would have remained unchanged.”
“….”
“He wouldn’t have been greatly disappointed—he would have remained by Anette’s side, planning for the future.”
A man possessed of such obsession that even that would be insufficient. Or perhaps it had nothing to do with Master’s obsession at all.
His love ran that deep.
And he was a man accustomed to waiting.
“…Then the fact that he’s so visibly troubled means something beyond that has occurred?”
“Likely so.”
One-Eye stroked his chin, murmuring.
“…Perhaps he’s realized that waiting alone won’t resolve it….”
For someone like that, even a ‘professional unrequited lover’ whose specialty was patience would find himself unsettled.
When Master heard that an attack had occurred at that banquet and Grand Duke Hyacinth had been wounded, he only confirmed that Anette was safe—he did not go to find her.
Normally, Master would have dropped everything and rushed to her side.
‘He must be struggling right now. After all, she was the love of his entire life.’
Just then, Number 19’s face suddenly popped into view—who knew how long he’d been listening.
“Then Winston’s Shield will be on hold for a while, won’t it.”
“Good grief, you startled me!”
The vicious Montague, who had been conversing with One-Eye, flinched and clutched his chest in alarm (not merely startled by the sudden appearance, but genuinely shocked by how hideously ugly the face that had thrust itself forward was).
One-Eye spoke matter-of-factly.
“Likely so. Today’s regular meeting is off. …It will be difficult for him to look after us for a while.”
It was at that very moment.
Kyle, who had been lost in quiet contemplation and had not heard a word of what the Shields were saying, rose to his feet.
Defying their expectations, Kyle spoke.
“Everyone, stand up. We’re beginning the regular meeting.”
“…!”
“…!”
“…!”
The Montagues’ eyes gleamed. Their master seemed to be far stronger and more resolute than they had imagined.
“Yes, sir!”
The Montagues answered in unison, their voices ringing out loudly.
Today, their respect for their master had grown by another measure.
* * *
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
In the Underground Dungeon beneath the Imperial Palace, agonized screams echoed through the darkness.
The man who had targeted Anette was Baron Virosetz, who had been at odds with Anette’s Mother, the previous Duchess Valienne.
In the past, he had bid simultaneously with her for mining development rights on the Eastern Continent, but after the Duchy ultimately secured the development rights, they had clashed repeatedly.
Even after she fell ill, he harbored ambitions to swallow up the Duchy’s enterprises.
Moreover, he was one of the factions that had strongly supported Gerard von Axilpherion.
When he was first arrested and imprisoned, he had only laughed—”Hehehehe!”—but the moment Sisrain entered the cell, he came to his senses in exactly three minutes.
Because Sisrain had ‘forced’ him to regain consciousness.
The black gloves Sis wore were soaked entirely in blood, and the Baron was reduced to little more than rags.
The Baron, exhausted by his ordeal, finally cried out in supplication.
“I, I’ll tell you everything! Please, please stop…Save me.”
“There’s no need.”
Crimson eyes regarded the Baron with indifference.
From the moment he had targeted Anette, the man could not be treated as human.
Sisrain slowly met the gaze of the bound Baron.
From the metal tool he held, thick crimson blood dripped, dripped downward.
“Keep your mouth shut.”
“…!”
―He’s enjoying this.
This madman is actually enjoying this.
He’s mincing me like pork, and he’s savoring every moment of it.
The Baron, seized by a creeping dread, nearly overwhelmed, cried out with trembling limbs.
“It was all Prince Gerard’s doing! He gave me a dagger and said I only needed to bring it to the banquet, but… I suddenly lost my mind!”
Sisrain asked quietly.
“What did Prince Gerard say would happen if you brought the dagger to that banquet?”
His toneless voice was chilling, yet there was hope in the fact that he was asking me a question at all.
He hadn’t told me to shut my mouth.
I understood that normally torture involved forcing someone to speak, but common sense held no sway before this madman.
The Baron, delighted by the question itself, spilled everything in meticulous detail.
“He said if I delivered the dagger to a certain man, that man would use it to stab Duchess Valienne!”
The Baron was so absorbed in his confession that he seemed oblivious to what he was actually saying.
The Baron failed to notice the subtle shift in Sisrain’s eyes at that moment.
“But after I made eye contact with the Prince at the banquet, something felt wrong. I found myself charging forward like a puppet, dagger in hand…!”
“…”
“He must have cast some special magic on me!”
The Baron pleaded.
“I am innocent, Crown Prince. I am also a victim deceived by the Prince!”
“…”
“A victim, just the same.”
He appeared genuinely wronged. His expression was so blank that the Crown Prince’s true thoughts remained unknowable in that moment.
“I see.”
At Sisrain’s indifferent reply, the Baron’s face brightened, believing he had gotten through.
And that was the last expression he would ever wear in life.
Shing―
The blade moved with decisive finality.
Moments later.
As Sisrain emerged from the Underground Dungeon, Owen approached respectfully.
“How do you intend to handle this, my lord?”
Sisrain removed his gloves in silence and quickened his pace.
I had kept Gerard alive until now because it was more advantageous to let him live than to harm someone with such a pristine public image.
Moreover, I had wanted to respect Anette’s wish to expose his crimes and see him punished through proper legal channels.
But now.
“It seems the time has come to slaughter the pig.”
The bloodstained gloves I discarded stuck wetly to the floor.
* * *
I had lost all sense of day and night.
Hunger and sleep had faded, leaving me numb and hollow.
I sat like a doll, staring blankly at him.
“Where are you right now?”
Though his body remained beside me, I wondered where the consciousness of the boy who had abandoned me here had wandered off to.
I was desperately curious and longing to know where he was lost, having unilaterally left me in this place.
Only now did I begin to understand what Heinrich’s heart must have felt like when I left him behind.
So this was the anguish he endured.
The terror of thinking I would never see him again, piercing through him like this.
What Heinrich had done to bind me to him was undoubtedly a grave mistake with terrible consequences, yet his heart behind it…
That fear of losing me again—I finally understood it completely.
“That’s why you did it. Simply because you were afraid of not being able to see me.”
Heinrich.
I wish I had understood sooner and held you.
I whispered his name silently to myself, then took his hand and pressed my forehead against it.
Praying to see him smile just once, I spent the time waiting.
I have no idea how long passed like that.
‘Is it just my imagination?’
…But Heinrich’s hand seemed to have grown slightly warmer.
Could it be that his cold hand had warmed from my body heat?
It was then, as I blinked in surprise and gazed at Heinrich.
The silver eyelashes that had remained perfectly still trembled slightly.
“…Heinrich?”
Heinrich opened his eyes very slowly.
The beautiful violet eyes I had been agonizing over whether I could see again quickly regained focus, looking at me. Like a miracle.
His parched lips moved slowly.
“…Sister.”
“…!!!”
In that instant, my throat tightened and my vision blurred.
I thought I had lost you, Heinrich.
Without time to think, I pulled him into my embrace.
Heinrich whispered in a voice as faint as a breath barely escaping.
“…I’m sorry.”
The first words he wanted to say to her after returning from the brink of death.
Words he had ultimately failed to say when his consciousness was fading from the dagger wound. He regretted it.
He had only spouted foolish things before dying.
But his true feelings lay elsewhere.
“…I did something terrible and disappointed you… I’m sorry.”
“No, Heinrich. I understand everything always. All of you—”
Heinrich’s eyes wavered.
…Why had he not realized it?
That it was not only he who had remained trapped in childhood. Her heart, which had always cherished me sincerely, was always there, in that same place.
“So don’t apologize. You’ve come back well.”
Heinrich’s eyes had grown moist as well.
Anette held him even tighter, squeezing him against her chest.
“You’ve truly come home safely, 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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