The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 154

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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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Side Story: Marriage to Kyle (5)
No further words were needed. The moment I closed my eyes, his hot lips met mine.
He was a man who controlled his tempo masterfully.
Urgent one moment, then tender the next—breathtakingly deep, then maddeningly gentle as his wet lips merely grazed mine.
Perhaps it was because of his perpetual carefulness.
Every time our lips met, it felt like the first time—thrilling, nerve-wracking, and deliciously ticklish.
For a moment, I forgot we were in the Treatment Room, lost in our mutual indulgence, until he exhaled softly and pulled away.
Then, gazing at me intently, he tugged at the topmost button of my shirt with a subtle flick.
‘How mischievous. Truly.’
Damn smooth.
My gaze was drawn helplessly toward the opening of my shirt when—
Creak.
“Daughter-in-law, look at this! I’ve brought something extraordinary!”
“…!”
Hastily.
He quickly fastened the button again.
I scrambled away and turned toward the door in alarm.
Anette’s Father burst into the Treatment Room clutching something brilliantly gleaming in one hand, his expression radiant as a mother bird returning with a plump grub for her chick.
“What is that?”
“Far superior to the Moonwolf’s essence! I obtained this last remaining vial from the Empire’s most capable medicinal merchant through… coercion! No, persuasion! Well, acquisition!”
What exactly have you done, Father…?
“It’s called the Blessing of Stars.”
I accepted the small crystal vial.
The liquid inside radiated its own luminescence, glimmering brilliantly as if stardust were cascading through it.
“You’ve endured the horrifying ordeal of abduction, so both body and spirit must be shaken, yes? This miraculous elixir heals them both completely. It can make a person on the battlefield, barely clinging to life in rags, spring right back up…!”
You want to use such a potion on a mere scratch on my forearm?
That’s absurdly excessive.
Though, last time when I got a thorn prick while admiring flowers, Father’s eyes glistened with tears.
Kyle said that was only the third time he’d ever seen Father cry.
When I got that thorn in my finger.
When I smiled at Father on our wedding day.
And at Mother’s funeral…(I’m almost embarrassed to mention it here).
Since Father’s eyes sparkled more brilliantly than the miraculous elixir itself, I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt his enthusiastic presentation from the “Daughter-in-law Appreciation Society.”
My husband, who had been forced to hastily refasten his clothes, stood with arms crossed, sighing as he watched Father.
“Shouldn’t you be heading out now, Kyle? The regular training session for Winston’s Shields is approaching soon.”
“….”
It was just as Father summoned a chamberlain to heat the miraculous elixir, his attention slightly diverted.
Smoothly.
My husband rose and approached me.
With gentle fingers against my nape, he leaned down, bringing his lips close to my ear.
Hot breath carried two words into my ears.
‘Tonight.’
Watching my husband’s broad back as he turned and left, I felt my face flush belatedly.
* * *
That night, we received word that demonic beasts had appeared in the Northern Region, and Winston’s Shields along with the Knight Commander had to depart urgently to carry out the subjugation orders.
Kyle’s aggrieved expression as he left was almost amusing.
‘How adorable.’
Though I was disappointed too, if I’m being honest.
Under normal circumstances, subjugating demonic beasts of that scale would take over a week.
Yet Kyle completed every mission and returned in just three days!
Rocky, a member of Winston’s Shields, described just how fierce that battlefield had been, his scarred face twitching as he recounted it.
“I mean, every time Commander Kyle saw a demonic beast, his eyes would roll back and he’d mutter while firing his magic gun… if you listened closely, he was shouting ‘Anette!’ ‘How dare you interfere with my time with my wife!'”
Rocky shook his head in disbelief.
“Eventually even the demonic beasts sensed he was insane and avoided him…”
A man so terrifying that even demonic beasts feared him…
Regardless, Kyle returned in three days with such overflowing passion that he was quite impressive, but now I had urgent business in the Valienne Duchy.
Naturally I had to go alone since it was my own territory, but for some reason luggage for three people had been prepared, which was the problem.
“Why did you both pack luggage?”
I asked with my arms crossed, and my father-in-law and Kyle exchanged glances before speaking in turn.
“Of course I must go as your father-in-law?”
“Of course I must accompany you as your husband, mustn’t I?”
…Why do they get along so perfectly at times like this?
I gave the nearly identical father and son a stern look.
Then my father-in-law, as if his heart were breaking, covered his remarkably youthful and innocent face with his hand and spoke.
“If some villainous scoundrel kidnaps my precious daughter-in-law again, I truly cannot bear to live. If I don’t go with you… I’ll lose sleep every night worrying. Then I’ll age terribly.”
My father-in-law continued muttering.
If I age, my competitiveness as a handsome man will decline too.
…I’m not sure why he’s even appealing to that point (has he noticed that I’m infatuated with my father-in-law?), but I answered.
“No. The rumor is that the Golden Rooster Bandit Gang, who attempted to kidnap me, has been completely wiped out. It didn’t even take two hours.”
“That’s…”
“When you declared that you’d rip out the throat of anyone who so much as brushed against my collar, the word spread. Now everyone avoids me as if I were a calamity itself. So who would dare kidnap me?”
“That’s…!”
“Shush. Next.”
I shook my head sternly and looked at my husband.
As if to say, go ahead and try.
My carnivorous deer, seeing his father firmly rejected, seemed nervous and chose his words carefully.
“We’re newlyweds and were separated for three days. Every night I dreamed of Anette.”
Ah, this is almost cute enough to let slide.
Speaking so honestly with even his ears flushed red like that.
But I had been a master of composure since the Forest, and I was talented enough to have sparred with Gerard using this very face.
Without blinking an eye, I answered decisively.
“Then we can meet in dreams instead. Rejected.”
“…!!”
My husband’s face fell as if the sky itself had crumbled.
Even Father-in-law seemed taken aback, his eyes widening as if to say ‘how could she be so cold,’ but I continued with my arms crossed.
“Last time, both of you came to the Valienne Dukedom and didn’t accomplish a single thing, did you? I nearly issued an expulsion order against Father-in-law and you. This time, you’re only staying for exactly one week before you leave. During that week… both of you are ‘absolutely’ banned from entering!”
“….”
“….”
Both fell silent.
They had a complete record of their past transgressions, after all.
* * *
‘Finally, some peace.’
A portal had been opened all the way to the Valienne Dukedom.
Connecting directly to the Duchess’s Residence would have posed security risks, so Father-in-law’s passionate objections had resulted in the portal opening only to the entrance of the dukedom.
From the dukedom’s borders onward, we traveled by carriage.
The sprawling fruit orchards at the entrance.
Especially at this time of year, the sweet fragrance of apple blossoms permeated the Valienne territory.
It was always peaceful, and the people smiled often.
It was exactly as I had dreamed of my homeland when I was young.
Though I had not been managing this territory as Duchess for very long, I had done my utmost to ensure its happiness and prosperity, and I was already regarded as a rather capable lord.
This woman’s assistance had been invaluable in making that possible.
“Duchess, you’ve arrived.”
Victoria, the head butler of House of Valienne.
She still wore her hair in a single bun just as when I first met her, and her style remained unchanged with her distinctive glasses.
Her impeccably pressed uniform had never varied once.
I greeted her and ascended the white, pristine marble staircase beneath the ornate ceiling frescoes.
“Yes, Victoria. Nothing particularly noteworthy happened during my absence, I trust?”
“I handled the minor matters, but there are several documents awaiting your approval. Please review them at your convenience. Oh, and… there is a visitor in the Reception Room.”
“A visitor?”
What visitor could that be?

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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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