The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 25

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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 25
I distinctly felt something pressing against my cheek—so why was no one around me?
“…Was it a dream?”
But the sensation on my cheek felt far too vivid to be merely a dream.
Where was I, exactly?
As I looked around in confusion at the cave surrounded entirely by stone walls, memories from before I lost consciousness suddenly flooded back.
“Exordium!”
I cupped both cheeks in my hands and cried out.
“My awakening wasn’t a dream?!”
It had been real. The explosive power I felt at the moment of awakening was far too vivid to dismiss as a dream.
Even the memory of the brilliant white light that had enveloped me remained crystal clear.
I, who couldn’t even summon a small chick, had been devastated. I, who had remained a perpetual Level 5 model student! …And yet, I had truly awakened as an Awakened One?
This was truly, truly….
“How incredibly cool!”
I rubbed my nose with a laugh.
“…Though it is a somewhat burdensome ability.”
In the original story, I had planned to retire and eventually move to the countryside to open a small bakery.
‘Would it be acceptable for a bakery owner to be able to turn monsters into powder?’
That would make for quite an extraordinary bakery owner, in its own way.
‘Perhaps it could work.’
As I nodded thoughtfully, a message written on the cave wall suddenly caught my eye.
Heinrich’s message was written in beautiful, careful handwriting on the uneven stone surface—clearly composed with great affection.
「 I’ll find something delicious outside. Sister, rest comfortably.
I love you, sister. You know that, right?
Your kind and adorable Heinrich. 」
“How adorable….”
As I read the message with a warm smile, I noticed another message scrawled haphazardly beside that neat handwriting—something that looked like a worm writhing.
「 Taking the beast too. 」
“…Hmm.”
Both were likely written by Heinrich, yet the temperature difference between them was remarkable.
So the children must have brought me to this cave after I awakened and collapsed.
On one side of the cave, I could see a makeshift bed that had been carefully constructed.
‘We’ll be returning to the Forest soon anyway. They went through all this trouble.’
Once Sisrain and Heinrich returned, I could simply summon Julius with the ring—that would be all.
‘The latest model(?) mage carriage will come pick us up.’
I smiled contentedly.
‘The mage slave proves useful in many ways.’
It was at that very moment. A familiar voice reached my ears.
[ …The cave is safe, so stay here for now, child. Returning as you are would be dangerous. ]
“…Pardon?”
I startled and glanced around—no one was there. So that whisper of “awakening” in my ear earlier hadn’t been a dream after all!
I asked urgently.
“Who are you? You’re the one who awakened me just now, aren’t you?”
But frustratingly, the voice simply vanished without another word.
“Wait, please come back…!”
As I stood there bewildered, unsure how to grasp a voice that existed only in my mind—
“Big sister!”
From the cave entrance, Heinrich came rushing toward me in a tumble of falling firewood, embracing me.
Behind him, Sisrain appeared laden with food and water.
“Anette.”
“Heinrich, Sisrain!”
I was so delighted that I bounced on my feet.
“Big sister, are you alright?” Heinrich asked.
Sisrain came to my side, his eyes brimming with concern.
‘Oh, my dear boys were worried about me.’
I beamed brightly and nodded with vigor.
“Yes!”
Of course, I had just heard that suspicious voice, but for some reason I didn’t want to mention it.
I feared it would only worry them, and besides, the matter of awakening felt too delicate to share until I was certain of what had happened.
I clenched my fists and raised my hands triumphantly to reassure the boys.
“I’m absolutely brimming with energy!”
That was precisely when—
*Growwwl—*
My stomach let out a thunderous rumble.
“Oh…!”
As I flushed and clutched my belly, both boys burst into laughter simultaneously.
Shortly after.
We kindled a small fire in the cave and had our evening meal.
“Ah, this is truly delicious. So incredibly delicious!”
Goodness, the meat wasn’t even seasoned, so why does it taste this wonderful?
It was a feast beyond compare.
Beside Sisrain, who quietly grilled the meat, Heinrich boasted proudly.
“Big sister, eat plenty. They say you always get hungry after awakening, right?”
“Yes!”
Then I frowned at Sisrain.
“Grill it faster.”
Sisrain returned my demand coolly as he continued cooking.
“You certainly eat well—both the meat and shamelessly ordering people around.”
Heinrich ignored him and said cheerfully.
“It feels like we’re camping and having fun, doesn’t it? I always wanted to go on an outing with you, big sister.”
His violet eyes curved with delight, sparkling with an almost mischievous glee.
I too found myself buoyed by the romantic atmosphere.
“Yes. I like it.”
“Anette. We were planning to eat and then call Julius.”
At Sisrain’s question, I pondered for a moment before responding.
“Hmm~ Well, shall we stay here just one more day? It would feel like camping!”
‘That voice in my head has been nagging at me.’
Since it was the voice that had awakened me, it seemed unlikely to offer harmful counsel.
So it felt right to spend at least tonight in this Cave.
Heinrich raised both hands.
“I’m in favor! This Cave is comfortable and somehow feels good.”
Sisrain, who had been handling all the chores alone, transferred only the ripest blueberries to my plate and shrugged his shoulders.
It was his way of agreeing.
* * *
Midnight had arrived without warning.
The Cave was filled only with the soft breathing of sleeping children.
Then a voice whispered softly against Anette’s ear, rousing her from slumber.
“Anette.”
Psst, psst.
“…Yes?”
Opening my eyes groggily, I found an unfamiliar boy gazing down at me.
Hair that gleamed with an almost sacred whiteness, and eyes of ashen grey.
His eyes shone like stars scattered across the night sky.
‘An angel?’
As I stood there in a daze with such thoughts, the boy whispered softly.
“Hello.”
“…Hello?”
“I am the guide ‘X’. I’ve come to tell you something about your ‘ability’.”
The boy smiled gently and extended his hand toward me.
“Will you come with me?”
His whispered voice was sweet as cotton candy.
I stared intently at the hand he offered.
‘He’ll teach me about my power?’
The boy who had appeared in the deep moonlit dawn was so mysterious that this entire situation felt like a dream.
The boy answered with an oddly mineral expression.
“Yes. You will come to know many things.”
‘Wait, did he just answer? To what I said in my head…?’
“I can read your mind.”
The boy who had introduced himself as X smiled faintly.
“…!”
I blinked in surprise, my eyes widening.
Should I follow him?
But the voice that had guided my awakening told me to stay in the Cave.
Then a voice flowed into my mind—that same voice that had warned me before.
[ That child is our guide. ]
It meant I was safe.
Gulp—
I swallowed hard, suppressing the fear that rose within me, and slowly took the guide boy’s hand.
His hand was neither warm nor cold.
“I need to get back soon. Heinrich and Sisrain are awake, and they’ll worry if I’m not there.”
The boy smiled silently and began walking ahead.
I quickly followed him out of the Cave, and the moment I stepped outside, I gasped in wonder.
‘Wow. It’s this beautiful?’
The landscape outside was breathtakingly gorgeous.
The scenery I’d thought barren in daylight was now filled with countless tiny lesser spirits fluttering about.
They were as romantic as fireflies embroidered across the night sky.
Watching a spirit flutter toward the bridge of my nose, I smiled softly.
“Hello?”
At my greeting, the spirits seemed to grow shy, and they scattered upward in a whirlwind, forming a swirling mass.
The night in this place sparkled everywhere—both sky and earth.
The boy walked faster than me, but occasionally he would stop and wait for me to catch up.
We walked along the beautiful forest path until we finally arrived at the Lakeside.
“What is that?”
I couldn’t hide my curiosity and asked the boy.
In the middle of the Lake, an enormous flower scattered a soft, ethereal glow.
“It’s truly beautiful.”
The flower, which had grown to nearly my height, seemed like something I’d never seen before.
Its petals were as large as a child.
As I hurried over and touched the flower bud with a tap—the boy spoke from behind me.
“That’s an entrance.”
“An entrance to where?”
The moment I asked, the flower spread its petals wide and swallowed me whole.
“…Huh?”
What? Give me back my life!
* * *
Gulp—
As I descended along what I assumed was the “flower stem,” an entirely different realm revealed itself.
But more astonishing than being teleported through the flower was another fact.
‘They’re incredibly handsome.’
Standing before me were two strikingly beautiful men.
“My dear child, we have been waiting for you.”
The man standing on the right, with the pristine beauty of a lily, spoke.
His eyelashes were lush as a fan, and his long grayish-blue hair shimmered as though dusted with starlight. Against his pale complexion, his ashen eyes held an almost breathtaking mystique.
‘Devastatingly beautiful, isn’t he.’
“Ah, hello there…?”
I greeted them with flushed cheeks.
At that, the man standing on the left—with short crimson hair and golden eyes—laughed with genuine warmth.
He had the wild, untamed charm of a red wolf.
“Seeing you in person, you’re even tinier than expected. Truly no bigger than a fist. How adorable.”
‘Ah, so it was this person. The one who poked my cheeks before. The voice sounds familiar.’
I blinked shyly, still feeling a bit reserved, before asking cautiously.
“Um, but who are you two?”
“Ah, we should introduce ourselves first.”
The muscular, wild-natured handsome man folded his thick arms across his chest and spoke.
“We are your parents. Your mother and father.”
…Pardon?
What kind of shocking revelation is this?

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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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