The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 3

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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 3
For a moment, my face flushed inexplicably, and I found myself rambling in denial.
“…Huh? I’m not pretty at all. That’s strange.”
“You are.”
“You really don’t know how to hold back, do you?”
Even the most ordinary compliment sounds like flirting when it comes from him. And he’s only eleven!
Of course, the Anette I’d possessed was genuinely beautiful.
Golden hair that shimmered like honey,
A girl with eyes the color of fresh spring leaves—bright and verdant.
But Sisrain didn’t seem to be complimenting me merely on my appearance.
His words were something else entirely…
They sounded incredibly tender. Enough to make my heart flutter.
Ahem! Embarrassed for no good reason, I cleared my throat and stood up.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to get medicine to heal your leg!”
Well, technically I was going to steal it.
That I—known as The Forest’s model student—would develop a tendency toward theft was ironic.
But he’s too cute to resist.
Still, this was my first time stealing, and I seemed to have a natural talent for it.
I successfully snuck into the Infirmary without anyone noticing and stole a healing potion.
I rubbed my nose smugly, feeling oddly proud of myself.
‘Maybe my awakened ability is thievery.’
Of course, if Mimosa caught me, I’d be pulverized.
Mimosa was the woman who oversaw The Forest, and while she was usually kind, she became incredibly strict when the residents violated the rules.
Moreover, she was ruthless enough to set traps to catch Sisrain.
Though it was probably a decision made because she judged he would die if left in the Cave.
‘Still, not just anyone would set traps for a child.’
It meant she was no ordinary person.
I crouched as low as possible and crept through the Corridor like a hamster stealing seeds—rustle, rustle.
“Sisrain, I brought it!”
Kneeling before the waiting boy, I unhesitatingly opened the potion and dripped it onto his ankle.
Then something miraculous happened.
New flesh sprouted rapidly before my eyes, the exposed bone was covered, and the wound healed without a trace.
“Wow…!”
‘Thank goodness. …In the original story, he missed the treatment window and ended up limping.’
It wasn’t until he was reinstated as a member of the imperial family that he received treatment from the priests and recovered, but by then he’d already endured countless hardships throughout his childhood because of his leg.
Now Sisrain wouldn’t have to experience such suffering… Watching over this small boy felt fulfilling, and my heart swelled with satisfaction.
I smiled and asked.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore, right? Really?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Sisrain nodded calmly, though there was a hint of emotion in his expression.
“It really doesn’t hurt.”
Watching him like that, my chest swelled with warmth, and a smile bloomed naturally across my face.
This was good.
I grasped the boy’s hands firmly and spoke.
“Sisrain, you can’t keep living in the Cave forever, can you?”
Originally, I had planned to monitor Mimosa’s movements and move Sisrain when it was safer, but…
After what happened today, I realized I couldn’t leave him alone in danger any longer.
“Will you come with me?”
“…”
I waved the blanket playfully and smiled brightly.
* * *
Treading carefully, moving like a cat, we slipped into the Corridor.
Sisrain, draped in a blanket from head to toe like a ghost, followed me while holding my hand.
“This is suffocating.”
“…Shh! Just bear with it a little longer.”
Wandering around at this hour was itself a violation of school rules.
‘If we get caught, we’re both done for.’
Especially Sisrain—he had already broken over seven school rules.
That strict Mimosa would undoubtedly wield her cane without mercy.
‘Just when he was finally opening up a little…’
If he experienced that, there would be no turning back.
He might never leave the Cave again. Since the trap was already useless because of me, next time something far more terrifying would appear. Something cruel that didn’t even exist in the original story.
Something truly brutal.
‘Ugh, I don’t even want to imagine it!’
We absolutely couldn’t get caught.
But then Sisrain suddenly froze, his footsteps halting.
I tugged his hand and whispered urgently.
“What’s wrong? Let’s go quickly.”
That was when it happened.
A voice so cold it made my hair stand on end pierced through the darkness behind us.
“You two. Where are you sneaking off to like rats in the middle of the night?”
“…!!!”
My heart nearly stopped.
Cold sweat dripping down my face, I slowly turned around.
At the end of the dark Corridor stood Mimosa, holding a sharp cane and a lantern that blazed like hellfire.
“So it’s Anette.”
Mimosa walked slowly toward us, frozen in place, and shone her lantern first on me, then on Sisrain, who was draped in the blanket like a ghost.
Her golden eyes beneath fiery red-blonde hair gazed down at us coldly. I swallowed hard.
“Anette, what’s gotten into you? A model student like you breaking curfew in the middle of the night? Surely you know that violates school rules.”
“Good evening, Mimosa.”
I managed to greet her as naturally as always.
“Who is this child?”
Mimosa swept a sharp riding crop across her palm, her piercing gaze traveling up and down Sisrain, who was draped like a ghost beneath a blanket.
Then she slowly lifted the edge of the white blanket with her crop. In that instant, I suddenly pulled Sisrain into my arms and cried out.
“It’s Henry!”
Henry was a nine-year-old boy who lived with me in The Forest and was terrified of ghosts.
“Henry needed to use the bathroom at dawn, but he was too scared of ghosts to go alone. I was just accompanying him there.”
“….”
“If I dress him up exactly like a ghost, he’ll think the ghost is a friend and just pass by. Right, Henry?”
I smiled brightly at Sisrain as I spoke.
“….”
Sisrain, still draped in the blanket, slowly nodded his head.
‘Please let her believe this.’
I gazed at Mimosa with the innocent, obedient face of a model student, my smile unwavering.
Mimosa regarded me in silence for a moment, her sharp eyes seeming to discern the truth.
The cold gleam of those golden eyes pierced the back of my head like an arrow.
Mercifully, the sharp crop was soon lowered. The blanket rustled softly as it settled back down to Sisrain’s ankles.
“Next time, make sure he uses the bathroom before bedtime.”
“Yes! I’ll be more careful and look after him properly, Mimosa.”
Only after hearing my earnest assurance did Mimosa turn and leave.
It wasn’t until her figure had completely disappeared that my body went limp, all strength draining away.
“Phew….”
‘That was close.’
If I hadn’t prepared an excuse beforehand and dressed Sisrain in that blanket, I would have been caught red-handed.
‘She trusted me because of my good student image.’
I couldn’t help but wonder what Mimosa’s reaction would be if she discovered not only that I’d stolen potions, but that I’d also smuggled Sisrain out.
It wasn’t a scenario I wanted to imagine for long.
* * *
“Stay here for the time being.”
I led Sisrain to an unused room in the Mansion. It had originally been a bedroom, but became vacant as the number of residents dwindled.
I had prepared bedding and relatively long-lasting food—dried meat, dried fruit, bread, and so on—in that space.
“…This place is…”
“Your room, Sisrain. No one will come in here.”
I lit the candles. It wasn’t proper lighting, but it had a certain charm to it.
“I’ll bring you new clothes tomorrow.”
How beautiful he would look in clean clothes—though even covered in grime like this, he was beautiful.
‘I want to send him back to The Forest immediately.’
Then he wouldn’t need to hide, and he could enjoy good food and proper rest. He could even make friends.
‘But it’s not possible yet.’
The reason was a water trauma.
Sisrain was terrified of water.
In my previous life, I had endured such severe bullying (too horrific to speak of aloud) that fear had been seared into my very soul—I couldn’t even bathe properly.
Whenever water filled a basin, I trembled at the thought that someone would seize my head and force it under.
Yet Mimosa would never understand such circumstances.
‘She would beat me harshly for violating the rules.’
The original story proved this countless times.
So I had to prepare him in advance and have him join us in The Forest.
‘How to help him overcome his water trauma, I’m still… pondering.’
While I was lost in such thoughts, Sisrain, who had been examining the room, quietly asked me a question.
“Did you prepare all of this yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Why, he asks. What do you mean why?
“Why are you being so kind to a filthy boy like me, Anette?”
Sisrain’s expression was genuinely bewildered—like a child who had never once received kindness in his entire life.
My heart clenched at the sight of shadows darkening the boy’s crimson eyes.
“There’s never been anyone who treated me this kindly…”
“…”
“Not a single person.”
My heart lurched at Sisrain’s belated, barely audible murmur.
It felt as though I had glimpsed a fragment of the world this boy had lived in—a hell cursed by Mephistopheles itself.
I gently stroked Sisrain’s head and smiled at him.
“From now on, only good things will happen.”
“…”
His crimson eyes trembled softly, like bare branches brushed by a warm spring breeze.
“Sleep early tonight. I should head back too—if I’m away too long, people will grow suspicious.”
I walked toward the door, then paused, turning back to him as an afterthought.
“Oh! Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to a truly important person.”
I smiled brightly.
* * *
Left alone, Sisrain gently placed his hand on the bed where Anette had sat.
With the tips of his fingers, he traced the warmth the girl had left behind.
It was his first time. Receiving such kindness, and having someone so tender toward him…
It was as if a single small star had suddenly glimmered to life in a dark, lonely universe.
Just one star, yet it shone so brightly and beautifully.
Whenever Anette, with her honey-sweet hair, smiled at him with the warmth of spring sunlight, Sisrain found himself yearning to become the wonderful person she believed he could be.
“From now on, only good things will happen.”
That tender whisper… the thoughtful touch and smile.
Everything about the girl had left a clear imprint upon his lonely heart.
Lowering my long lashes, the boy pronounced her name softly through his split, reddened lips.
“…Anette.”
For some reason, the tip of my tongue grew sweet the moment I heard it spoken.
* * *
I woke early the next morning.
Today was the day Heinrich would return to The Forest after completing his ‘socialization training’—two weeks away.
After dinner, I slipped away and spent the evening meticulously grooming Sisrain until he gleamed.
I couldn’t let that finicky little chihuahua see Sisrain and say something like “filthy”—I had to prevent any future shackle flags or destruction flags from forming.
‘First impressions matter. First impressions really matter.’
I couldn’t bathe him with water, but I brushed his teeth and wiped him down carefully with a damp cloth, then combed his hair.
‘…Good heavens. Just from doing that, he even smells wonderful now?!’
Sniff sniff.
I buried my nose against Sisrain and inhaled deeply.
“This is impossible. This must be the polishing buff.”
“…What’s a polishing buff?”
At Sisrain’s innocent question, I panicked and said, “Nothing at all,” then handed him new clothes.
Dressed in fresh garments, Sisrain looked like a fluffy baby beast.
‘My heart. Oh, my heart.’
There’s absolutely no way—absolutely no way—he could call this “filthy” now!
Moments later.
Heinrich’s eyes swept suspiciously over Sisrain.
I introduced him with utmost confidence.
“A new friend! Say hello, Heinrich.”
See? Not filthy, right?
“….”
Heinrich regarded the boy slowly with his characteristic arrogant gaze, then his eyes suddenly froze on one thing.
The hand that Sisrain and I were holding together.
Heinrich’s brow twisted in contempt.
“Filthy. You bastard.”
‘…It’s over.’

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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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