The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 37

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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 37
Sisrain’s voice stirred something tender within me.
‘For a long, long time….’
Now that socialization training had begun, perhaps in a year or so I too might be adopted, Sisrain. But even if that doesn’t happen, I’ll eventually leave the Forest and forge my own path, separate from all of you.
‘That’s what I’ve always planned, after all.’
But until then, couldn’t we enjoy our time together? Creating countless cherished memories without regret.
I smiled warmly and made my promise.
“Yes, Sisrain. Let’s stay together for a long, long time.”
Sisrain finally exhaled. I felt a soft, warm relief wash over him.
* * *
The next morning.
I woke early and began organizing yesterday’s acquisitions.
“Candies, jellies, pastries… I have so much to eat.”
Even after distributing plenty to the Forest Children, this much remained.
Crunch, crunch—I pulled a pastry from the crystal jar and popped it into my mouth.
Impossibly, it dissolved on my tongue in an instant.
“Oh my, it’s delicious!”
Like a happy hamster with plenty of nuts, I stuffed my cheeks full of pastries and chewed contentedly.
“Our patron is truly the best….”
The kind face of my patron, Winston Beige, with his charming dimples, appeared vividly before my eyes.
I actually had a patron!
Moreover, it wasn’t patronage conditional on adoption—I had gained an adult who supported and cherished me unconditionally.
It was a first for me.
Having such an adult in my life.
I’d never had one in my previous life either.
I felt oddly embarrassed, grateful, and reassured all at once—my heart tickled with warmth.
‘Do children with good parents feel this way every single day?’
The thought made me envy children who had mothers and fathers.
I drifted in contemplation for a moment, then shook my head vigorously.
I’d learned since my unlucky past life that such sentimental thoughts were utterly useless to me.
Besides, I had my Forest family. Heinrich and Sisrain, Shasha and Julian, and all the other precious children.
‘There’s no reason to envy.’
I banished the melancholy thoughts and, after organizing the pastries, retrieved the teleportation artifact.
Then, with utmost care (lest I accidentally teleport only the dress of the Duke and create an embarrassingly scandalous situation, I was extremely cautious), I stored it in the drawer.
Mm, perfect.
Just as I finished organizing everything and rose from my seat with satisfaction.
Thud—
Something fell at my feet.
“…!”
“…!”
The moment I confirmed what the object was, I couldn’t help but flinch in shock. It was a cigarette case. One bearing Gerard’s fingerprints, no less.
“Ugh, carrying evidence from a murder scene is incredibly unsettling…”
This wasn’t something a twelve-year-old should be handling.
I picked up the case with an troubled expression and swept my gaze across it.
‘This looks incredibly expensive.’
A luxurious treasure. The case’s body was constructed from sturdy silver chrome, while its edges were finished with calf leather.
The emblem of the Eldorado Imperial Family was emblazoned across the front in unmistakable grandeur.
“How am I supposed to dispose of this?”
It was a headache.
I’d taken it to prevent it from falling into someone else’s hands and endangering whoever had found it, but truthfully, I had no real method of disposal myself.
It was precisely as I was examining it carefully, pondering how to handle it.
“Huh?”
That’s when I discovered something ‘deeply suspicious’ on the back of the case.
My eyes went wide—ping!
“…What?!”
What on earth is this, teacher?
* * *
“What are your impressions of actually meeting Anette?”
J had requested—or rather, essentially demanded—to meet Anette from Mimosa that morning, the day of the socialization training.
[ I need to meet that child in person today. ]
The reason the socialization training’s destination, originally scheduled for a minor noble’s salon, had been urgently changed to the Imperial Palace was because of that.
Though the meeting was sudden, Mimosa was confident.
That child was clever, pure, and talented—a perfect fit for the Forest’s educational goal of nurturing an excellent Tree.
An exemplary specimen of a fine Tree.
Anette was Mimosa’s masterpiece. She was certain that not a single flaw could be found in that talented little lady.
However, the man who actually met Anette offered an unexpected response.
[ Anette has grown into a charming little lady. But there is one problem. ]
Mimosa’s thick eyebrows above her golden eyes twitched slightly.
“A problem with that child…?”
[ She’s too clever. ]
She had no choice but to immediately refute that.
“How is a child being clever a problem, J?”
A low breath escaped from across the way. As if mocking her.
[ Tools and livestock are easiest to handle when they’re sufficiently stupid, Mimosa. ]
“…!”
Was that remark meant to mock her as clever livestock, or was it a rebuke for inappropriate upbringing?
Perhaps it was both.
Mimosa bit her lip as insult washed over her in waves.
But soon she curved her lips into a smooth smile.
Her tongue, sharp as a blade, moved with deliberate precision as she articulated each syllable.
“You’re saying our patron finds it difficult to handle a child simply because she’s a bit clever? Is that all our sponsor amounts to as an adult?”
[ … ]
“How disappointing.”
[ Oh, I had no intention of insulting you, madam. ]
The man beyond the communication device chuckled softly and took a measured step backward. The ice in his glass clinked delicately.
Mimosa added her thoughts.
“Anette is an exceptionally fine member of the Forest Group.”
[ Yes, if only she would awaken. ]
The man, whom she thought had retreated, advanced two steps deeper with an irrefutable premise that Mimosa could not possibly counter.
To this, Mimosa could only acquiesce.
[ Seeing her in person has genuinely sparked an intense curiosity. It’s been quite some time since I’ve witnessed the ‘color of a soul’ like Anette’s, and it still radiates such brilliant light. Like a moth drawn to flame, it was utterly, maddeningly captivating. ]
She understood it too—what that soul’s color felt like.
The same soul color visible in Mimosa’s jewel-embedded eyes would also be visible to J.
After all, this jewel-embedded eye was something J had shared with her.
They possessed the same eyes.
[ So I’ve decided. I will become that child’s ‘soil.’ ]
“…!”
The teacup of black tea Mimosa had been holding froze mid-air.
[ I will nourish her with my own essence and awaken that child myself. ]
“….”
A chill ran down my spine.
[ I will adopt her. Anette. ]
* * *
‘Is there such a jewel?’
I was carefully examining the ‘mysterious black jewel’ affixed to the back of the cigarette case.
‘It’s not a mana stone. I’m certain of it.’
Spenson was the most renowned scholar of mana stones in all of Eldorado.
I had earned a perfect score in his course, Fundamentals of Mana Stones, having absorbed all his teachings.
The circular jewel was small, dark, and beautiful.
It even possessed an air of mystery.
‘It certainly doesn’t seem like an ordinary jewel.’
As a twelve-year-old steeped in capitalism, I was well-acquainted with most expensive black gemstones by common knowledge—though admittedly, I was precocious, especially when it came to matters of money—yet this was a jewel I didn’t recognize.
“…But surely they wouldn’t have set something cheap into a prince’s possession.”
Oh.
I was startled.
Just then, the black jewel shimmered brilliantly, scattering ethereal light.
It was utterly mesmerizing.
‘Ah, so that’s why he treasured something so rare and mysterious?’
I nodded to myself.
‘That’s why he was so obsessively fixated on it in the original story.’
The cigarette case going missing was an episode that existed in the original story too—in the original, Gerard had mistakenly believed Heinrich stole it.
In the original narrative, he seemed just as obsessed with the cigarette case as I was with my obsession for bread, a man utterly consumed by it.
When I’d read the original, I’d thought, ‘Why not just buy a new case?’ and couldn’t understand it, but seeing it in person now, I grasped it somewhat.
It was clearly a precious and treasured possession.
Yet he’d lost it.
Under normal circumstances, I would have made an effort to find the owner of something I’d picked up, but in this situation, I had absolutely no inclination to fall victim to the ‘good child syndrome.’
‘You should have taken better care of such a precious item, Your Highness.’
It was right then, as I was deliberating over what to do with the case.
The door suddenly burst open.
“Anette!”
“…!”
I jumped in fright and hastily hid the object. Then I turned around with a smile on my face.
Fortunately, it was Shasha.
Oblivious Shasha grinned and spoke as if she didn’t care one bit what I’d hidden.
“Mimosa is calling for you!”
“…Mimosa?”
* * *
“You called for me, Mimosa?”
“Come here, child.”
In the afternoon sunlight pouring through, Mimosa gazed at me thoughtfully, her index finger propping up her chin.
Why had she called for me?
As I waited, suppressing my curiosity, she slowly opened her mouth.
“An adoption application has come in for you. You’ll need to prepare to leave the Forest, Anette.”
“…What?!”
What did you say, ma’am?!
The unexpected news arriving at such an astonishing moment left me momentarily swallowing hard.
Then I asked calmly.
“…Could it be a daughter-in-law adoption application?”
Had my sponsor simply been unable to contain himself any longer?
“No, it is not.”
Yet Mimosa answered composedly and thrust the documents toward me.
She pushed the documents across to me.
“This person has stated they wish to adopt you as their daughter.”
Thump-thump.
With a trembling heart, I examined the documents she offered.
In the name field of the adoption application, it was written precisely as follows:
Gerard von Axilpherion
My eyes widened.
“…Your Highness wishes to adopt me?!”

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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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