The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 48

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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 48
“And you mustn’t tease me about it.”
“Huh? Now I’m even more curious. Heinrich, tell me.”
Heinrich scratched the back of his head.
‘Damn it, my confidence just evaporated. All because that beast cub looked down on me.’
It wasn’t outright mockery, but there was definitely a glimmer of subtle contempt in those eyes.
Directed at him, who was boasting so proudly about crafting magical artifacts.
Of course, it wasn’t typical for an eleven-year-old to create magical artifacts.
…But I’m a genius!
‘What if Sister laughs at me too?’
Though Heinrich habitually displayed arrogance and pretense without a care, he desperately didn’t want to be ridiculed by Anette.
He wanted to appear impressive in her eyes.
Like a puppy caught tearing at the wallpaper, Heinrich hesitated and spoke in a small voice.
“Sister, I’m making a magical artifact. It’s almost complete.”
“…Huh?!”
“It’s not really that impressive―”
“Our Heinrich is a genius!!!”
Anette’s jade-green eyes suddenly blazed with brilliance.
“I knew it—our Heinrich is truly a genius. You’re amazing. You must be the smartest eleven-year-old there is!”
“….”
“No, the smartest in the entire world!”
Twitch.
The corners of Heinrich’s mouth lifted upward.
His eyes gleamed with restored arrogance, confidence, and that characteristic bratty temperament surging back in full force.
“Right?”
“Yes! Yes! Of course, our Heinrich is truly amazing and wonderful― Show me too!”
“It’s not quite at completion yet. You could say it’s still in the ‘testing’ phase.”
“Then you’ll show me once it’s finished?”
“…Of course.”
Heinrich’s shoulders shot up. As if he’d stacked shoulder pads ten layers high.
Like a preening cat, Anette chuckled quietly to herself.
‘My little boy’s confidence is bursting. How adorable.’
Just moments ago, he’d been drooping like a waterlogged cotton ball, whimpering softly, so she’d deliberately laid it on a bit thick.
Though truthfully, developing magical artifacts at eleven was nothing short of genius.
In the original story too, Heinrich possessed innate talent for magic—it was simply a character stat assigned to him.
But he’d never shown interest in magical artifacts before….
Why had that changed? So suddenly?
“Sister, I’m going to make a lot of money with magical artifacts.”
“Hmm, money…?”
“Yes.”
Anette tilted her head in confusion.
This wasn’t like him—he wasn’t usually so interested in money.
Heinrich spoke with a hint of embarrassment.
“Well, they say a wonderful man has wealth and power.”
“…A wonderful man?”
You’re barely a sprout, little one.
Regardless of what Anette thought, the eleven-year-old continued with unbridled enthusiasm.
“I’m going to become the Mage Tower Master through magic and earn tons of money to become incredibly rich! Then.”
Heinrich’s cheeks flushed crimson. The boy glanced away, feigning indifference as he spoke.
“…Then you’ll marry the greatest man there is.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Yes, yes, I understand. Our little one is truly wonderful, isn’t he?
Absolutely splendid.
Anette responded with a casual smile, listening with only half an ear.
“Heinrich, go to bed now. I’ll tuck you in.”
“Really?!”
The expression on Heinrich’s face, which moments before had been speaking so maturely about power and authority, instantly brightened like a puppy heading out for a walk.
‘How adorable.’
“Come on, let’s go. Heinrich.”
* * *
Deep in the night at the Dormitory.
I lay beside Heinrich on the bed, gently patting his back to help him sleep.
It had been a long time since we’d fallen asleep together like this.
When we first grew close, Heinrich would lose sleep from nightmares, and I first lay down with him to help him rest.
‘I used to read him fairy tales until he fell asleep.’
Heinrich dismissed it as childish, but after hearing stories of characters who always found happiness, he would calm down and drift off to sleep.
Heinrich—
Do you know?
I deliberately read only happy endings to you.
‘Because I wanted you to be happy.’
Abandoned by your father, left behind by your mother—I wanted to become the warmth you needed.
That resolve from back then, my wish for your happiness, remained unchanged.
Though I no longer read fairy tales to you, even just gentle patting was enough to bring the sleep fairy to rest upon Heinrich’s eyelashes.
Moonlight illuminated his pale, youthful face. It was the face of the boy I loved.
“…Sister.”
I whispered back, careful not to wake him.
“Yes, I’m right here. Heinrich.”
“I’m curious about something.”
Each time the boy whispered, his breath tickled against my skin.
“Why are you so kind to me…?”
The answer had always been predetermined.
Every time I was asked, hundreds of times over, I gave the same response.
“Because I love Heinrich!”
“….”
Heinrich’s earlobes flushed a subtle crimson.
How adorable.
His next response would be predictable—something like “Hmph, I know that already,” wouldn’t it?
“….”
Heinrich took the hand I’d been patting and brought it to his lips.
His pale lashes lowered bashfully.
Then a tender voice emerged, carrying the sincerity of one cherishing something precious.
“I love you too.”
My dear sister.
―My Anette.
Whispering tenderly, the flushed boy rested his forehead against the back of my hand.
“Very much.”
That clumsy confession wrapped itself around my heart.
Heinrich fell asleep clutching my hand, whispering over and over that he loved me, that he loved me dearly.
―As though it were his only happy ending.
* * *
[ How unexpected. You’ve withdrawn the adoption at that small child’s insistence. ]
“She’s a clever and cunning girl.”
[ Anette certainly is. ]
A peculiar pride resonated in Mimosa’s responding voice.
That pride grated on my nerves. I wanted to throttle Mimosa’s throat.
So it amused her that I’d been swayed by that girl’s whims?
Gerard drank deeply, his movements rough.
Glimmer―
At that moment, the jewel embedded in the cigarette case scattered a wavering light.
Fierce eyes ablaze with fury traced the jewel’s radiance.
“….”
That was the core of a soul.
A token of contract with a corrupt sorcerer.
Using such a precious thing casually in daily life and embedding it in a seemingly worthless case was a form of camouflage.
The more carefully one preserved an object, the more its true value would be revealed.
This strategy had always proven effective.
Until now, no one had paid it any attention.
For the first time, it had been discovered.
Its preciousness exposed—and to a mere slip of a girl at that.
‘How humiliating.’
I didn’t want to admit it, even unto death—but there was no choice but to acknowledge it.
That girl had gotten the better of me.
[ Did Avilos’s adjutant conduct business smoothly with Anette and return? ]
“You didn’t intervene directly at the scene?”
[ Not at all. I simply entrusted everything to Anette’s discretion. ]
“….”
―Yet Avilos returned in such a shambles?
“It wasn’t just the girl. There was also that Special Grade ability user called Sisrain! …I was simply unlucky.”
“Spare me your pathetic excuses.”
It wasn’t a matter of luck.
Judging by Anette’s temperament and intellect, drawing Sisrain into the affair was undoubtedly her own will.
He had always been a reliable adjutant, yet even his trusted subordinate had been bested and returned defeated.
Strangely, I wanted her even more.
I burned with desire to possess that girl who had made a fool of me.
Even drowning myself in drink, using humiliation as sustenance, could not quench this thirst.
I had always been drawn to what I lacked.
[ Will you let the child go as things stand? ]
“I’m not sure, Mimosa. I have never once lost what I desired.”
This time, I intended to seize her by the throat and drag her back.
“Come to think of it, today marks the fourth day.”
[ …The fourth day? Ah. ]
Mimosa paused, then understanding dawned upon her.
When I had first submitted the adoption petition, I had declared that I would bring Anette to the Imperial Palace within four days.
“The plan remains unchanged, madam. That child will arrive at the Imperial Palace at dawn today. And―”
Gerard’s crimson eyes narrowed.
“Of her own volition.”
[ …! ]
Gerard withdrew a long cigarette from its case and placed it between his lips.
Then, with a sharp click―
He lit it and drew deeply, the ember glowing red. He whispered with imprecise enunciation.
“I shall send a document to the Forest shortly.”
[ What…? ]
“Once you receive it, you’ll understand. Show that document to Anette first of all.”
Like a rabbit ensnared in a hunter’s trap, like a small insect thrashing within a spider’s web, she would be drawn here pitifully.
Into the palm of my hand.
And then―
I would never, for the rest of her life, let her go.
I would embed this humiliation deep within her very bones.
The thought of it brought such pleasure that Gerard twisted his lips into a smile.
Despite his handsome features, it was a smile that appeared somewhat depraved.
“Ugh.”
At that very moment, the tendons of my cursed flesh began to twist grotesquely.
Gerard let out a low groan, his gaze fixed upon the back of his hand where veins writhed and bulged beneath the skin.
“…This tedium is driving me mad.”
My body crumbles gradually, and the pain persists through the night—what else could one call this but a curse?
To escape this curse, I absolutely needed that woman.
Anette.
The power of Exordium was necessary.
After learning this truth, I had spent quite a long time planning to possess Anette.
—Perhaps far longer than Anette herself could have imagined.
“Should I go in here…?”
She would not remember, but it was I who had taken her hand and entered The Forest together.
On that brilliant spring day, the small girl had wept endlessly.
Her pitiful face was smeared with despair.
My eyes narrowed slightly.
“How pitiable. …In the future, she will weep far more.”
I chewed slowly on the cigarette’s end as I called out in a low voice.
“Avilos.”
Avilos, who had lingered like a shadow, emerged swiftly from the darkness.
“Prepare an awakening chamber in the North Palace Underground Chamber to confine the woman at once. There will be no deviation from the plan.”
“Yes.”
“Create an environment sufficiently stimulating to make her scream day and night… ensure it is thorough.”
Ah.
What a delightful command this is.
Avilos’s lips curved upward with exhilaration.
My loyal subordinate, who shared my sadistic nature, departed eagerly like a shadow.
* * *
“Mimosa, did you call for me?”
Mimosa had summoned me one afternoon after lunch had ended.
‘Hmm? Her expression is colder than usual.’
Something ominous about this.
Mimosa regarded me with her stern golden eyes, then swiftly slid a document envelope that had been resting on her desk toward me.
“….”
I gazed at it absently before startling with a gasp.
‘Gerard’s seal! …A document from the Imperial Court.’
“Anette. This document is not addressed to you, but it would be better for you to read it first.”
Gulp.
It’s not my document, yet I’m to read it first?
“The First Prince has requested it.”
What scheme is this?
I nervously withdrew the documents from the envelope with deliberate care. And then.
“…!”
The moment I glimpsed the contents, my expression froze momentarily.
‘Ah, I should have seen this coming.’
Soon after, my lips curved upward in a belated smile.
Your Highness, your depravity truly knows no bounds—not a single deviation from my expectations.
The documents bore the following inscription:

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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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