The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 54

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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 54
I rubbed my reddened eyes and settled back into my seat.
I’d nearly burst into tears.
‘Thank goodness I held back the tears.’
If I’d cried, Borlae would have certainly seized the opportunity to criticize me.
I hadn’t realized boys could cling so pathetically, but I’d certainly done what needed to be done.
Perhaps that’s why my heart quickly settled into calm—as if I’d completed the sole mission granted to an extra character.
‘I need to focus on my objective.’
After all, I was currently hanging from the very top of an apple tree.
If I fell, I’d suffer at least severe injuries.
‘How do I escape?’
I watched for an opening in Borlae’s attention, timing my move carefully. Meanwhile, the carriage had traveled quite far from the Forest.
“Borlae… would you mind stopping the carriage for a moment? I need to use the restroom.”
Those cold brown eyes shot toward me.
‘Ugh, those hawk eyes!’
“Once you become a member of the Imperial Family, you cannot simply relieve yourself whenever you please. Will you abandon your seat without restraint during important conferences, during meetings with the Nobility? Even then?”
But teacher, this isn’t a meeting with the Nobility right now.
“When you leave your post, who knows what words are exchanged in that Imperial Palace—that battlefield. You must always keep your wits about you. Therefore―”
Borlae’s lips twisted.
“Hold it.”
I blinked.
Wait, do members of the Imperial Family need to use the restroom with dignity too?
From the start, there was a clear intention to completely crush the spirit of this twelve-year-old.
If that’s the case―
“Yes! Borlae! Thank you for such wonderful instruction.”
I spoke with shining eyes, as if deeply moved.
“…!”
Instead, Borlae flinched again.
Those eyes seemed to wonder: what is this child with absolutely no impact?
“But I’m getting carriage sickness. Surely opening the window a bit would be acceptable, teacher?”
“…You suffer from carriage sickness?”
“In the Forest, we usually travel on foot. Outside of socialization training, I rarely ride in carriages. If I were to vomit, it would ruin your dress, teacher―”
“Open it at once.”
I threatened her with the mention of patience again, and she quickly rolled down the window with a creak.
I leaned out and gazed outside, letting the wind wash over me.
Borlae seemed uninterested in confirming what I’d eaten this morning, so she left me alone as I stared out the window for quite some time.
Then, shortly after.
“Oh no…! What do I do! My scarf flew out the window!”
“Forget that cheap scarf.”
As I let the scarf fly and made a fuss, Borlae replied coldly.
‘I thought you wouldn’t even blink, Eagle.’
But what about this?
“However, the embroidery on that scarf is the symbol of the Tree, isn’t it? I’m supposed to give it to my parents as a memento later. Your Highness!”
“…!”
“If I lose it, the Prince might become angry….”
Borlae’s complexion shifted.
She hastily rapped tap-tap on the carriage to stop it, then opened the door and spoke to me.
“Stay right here and don’t move. I’ll go retrieve the scarf!”
“Yes, teacher.”
I answered with eyes gleaming like an innocent, exemplary student.
And―
Hehe, I rubbed my nose and laughed.
‘She fell for it so easily. Time to make my escape.’
I didn’t have much time. The scarf had flown quite far, but she’d retrieve it soon enough.
‘So I’d better hurry.’
I pulled at my necklace and retrieved the magical artifact I’d been wearing as a pendant substitute.
The one that mysterious Phantom Boy had given me.
“The contract is valid starting today. I’ll come pick you up tomorrow morning. If you press ‘that’ in the carriage, an escape route will open up.”
‘I’m supposed to press this?’
Would Phantom Boy really come pick me up?
I glanced slightly out the window, but saw no one coming to retrieve me.
The thought suddenly occurred to me that he’d just handed me a shoddy business card and made promises—there was no guarantee he’d actually come.
‘He seemed like a bit of a con artist, didn’t he?’
Even with the mask on, his impression somehow felt unsavory.
His true appearance might be some troll-like old man….
But a promise is a promise, after all.
I gulped—swallowed hard—closed my eyes, and pressed the magical artifact with a prayer in my heart.
Click.
“….”
And everything fell silent.
Nothing happened.
―I’ve been deceived?
“Squeak squeak! (I really did get tricked!).”
I stomped my feet in place.
“Squeak, squeak squeak? (But what is this sound?).”
As I looked around, a tiny puff of cotton reflected in the carriage window stared back at me.
Black eyes, pink nose, adorably perky little ears, a plump fluffy body.
“Squeak squeak?! (What?!).”
―I’d become a chinchilla!
A baby chinchilla plopped down onto the seat with its chubby rear end.
“Squeak squeak (there’s no way out like this…).”
Sob, sob—to think I’d been reduced to something so pathetic.
I despaired for a moment before a shocking realization struck me.
‘If I’m this small, I can’t carry the treasure pouch!’
I glanced to the side in alarm and spotted a bag that had shrunk to match my size.
I mentally upgraded my evaluation of Phantom Boy by several notches.
Such attention to detail! I wanted to shower him with kisses right then and there—it was that brilliant.
I waddled forward (my rear end swayed with every step, unavoidably) and eagerly hugged the treasure to myself.
Then I smiled contentedly.
“Squeak (hehe, my treasure…).”
But this isn’t the time for that. Should I start planning my escape?
I slung the treasure pouch around my neck and began carefully surveying my surroundings.
That’s when I spotted a small hole beneath the carriage.
‘There it is!’
It was likely a necessary opening in the design—a human wouldn’t be affected by it, but a chinchilla could definitely squeeze through.
‘Let’s go.’
Waddle, waddle, waddle, waddle.
Thunk!
‘Huh, wh-what?’
I was stuck. …My plump body had gotten wedged in!
“Squeeeeeak!”
I cried desperately and thrashed about.
Pop!
The freed chinchilla scurried frantically away from beneath the carriage.
* * *
“…She’s gone.”
Borlae picked up her scarf. Her expression darkened.
“Incompetent orphan girl. When she returns, she’ll need harsh discipline. I won’t have my reputation tarnished by this.”
At that moment, a sinister hand wielding a magic gun suddenly emerged above her head.
Then came a clear, crisp sound.
―Bang!
Borlae, struck on the crown, toppled sideways.
“Move her.”
“Psst, move her gently.”
Moments later.
The grass rustled, and Borlae emerged.
Or rather, a man wearing Borlae’s dress and a poorly fitted wig did.
The zipper on his back wouldn’t close, leaving his muscular back grotesquely exposed.
This brawny man, his lower lip gleaming with a gold tooth, casually climbed into the carriage impersonating Borlae and rapped on the door. Tap, tap!
Whiiiing!
The carriage departed without anyone knowing anything was amiss.
But soon, the carriage in the middle row, sensing something wrong, came to a halt, and the perceptive Mage descended.
He was Gerard’s escort Mage—the same man who had attacked Sisrain earlier.
The Mage stopped the very last carriage and opened its door to check inside.
“…!”
And he froze in place.
Borlae’s body had swollen to a grotesquely alarming degree.
“What, what in the world is this mass?!”
The muscular man, wearing a suspicious mask and stroking his sparse beard, asked.
“Doesn’t my disguise work?”
“…You actually thought it would work?!”
Bang, bang, bang!
The man, grinning wickedly, suddenly fired a magical bullet, sending the Mage tumbling backward.
That was when Gerard’s carriage came to a stop.
“What’s happening?!”
Before the urgently descending escort could even finish speaking, the previously quiet surroundings erupted with the thundering sound of hoofbeats—men swarmed like a pack of dogs.
Seeing the crimson knots hanging from the black horses’ manes and the bizarre patterned masks, the escorts’ faces went pale.
“Balrok has appeared!!! …It’s a Kirke attack! Gasp!”
The shouting man suddenly collapsed.
Bang! Bang!
The crisp sound of magical gunfire echoed beneath the sky.
“Block them!”
Everyone scrambled to defend themselves, but the Kirke members swept through them like a tidal wave.
Meanwhile.
Scurry, scurry, scurry.
A brave chinchilla darted through the chaos.
‘Oh no, my legs are too short to run fast. And the gunfire is so loud. I’m scared, so scared!’
Neigh!
Just then, the cry of a muscular black horse sounded nearby.
A boy wearing a mask with a diamond-shaped trump symbol beneath his eyes was galloping the horse toward her.
“Squeak, squee (Phantom Boy)!”
The chinchilla waved her tiny paws excitedly.
The boy held the reins of the galloping horse with one hand and leaned his upper body fluidly, extending his hand toward Anette.
Then, shaping his hand like a scoop, he smoothly scooped her up.
Like an ice cream cone at a thirty-one-flavor shop, Anette was nestled perfectly round. ‘Chinchilla flavor’.
“Squee (nice to see you!)”
The masked boy met Anette’s eye level as she rested in his palm and smiled wickedly.
“Hello there, cutie.”
‘Hello, Anette.’
Charmed by how adorable the shrunken Anette looked, the boy smiled.
Chinchilla’s ears perked up with unbridled delight.
And with tiny front teeth, she cried out.
“Chirp! (Let’s go…!)”
The boy carefully placed Anette in his front pocket and urged his horse forward with vigor.
The Kirke members, who had devastated the Imperial Prince’s procession in an instant, flowed out from the scene like a receding tide, following behind him—Balrok’s son in disguise.
Cheerful laughter and the thunder of hoofbeats echoed across the heavens and earth.

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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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