The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 58

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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 58
“…Hello, Anette.”
Pink hair, eyes the color of water, a frame small and lean for a twelve-year-old.
―Hmm, unfortunately not enough to cover a tab.
The boy who entered the Bakery was named Noah.
Noah lived in a small house at the foot of the Hill with his younger sister and grandfather, and their circumstances were far from comfortable.
Knowing the boy’s plight—his small hands worn raw from helping his grandfather—I had been providing bread to this family for six months now.
“Hey there~”
I smiled brightly at him.
“…I’ve come again today.”
“Good timing. I was getting bored, actually. Have you eaten lunch?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Then I’ll pack some food for you to take home. Today’s menu is lamb and vegetable stew with bread!”
The moment he heard the words “meat stew,” I saw the boy swallow hard.
Realizing he’d been caught, his face flushed crimson.
‘Oh my, how adorable.’
This little pink cotton ball of a kid!
“Just wait a moment. I’ll wrap up some fresh, warm bread for you.”
The boy fidgeted with his worn hands in front of him.
I hummed softly as I generously filled a paper bag with still-warm bread, and carefully packaged the stew that had simmered slowly over low heat, enriched with umami.
“Here you go. Take it home and enjoy it with your sister and grandfather, alright?”
“…Anette.”
“Hmm?”
Noah lifted his head and spoke.
“You don’t need to take care of us like this anymore. I’m grown now. I can look after my grandfather and sister myself.”
Hearing such words from someone not even half an adult’s height, my heart ached somehow.
‘I had a time like that too.’
When I thought I was grown at twelve.
That childhood when I wanted to care for my own path and also tenderly look after other children.
Looking back now, I was so young then….
I quietly bent my knees and lowered my body to meet his eyes, and smiled.
“Noah, if it doesn’t trouble you, would you keep accepting bread from me?”
“….”
“I miss the siblings I left behind, and when I give bread to you, my heart finds peace. Besides, opening the Little Bakery has always been my long-held dream—to share bread with so many people. I want to show off my skills!”
I smiled warmly.
“So really, Noah, you’re actually helping me fulfill my wish.”
“…!”
The boy’s pupils wavered slightly. Noah clenched his worn hands tightly, then released them, and spoke again.
“Then, from now on, please wrap up the leftover bread. There’s no need for you to always go through the trouble of baking twice.”
“Absolutely not!”
I straightened my posture and boldly extended my index finger with a snap, speaking with conviction.
“Because my ‘bread pride’ won’t allow it.”
“…B-bread pride?”
“The operation of the Little Bakery depends on my ‘bread pride.’ Bread tastes best when it’s still warm! I won’t allow stale, crumbly bread baked long ago in my shop to leave these doors—my bread pride simply won’t permit it!”
Besides, there was never any leftover bread at the Little Bakery.
We always sold every last loaf before closing (just observe my business acumen with those date palm tarts), without exception.
Noah looked at me with eyes that seemed to ask, ‘Is it really necessary to be so firm about this?’ but I rubbed my nose smugly, feeling quite proud of myself.
Hehe, I’m rather a splendid bakery owner, if I do say so.
And I’ve experienced it myself, you see.
In my past life, I was in the pitiful position of receiving help, so I understand that feeling all too well.
What was given to me at that corrupt orphanage in my previous life was mostly food just before its expiration date and clothes worn carelessly by others until they were tattered.
―It was called charity.
‘Even if circumstances are difficult, children have the right to be happy eating warm bread like everyone else.’
No—everyone deserves that.
My philosophy was that before bread, all people should know only happiness.
And as I helped the boy, I found myself thinking of the Forest Children, and my heart grew warm.
I met Noah’s hesitant gaze.
Then I smiled gently and softly stroked his head.
“You just need to eat deliciously without worrying about anything, Noah.”
I laughed with genuine sincerity.
“That’s my greatest joy, you know?”
“….”
Noah’s water-blue eyes shimmered with emotion.
Soon the boy’s face flushed, and he lowered his head deeply, murmuring softly.
“…I’m truly always grateful to you, Anette.”
“I’m grateful too.”
I wrapped up bread and stew generously and sent Noah on his way.
As Noah ran up the Hill, he turned back several times, waving his beret toward me.
‘When he gets home, he’ll have dinner soon, won’t he?’
My imagination unfolded.
As the sun sets, smoke will rise from the chimney, and his grandfather, younger sister, and the boy will gather around the small table for a warm family dinner.
They’ll share many stories.
Even without saying anything special, laughter will burst forth, and meager food shared among them will taste delicious.
In that moment, all the hardships of the day will become nothing.
―Because that is what ‘family’ is.
Suddenly, I felt lonely.
“I envy it.”
“….”
“What does it feel like to have a family like that, Noah?”
I’ve never experienced it in my past life, so I wouldn’t know.
But imagining it like this is enough for me.
“….”
I gazed at the Hill for a long while before letting out a soft sigh.
Then I stepped into the Bakery. It was time to set aside my envy and return to my comfortable life.
* * *
The days that followed were peaceful.
As usual, I read a few books (there were many entertaining novels here too), brought potted plants inside, and gave them nutrients.
Then, quite leisurely, I knitted, and in the evening I fed a cat that had come to visit.
Meow―
“Is it our house today?”
The cat, who wandered the village scrounging for meals, purred and rubbed its face against the back of my hand.
After setting out the cat’s food, I ate a simple dinner and went into the kitchen to tidy up.
Click―I frowned as I opened the pantry drawer.
“Hmm, I’m almost out of baking supplies.”
‘I’ll need to go shopping tomorrow.’
But wait, let me think―
With Um gone, who would I get to carry the goods?
Faced with the loss of my efficient free labor, this self-employed shop owner fell into contemplation.
But the contemplation didn’t last long.
―Unexpectedly, a worker was closer than I thought.
* * *
Ding―
As the wooden door opened, a bell attached alongside a chick plush toy chimed cheerfully.
‘Oh? He’s here.’
I observed the man with a slight glance.
Hair that rippled softly like beautiful autumn wheat fields, eyes of emerald clarity like the seawater of a coral island, and thin square-framed glasses.
His nose was sharp and his lips were full. Looking at him again, he had quite a handsome face.
The handsome man was always a bit shy and hesitant, but his broad shoulders and tall stature made his timid demeanor look rather endearing.
‘Why has he come two days in a row?’
Usually he visits the Bakery every other day. And what’s that he’s holding?
He was carrying some kind of paper bag.
I wondered if he’d already bought bread from another bakery, and gave him a sharp look, but fortunately it wasn’t bread.
―They were beautiful apples, round and gleaming.
He’d bought so many that with his large, pale hands, he was carefully holding a single red apple protruding from the bag so it wouldn’t fall.
I completed all these observations in under a second and greeted the customer with a bright smile.
“Welcome. You’ve stopped by again today?”
The man bowed respectfully.
“…Good day to you.”
His full lips moved.
“I’m truly sorry about yesterday. I only realized later that I left without paying for the bread, lady.”
With his characteristically noble and courteous manner, he offered a sincere apology.
‘He looks like he’s committed some grave crime.’
Seeing the handsome young man so flustered, I felt a mischievous urge to tease him, so I crossed my arms and furrowed my brow.
“Is it possible you bought those lovely, delicious-looking apples as an apology?”
“That… is correct.”
At his endearingly honest response, a faint smile briefly crossed the Bakery owner’s face, though the handsome youth failed to catch it.
Anette spoke while keeping her arms crossed.
“I can’t accept free bread and settle the debt with just an apology, sir.”
“Ah… of course not. I will pay for the bread separately.”
“I won’t accept money.”
Behind his square-framed glasses, the man’s green eyes flickered with confusion.
Meanwhile, the Bakery owner’s gaze swept over the man.
His firm forearms cradling the bag of apples without strain, the subtle firmness of his chest visible beneath his shirt, his lean, muscular abdomen without an ounce of excess.
Gulp.
At that appraising gaze, his Adam’s apple bobbed as if in tension.
“The price for the debt incurred by free bread is….”
Anette said, stroking her chin with covetous eyes.
“I want payment with that firm body of yours.”
“…!”
Thud―
In an instant, a bright red apple tumbled from the paper bag, rolling across the floor.
His ears flushed an innocent crimson.
“My apologies. I seem to have misheard you. Could you please say that again….”
Anette met his gaze directly and spoke with deliberate clarity.
“Repay the debt. ‘With your body.'”
“…!!!”
Crash―
His flustered expression unmistakable, he dropped the entire bag of apples from his arms.
As he bent down to gather them, the back of his neck flushed crimson in an instant surge of heat.
His large hands fumbled to pick up the apples, but somehow he dropped more than he managed to place back in the bag.
Anette, suppressing a smile, picked up one bright red apple and handed it to him lightly.
“Do you dislike it?”
He shook his head frantically.
“No.”
“Then, you like it?”
He nodded his head frantically.
“Yes, I do.”
Anette smiled softly and asked again.
“What’s your name?”
“Ah, my name is, K… ‘Kine,’ as it is.”
The man had started to say his name, but stumbled slightly before correcting himself. Anette nodded with an “ah” of understanding.
“I’ll call you Kine, then.”
“…Yes. Thank you, my lady.”
I wasn’t sure what he was thanking me for, but I decided to accept the apology anyway.
Once he had gathered all the apples, I accepted the bag brimming with fruit and smiled warmly.
“Then shall we meet tomorrow at the Clock Tower on Bishanc Street at 10 in the morning?”
“That would be excellent.”
“You don’t have any other commitments tomorrow, do you?”
He shook his head. There was an unmistakable resolve in his expression—as if he would cancel any prior engagement without hesitation to keep this appointment.
His earnest response was endearing, and I found myself laughing softly.
“…”
The man who had introduced himself as Kine looked slightly embarrassed, biting his lip. A shy dimple appeared on his handsome face.
I smiled back at him and spoke.
“Then I’ll see you at the Clock Tower at 10 tomorrow. You won’t be late, will you?”
“I won’t be late.”
Kine replied.
“Absolutely not…”
A faint excitement gleamed in his eyes.
His expression was that of someone who wanted to rush to the Clock Tower this very moment and wait for her through the night.

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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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