The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 59

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

Chapter 59
* * *
Kyle Winston, the eldest son of House of Winston, felt as though he were still dreaming.
Even as I walked through the dark, damp back alley, my face remained faintly flushed the entire time.
“Pay back your debt to me—with your body.”
At the sound of Anette’s voice echoing suddenly in my ears, the large man removed his glasses with one hand and wiped his face as if washing it dry.
“―I’m going mad.”
Perhaps I’ll hear that voice all night long?
Kyle exhaled deeply, folding his glasses and tucking them into his pocket.
Then my face was revealed in the gaslight. The man’s features still bore the impression of his childhood.
Of course, compared to that shy boy, my eye sockets had grown deeper, my frame taller, and my hands—stained with so much blood—had become firm and large.
For the past ten years, Kyle Winston had served with Kirke in the Demon Subjugation Corps.
As the successor to House of Winston, which had inherited the duty of subjugating demons at the border for generations in the Eldorado Empire, it was a natural decision—but
in truth, that period coincided with when Bijae Winston, who operated the information broker Kirke, had gone into hiding.
In the light, demon subjugation.
In the shadows, running an information network.
This was a secret the Winston family had carried down through generations.
Each successor operated an information broker under their own alias (just as Bijae used the name Balrok), and they had never once been discovered.
From masks that completely altered one’s appearance to techniques for erasing traces—
with each successive generation of Winston, the methods of concealing identity had become increasingly sophisticated.
However, attacking the imperial prince’s entourage was certainly a high-risk action.
Normally, when committing such acts, one would completely change the information broker’s name and pass the master’s position to the successor—but
no matter how exceptional Kyle was, he was still just barely over ten years old.
In the end, Bijae Winston made a decision.
“From today onward, we depart on an extended demon subjugation campaign. We will erase all traces of Kirke and devote ourselves solely to our role as the Empire’s Demon Subjugation Corps. …My son is ten years old, yet he will survive on the battlefield.”
“I am fine with this, Father.”
“I trust you, my son!”
That was when it began.
Outwardly, I organized the Demon Subjugation Corps to protect the border, while secretly and methodically slaughtering the hunting dogs sent by Gerard.
In the process, the boy grew up on the battlefield and became a man before I knew it.
Once I came of age, I had become a man worthy of the next master.
“I entrust the guild to you now, my son. Please take good care of our beautiful future daughter-in-law!”
…It was a rather odd request (usually it goes the other way around), but once Kyle accepted, Bijae departed on a long vacation as if he’d been waiting for it.
The Kirke members, who had returned from the Demon Subjugation Corps to their identity as an information network, obtained a new name—Larva—and a new master.
And Larva began its first operations here, on Bayonere Island.
Creeeeak—
The moment Kyle opened the door and stepped inside, a group of menacing brutes greeted him boisterously.
“Master!”
“Welcome! Hahahaha, did you stop by the bakery again today?”
“Did you manage to say even a single word to her today?”
The one-eyed man and the burly fellow who had been playing poker, along with those drinking beer, rose to their feet and offered greetings before pelting me with questions.
As expected, they were quite the unsettling bunch.
The muscular brute stared at my hands with the intensity of a dog watching its master return from an outing (though truthfully, he was simply looking—his appearance just made it seem that way), then pressed both palms against his head.
“…How could this be! There’s no bread today!”
The one-eyed man flinched in surprise as well.
“Why is there no bread? Now I find myself feeling incomplete if I don’t have bread from the Little Bakery even for a single day.”
“I’m suffering from what I call ‘bread withdrawal’! Without that shop’s cream puffs, my hands tremble and I drool uncontrollably, becoming terribly anxious….”
“Stop your noise and hold your tongue.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yes, sir.”
At my indifferent command, Larva’s lips sealed shut immediately.
I lifted the hem of my frock coat and settled into a chair, then pulled on my leather half-gloves and rested my chin in my palm.
“A significant problem has arisen.”
“What might that be?”
I explained to Larva what had transpired when I visited Anette’s bakery today.
The one-eyed man and the burly fellow listened with expressions devoid of hope.
After all, for six months I had been unable to present a single white flower or piece of chocolate, instead purchasing only bread with shameless frequency.
So what hope could there be?
Should I speak tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow….
While I deliberated, the chocolate would melt and the flowers would wilt, so I became the master who purchased fresh chocolate and white flowers for her anew each day.
I was truly the epitome of shameful cowardice.
Their greatest concern was whether we would exchange names within a year.
But then.
“…!!! Such rapid progress!”
“You’ve arranged a meeting for tomorrow, sir?”
The one-eyed man’s single eye widened rapidly in disbelief.
“I didn’t arrange it—she essentially ‘announced’ it.”
It was the truth. She had suddenly thrown out a location and date, saying I should repay my debt with my body.
In a mere minute, Anette had accomplished what I could not in six months.
“Master, so tomorrow is a date?”
At the one-eyed man’s words, I responded with a visibly shocked expression.
“…A date?”
Even as I asked this, the nape of my neck flushed a vivid crimson.
The burly fellow stroked his beard thoughtfully.
“‘Repay with your body,’ you say…that means….”
The burly fellow likely anticipated that I would be given some task to perform.
Near the Bishanc Clock Tower stood a large market selling produce and baking ingredients, and she was a bakery proprietor, after all.
“Perhaps, for the master….”
“―It means to offer your body and soul.”
‘…That couldn’t possibly be, could it? Master?’
Kyle’s frame stiffened, but his eyes already gleamed with a subtle, unsettling madness.
The one-eyed man and the muscular one exchanged rapid glances, but the one-eyed man quickly shook his head side to side at the larger man, signaling him to give up.
The message was clear: ‘Looking at those eyes, there’s no point trying to stop him. It’s already too late.’
Their master possessed remarkably beautiful features, but having loved only one woman his entire life—and unrequited at that—he was hopelessly inexperienced in matters of romance.
“I suppose I should begin preparing a proposal soon.”
‘Already a proposal…?!’
‘Already?’
The one-eyed man, observing the runaway locomotive of love careening forward, opened his mouth with utmost caution.
“In truth, Master, not all couples who date end up married.”
“…Is that so?”
The muscular man chimed in as well.
“That’s right, exactly!”
“Time is necessary. A proposal should be made only after carefully reading the mood with the lady.”
“Of course it should. Foolish of me. It’s obvious, yet when it concerns her, I become an idiot. …My heart is racing.”
Kyle sat down and rubbed his flushed face repeatedly.
“But I intend to propose as soon as possible.”
It was already promised, after all. In truth, when I was very young, I had already promised her that I would propose once we grew up.
I had handed her a white flower respectfully and asked, and she had smiled like an angel and said yes.
From that day forward, young Kyle could never forget that moment, not even once.
Recalling that time, his face took on the dreamy expression of a boy lost in reverie, but he suddenly snapped back to awareness and lifted his head.
And he posed a somewhat dazed question.
“What should I wear tomorrow?”
—It was the first worry he had ever experienced in his life.
* * *
The next day.
I was bounding down the hill as swiftly as a flying squirrel.
“Oh no, I’m late.”
I’m sorry, Kine.
As a professional self-employed merchant, I had no habit of being tardy, but Vincent had requested my help when young Adam, the five-year-old from downstairs, fell ill, which caused me to lose time.
Fortunately, I managed to give the crying Adam fever medicine and put him to sleep, and Vincent gifted me food ingredients in gratitude (he had nearly tried to give me his entire vegetable garden, so I had to stop him), but in the end I was ten minutes behind.
Tap, tap!
My white sneakers struck the ground with forceful, rhythmic strides.
A pleasant breeze brushed against my skin.
Brilliant sunlight.
The weather was so fine that the more I ran, the better my mood became.
“Huff. Huff.”
Finally reaching the vicinity of the Bishanc Clock Tower, I paused around the corner to tidy my hair and appearance.
‘He might have already left.’
But there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s my fault.
Thinking I would have to buy the ingredients on my own, I stepped around the corner.
But then.
“…!”
Kine was waiting right there.
My first thought was, ‘How long has he been waiting?’ and the thought that followed was…
‘Strangely, I can only see Kine.’
―that was it.
It was partly because of his height, which towered over the other men, but it was the sunlight streaming through his soft brown hair—like an autumn wheat field—and those beautiful eyes.
The square-framed glasses and his unusually neat appearance today made him look like a painting come to life.
Such a lyrical, handsome man….
To the left of the Bishanc Clock Tower lay the Food Ingredient Market, but to the right sprawled the Entertainment District, a favorite haunt of lovers, so there were quite a few men waiting for their companions.
Yet the women—girls and adults alike—were all flushing crimson, stealing glances at Kyle.
“…!”
Then, he suddenly spotted her.
As she drew gradually closer, his emerald eyes—luminous with sunlight—sparkled with anticipation, his gaze softening with warmth.
It was a tender smile, brimming with affection.
“Kine, I’m sorry I’m late.”
“Not at all.”
“Have you been waiting long?”
Kyle answered readily, placing his large hand earnestly over his heart.
“Not at all. I only just arrived myself—I had some business to attend to. My lady.”
At that lie, the Flower Vendor standing nearby burst out laughing. “Pfft.”
He had seen this innocent man arrive two hours ago and wait the entire time with such an eager, hopeful expression on his face.
“….”
Kyle awkwardly touched his reddened ears.

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————