The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 63
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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 63
“It’s been a while since I’ve read the newspaper.”
I unfolded the paper with a peaceful heart. The World Daily.
Then I munched on a rusk and scanned the headlines first.
I hoped today would be uneventful.
I hoped beautiful world peace would be maintained.
‘Well, much later on… there would probably be news about Sisrain becoming Crown Prince.’
Thinking back to the original story―
‘It would take about seven years.’
If Heinrich remained safe after that without being accused of treason, my carefully crafted happy ending would be complete.
So there were only a few years left.
For me to keep subscribing to the World Daily.
“Huh?”
But when I read today’s headline, I couldn’t hide my shock.
「 The Eldorado Empire’s Hidden Prince ‘Sisrain von Axilpherion’ ― Officially Ascends as Crown Prince! 」
Pardon me, what?
Why is this article coming out now…?
Feeling the sting of being blindsided, I dropped the rusk I’d been chewing.
“Why did the original story move up so much?”
It was an ominous sign.
What on earth has been happening without my knowledge?
―In Eldorado.
* * *
Dawn in Eldorado.
The Audience Chamber of the Axilpherion Imperial Palace was filled with those holding real power, gathered for a meeting.
While key ministers including Gerard convened, servants who couldn’t hear were present to attend to them.
The throne leading this arrogant assembly should rightfully be occupied by the Emperor―
But the Emperor was absent.
Instead, a man with green hair and crimson eyes sat upon the throne.
He was the one who had taken temporary control of imperial authority in place of the Emperor, who had collapsed years ago for unknown reasons and become paralyzed on one side.
Derek von Axilpherion.
The current Emperor’s brother and Gerard’s ‘puppet’.
“Since we’re deciding on such an important matter, shouldn’t we call Prince Sisrain…?”
Derek asked, his eyes rolling with unease.
The agenda of the meeting was to decide whether to wage war for territorial expansion, and they had reached a consensus to have ‘Sisrain’ lead that war.
It was a meeting where they were pushing the absent party into a deadly situation.
“Once it’s decided, he must comply.”
Gerard continued with ease.
“This is a meeting attended by Your Highness, who stands in for imperial authority. To refuse would be to defy the imperial decree, which constitutes treason against the Axilpherion Imperial Family.”
Forcing someone into a lethal battlefield and calling refusal treason.
Gerard, who had laid the trap, smiled like a serpent.
“Surely the Prince wouldn’t do such a thing.”
Bang!
At that very moment, the door burst open and a guard rushed in, shouting.
“D-d-disaster has struck!”
Gerard’s face went rigid.
“What has happened?”
“The Third Prince has just been… murdered!”
“…!!!”
The entire chamber erupted in shock.
“P-Prince Sisrain emerged from his chambers at dawn and suddenly committed such an act—”
The guard continued, trembling violently.
“His eyes were mad. He’s lost his mind. He’s coming this way now! Everyone must flee…!”
In an instant, the Audience Chamber was gripped by terror. People scrambled to escape in a frenzy.
Then, a weighty voice that could not be ignored pressed down upon the assembly. It was Gerard.
“No one leaves.”
“B-b-but if he tries to kill us too…!”
It was precisely when Derek was pleading in desperation.
Creeeeak—
The heavy door swung wide open, and the hinges let out a chilling wail.
“…!!!”
The moment everyone’s gaze turned toward the doorway, their hair stood on end.
There stood a muscular man approaching nearly 190 centimeters in height.
He had just risen from his chambers.
From his broad shoulders, his chest was fully exposed, down to his waist.
Black silk cascaded like waves across his imposingly sculpted physique.
And it was drenched in blood. Certainly not his own.
Everyone in the chamber fell silent. Not a word was spoken, and scarcely anyone was breathing properly.
“…”
They felt a sense of déjà vu. It was as though they had been transported back to years ago, when Sisrain first began slaughtering his brothers.
He had torn out their throats, they said.
In the dead of night, without any provocation.
On that day when he so easily claimed the life of the Fifth Prince, who harbored ambitions for imperial power, his mother had fainted and the Imperial Court was seized with dread.
From that moment on, Sisrain had systematically eliminated those who vied with him for the throne.
It was hardly uncommon for princes to kill one another in their struggle to become Crown Prince.
Yet there was something peculiarly cruel about him.
Like an unpredictable, savage beast.
“How fortunate that you’re all gathered here.”
A voice, disturbingly low, flowed from between bloodstained lips.
Crack, crackle—
As he walked barefoot, blood smeared viscously across the marble floor, leaving crimson footprints in his wake.
Eyes burning a mad, feverish red swept across the assembled court.
“What were you all discussing?”
“…!”
A sharp intake of breath.
The ministers, caught red-handed, lowered their eyes.
“Y-Your Highness…! What brings you here?”
Derek mustered his courage and spoke with forced gravity.
“―I woke at dawn and found myself bored.”
Beneath raven-black hair, crimson eyes gleamed with amusement.
“I’ve brought a gift for Uncle.”
“Th-thank you.”
Sisrain handed over the pouch directly.
Derek accepted it with studied composure, as though careful not to provoke a madman, and peered inside.
Then he shrieked convulsively and hurled the pouch away.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
Thud, roll roll roll―
Something round tumbled freely from the bag. Derek’s expression was one of utter revulsion, and the attendants, divining what the “gift” was, let out piercing screams.
‘That insane bastard.’
Gerard’s teeth ground together.
Only a month since returning from the battlefield, and he couldn’t restrain himself—he needed to see blood?
The council had proceeded under the assumption his body hadn’t fully recovered.
Gerard had intended to have this eyesore shipped back to the warfront by imperial decree. With that plan now in ruins and this chaos unfolding, his fury burned white-hot.
He stepped forward and spoke sharply.
“Prince Sisrain! Was it necessary to cause such a disturbance in the dead of night?”
“….”
Those murky, crimson eyes fixed upon Gerard.
“Now only we remain—those who share the same mother.”
All the other princes were dead. Only the First Prince Gerard, born of the First Empress as legend held, and his younger brother Sisrain remained.
Those red eyes curved into a smile.
“Brother.”
His voice was languid, all the more menacing for it.
“I am fully prepared to slaughter even a brother born of the same womb.”
“…!!!”
“Do you harbor ambitions for the throne?”
The question was blunt.
A threat, unmistakably.
The court tensed, eyes darting between the two princes.
The last princes of the Axilpherion Imperial Family.
One of them would become Crown Prince.
Until now, there had been many princes capable of inheriting the throne, so discussions about naming a Crown Prince had been perpetually postponed.
But circumstances had changed.
With only a single candidate for Crown Prince, and the Emperor unconscious, swiftly appointing a Crown Prince was the most stable approach to governing the Empire.
Thus, Gerard’s answer now held paramount importance.
In his heart, Gerard yearned to defy Sisrain a thousand times over—yet his strength remained insufficient.
He lacked the power to stand against him here.
To resist now would be to invite a dog’s death.
Gerard answered, his body trembling with humiliation, as though coughing up blood.
“I harbor no ambitions for the throne.”
His beastlike younger brother let out a low chuckle.
It was clear he had already anticipated Gerard’s response.
“Then we shall appoint the Crown Prince here and now.”
“…!”
The power brokers, caught off guard, froze in an instant.
Sisrain sat alone in his chair with unflappable composure, gesturing leisurely as though to say: begin.
An unprecedented emergency assembly had commenced.
* * *
The Office of the Hyacinth Marquis House.
Heinrich furrowed his brow as his aide relayed the events that had unfolded within the Imperial Palace.
“Tch—that barbaric beast. I grow weary of his company by the day.”
Heinrich adjusted his ornate jeweled cravat and licked his crimson lips.
“He made such a spectacle searching for my sister, and now he seeks to become Crown Prince as well.”
His aide inquired.
“…Does this relate to Lady Anette?”
“Of course it does.”
Heinrich spoke as though the answer were so obvious he couldn’t be bothered to explain, then gazed at his reflection in the mirror.
“Everything that creature does is connected to my sister.”
In the mirror stood a handsome man with upturned eyes, smooth pale skin, and violet irises, returning his gaze.
His flamboyant attire suited him more than anyone else.
He stood over 180 centimeters tall, his lips so red they appeared wanton.
As though he had consumed only the finest luxuries since birth.
Heinrich swept his silver hair back with satisfaction, murmuring to himself.
“He probably breathes only to search for my sister.”
“…How could you possibly know that, sir?”
“That creature’s nature is transparent to me.”
His eyes gleamed brilliantly, and his red lips twisted into a smile.
His beautiful face turned toward his aide, eyes glowing softly.
“Because he is exactly like me.”
“…!”
Those eyes held a chilling, maddening light.
The gaze of one who has yearned for and obsessed over a single thing for an eternity—that was what burned in his eyes.
But only for a moment; Heinrich suddenly furrowed his brow as if struck by a thought.
“But if that beast becomes Crown Prince, what happens to my Grand Duke title?”
Heinrich was scheduled to receive his Grand Duke title today.
* * *
The meeting to decide the Crown Prince concluded swiftly.
Gerard urged Derek to postpone the decision, insisting that “the Crown Prince’s position cannot be determined hastily” and “do not surrender power so easily”—
But Derek spoke trembling.
“What use is power after death, Your Majesty! I shall relinquish it… I am terrified, utterly terrified. Prince Sisrain is not in his right mind.”
Thus, the Crown Prince of Eldorado was decided.
The one who would assume imperial authority in place of the fallen Emperor.
It was Sisrain von Axilpherion.
Derek himself announced the fact, and all erupted in applause.
—Suppressing the urge to flee in their hearts.
Sisrain received the imperial crown directly from Derek and placed it upon his head.
Then he reclined almost horizontally upon the throne and laughed.
“That attire and posture…”
Gerard clenched his fist and ground his teeth as he spoke.
“Conduct yourself with dignity befitting the throne. This is disrespectful.”
“Was I disrespectful?”
…
“The thought that I shall soon obtain what I desire… it excites me.”
Had he not already obtained what he desired?
Everyone thought so.
But what Sisrain would soon obtain was not the Crown Prince’s position.
It was Anette, whom he would finally find using this seat.
Sisrain plucked a grape from the silver platter and burst it between his white teeth.
Sweet juice enveloped his tongue as he swallowed past his prominent collarbone—the sensation was strangely sensual, despite his focus on merely savoring the fruit.
Soon he spoke.
“Leave, all of you.”
Breathing heavily, Sisrain’s blood-stained hand moved.
It traced the defined muscles of his lower abdomen and finally gripped his thick thigh firmly.
“To commemorate sitting upon the throne, I ought to commit plenty of disrespectful acts.”
Like a beast marking its territory.
…!!!
At his shameless conduct, everyone’s faces drained of color as they fled the Audience Chamber.
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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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