The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 66

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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 66
Heinrich drew her into his embrace.
His clear eyes seemed perfectly content even if the person in his arms were nothing more than a soulless, lifeless doll.
“Sister…”
Duncan watched the scene unfold.
His master—who had passionately loved a woman as elusive as a phantom for so long, and had finally resolved to ‘create’ her with his own hands.
Was he simply mad, or was he a genius?
‘Both, perhaps.’
It would be an impossible task for anyone but the greatest mage.
“You were lonely being alone, weren’t you?”
A voice laden with thirst and obsession flowed forth.
Duncan watched his master tenderly caress the statue of a girl—which was plainly nothing but a sculpture—and speak to her, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
In truth, the existence called ‘Anette’ was familiar to Duncan.
From the moment he first entered his master’s service, that name had been spoken countless times each day.
He’d heard she was an older sister from whom his master had been separated in childhood.
—At this point, a question arose.
About Lady Anette.
‘…What on earth did you do to him in your childhood?’
How could she have shaped him into a twisted adult who craved only her?
Duncan had first seen that statue two years ago.
“Are you creating a homunculus, sir?”
“No. The ‘Anette’ I’m creating is my sister at eleven years old—exactly as she was. She’s different from a soulless doll.”
Heinrich appeared exhilarated.
For the first time in ages, he smiled with genuine joy.
“If I create the ‘Anette’ of the past, she will guide me to who I am now.”
Was such a thing even possible?
—The question was meaningless. This unparalleled genius was writing new history in the magical world with each passing day.
“I have a question, sir.”
“Mm.”
Duncan posed his question to his master, who held the statue and answered with drowsy contentment.
“You said before that to create Lady ‘Anette’, she must be identical in every single detail to the eleven-year-old version of her.”
Was his master truly ‘losing his mind’ and clinging to something impossible?
It was as if he would die without hope.
“…You said it’s been over ten years since you parted. It’s unreasonable to remember everything perfectly.”
Heinrich’s eyes narrowed with a faint smile.
“Duncan.”
He laughed, his expression luminous.
Heinrich began to touch the girl, piece by piece, with his own hands.
First, her gentle eyes.
“I remember everything. The way she looked at me.”
Next was the sharp line of her nose.
“Her breath.”
And lips that never curved into a smile.
“That single moment she smiled for me. …Or even a single strand of her hair, the flutter of her eyelashes. Every trivial habit and manner of speech―”
Not a single thing about her from me.
“I cannot forget.”
Duncan thought he understood.
Why Heinrich had become so thoroughly twisted.
His master had not said he forgot, but rather that ‘I cannot forget’.
Loving her and yearning for her must have been an irresistible force. He had lived ensnared by a longing he could not resist, like a noose.
Duncan quietly slipped from the room, leaving Heinrich lost in his own world, able to spend time with her.
Heinrich lowered his eyelashes.
“Sister….”
His gaze curved sinisterly as he looked at her. His violet eyes, stained with obsession and fixation, deepened gradually… and then his crimson lips parted.
“We’ll meet soon.”
―It’s really not far off now.
I’m trembling with anticipation.
* * *
I suddenly hugged myself in alarm.
“Why do I keep getting chills today…?”
Why is that.
Could someone be plotting my assassination?
I glanced around frantically, but no, there was still no one.
I made myself a cup of hot chocolate and sat back down, sipping it slowly.
“Hehe, delicious.”
Then I laughed without a care in the world.
It seemed the chills came from seeing two shocking headlines back-to-back.
‘Suddenly Sisrain becomes Crown Prince, and Heinrich becomes an Archduke.’
I had every reason to be surprised.
Wasn’t this practically an ending-level story development?
I rested my chin in my hand, quite intrigued by how the narrative had progressed faster than expected.
‘…Then is it really a happy ending?’
My heart swelled as my imagination took flight.
‘Happy energy’ fueling his abilities to grow rapidly, Sisrain had become Crown Prince ahead of schedule.
With more wealth and even becoming an Archduke, the magical artifact scholar Heinrich!
―The two must have grown closer to each other.
Below the headline, there was news that Heinrich had created a ‘large-scale teleportation device’―something incredibly beneficial to national defense.
‘Sisrain wages war, after all.’
The two must have become quite close.
I rested my chin in my hand and thought of the two protagonists.
“Hahaha, thanks to Sisrain, Eldorado’s national defense is rock solid, isn’t it? I’m really grateful, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Heinrich winked and made a gun-shooting gesture with his hand.
“Oh, my friend. It’s all thanks to you. Haha!”
Sisrain scratched the back of his head sheepishly, laughing heartily.
‘Ah, this is truly….’
Moving.
I felt my nose tingle as I pressed both hands to my swelling chest.
“Our children have grown up so well.”
Sudden as it was, this was undoubtedly a happy ending.
The probability of Heinrich suddenly being accused of treason without any plausible cause seemed nearly zero percent.
I smiled with deep emotion.
After ten years of anxiously reading and directly participating in crafting this serialized story, it had finally reached its happy ending.
Truly, I had achieved a perfect conclusion.
“I shouldn’t be sitting here like this!”
I sprang up from my seat.
“Shouldn’t we throw a celebration party?”
Wouldn’t that be right?
I’d love to congratulate them both in person, but the circumstances don’t allow it.
So let me invite people here in distant Bayonere and have them receive congratulations from many.
“This will be really fun.”
A celebration party for the completion of the story!
I praised myself for the good idea, wrote invitations, and contacted the World Daily to notify them that I’d only subscribe to the newspaper up to the point I’d already paid for (the thrifty self-employed baker was always thinking about cost-cutting).
“I’ll have to bake the cake myself…!”
Lulu, a happy bread-loving baker’s party it is.
* * *
The dusky evening.
A dark shadow lingered around the 【Small Bakery】.
“So that’s the bakery.”
His identity was a low-ranking member of Delphi.
Delphi was a notorious dark merchant guild that operated on Bayonere Island.
He wanted protection money, as villains do. The popular bakery must be making considerable profits.
Should I scare them a bit today?
Besides, only a frail owner lived in that place.
He’d already confirmed that the red-haired one (the burly, wolf-like assistant baker) wasn’t here today.
So today was perfect.
“Kekeke. Kek.”
The timid bakery owner would shed tears and hand over the protection money with just a little scare.
Delphi’s rat laughed sinisterly.
How much should he squeeze out?
“…Twenty percent of the sales should suffice.”
Delphi, having made her decision, donned the black mask.
Rustle―
In an instant, the shadow slipped away with fluid grace, drawn into the peaceful log bakery.
* * *
“Hm?”
Anette lifted her head, seized by sudden bewilderment.
“Why did the light go out?”
The gas lamp that always illuminated the front of the small bakery at night had suddenly extinguished itself.
‘Is there a problem with the gas pipes?’
The shop used Sordi’s light ability as supplementary illumination during the day, but that was only daytime.
At night, they relied fundamentally on the gas lamp light managed by the Empire and candlelight.
If the bakery alone shone too brightly at night, the other people in town would find it suspicious.
But this darkness was rather excessive, wouldn’t you say?
“Hmm….”
Anette paused the pen she’d been using to write the 【Small Party Invitation】, her gaze shifting to the window.
The gas lamp showed no sign of igniting.
‘So it really is a problem with the aging gas pipes.’
Would it kill you to fix things like that beforehand instead of just managing personal records, teachers?
All they ever think about is collecting taxes.
The diligent taxpayer and self-employed proprietor clicked her tongue at the thought of such inadequate public services.
‘The Fris Empire deserves to collapse before they’ll get their act together.’
She shook her head in disapproval, then picked up her pen again―when it happened.
Clatter.
“….”
What was that sound?
Clatter, crash!
“…!”
Anette shot up from her seat.
The sound was definitely coming from downstairs, somewhere near the kitchen. It wasn’t the sound of a rat or cat, though.
It sounded like the dull noise made by something with a larger body.
‘A burglar?’
She swallowed hard.
‘Or a tracker sent by Gerard?’
Tensing completely, Anette grabbed the pot from her desk (the soup was already finished) and rose.
Then she crept downstairs with the light, careful footsteps of a plump, fluffy cat with a soft paw.
When she finally reached the kitchen.
“…!!!”
She came face to face with an unexpected figure.
Soft hair like an autumn wheat field, brilliant emerald eyes―a pure young doe.
―It was Kyle.
Kyle was restraining Delphi’s assailant with his massive hand, but before Anette could even process what was happening, he swiftly removed the dangerous object—the magic gun the thug had been holding in his mouth.
Anette asked with a bewildered expression.
“Um, Kine?”
“…Ah.”
The moment Kyle’s eyes met Anette’s, he seemed to forget the current situation entirely, his cheeks flushing red with embarrassment.
Like a boy meeting his first love.
He placed one hand over his chest (a question mark floated above the suddenly-freed assailant’s head—”…?”), and with impeccable courtesy, he smiled like a blooming flower.
“Master. How do you do?”
Thwack—!!
Kyle’s face met the fist of the opportunistic assailant.
“Kyaaah, Kine?!!”

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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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