The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 73

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

Chapter 73
There was nothing there.
Only dark waves churning violently.
The girl had been pointing to the middle of the sea.
“…Good heavens.”
Duncan realized his master’s magical artifact had failed, and he covered his mouth.
Pity washed over him first. The future ahead of him—serving a master who would surely grow even more unhinged—seemed impossibly bleak.
It was at that very moment.
Heinrich’s eyes narrowed with a sharp gleam.
“So our sister was hiding on the Island.”
“…!”
Zian’s eyes brightened with elation.
“She was hiding so well. Trying to make herself hard to find.”
Duncan collected himself, retrieved the map, and found the island the girl had indicated.
There was only one island in that direction.
―Bayonere Island.
Duncan shared the location with Heinrich.
Heinrich’s pupils darkened as if they would swallow the pitch-black night sea itself.
It was at that moment. A thin whimper and voice came from his feet.
“Heinrich….”
“Sister.”
Twelve-year-old Anette grasped Heinrich’s hand and opened her fading eyes as she spoke.
“I’m sleepy.”
In that instant, Heinrich’s expression darkened slightly.
He sensed that his beloved creation—his ‘Anette’—was about to leave him once more.
The magical artifact had a purpose, and typically such high-powered artifacts vanish once their purpose is fulfilled. The magical energy they contain becomes depleted.
―Once again, the time of parting had arrived.
“Our sister is sleepy….”
Heinrich bent down and held her in his arms.
She felt achingly delicate and small nestled against him.
Heinrich realized anew.
I waited for this small girl with such longing that the great sea would dry up and crack at its depths.
You, so small. You have always been my entire world….
With his eyes closed, he breathed in the scent of the girl in his embrace. Regrettably, the magical artifact had no scent, which made the moment all the more desolate.
He stroked her back and whispered.
“Now you can sleep soundly.”
“….”
The girl’s body began to glow with a pale white light.
Heinrich’s closed eyes contorted with visible pain.
As if understanding his heart, the girl patted his shoulder―
Soon, flutter, flutter.
A swarm of luminous butterflies took flight into the air.
Duncan and Heinrich gazed at the butterflies with reverence as they embroidered the black sky with their beauty.
“Haah….”
Heinrich exhaled deeply and closed his eyes.
“Duncan.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Long eyelashes trembled, and his crimson lips curved upward with a thrill.
“Now let’s go find my sister—my *real* sister.”
When I opened my eyes again.
Heinrich’s gaze burned with an intensity unlike any before.
“We must hurry—every second counts.”
That beast had the audacity to swallow the Fris Empire where my sister resides.
I’ll have to swallow her first. As is only right.
Heinrich spun around and headed toward the camp.
Duncan, watching his beautiful master’s elevated silhouette, suddenly found himself wondering.
—Who would claim her first?
The crown prince who destroyed an entire nation just to find one woman.
Or the unparalleled genius who created her from scratch, all to find her.
‘Quite the intriguing turn of events.’
* * *
Talis Lake.
I was heading toward the lakeside with a Squirrel whose cheeks were plump and round with fat.
The weather was particularly clear today, and a gentle breeze drifted softly even in the afternoon—perfect conditions. On such a bright and pleasant afternoon, I was,
—at the lakeside with a murderer?
‘Should I turn back now?’
Squeak!
Just then, the Squirrel looked at me with a ‘squeak’ expression and climbed onto my shoulder.
‘Aww, how adorable.’
I smiled softly and stroked the Squirrel’s tiny head.
“Your master must be a good person, right~?”
The Squirrel tilted its head.
Then it soon began nodding its small head earnestly.
I couldn’t help but laugh at how cute it was.
Talis Lake was where the largest concentration of lilac groves in Bayonere gathered.
After a few more steps, the fragrance grew stronger, and finally, as I rounded a large tree, a tall figure came into view.
—Ah, how strange, isn’t it?
‘It’s just like at the Clock Tower.’
That man possessed a magic that made only him visible, no matter what scenery surrounded him.
“…!”
Our eyes met in that instant.
Hair as soft as an autumn wheat field gently swaying in a light breeze.
Behind the frames of his glasses, emerald eyes discovered me and slowly curved into a smile.
The poetic beauty deepened his Indian dimple, and called out to me as he always did.
“Master. I’m delighted you’ve come.”
‘At least he seems lucid today. There are no blood-stained roses scattered about.’
The pot-swinging master approached cautiously, wary that this innocent doe might transform into a ravenous carnivore once more. I was prepared to unleash my skills at a moment’s notice.
“I came only to hear what you have to say. If you try to give me another suspicious gift, I won’t let it slide.”
It wasn’t mere bluster. Well, a few things were possible.
With Sordi’s power, I could manage ‘eye-poking’, and with Um’s power, ‘ouch, that’s hot!’ level of retaliation.
Besides, I always carried my dagger with me—an essential tool for someone living as a fugitive.
But there was no need to draw it.
He immediately bowed respectfully, placed a hand over his heart, and offered a sincere apology.
“I apologize for startling you yesterday, Lady.”
“….”
“I mean it sincerely.”
Hmm, he was being far too formal….
His ears had flushed crimson, and his lashes drooped with a sorrowful delicacy.
‘Perhaps he didn’t mean to startle me after all.’
Then was that gift truly given for my sake?!
Considering the other party was the leader of Bayonere’s most notorious guild, it was possible he genuinely believed it was a gift (though such thinking itself was mad).
But if it wasn’t intentional—
“I’ll accept your apology.”
“Thank you….”
I accepted the apology, but didn’t lower my guard.
I folded my arms and asked with a rather cold expression.
“I have a question. I hope you’ll answer me with complete honesty, Kine.”
“Yes.”
“You know far too much about my tastes. Did you investigate my background? What is your true identity?”
This was one of the reasons I’d come here. I wanted answers to the question that had nagged at me all this time.
Kine began gently.
“It seems it will be a long story. Will you listen?”
“I will.”
In the midst of the Lakeside where lilacs bloomed in full splendor, a pleasant afternoon breeze whispered through—sorr.
His eyes held me completely within their gaze.
“My real name is ‘Kyle Winston’.”
“…!”
“I met Anette a very long time ago.”
Kyle Winston?
The son of Marquis Bijé Winston?
My eyes widened.
Ah, now that I think about it, he really does resemble him!
It’s been about ten years since I saw him once, so my memory is hazy, but he seems to resemble Marquis Bijé Winston!
Once I realized it, I thought he truly did look like him.
‘Kyle would have been ten years old back then.’
“Please accept this flower.”
So shy that he hid behind the sofa, extending a small hand holding white blossoms.
The petals trembling, quivering with nervousness.
“…!”
In an instant, all the memories came flooding back.
I pointed directly at him and spoke.
“Are you that Kyle Winston who proposed to me?”
“…!!!”
You mean to say that adorable, clever boy was really him?
His face flushed immediately.
“Yes.”
But he admitted it readily.
Embarrassed and shy that I remembered his innocent ten-year-old self so precisely, he lowered his eyes.
I had a peculiar trait of wanting to tease handsome men even more when they were flustered.
“Oh, I remember! You said you’d come propose to me again once you grew up, didn’t you?”
“….”
“That was such a cute proposal!”
My joy at seeing Kyle again was as great as the affection I remembered receiving from Marquis Bijé Winston.
As I chattered away cheerfully, he wiped his flushed face and spoke.
“Actually, I was in the Forest too.”
“…!”
Starting with something I never could have imagined, Kyle began to unfold his story.
The story of meeting me in the Forest.
It was something I hadn’t even suspected. Surprisingly, as I listened to his account, memories from that time began to replay in my mind.
Memories of that particularly shy boy,
The boy in the ‘Squirrel mask.’
As I heard each episode, some were hazy while others became quite vivid.
“I admired you.”
“….”
“Because you were cool and I wanted to be like you, I always listened to your stories by your side.”
“….”
“That’s probably why I know your preferences so well.”
―It was a reason I never could have imagined.
That he had known me for such a long time.
Standing there with a mixture of surprise and an indescribable emotion, I gazed at him.
A gentle breeze swept through, carrying the scent of lilacs that reminded me of first love, tickling the tip of my nose.
Kyle carefully took my hand in his large one.
Then, like a beast long accustomed to obedience, he lowered his eyes and pressed his lips against mine.
“From that moment on, you became my one and only.”

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