The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 79

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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 79
Unfortunately, my cheek ached.
‘Something feels off.’
I was clearly in the middle of baking a happy ending cake, wasn’t I…?
At a bakery on Bayonere Island in the peaceful Fris Empire.
But then the Fris Empire collapsed.
‘Could it be that everything I say comes true?’
Now that I think about it, the Fris Empire did fall, exactly as I said.
―If this were a novel, it would be a plausible premise.
It seemed convincing.
Moreover, my life had been flowing in the direction I desired.
I squeezed my eyes shut and desperately prayed in my heart.
This is a dream! Let it be a dream!
“….”
And when I carefully opened my eyes, it was still reality.
Sob, it’s not working the way I say it should…
Blessed deity…
I’ve lived as an honest small business owner, merely someone who loves bread, so why are you subjecting me to such tribulation?
“Sigh.”
In any case, starting tomorrow promised to be a spectacularly chaotic day.
“Two madmen for a whole week…”
Still, I should try to think of the positive aspects.
At least the shop will remain open.
I shook my head and returned to the Little Bakery.
* * *
“Are we simply returning like this?”
On the way back, leaving Anette behind, Owen asked his master.
Owen’s master, Crown Prince Sisrain, was a man who had spent his entire life searching for her.
Even his lifespan was longer than that of an ordinary human.
Because part of his life had been spent in the Crevasse, the chasm of hell.
One hour in reality was years in the Crevasse.
So if all the time spent there were added together, it would be an extraordinarily long span.
He must have spent far longer there than in reality.
A terrible life where the time spent writhing in agony every single second was longer than the time spent in peaceful reality.
―All of it.
Owen knew it had been for the sake of obtaining ‘her’.
To leave behind a woman he had yearned for and sought after for such an eternity?
At the very least, I thought he would take her directly to the Imperial Palace.
“….”
Sisrain sat half-reclined in the Imperial carriage, gazing out the window without answering for a long moment. Then he spoke.
“It’s fine.”
The landscape beyond the window blurred into a hazy smear, rushing backward in an endless stream.
Sisrain’s eyes had grown clouded like a rainy day as he murmured softly to himself.
“Just seeing her has already opened my chest.”
Owen found it difficult to comprehend.
Though he never questioned his master’s decisions, this time he couldn’t bear to remain silent.
“Could it be because of Prince Gerard? Even if you brought Anette to the Imperial Palace, surely you could still stop him.”
“That’s not the reason.”
“Then―”
“If I only wanted a part of her, I would have taken her to the Imperial Palace.”
If her shell alone had sufficed, if merely her attention and hatred had been enough.
Sisrain would have brought Anette to the Imperial Palace today.
If his feelings for her amounted to nothing more than that.
In an instant, his eyes—red as the sun itself—blazed with an intensity that seemed to consume all things.
He whispered.
“I must have all of her.”
Her joy and sorrow, her tears and laughter, her worries and sighs, her hopes and dreams…
And ultimately, her yearning and pleas, and even her love.
“―Everything, without exception.”
Such things required time, after all.
Only then did Owen grasp his master’s intention, and he closed his mouth firmly.
He lowered his head and spoke.
“I have prepared lodgings in Bayonere.”
“….”
“I shall bring her at once.”
As Owen gave the signal, the coachman pulled the reins with force.
Thud-thud-thud-thud. The carriage thundered forward through the darkness with the magnificent sound of hoofbeats.
* * *
The next morning.
Remarkably, I was already operating from dawn.
Despite experiencing such turmoil the night before, I was selling bread with perfect composure.
Perhaps because I had been startled and exhausted yesterday, I had actually slept deeply and my condition was excellent.
So I began my business with even more vigor than usual.
‘I really am something, aren’t I….’
There’s no denying it—I’ve gone mad for bread.
I rubbed my nose and contemplated the obsession of this “bread-crazed fanatic.”
Then I threw open the log cabin window wide.
The enticing aroma of butter and the scent of baking bread spread instantly throughout the surroundings.
“Ooooh!”
The customers who had been lined up before opening sparkled with delight in their eyes.
‘Hehe, this is why I do business.’
I gathered my blonde hair into a neat ponytail, then smiled brightly at the customers.
“Well then, we’re opening for business today!”
The customers filed in one by one (they looked adorably like well-mannered seals waiting to receive fish).
I grinned at the first customer.
“Welcome! This is the Little Bakery. Oh my, you’re our first customer today, Genji!”
“Yeah. I’ve been waiting in line for a full 30 minutes.”
“Goodness, really~?”
I feigned surprise, but inside I felt proud.
Hehe, everyone’s serious about their ‘bread hunting’.
Genji, the farmer with his wheat-colored beard, looked confident, probably from being first in line.
“Finally I can try the morning menu. What is it today?”
“Today we have a ‘mushroom potage’ simmered with plenty of onions and porcini mushrooms, and a sweet ‘honey bread’ infused with rosemary.”
The menu was composed to be warm and fragrant, with a sweet aftertaste.
I also included a small whole wheat roll as a complimentary side.
Because―
“Say, Genji.”
I needed to share some unfortunate news with him.
Specifically, that I was canceling the party.
‘The purpose of holding the party has disappeared.’
And that wasn’t all. The cake was ruined too.
It was supposed to be a cake for a small happy ending conclusion, but then a madman far more unhinged than in the original story appeared.
Moreover, with the artifact having left strange curse marks on my wrist, I didn’t want to hold a party celebrating that.
It would make this party feel like a memorial to ‘Anette’s destruction ending’.
“Oh right! About that party, Anette.”
“Yes, actually that party―”
Genji stroked his wheat-colored beard with a pleased smile.
“Hahaha, my daughter is looking forward to it so much!”
“….”
…You’re saying that at this timing?
“On a small island like this, there aren’t parties like that, you know. She’s been marking X’s on the calendar every day, her heart racing with anticipation.”
“….”
Really that much?
I pictured Genji’s daughter’s face. She had just turned four.
Yet because she loved sweets so much that all her teeth had fallen out, her pronunciation was still childish (though her sentence structure was quite good).
“I wuv candy the bestest!”
“…?!”
At first I was shocked, thinking she said she loved ‘Satan’ the most, wondering if she was a demon worshipper….
But it turned out she meant ‘candy’.
“Oh right, what was I trying to say, Anette?”
I smiled warmly at Genji and spoke.
“Since you came in first, I was going to give you whole wheat bread as a compliment of the house.”
“Oh, thank you, Anette.”
Unable to say it to his face, I simply let Genji go.
In truth, I had intended to personally inform each person who had booked the party and apologize politely.
“But you know, Anette, aren’t you looking forward to the party?”
“Haha. Can I come dressed as a teddy bear that day?”
“I’ll supply some quality wine.”
…The townspeople had been far more sincere about the party than I expected.
After seeing off a stream of customers, I stood behind the counter with weary eyes and pondered.
‘Insane… I couldn’t tell a single person.’
So I really had to hold this party after all.
‘Everyone but me seems thrilled.’
Did I really have to hold a party celebrating my impending doom(?)?
And the organizer was none other than Anette—me.
I sighed deeply while organizing the bread, then suddenly glanced down at my wrist.
The red mark was strikingly vivid.
It felt almost like a tattoo.
More precisely, enchanting flowers bloomed along a line that wound around my wrist like vines.
Beautiful to behold, but this was Sisrain’s life.
How had he been living all this time? At a glance, it didn’t seem smooth.
‘There was a deep wound near his heart….’
Because he didn’t seem to have fared as well as I had imagined, a corner of my heart ached anew.
What kind of time had he spent―
That he entrusts his life to me and clings to me the moment we meet.
“….”
As I was lost in thought, I felt someone’s gaze upon me.
A small child was staring intently at my wrist.
“Ah.”
I suppose the mark caught their curiosity.
Without being asked, I felt oddly guilty and smiled as I spoke.
“This is a new bracelet I bought! Pretty, isn’t it?”
“But Anette, you’re not wearing a bracelet? Is that baguette in your hand for sale too?”
“Huh? Uh, um….”
“Can you wrap that baguette for me? I want to buy it!”
They were looking at the baguette, not my wrist?
‘They can’t see this mark?’
It seemed only I could see it.
Or perhaps only the ‘contractors’ themselves could see it.
‘At least that’s a relief.’
I packed a baguette for the little one and sent it off, deciding to close the bakery a bit early today.
In the now-quiet 【Small Bakery】, I crossed my arms and muttered to myself.
“Sigh, I suppose I should send out a mass letter canceling the party….”
It was right then, as I was speaking to myself.
That a messenger Squirrel hopped through the open window with a small letter—pitter-patter-patter.
“Oh, hello?”
Nod, nod—
The courteous Squirrel bobbed its head politely.
“So Kyle sent another letter…?”
Now that I thought about it, I had completely forgotten.
―This mad deer.
The ‘new madman’ must have made quite the impression.
I handed the Squirrel some nuts, then leaned against the small table and opened the letter.
And I raised my eyebrows slightly.
“…!”
The contents of the letter were half unexpected and half quite troubling for me.

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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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