The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 83
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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 83
“…You’re going to sleep here?”
How am I supposed to let you sleep with that expression on your face, Heinrich?
You look like someone with far too many scheming thoughts hidden behind that innocent facade.
So when you were sitting there so obediently drinking milk tea like a well-fed cat, you were actually plotting this the whole time.
Heinrich’s eyes drooped downward.
“I came here alone. I don’t know anything about this place.”
“…What about your attendants? You’re a Grand Duke, yet you’re wandering around by yourself?”
Our Heinrich—does he really not know how to spend money?
With his wealth, he could easily command a thousand followers like the Pied Piper.
I felt a pang of sympathy.
“The moment I learned you were here, I came rushing without preparing anything.”
“….”
“Because I wanted to see you….”
Seeing that forlorn, puppy-like expression, I realized something.
I still loved that face.
Truth be told, I’d sensed it from the beginning—Heinrich had grown into an adult while retaining far more of his old self than I expected.
That boy I loved most, cherished deeply, and earnestly wished happiness upon…
He remained unchanged, that eleven-year-old boy.
It was rather remarkable.
‘It’s strange—it’s been so long since I’ve seen him, almost like seeing Sisrain again.’
The feeling of being with Sisrain and the feeling of being with Heinrich were utterly different.
Sisrain is…how do I put it.
He’s changed so much that it makes me tense and uncomfortable.
When I’m with him, all my attention focuses entirely on him.
Looking at the forlorn Heinrich, I spoke with considerable coldness.
“It’s strange that you came all this way without even a carriage.”
I needed to verify this.
Even if memories of the old Heinrich stirred my heart, I couldn’t simply indulge him without question.
Fortunately, I maintained a degree of objectivity toward Heinrich (originally, Heinrich wasn’t a character with a good disposition).
“Sister?”
I sprang up and threw the window wide open.
“….”
Then I peered outside carefully.
Checking whether there was a carriage waiting, or if anyone was standing by.
But then.
‘There really is nothing.’
So how did he get here? The thought had just crossed my mind when—
‘Heinrich was a genius mage, after all.’
I didn’t need to ask him what method he’d used; it seemed obvious enough.
If he’s the greatest archmage on the Continent, he could use any method he wanted.
Heinrich laughed with wide eyes.
“See? There isn’t one, is there?”
I crossed my arms and sat back down in the chair.
“Still, I can’t let you stay. If you came without a carriage, you can leave without one too, right?”
“Where would you go in the middle of the night?”
….
“This is really too much.”
My heart wavered, but it was time to be firm.
“I can’t let you stay.”
I still don’t know how you’ve changed all this time.
Heinrich narrowed his eyes, then moved his seat next to mine with a slightly sulky expression.
“Then I’ll sit right here beside you. To be as close as possible to my sister.”
I laughed despite myself.
Besides, the table was so small there was barely a hand’s breadth between us anyway.
But Heinrich seemed serious.
I found him a little cute inside, but deliberately acted cold and took care of him.
“Eat a cookie.”
“Mm….”
Heinrich munched on the cookie with a slightly pouting face.
‘Hehe, that sulky expression is exactly the same as when he was little.’
He still looks like a child.
I stifled my laughter and asked.
“By the way, Heinrich. How did you know I was here?”
“It’s a secret.”
“Huh? You have secrets from me? How sad~”
“Why?”
Heinrich’s pupils shifted subtly. He twisted his lips and asked.
“Do you want to know?”
“…!”
That gaze clearly showed madness, and my insides went cold.
No, it doesn’t seem like it would be through ordinary means.
I suddenly had no desire to know whatsoever.
Ten years changes the world, so you’re welcome to keep a hundred thousand secrets from me. Yes, absolutely.
“No.”
I quickly shook my head.
“If you’re curious, I’ll tell you anything, sister. Whatever you want.”
The beautiful man with Zian’s eyes smiled subtly, lifting his crimson lips.
I desperately wanted to change the subject.
“Now that I think about it… should I be calling you Grand Duke now?”
“What are you talking about?”
Heinrich’s eyes narrowed with visible displeasure.
“I’ve only just become a Grand Duke. It feels strange when people address me that way.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. Even at the Imperial Palace, there are people who speak to me casually without honorifics. Marquis Bimothes, for instance—since he’s my adoptive father’s friend, I just accept it.”
Heinrich broke into an angelic, radiant smile.
‘Good heavens, he’s genuinely kind-hearted, isn’t he?’
Still, now that he’s become a Grand Duke, he should receive proper respect given his elevated status.
He’s now part of the Nobility, after all.
Could it be that, having grown up in the Forest since childhood, he simply doesn’t know how to expect such treatment?
‘My dear boy… how will you ever navigate such a harsh world?’
The original work described him as ‘arrogant and ill-mannered,’ but it’s all a misunderstanding. At this point, it’s pure slander by the author.
“Just treat me comfortably too, okay?”
Heinrich rubbed his face against my shoulder like a puppy.
“I’m Heinrich, remember? The Heinrich you used to adore~ Have you forgotten already?”
“Heh, fine. I get it.”
I found myself laughing just like old times.
* * *
The night had grown dark.
Noah spotted an unfamiliar carriage.
Its ornate exterior clearly marked it as belonging to the Nobility, yet it was parked in a corner where no one’s gaze seemed to fall.
‘Wow, I’ve never seen such an expensive carriage before.’
Noah blinked his water-blue eyes and watched the carriage from hiding.
Soon, a man emerged from within.
A communication device in hand.
The man with chestnut hair and black eyes, though not particularly striking in appearance, bore an impression of loyalty and caution that somehow seemed noble.
“Yes, Your Grace. This is Duncan.”
“….”
He paused briefly, as if listening to a voice from beyond the communication device.
“I will follow your orders.”
With that, the call ended.
Duncan retrieved something from his pocket—though Noah didn’t know it was a magical artifact—and activated it.
Then, tap, tap-tap—
Raindrops began to fall from the sky.
Whoooosh— the rain quickly transformed into a downpour. Noah began running toward home to escape it.
But then, sensing something odd, Noah stopped in his tracks.
After taking a few steps, the heavy rain inexplicably ceased to fall.
Noah’s water-blue eyes sparkled as he gazed upward.
“…That’s really strange.”
As if dark clouds had been cut out with scissors and arranged precisely, the rain fell on only one block.
* * *
“Huh? It’s raining.”
Anette walked to the window and gazed outside with concern.
On the table sat a half-eaten cream bun.
An hour earlier.
Heinrich had pulled it out as a gift (she’d been startled when such a large pastry emerged from such a tiny pouch).
“You always loved cream buns, so I brought one for you.”
Anette burst into laughter.
“Heinrich, who gives bread as a gift to a Bakery owner? That’s hilarious.”
Heinrich scratched the back of his head sheepishly, saying he should have brought jewels instead.
But Anette was delighted. She cherished that Heinrich remembered what she loved, and for someone with her passion for bread, pastries were always welcome.
Besides, he’d gone through considerable effort to track down the shop that used to deliver to the Forest and procure it from there.
It tasted exactly as she remembered.
The two of them reminisced about old times, eating bread joyfully until they were completely full.
And as they talked, they shared memories from the past.
Memories from the Forest….
As they spoke, the ten-year gap between them seemed to crumble away gradually.
But just as the atmosphere was reaching its peak, rain suddenly began to fall.
“Heinrich, where did you go?”
“The painting on the second floor caught my interest, so I went to look at it.”
Coming down the stairs, Heinrich smiled innocently. Then he suddenly noticed the window.
“It’s raining.”
Heinrich furrowed his brows as he spoke.
“I think I’ve stayed too long. I should head out now.”
“…What?”
“Today was really fun.”
Heinrich picked up the jacket he’d removed and walked toward the door.
“Wait, Heinrich.”
Anette called out to him and stopped him in his tracks.
“….”
Heinrich froze in place, breathing quietly and heavily.
Anette bit her lip.
It was late, and it was raining on top of that.
He’d come alone without a carriage, and he’d said he had nowhere to go….
‘Heinrich is always fragile on rainy days.’
Since childhood, his sensitive nature made him dislike getting wet in the rain.
In the end.
“Would you like to stay the night at my place?”
“….”
If only Anette could have seen the expression on Heinrich’s face as he stood there, turned away from her.
I would have taken back those words immediately.
Heinrich turned with a changed expression and spoke.
“…Then, shall we?”
Two hours later.
The hour when deep dawn was ripening.
Rain had fallen outside the window the entire time—as if wringing the sky itself to drench the blackened earth completely.
Anette lay asleep in her own bed.
I believed Heinrich, staying in an empty room on the third floor, was doing the same.
Creak—
As the door opened and its hinges groaned, Anette stirred from her light sleep.
First and foremost, the sound of rain pouring down like a lance pierced her ears with terrible intensity.
“…!”
Anette, glancing suddenly toward the door, was startled.
There stood Heinrich.
His shirt and hair were damp with moisture, his eyes unfocused and drowsy, their gaze languid.
He looked somehow a little unwell.
Or perhaps not that…
Rather, strangely intoxicated.
“…Heinrich?”
His broad shoulders and slender frame leaned against the doorframe.
With each heavy breath he drew, the delicately parted collarbones and his pristine, youthfully innocent neckline were starkly exposed.
“Sister….”
Heinrich’s lips, flushed like a rotten fruit, parted.
And he whispered.
With a voice as dangerously alluring as a nightmare demon that fed only on a lady’s nightmares and ecstasy.
“…Can’t I sleep here too?”
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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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