The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 84
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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 84
I had always been a sensitive child.
On nights when thunder roared and rain poured down like a deluge, I would wake from nightmares drenched in cold sweat.
Then I would give Heinrich half my bed and spend the night patting his back while singing him lullabies.
I remembered all of it.
Even in my drowsiness.
“…Does something hurt?”
I rubbed my eyes and lifted my head, but Heinrich shook his head from the doorway.
“No….”
“Come here, Heinrich.”
The moment I gave permission, Heinrich carefully stepped inside.
When I gestured for him to bow his head, he obediently crouched in front of the bed and pressed his forehead against my hand.
His forehead was warm—just slightly feverish.
His shirt and hair were damp from sweat.
I sighed quietly. This was predictable.
“Did you have another nightmare and wake up scared?”
“….”
“How old are you now, and you still can’t sleep because of nightmares?”
Heinrich looked a bit deflated.
‘You really haven’t grown up.’
What am I going to do with you, Heinrich?
Because of these very qualities, I had left before carrying a heart full of worry.
And yet you still possess these childish habits.
Heinrich curled up beside the bed.
Though he was clearly over 180 centimeters tall and looked quite large, when he hunched over like that, he almost seemed as small as Noah.
“…I’ll stay here for a bit and then leave, Sister. Go to sleep.”
Heinrich leaned his head against the wall.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
Thunder crashed loudly. I could see Heinrich’s body stiffen.
I couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
“…You really are a baby, aren’t you?”
Heinrich looked genuinely offended for a moment.
“Sister, why am I a baby? Look how tall I am. And I’m the richest and most powerful ‘man’ around. I’m the Empire’s number one marriage prospect.”
“Yes, yes~”
I answered half-heartedly while laughing.
What were you doing while you were growing so tall, Heinrich?
It’s still a mystery to me how you became a Grand Duke when you can’t even stand up to thunder.
I shook my head with amusement, made space on the bed, and patted it with my palm.
“Come on up.”
A glimmer of something lit up in Heinrich’s eyes.
His white teeth flashed briefly before he composed his expression, apparently unable to let himself smile openly.
“…Is that really okay?”
“Yes.”
I would have preferred to pretend I didn’t notice, but truthfully, I remembered everything.
Even as a child, on days when he had a slight fever like this, he would stubbornly insist he was fine, only to spike a high fever later and suffer for it.
‘I was so worried when the fever reducers didn’t work even after using them all up.’
His constitution was sensitive, so suitable medicines were hard to find.
Surprisingly, he rarely caught minor illnesses, but when Heinrich did fall ill, he fell ill severely.
I remembered how much I fretted each time—twelve-year-old me felt such distress.
…I wished I could take his pain instead.
The memory of how much I loved Heinrich came flooding back.
“It’s not that I’m fine. If you keep doing that beside me, I won’t be able to sleep.”
“Understood.”
Was it awkwardness from the time apart?
The tips of his ears were slightly flushed as he lay down beside me.
Heinrich lay there and gripped the blanket tightly with his large hand, closing his eyes.
‘How adorable.’
I let out a soft laugh and patted his back.
“Heinrich, you’ve always required so much care since childhood.”
“….”
The handsome face lying across from me quietly opened his eyes.
Now that I looked at him, his eyes seemed to have grown darker than before.
Zian’s gaze had become deeper and more intense.
Yet it still shone with beauty and arrogance.
“You liked those days though.”
“That’s true.”
I admitted it readily.
“I loved taking care of you, Heinrich.”
“….”
“When you were happy, I felt happy too, for some reason.”
That’s what it means to have a favorite person.
You wouldn’t understand.
But my efforts for Heinrich’s happiness turned out quite successful, didn’t they?
“That’s why I’m so glad you became incredibly wealthy, a magical artifact scholar, and even a Grand Duke.”
“What? Hehe.”
“I’m serious.”
In the original story I knew, you were so pitiful.
I spoke with narrowed eyes.
“…Honestly, I really raised you well.”
“That’s right, older sister.”
Heinrich mirrored my expression and nodded in agreement.
We faced each other and laughed softly for a moment, like children from long ago.
Heinrich whispered to me, genuinely drowsy.
“Sister, sing me a lullaby.”
“Really? When did you ever say you were all grown up?”
“…I really wanted to hear it. On rainy days, I always thought about it all night long.”
“….”
“When I couldn’t sleep, I’d try to fall asleep by thinking of your voice.”
I felt a little sorry for him, so I brushed back his soft silver hair and spoke.
“I’ll sing for you.”
It seemed I was still weak only to Heinrich.
The lullaby of dawn echoed softly through the room.
Pat, pat.
Along with the gentle touch of a hand patting his shoulder in steady rhythm.
Even the torrential sound of rain and all the noise of the world faded away, buried beneath that song.
Only a deep, peaceful calm descended upon the room.
Soon the song faded and my hand stopped patting Heinrich, and in that moment—
Perfect silence filled the room.
“….”
Heinrich’s long eyelashes had finally closed quietly.
He caressed Anette’s cheek with his slender fingers.
She looked lovely in sleep.
You don’t know.
How desperately I wanted to see this face.
Hundreds of times, thousands of times in dreams, meeting you like this, and then waking—
That cold reality without you.
That alone has been my nightmare all this time, Anette.
“Sister, are you…?”
“….”
Anette remained silent, having fallen into deep sleep.
I could feel the steady, drowsy breathing she exhaled.
The fact that it was real, that she was truly right before my eyes, sent such a thrilling shiver through me.
My dark eyes, as if swallowing the deep dawn, grew deeper as they held her image.
Heinrich suppressed an impulse and let out a low groan, closing his eyes.
Moonlight fell upon his beautiful face like a sin.
Ah,
I love this moment so much I wish to be preserved like this forever.
I would be happy even if I died this way.
When I opened my eyes again, there were eyes stained with fierce obsession and madness.
“….”
Heinrich etched every contour of her face into his retina.
…You know nothing.
You’ve already been punished and trapped in hell, Anette.
I will never let you go for the rest of your life.
His cruel eyes curved with delight.
She was heartbreakingly lovely—innocent and unsuspecting, surrendering her pure self to his bed without hesitation.
“Sister, stop being so naive.”
He whispered against her ear.
“Do you know what I’m capable of doing?”
His voice deepened like that of a demon.
“…”
* * *
That same night.
Sisrain’s adjutant, Owen, watched the rain pouring outside the window.
Rain that fell relentlessly on only one side.
It was an artificially created storm cloud.
‘I know exactly whose doing this is.’
There was only one person in this world capable of such a thing.
―Heinrich Hyacinth.
He was already tracking Heinrich’s movements under Sisrain’s orders.
‘How did he predict this?’
His master, Sisrain, had already known that Heinrich would arrive in Bayonere.
Though he had served his master faithfully for a very long time, Owen still couldn’t grasp how far Sisrain’s foresight and knowledge extended.
Regardless, he had a report to make.
Owen stepped away from the window and made his way to the old Mansion.
He would have preferred a more comfortable and luxurious residence, but Sisrain didn’t want to draw attention.
Knock, knock—Owen rapped on the door.
“Come in.”
Only after receiving permission from within did Owen enter.
Sisrain lay face-down on the bed.
He appeared to be sweating profusely.
‘He’s suffering again, it seems.’
Thanks to Crevasse, he had gained an extraordinarily powerful ability, but the side effects were severe.
Taking medicine clouded his mind, while refusing it caused his senses to run wild to the point where even dressing became unbearable.
Tonight appeared to be one of those agonizing nights when even the medicine offered no relief.
Such a sight had become painfully familiar by now.
“Report.”
His master lay prone with his massive, broad back exposed, issuing commands without lifting his head.
With each labored breath he exhaled, the lean muscles and shoulder blades that clung densely along his deeply carved spine trembled ever so slightly.
―When would this madness finally fade?
Let’s report quickly and leave.
Owen bowed at the waist, offering proper courtesy to his master before speaking.
“As you mentioned before, Heinrich arrived in Bayonere today.”
“I see.”
Perhaps I should stop the report here.
As I hesitated for a moment, Sisrain asked again.
His voice was deep and gravelly, fractured with tension.
“Where is he now?”
“…That is….”
At that moment, sensing my hesitation, Sisrain lifted his sweat-dampened face to look at me.
His eyes, crimson as blood, were honed to a razor’s edge.
Owen carefully spoke the truth.
“Tonight, it appears he is staying ‘together’ at Anette’s residence.”
In that instant, Owen saw it vividly—his master’s eyes beginning to turn.
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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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