The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive

Episode 37: There’s No Smoke Without Fire (II)

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I was moved by Sislin’s words again.

‘For a long long time…’

‘Now that socialization training has started, maybe in a year or so I will be adopted too, Sisl.’

‘Even if not, I will someday leave the forest and go my own path that has nothing to do with you.’

Because that was the plan in the first place.

‘But until then, can we have fun together? I want to make a lot of good memories with no regrets.’

I smiled and promised.

“Yes, Sisl.
Let’s be together for a long time.”

Sislin finally exhaled.
I felt a warm and fuzzy feeling of relief.

***

The next morning.

I got up early and organized yesterday’s gains.

“Candy, jelly, snacks… There is plenty to eat.”

Even after giving out a lot to the children of the forest, this much remained.

All right.
I took a cookie out of a crystal bottle and ate it.

Unbelievably, it melted in my mouth instantly.

“Aww, so delicious!”

Like a happy hamster with lots of nuts, I shoved a bunch of treats into my cheeks and chewed it, yum yum yum.

“My sponsor is the best…”

The face of Bizet Winston, my dear sponsor, who smiled with an Indian dimple, came to mind.

‘I have a sponsor!’

Moreover, it was not a sponsorship premised on adoption; I just had an adult who supported and cared for me unconditionally.

It was my first time.

To have such an adult.

‘Because I’ve never had an adult like that in my previous life.’

I felt ashamed, but grateful and reassured, and my heart tickled.

‘Do children with good parents feel this way every day?’

When I thought about it that way, I became a little envious of children who had mothers or fathers.

I thought blankly, then shook my head.

I realized since my unfortunate past life that these sentimental thoughts were of no help to me.

Besides, I had a family in the forest.
Heinrich and Sislin, Sasha and Julien, and the other precious children.

‘There is no reason to be envious.’

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I threw away the melancholic thoughts, arranged the sweets, and took out the teleport magic tool.

Then, I kept it in a drawer very preciously (and carefully, for fear that only my dress would be teleported to the marquisate and a very embarrassing situation would arise).

Mmm, that was good.

It was when I finished organizing all of my things and got up from my seat in satisfaction.

Tuk—

Something fell at my feet.

“……!”

The moment I checked the item, I couldn’t help but be surprised.
It was a cigarette case.
It has Gerard’s hand stains on it.

“Hmm, it’s very uncomfortable to have it as evidence of a murder scene…”

It was not something a 12-year-old could handle.

I picked up the case with a troubled expression and glanced over it.

‘Oh, it looks very expensive.’

The body of the luxurious valuable case was solidly structured in silvery chrome, and the edges were finished with calfskin.

On the front side, the emblem of the El Dorado imperial family was magnificently engraved.

“How am I going to handle this?”

It was a headache.

I brought it for fear that the life of the ‘someone else’ who picked it up would be in jeopardy, but in fact, I didn’t have a special way to deal with it.

It was at that time when I was contemplating how to deal with it and carefully examining it.

“Uh?”

What was discovered on the back of the case was something very suspicious.

My eyes widened—

“…What?!”

‘What the hell is this, sir?’

***

“How did you feel when you saw Annette in person?”

It was on the morning of the day of socialization training that Jay asked for, or rather, informed Madam Mimosa that he would meet Annette at.

[I’m going to meet her in person today.
]

That was why the destination for socialization training, which had been set as a small salon for a certain noble, was urgently changed to the Imperial Palace.

Although it was a sudden meeting, Madam Mimosa was confident.

Because she perfectly suited the Forest’s educational goal of cultivating clever, pure, and talented Trees.

A great specimen of a fine Tree.

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Annette was Madam Mimosa’s masterpiece.
She was sure he couldn’t find any fault with the gifted little lady.

However, the man who actually saw Annette gave an unexpected answer.

[Annette grew up as a cute little lady.
But there is one problem.]

The dark eyebrows above Madam Mimosa’s golden eyes twitched and moved.

“Is there a problem with her…?”

[So clever.]

She had no choice but to respond immediately to that statement.

“How does it matter that the child is clever, Jay?”

A low breath came from the other side.
It was like he was laughing at her.

[Tools and livestock are easy to handle if they are moderately stupid, Madam Mimosa.]

“……!”

Was it meant to ridicule her, a clever livestock, or a rebuke for improper upbringing?

Maybe both.
(TL/N: Madam Mimosa was a ‘livestock’ too!? This is reminding me of The Promised Neverland…)

Madam Mimosa bit her lips at the gentle rush of insults.

However, her lips soon drew a smooth arc.

Her tongue, sharp as a knife, moved gently and spit out words.

“I can’t believe one considers a child who is a little clever, difficult to deal with.
Is our sponsor just an adult who’s only that much?”

[……]

“It’s a little disappointing.”

[Oh no, I didn’t mean to insult the madam.]

The man beyond the communication area took a leisurely step back with a voice mixed with laughter.
The sound of ice in his glass was heard.

Madam Mimosa added.

“Annette is a wonderful Tree.”

[Well, if only she awakened.]

It was thought he had taken a step back, he took two more steps and entered deeper with a premise that Mimosa could not refute.

Even Mimosa must agree with this statement.

[It is true that I have a strong curiosity.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Annette’s ‘Color of Soul’, but it still emits a strong light.
It was amazingly captivating, like a moth jumping into a fire.
]

She knows too.
How the color of that soul would make one feel…

Jay’s eyes could see the same color of soul that Madam Mimosa’s magic-casted eye sees.

Her casted eye was actually given to her by Jay.

They both had the same eyes.

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[So I decided.
I will be the ‘soil’ of the child.]

“……!”

The tea cup that Madam Mimosa was holding stopped in mid-air.

[I will feed my nourishment, and I will make the child an Awakener myself.]

“……”

Her spine chilled.

[I’m adopting Annette.]

***

‘Has there ever been a jewel like this?’

I found an ‘unidentified black jewel’ on the back of the cigarette case and was looking closely.

‘It’s not a magic stone.
I’m sure.’

“Because Mr.
Spencen was the most prominent of the scholars in El Dorado who have studied magic stones.”

I obtained a perfect score in the course, which I thoroughly followed.

The circular jewel was small, black, and pretty.

It even felt mysterious.

‘I don’t think it’s an ordinary gem of course.’

As a 12-year-old who was stained with capitalism, expensive black jewels were part of my common sense (of course, I am precocious, especially when it comes to money), but it was a jewel I was not aware of.

“…Even so, one wouldn’t have made prince’s things with something cheap.”

Oh.

What a surprise.

At that time, the black jewel ‘sparkled’ and scattered a dazzling light.

It was very mysterious.

Wow, it was such a rare and mysterious thing, so he must have cherished it so much, didn’t he?’

I nodded.

‘That’s why he was so crazy attached in the original.’

The loss of the cigarette case was also in the original story, in which Gerard misunderstood that Heinrich stole it.

He was like a crazy person with a cigarette case no less than me, an obsessive baker in the original story.

When I read the original, I was like, ‘Can’t you just buy a new case?’ But seeing it now actually made me understand a little.

Even at first glance, it was a precious item.

But he lost it.

Usually, I would try to find the owner of the item I picked up, but in this situation, I had no intention of getting ‘good child’s disease.’

‘You should have kept such a precious thing well, prince.’

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That was when I was contemplating the disposition of the case.

Suddenly the door swung open.

“Annette!”

“……!”

I was startled and hid it behind me.
Then I looked back with a smile.

Fortunately, it was Sasha.

The ignorant Sasha spoke with a smile on her face, not even interested in what I was hiding.

“Madam Mimosa is calling!”

“…Madam Mimosa?”

***

“Madam Mimosa, did you call me?”

“Come here.”

On a sunny afternoon, Madam Mimosa looked at me with a bent index finger under her chin.

Why did she call for me?

As I waited, pressing my curiosity, she opened her mouth slowly.

“An adoption application for you has come in.
You must prepare to leave the Forest.
Annette.”

“…Yes?!”

‘What did you just say, teacher?!’

It was unexpected news that came at such an unexpected time, so I swallowed my saliva for a moment.

Then I asked calmly.

“…Is it possible to apply for adoption as a daughter-in-law?”

Could it be that my sponsor just couldn’t stand it?

“No.”

But Madam Mimosa answered calmly and pushed the document in front of me.

She wanted me to take it.

“He said he would adopt you as his daughter.”

Badump, badump, badump.

With a trembling heart, I glanced at the papers she held out.

In the name of the adoption application, it was written exactly like this:

Gerard von Axelferion

My eyes got bigger

“…The prince is going to adopt me?!”