The Male Lead I Raised Is Obsessed With Me

Episode 38

He had a young and beautiful voice akin to a hummingbird, but the tone was so cold and twisted that its beauty could not be felt.

A small figure emerged from the darkness.

“L, L-Lucius!”

Unlike Blant, who shuddered and cowered back, Catherine held on to the bars and pleaded.

“Lucius! It’s been so long! Right, aren’t you sick? Did you come here because you were worried about your aunt?”

Lucius stared at them like a porcelain doll.

Only then did Catherine feel that something was strange.

“…Lucius?”

“Auntie, do you remember? Ever since I was young, auntie would covet what I had.”

“What?”

“Like aunt said, I was a child abandoned by my parents, but I still received valuable items from time to time. I still remember it. The cravat adorned with red jewels.”

Didn’t she say that it was embarrassing to show it off to an honoured guest?

Or did it represent an indifferent father’s charity?

She couldn’t remember very well.

“Aunt said that it was pretty. So you took it and gave it to your son.”

It wasn’t as if he raised his voice or spoke harshly, but he was strangely intimidating.

“L-Lucius. Listen to me. That time…I thought you didn’t like it…! So that’s why. Were you upset about that? I, I’m sorry. I’ll buy you a new one if you want……”

“But it doesn’t matter. It was not important to me. However, auntie.”

Lucius reached through the bars and grabbed Catherine’s chin violently.

Catherine struggled, and despite the boy’s slender appearance, she could not escape his arms easily.

“A, ah……”

Catherine’s face was crushed between the iron bars.

The bones in her face felt like it was being crushed.

“Don’t touch sister.”

The moment she gazed up those crimson eyes, Catherine belatedly realised.

She made a mistake.

Felia was not someone she could touch.

“If you had tried to hurt me, I would have been tolerant. Aunt should know that, right? Since my mother always scolded and beat me. As my mother said, I’m a bad kid, and it’s natural for her to get angry since I’m a child who gives her goosebumps just by looking at me.”

Catherine’s body trembled visibly.

Her sharp fingernails dug into Lucius’ tender flesh, but Lucius’ face remained calm as if he felt no pain.

“I’m not brave or smart like sister. I know very well that everything I have, even the money that you’re trying to covet, was given to me by her.”

At the thought of Felia, a smile appeared on Lucius’ face for the first time.

It was a lovely smile that could make anyone fall in love with it, but Catherine felt her limbs grow cold.

She had to apologise, she had to beg for forgiveness.

No, but will that monster let them go safely?

Lucius smiled brightly and answered Catherine.

“But I can do things that my sweet and kind sister would never do.”

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“Wow. Isn’t that too much?”

Entering the prison, Bircher grumbled at Lucius who was standing with his sword hanging.

“Do you know how hard it’ll be to clean this up later?”

The floor was covered with blood.

Despite the scent of blood that stung his nose, Lucius’ expression remained calm.

Lucius ignored Bircher’s words and wiped the bloodstains on his face with his sleeve.

The sleeves of his white shirt were all stained red.

“Will she pass out again if I keep going on like this?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You know that madam is secretly sensitive when it comes to cruel things.”

“Even better. It’s cute.”

Lucius’ voice echoed.

His pale cheeks turned red and became more lively.

“Phew. Madam should know this side of the master.”

“It’s fine. Sister said that no matter what I do, she won’t abandon me.”

Lucius raised his chin and said proudly.

“Have you ever been called cute by her?”

“…….”

“I have.”

Bircher was dumbfounded.

To be honest, he was kind of– no, he was really envious that he was called cute by the madam.

‘But if madam really called me cute, he’ll carve my back!’

Then, Lucius’ face turned white as if he just remembered something.

“What should I do?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Sister said I shouldn’t make a woman cry, but I already did.”

At that moment, Bircher thought to himself.

‘I’ve lived my life thinking I was crazy, but guess I’ve been a normal person!’

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Blant Valfruga’s corpse was dumped in the plains, while Catherine’s head was delivered to Viscount Schtrim.

And so, it officially declared a territorial war to Viscount Schtrim.

Upon receiving his wife’s head, Viscount Schtrim went on a rampage.

“Who do these people think they’re provoking? It seems that the beggars have gone mad after having a taste of money!”

Whenever Viscount Schtrim got angry, his plump cheeks trembled.

At his feet, a woman was crouched under his body.

“Please…please. Help me…Let me go home. My ex-husband…”

“Noisy!”

He hit the floor roughly with the whip in his hand.

The vassal, who delivered the news, stammered and coaxed Viscount Schtrim.

“They have gone mad! How dare they attack us without knowing their place!”

“Hmph. This is what happens when a woman dares to step up and rule the duchy.”

Viscount Schtrim snorted.

“But this works out too. They might have made money, but isn’t the Valfruga still weak? So, at this rate, we might obtain all the gold coins in the Valfruga duchy.”

“Are you saying we should rule over the Valfruga dukedom?”

“Yes. After all, there are only four dukes in the empire. At this point, why don’t we conquer the Duke of Valfruga and turn it into the Duke of Schtrim?”

“Duke of Schtrim……”

The words rolled sweetly in his mouth.

From a viscount to a duke at once.

“Alright! Send a messenger, say that we accept the territorial war!”

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“Sister, I can’t believe you’re already up. Aren’t you overdoing it? You can rest for a few more days.”

“Madam. Are you sure you’re alright?”

Luc and Bella followed me around in chorus.

I’m not sure if it was just Luc and Bella.

Behind that pillar, Bircher was hiding himself, and in the distance, Treon who feigned busy, glanced at me.

At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but it was hard to pretend to not know when it was this blatant.

I sighed and asked.

“What are you all doing now?”

“Sister might be in danger again, so I’m going to protect you! And you might not fully recover yet!”

“I’m not hurt anywhere, and besides, haven’t I rested for three days?”

For three days, I really rested under Luc’s care.

In fact, thanks to Blackie, I didn’t face any pain, so I simply played along with Luc and didn’t lift a finger all day.

Luc shook his head firmly.

“But it’s not enough. You passed out, so you should rest for a month.”

“No, I’m not that weak……Ow!”

As I was walking while looking at Luc chasing after me, I twisted my foot for a moment.

“Sister!”

“Madam!”

At that moment, everyone around me rushed at me.

Luc, who supported my waist, hurriedly examined my complexion.

“Does your head hurt? Were you about to faint? You haven’t fully recovered, have you?”

No, I just twisted my foot.

Bella also chirped in.

“Madam is indeed fragile. It’s such a warm day, but you still feel cold seeing that you’re wearing such thick clothes.”

No, it just snowed yesterday.

You guys are just too strong against the cold.

Treon, who came to me before I realised, said solemnly.

“This won’t do. I’ll have to send a team of knights to catch a bear right away. It’s time to unravel the family’s secret recipe.”

At those words, Luc’s eyes lit up.

“Are bears good for your health?”

“That’s right. Since ancient times, the bear’s gallbladder…”

Before I knew it, even Bircher intervened and made plans to hunt for bears tomorrow.

I hastily shouted in fear that if this continued, I might really have to eat a bear soup.

“Stop! Enough! How do you have time to catch a bear! Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

I looked at Luc and Treon and spoke.

“Especially you two. Do you have something to tell me? How did you deal with Luc’s relatives who came to visit?”

Luc slightly averted his gaze at my words.

Initially, I had asked this question as soon as I opened my eyes, but Luc acted cute and said, ‘I took care of it well, sister. Don’t worry and just have plenty of rest…’

I never knew I was such a weak-willed person.

If Luc was an idol in Korea, I would have given him all my property.

After barely managing to send everyone back to work, I dragged Treon and Luc to the office.

And when I heard the punishment imposed on Luc’s relative, I touched my forehead.

“You killed them both? And started a territorial war against Viscount Schtrim?”

A territorial war, in summary, was a life and death decision on who gets to obtain the territory since we couldn’t live together under the same sky.

It was, to put it simply, a chardel mode[1].

[1] Directly translates to CharDel – Short for Character Deletion mode. An act in an online PvP game where the losing team would have their characters/profile deleted for good. Like minecraft in hardcore mode.

However, it was really rare for a case to happen, because a territorial war had to go though very demanding conditions.

First, both territory must agree.

Second, you must obtain permission from at least three of the five people which included the emperor and the four dukes.

“Even with the first condition…How did you obtain the second condition? We’re one of the four main duchy, so that’s one vote, and the other two?”

“His Majesty the Emperor and the Duke of Summerhield approved it.”

I gripped the back of my neck at Treon’s words.

That Californian guy is really something!

“Why on earth did the emperor agree!”

The answer to this question came from Luc.

Normally, Treon would have been in charge of telling me, but the answer that came smoothly, showing signs of Luc’s efforts, almost made me a little touched.

“It’s a fight in the North. The North was traditionally a place where the Emperor’s control was weak. Since we’ve been growing significantly these days, he hopes that we will lose strength while fighting and devouring each other.”

“Right. That’s what I’m worried about. We’re weak.”