The Obsessive Male Lead Is Jealous Of My Doll - Chapter 36

18 — 2

“Your name?”

“Ung. My name isn’t Your Highness.”

Karentina couldn’t help but chuckle at Stella’s adorable pouting.

“But calling you by your name is…”

“Then, can’t it just be when we’re alone?”

In the end, Karentina nodded helplessly under the onslaught of pleading gaze.

“Okay. Stella.”

“Kyaak! I’m so happy.”

As Karentina wiped the cake from the corner of the happy Stella’s mouth with a handkerchief, the little girl’s eyes sparkled as if she had just remembered something.

“You know. What’s hide and seek?”

‘It looks like she heard everything Eddie and I talked about earlier. How cute.’

“It’s a game where one person becomes the seeker and finds the hidden people. The person who’s found by the seeker becomes the next seeker.”

“That sounds fun.”

“Do you want to try it?”

Stella nodded so vigorously that it almost made a buzzing sound.

“Then, we’ll need to call someone to help.”

̊ · : * ✧* : · ̊

[ Master. This isn’t a butler’s job! ]

Zion’s posture was crooked as he expressed his dissatisfaction.

‘There’s nothing urgent to do, so take this chance to get closer to Stella. She looks just like you, and she’s cute like a little sister.’

[ …. ]

He looked at Stella, who was gently petting Leah, with an awkward expression.

“Well, since it’s everyone’s first time, I’ll be the seeker first. Stella, Zion, Leah, you can hide in this room while I count to one hundred.”

Karentina placed her hand on the wall, which had been painted with golden wainscoting, and closed her eyes.

“I’ll start counting now. One, two, three…”

The surroundings soon became quiet after the sound of Stella’s laughing faded.

[ Don’t suddenly call Leah and me with hand gestures! ]

‘Okay.’

Despite the fact that he said he wouldn’t do it, Zion replied in a more excited voice than anyone else. Karentina stifled a small laugh.

“…Ninety-nine, one hundred. Now, I’m coming to find you.”

Karentina began searching the quiet room one by one.

‘The place children usually hide is under the bed.’

At the thought, she tiptoed towards the bed and swiftly lifted the delicate lace bed skirt.

“Found you! Huh…?”

Contrary to her expectations, the space under the bed was empty, filled only with darkness.

“Where could they be hiding?”

Karentina tilted her head and was lost in thought.

‘…If it’s not under the bed, then it must be the closet.’

She shifted her steps to the dressing room, feeling as if she had been possessed by the famous detective as she searched for Stella’s hiding spot.

Click—

The sound of the door opening drew Karentina’s attention.

“It’s cheating if you leave the room.”

Worried that Stella might have hidden in a dangerous place, she peeked her head out through the crack in the door. However, the brightly lit corridor was silent.

“Stella?”

With no response, a sudden chill ran down her spine.

She hurriedly rushed out of the room, fearing that perhaps someone from the Imperial Consort’s entourage might still be around and was trying to harm Stella.

“Stella?”

Her footsteps quickened.

“…I can’t find her.”

Feeling desperate, she urgently called out for Zion.

‘Zion. Where are you now?’

[ How can you ask me when I’m hiding from you! That’s disgraceful. ]

Karentina located Zion based on the senses she felt in her body. It seemed that Zion and Leah were inside the room. Then, where could Stella have gone?

It was at that moment when she was scanning the surroundings.

Whoosh—

Along with the sound of crackling flames, a blazing red fire blocked her path, flickering wildly. The flames were so intense and fierce that had she moved just a little further, she would have been engulfed by them, and they would’ve roasted her.

Thud, thud.

With heavy footsteps, a long shadow fell over Karen’s head. From the approaching figure, she caught a whiff of the cold winter breeze.

‘…No, it can’t be.’

Karentina swallowed dry saliva and slowly raised her head.

Dark golden hair hidden beneath a hood, and graceful and beautiful features. A handsome man exuding a decadent and dangerous atmosphere.

‘Why, why is he here already…’

As the man roughly pulled off the hood of his robe, he glared at her as if he were about to kill her. His crimson eyes were as cold as ice.

‘Ignis!’

It was Ignis, the male protagonist in this novel.

“What are you doing?”

He gritted his teeth.

“Daring to utter the Princess’s name so recklessly.”

Karentina felt a flame in his eyes. Her mouth went dry, and her head was spinning. It felt like she was standing right on the threshold of death. She couldn’t move a muscle like a frog in front of a snake.

‘Ah. So, this is how it ends…’

They say when people die, their lives flash before their eyes, but why were all the old memories of Karentina coming back to her?

Ignis’s handsome lips stiffened coldly. He looked so perfect as if he had stepped out of a painting, that she stared at him as though mesmerized.

“Seeing as there was no answer, I guess I asked something pointless.”

When Karentina blinked, Ignis stopped moving.

“The color of your eyes…”

His eyes were shaking wildly as he was unable to continue the sentence.

Please consider sending some love either through the translator’s Ko-fi or by leaving a rating/review for this series on novel updates~!