The Obsessive Male Lead Is Jealous Of My Doll - Chapter 52

Chapter 26.2

Before Ignis returned, Karentina always made sure to have meals with her, no matter how busy she was. Stella always looked eagerly forward to that time.

Stella held Leah and glanced at her brother. Ignis met her gaze as his eyes curved into a soft smile.

「 His Highness the Crown Prince has apologized. 」

Stella was lost in thought, remembering Karentina’s words.

Something was strange.

‘I’m sure my brother didn’t properly apologize.’

It was clear that something had happened between Ignis and Karentina in the garden.

‘It’s also suspicious that Gemma suddenly cried. Karentina is different from the ladies who treated me poorly… Could it be that my brother misunderstood Karen?’

Stella was confident that the person who loved her most in the world was Ignis, though she knew very well that his kindness only extended to his younger sister.

She let out a deep sigh, fearing that Ignis, who had treated others coldly and distant from everyone else, might have done the same to Karentina. If that weren’t the case, Karentina wouldn’t have made excuses about needing to handle overdue paperwork or feeling unwell to postpone the meals several times.

At the thought, it suddenly felt as if her appetite had completely vanished.

“I don’t want to eat anymore.”

As Stella set down her fork, Ignis frowned.

“You need to eat more.”

“I’m full because my brother put a lot in front of me.”

Seeing the mountain of cut meat piled on her plate, the child fidgeted with her fingers. In the meanwhile, Ignis looked at Stella in thought for a moment, and then gave her a warm smile.

“Okay. How about we go to the glass greenhouse later?”

Normally, Stella would have bounced with excitement, but for some reason, she didn’t feel like it and shook her head.

“You’re busy, Brother. I’m fine. I’m going back to my room first.”

As the child hopped off her chair and left the dining room with quick steps, Joseph bowed to Ignis before following her. Seeing the rabbit doll held tightly in her arms, Ignis let out a knowing smile.

The midday in the northern region, at the tail end of winter, was warmer than expected, thanks to the shining sun. Stella glanced back at the following Joseph and sighed softly. He was closely guarding her under Ignis’s orders.

‘I can’t even play with Karen. It’s no fun.’

When Leah, who was being held in her arms, looked up at her with concern, Stella rubbed her face against the doll’s body.

Was it because it was Karentina’s doll? She felt soft and it had a subtle scent, making her feel better than before.

If she had gone back to her room now, she would have had to attend Gemma’s boring and difficult lessons, so Stella decided to explore the castle a bit more.

‘What should I do to make my brother and Karen become friends?’

Even though Stella thought she was more intelligent than her peers, when it came to relationships between people, she didn’t have the answers and quickly fell into a gloomy mood.

“Joseph.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Stella muttered, blinking her large eyes.

“Do you have many friends, Joseph?”

“Friends?”

Despite his large, bear-like size, Joseph scratched his head awkwardly with an innocent smile.

“Well… I have a rough and harsh personality, so I don’t have many friends.”

Joseph, who had been flustered, smiled with an embarrassed expression.

‘Joseph doesn’t have many friends either.’

When Stella looked up at him with a look of sympathy, Joseph quickly changed the subject.

“Instead, I have a family that I love.”

“Family?”

Stella’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Friends are great, but family are precious people who will stand by you for the rest of your life. For me, Gemma is more important than my own life.”

“But there are also scary families.”

Stella lowered her head as she thought of Imperial Consort Christina. Joseph, realizing his mistake, quickly opened his mouth.

“Once His Highness successfully completes this subjugation and returns, neither the Imperial Consort nor the nobles will be able to ignore him anymore. Soon, when he welcomes a worthy crown princess and solidifies the imperial power, Your Highness will have a new family, so please don’t worry too much.”

“Crown princess?”

Stella felt that Joseph was wrong.

It was because the noble ladies who had approached him until now were all lusting after Ignis’s appearance and status and had tried to manipulate her. Not only those sent by Imperial Consort Christina, but everyone had approached her with some ulterior motive.

The child’s shoulders slumped wearily as she looked at Leah, who was held tightly in her arms.

‘Other people are scary… I want someone as pretty as Karen or as kind and smart as Karen.’

Her eyes widened as a thought naturally occurred to her.

‘Family are precious people who will stand by you for the rest of my life… Crown princess…’

She recalled what Gemma had said to Karentina.

「 She’ll need to go to the capital and host a splendid debutante ball. Also, she’ll choose an excellent groom. 」

Groom. Crown princess.

‘…Wait a minute. Doesn’t that mean they can get married?!’