The Obsessive Male Lead Is Jealous Of My Doll - Chapter 60

Chapter 30.2

Once the child closed her eyes, Karentina carried Leah near the dying mother bear. Thankfully, the mother bear had no intention of attacking and lay there quietly, almost as if she understood they were trying to save her. Once everything was prepared, Leah’s divine power began to flow.

It was always an incredible sight. Gradually, the mother bear’s wounds started to heal.

[ This should be enough. ]

‘Thank you so much, Leah.’

She held Leah, who was soaked from the snow, gently in her arms. Karentina found herself sinking into despair, realizing that without Leah, she might not have been able to save Damion, Stella, Ignis, or even the bears.

Sensing her emotions, Leah gently raised her soaked, cotton-like arm and placed it against Karentina’s cheek.

[ It was you who found me and gave me the chance to live again. It’s all thanks to your strength, Lady Karentina. ]

Fighting back tears from Leah’s comforting words, Karentina gently picked up Stella once more.

“Let’s hurry back before the mother bear wakes up.”

“I’m sorry, Karen… The baby bears were just so cute…”

Karentina smiled faintly and patted Stella’s head.

“Next time, please let me know wherever you’re going. We were lucky this time that it was just baby bears. If it had been a monster, it could’ve been really dangerous.”

The child’s small shoulders drooped as she realized the seriousness of the situation.

As they moved farther away from the bears, the tension began to fade, but Karentina’s steps felt as heavy as lead.

At that moment—

A shiver ran down her spine, and the hairs on her neck stood up. She instinctively hugged Stella tightly and crouched down as a circle of warm flames encircled them as if shielding them.

“What…”

Karentina swallowed nervously at Ignis’s voice, laced with fury.

“Brother.”

Ignis scanned the situation, glancing between Karentina and Stella before turning his gaze toward the distant mother bear. As flames in his hand began to form into sharp blades, Karentina quickly set Stella down and stepped in front of him.

“Don’t!”

“Princess¹! It’s dangerous!”

Ignis growled as he extinguished the flames, glaring at her.

“Princess Stella is safe. The blood on her dress is from the mother bear.”

His fierce, sunken eyes turned to her.

“If anything posed a threat to Stella, I couldn’t let it live.”

“Please don’t do that. The cubs can’t survive if they lose their mother.”

As she held onto Ignis’s arm and pleaded earnestly, he turned his gaze back toward the bear.

“….”

The mother bear, now regaining consciousness, slowly rose to her feet as if she had sensed Ignis’s ferocious energy. The cubs rubbed against their mother, glancing at them almost as though to say thanks, before retreating deep into the forest.

Karentina let out a breath of relief as she watched them disappear safely.

“It seems she got injured while trying to protect her cubs from that demonic beast.”

Ignis’s voice was cold as he inspected the dead creature.

“I thought I’d burned all the beast’s eggs, but it seems some survived. D*mn it… This is all my fault.”

Karentina quietly observed Ignis, who was blaming himself, contrary to her expectation that he would lash out in anger. He let out a low sigh.

“Stella, come here.”

“Brother.”

As he pulled Stella into his arms, tears started to well up in her eyes again.

“I’m sorry. Brother couldn’t protect you when you were scared…”

Stella shook her head, sniffling.

“It was my fault. And Karen saved me again.”

When Ignis’s gaze shifted to Karentina, she quickly waved her hands.

“No, it’s my fault. I said I’d protect Princess Stella, but I couldn’t keep my promise. I apologize, Your Highness.”

His fingers brushed against her face as she lowered her head.

“You’re bleeding.”

Huh? What?

For just a moment, Ignis’s expression shifted in a peculiar way. Instead of his usual icy demeanor, it felt like a warm spring… or not!

Ignis narrowed his eyes and quickly shot a look of reproach.

‘…What is he going to nag about this time?’

Karentina, bracing herself for what was to come, nervously swallowed.

At that moment, with a rustling sound, Zion, who had just arrived belatedly after sorting out the situation, called out to her in a shocked voice.

“Karentina!”

Ignis quickly withdrew his hand when he saw Zion.

“Karen—no, Master, are you okay? What about Leah?”

Zion looked completely flustered, examining Karentina from head to toe with a panicked expression.

“I’m fine. Thankfully, Leah is okay too.”

“Fine? What do you mean fine when you’re bleeding like this?! Your hands and face are all scratched up.”

Now that he mentioned it, she realized it did hurt a bit from tripping while rushing over here. Just as Karentina was about to smile and brush it off…

“…Huh?”

‘Why is the sky suddenly spinning?’

She faintly heard Zion calling her name desperately. She briefly caught a glimpse of Ignis’s eyes fluttering wildly before blinking, and then everything around her faded to black.

¹ [ Ignis is referring to her as ‘a princess of a duke or duchy,’ not ‘princess of a kingdom,’ which is Stella’s title. ] ↩