🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 5
The Obsessive Male Leads Are a Problem
The Duke of Veloa’s estate was located in the southern region of the Empire, while the Duke of Douglas’s estate lay in the west.
Traveling by carriage between the two took about a week, but using the magical portals created by mages reduced the journey to only two hours.
Magic portals are amazing! They’re the best!
Having come from a world where science had advanced so far, very few things still amazed me.
But magical portals?
No matter how many times I saw one, they were always breathtaking.
Silently thanking the Mage Tower for creating such a wonderful invention, I carefully stepped down from the carriage.
Come to think of it… it’s been a long time since I visited the Douglas estate.
I hardly ever came here.
The only times I had visited in my previous three lives were when I had tried to reform Jeffrey.
That alone proved how little interest I had ever had in Jeffrey Douglas.
And honestly, there was no reason for me to.
Sure, he was handsome.
He was the heir to the Duchy of Douglas.
He wielded incredibly powerful wind magic.
But at the end of the day…
He was still a womanizer.
Of course, after he truly fell in love with Julieta, he cut ties with all the other women.
Even so…
I still couldn’t stand him.
These days, the trend is devoted, faithful men…
Clicking my tongue, I walked into the Douglas estate.
The butler waiting inside immediately greeted me.
“Welcome to the Douglas estate. My name is Elijah Burkoff, the head butler.”
He bowed respectfully.
I returned the greeting with a nod.
“Hello, Butler. May I first greet His Grace the Duke and the Duchess?”
Whenever one visited a noble household, greeting the heads of the family was basic etiquette.
However, the butler looked troubled.
“His Grace and Her Grace have gone to an important social gathering today. They were very disappointed that they would miss seeing Lady Ariadne.”
“I see. Actually, I came today intending to decorate Young Master Douglas’s room. Is there any way I could obtain the Duchess’s permission?”
“There is no need. Her Grace has already instructed us to let Lady Ariadne do as she pleases. If you need anything else, please let me know. I will gladly assist you.”
“Thank you. Then please show me to Young Master Douglas’s room.”
Following the butler with light steps, I headed toward Jeffrey’s room.
Behind me came the three florists I had hired today…
Along with ten thousand yellow roses.
Hehe… Jeffrey.
Today you’ll be sleeping in a sea of yellow roses.
Actually… it’d be even better if you slept forever.
I chuckled wickedly to myself.
My obsession with Jeffrey…
Was only just beginning.
*
“Lady Ariadne, it’s finally finished!”
The three florists approached to inform me.
I stood from my chair and looked around Jeffrey’s room.
“…Wow.”
The spacious room was overflowing with brilliant yellow roses.
Yellow roses here.
Yellow roses there.
No matter where I looked, gorgeous blossoms filled every corner.
It looked like the home of a fairy who lived among yellow roses.
Smiling with satisfaction, I applauded.
“Oh. It’s even better than I expected. Everyone worked hard.”
“Thank you, my lady. It was only possible because you provided us with so many roses.”
“Hehe. Not only are you talented, you’re humble too. I suppose I should leave you all a generous tip.”
“N-No, my lady. We simply did our job…”
Just then—
Bang!
The bedroom door burst open.
Jeffrey stormed inside.
“W-What the…?”
He froze the instant he saw his room.
Yellow roses on the walls.
Yellow roses on the bed.
Yellow roses on the table.
There were even yellow roses attached to the ceiling.
Anyone would have been stunned.
“Oh, Young Master Douglas. Good evening.”
I deliberately greeted him with a gentle smile.
Jeffrey finally snapped out of it and marched toward me furiously.
“Hey! Are you insane?! What the hell is this?!”
He glared at me with an intimidating expression.
It was the unmistakable look of someone demanding an explanation.
When the male lead got angry, he really was frightening.
And somehow…
The air around him seemed noticeably colder.
I discreetly signaled the trembling florists beside me to leave.
They bowed quickly before fleeing the room without looking back.
“Why are you so angry?” I asked calmly.
“Have I done something I shouldn’t?”
With my arms crossed, I looked back at him confidently.
If you wanted to act obsessively toward someone…
You could never let yourself be intimidated.
Instead, you had to stay completely confident.
Like a broken record, you had to keep insisting,
‘I’m right, and you’re wrong.’
“Hah! Why am I angry?”
“You turned my room into this disaster and you’re asking me that?!”
“What’s wrong with your room?”
“I decorated it for your sake.”
“So that whenever you look at these yellow roses…”
“You’ll always think of me.”
Calmly, I picked up a yellow rose from a nearby vase.
Then…
I tucked it behind Jeffrey’s ear.
Smiling brightly, I said,
“It suits you.”
“A bright yellow looks much better on you than pale yellow.”
“W-What the hell?!”
Jeffrey jumped in shock and slapped my hand away.
His ears seemed to have turned slightly red.
According to the nine years’ worth of Jeffrey data I’d accumulated…
His ears always turned red whenever he was truly angry.
Which meant…
My obsessive behavior was genuinely infuriating him.
Perfect.
If I keep this up, someday Jeffrey will come to hate obsessive people altogether.
Smiling victoriously, I took another step toward him.
“Young Master Douglas.”
“You don’t look very well.”
“Is something wrong?”
With a face full of concern, I gently placed a hand on his cheek.
“AAAH!”
“Y-You’re seriously insane!”
His entire face turned bright red as he shoved me away.
The force sent me tumbling onto the floor.
“…”
I’m pissed.
But obsessive male leads never screamed or threw tantrums here.
They simply stared at the heroine with terrifying eyes…
And became even more obsessed.
“So…”
“You asked if I was crazy?”
“Young Master Douglas…”
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
“W-What?”
“Whenever I think about you giving flowers to another woman…”
“I feel like I’m going completely insane.”
“Hey…”
“D-Don’t tell me…”
“This is because I sent flowers to Lady Cutler?”
Yes.
That was exactly why.
But instead of answering, I quietly stood up.
Then I slowly walked toward him.
Not too fast.
Not too slow.
“H-Hey…”
“What are you trying to do now…?”
Jeffrey muttered nervously.
Stopping directly in front of him, I looked up.
Hmm…
He’s way too tall.
I needed to whisper in his ear.
No helping it.
Without hesitation…
I kicked him in the shin.
“AAAGH!”
“Damn it!”
“You lunatic!”
Jeffrey clutched his shin in pain.
Thanks to that, our eyes were finally level.
Perfect.
Now!
Seizing the opportunity, I leaned close and whispered into his ear.
“So…”
“Don’t provoke me anymore.”
“W-What?”
“If you don’t want to see me…”
“Really lose my mind.”
…
Phew.
I finally said it.
Stretching out my cramped fingers, I lightly patted his shoulder twice.
“Y-You’re…”
“You’re completely insane…”
Jeffrey stared at me as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.
Yeah.
You can’t believe it?
Neither can I.
Honestly…
You should’ve just obsessed over Julieta from the beginning instead of making me do this.
Giving Jeffrey one last cheerful smile, I left the room.
The moment I stepped outside…
I sprinted toward the Veloa family’s carriage parked outside the estate.
Damn it!
This is so embarrassing!
Seriously embarrassing!
How did obsessive male leads say lines like that without feeling even a little ashamed?
I had no idea.
But one thing was certain.
They possessed unbelievable courage.
Silently paying my respects to all the obsessive male leads I’d read about back in my original world…
I hurriedly ordered the carriage to depart.
That night—
After returning to the Veloa estate…
I kicked my blanket over and over in embarrassment before finally managing to fall asleep.
Damn it…
My life…
*
“Get out!”
“I said get out!”
Ariadne’s voice echoed around me.
As I opened my eyes…
I saw Ariadne, her face twisted with rage, hurling a cup of water.
Even that wasn’t enough to satisfy her anger.
She grabbed the flower vase from the table and threw it onto the floor.
Crash!
The tall white vase shattered into countless pieces.
Standing before it, Julieta lowered her eyes gloomily as she looked at the broken fragments.
…What’s this?
Watching from a short distance away…
I felt like nothing more than an outside observer.
Apparently…
Neither of them could see me.
“Julieta!”
“Didn’t you hear me tell you to leave?!”
“Get out right now!”
Ariadne shouted again.
Her eyes were fierce with anger.
What is this…?
Which timeline is this?
Did I ever get this angry at Julieta?
After thinking carefully…
I slowly shook my head.
No matter how I looked at it…
No.
There was no way I’d ever throw a flower vase at the heroine.
If one of the male leads happened to witness something like that…
My life would have been over on the spot.
There was no way I’d ever do something that dangerous and completely pointless.
