For Sale: Male Lead, Obsession Included - Chapter 45
As soon as Kite was left alone in the reception room, the faint smile hanging on his lips vanished completely. The once soft atmosphere around him froze over, turning cold.
“You there.”
“Yes.”
At Kite’s call, a paladin who had been hiding in the shadows silently emerged. He was one of the Pope’s personal guards, dressed in white lightweight armor and wearing a white mesh blindfold over his eyes.
By law, the ‘Rahara’ were meant to serve only the Pope, but since Kite had slowly taken control of the temple, he now held the power to command them as well.
Kite even walked around using the title ‘His Holiness’, a title reserved solely for the Pope, further demonstrating his position in the temple. However, since Kite used the Rahara for trivial tasks like tying his long white hair, he hadn’t earned their genuine reverence.
Today was no different. As the paladin carefully tied Kite’s hair with his calloused hands, Kite, dissatisfied with the touch, smacked the paladin’s hand away.
“Enough. Go investigate those two. Especially the woman—find out everything, down to the color of her underwear. By midnight.”
The paladin, whose hand had been stung by the burst of divine power when Kite hit him, winced in pain. Glancing quickly at the sun’s position outside, he realized there were less than ten hours until midnight.
Without even a moment’s hesitation, Kite’s icy gaze fell upon him, making it clear he had no intention of allowing any delay. The paladin quickly bowed his head.
“Answer me.”
“…Yes, Your Holiness.”
***
In my mind’s checklist, I drew a thick red line through ‘Recruit Ariel’.
Using the trump card of the Holy Kingdom, I had successfully recruited Ariel, but… an unexpected variable had appeared. That was none other than the sinister Kite.
‘Why did that guy suddenly turn up? Isn’t he supposed to usually stay locked up and only shows his face when it involves power?’
I had been out of the temple for quite some time now, but the chilling sensation of Kite’s relentless gaze still clung to me, making me shudder.
In the original novel, the author described Kite’s habit of biting his lips while smiling as something that surfaced when his twisted curiosity or unchecked greed began to stir.
The first time this habit appeared was when he discovered the overwhelming divine power of the female lead, Rozemian. Kite had trapped her, draining her divine power and self-worth to feed his own desires.
‘…So why did he show that ominous habit in front of me?’
It’s probably about the money. My situation, where I couldn’t make anonymous donations due to needing personal protection, felt all the more frustrating.
Even getting involved with the male lead would be a path of hardship, but getting tangled with the mastermind?
‘I might as well just die.’
In the original story, Kite received prophecies that allowed him to see the future, constantly hindering the protagonists’ journey. As memories of all the atrocities Kite had committed flooded my mind, I quickly turned my head, scanning my surroundings.
It felt like one of his paladin spies could be watching me from somewhere.
‘I need to hire protection as soon as possible.’
After thinking it over repeatedly, I snapped out of it and realized I had wandered into a bustling marketplace, filled with colorful food stalls.
I needed to find the errand boy as soon as possible.
Just as I was about to continue on my way, a loud rumble echoed from my stomach.
Only then did I realize I hadn’t eaten anything in over half a day.
Perhaps it was the mouth-watering smell of various foods, but suddenly, I couldn’t bear the hunger that came over me.
Deciding to eat first, I stopped in front of a stall with smoke rising from it, pondering what to choose.
…It was a stall selling chicken skewers.
Maybe it was because I remembered a certain boy, smiling brightly as he held two skewers in his hands as if he owned the world.
Before I knew it, I had bought several chicken skewers myself. Two would have been enough to fill me, but I ended up buying five.
“Now that I think about it, I didn’t even get to taste them back then.”
I had wanted to try those sweet-smelling skewers too, but like a mother eager to feed her child, I had given them all to Declan.
He had eaten them so happily, it was as if he could understand the phrase, ‘being full without eating.’
“Mmm. So this is what they taste like.”
The salt seasoning was just right, and the grilled flavor was delicious. But…
The chicken tasted like tough rubber.
Not knowing why, I took another big bite, but the chicken still tasted tough, and I felt no joy.
In the end, I couldn’t even finish one skewer. I stared blankly at the four remaining skewers in my hand.
‘Did I buy too many?’
Before I realized it, I was heading toward the bridge where I was supposed to meet the errand boy.
I hadn’t even considered that I might have bought them just because I wanted to see someone enjoy them.
