The lords who ruled the underground world had no ‘parents’.
More precisely, there was no existence that could be called parents.
No one knew who created them or how they were born.
They suddenly existed one day, and from then on they ruled over territories as lords of the underground.
The position of lord was lonelier and more solitary than one might think.
There were subordinates who swore loyalty to the lord and stood by their side, but they were just subordinates after all.
They could not replace the role of friends, family, or lovers.
It was difficult for such relationships to develop.
So the underground lords relied on other lords in the same position as friends or family to ease their lonely hearts.
This was also true for Kalos, and the lord he relied on and trusted the most was Dale Barans, the lord of the western territory ‘Pero’.
Although they often clashed and fought due to their opposite personalities and hobbies, it was only for a moment.
Even without explicitly making up, they would smile at each other again as if nothing had happened.
Kalos and Dale were the first to step up and help each other in difficult times.
And when there was something joyful and good, they would embrace and sincerely rejoice together.
A relationship deeper than friends or blood relatives.
Kalos believed without a doubt that this relationship would continue forever, but that was a mistaken belief.
“Kalos Esper!”
As ‘that incident’ occurred, their relationship was completely shattered.
The aftermath of that broken trust was tremendous, as much as they had firmly believed in each other.
Dale, firmly believing he had been betrayed by Kalos, cursed him in rage.
Even though he lost part of his body as the price for casting a terrible curse, he willingly did it.
Because of that, Kalos was tied to the human world and could not return to the underground world.
Just as a frog would eventually dry up and die if it stayed out of water for too long, even if it could breathe outside, an underground lord would perish if they stayed in the human world without returning to the underground.
Given this situation, Abel and some subordinates who knew Kalos’s circumstances clamored to declare war on Pero and capture Dale Barans immediately, but Kalos did not.
He believed that since it was caused by a misunderstanding, things would return to how they were once the misunderstanding was cleared up.
He also desperately wished to go back to that time.
However, no matter how long he waited, Dale did not return.
The curse was not lifted either.
While waiting, the curse Dale had cast continued to eat away at Kalos’s life.
Judging that he could no longer sit idle, Kalos tracked Dale, who had vanished after ‘that incident’, while searching for a way to break the curse.
It was for this reason that he made some kind of contract with the emperor of the empire at the time and received the title of grand duke.
Thanks to that, he found a way to break the curse, but that was all.
Breaking the curse was extremely difficult and required many trials and errors.
If he could catch Dale, he could ask or even threaten him to lift the curse, but unfortunately Dale’s whereabouts were unknown.
The fact that a new lord of Pero had not been born, and that someone kept interfering to prevent Kalos from breaking the curse, made it clear that Dale was still alive somewhere.
But no underground inhabitant or human had seen Dale, which Kalos found strange.
And then a witness appeared who claimed to have seen him, even exchanged names and watched a festival together.
It was concerning that the witness happened to be a priest, but after questioning from various angles, it didn’t seem like he was lying.
All that remained was to confirm if the man Sergio met was really Dale…
“Kalos!”
Awakened from his thoughts by a rough hand grasping his shoulder, Kalos turned to look beside him.
Abel was looking at him with an annoyed expression.
“What on earth were you thinking so deeply about that you didn’t answer no matter how many times I called?”
Kalos let out a long sigh and ran his hand through his disheveled hair.
“What is it?”
“You shouldn’t be asking what it is, you should apologize first.”
As Abel grumbled, Kalos’s eyebrows tilted askew.
“Get to the point.”
Though Abel clicked his tongue, seemingly displeased with Kalos’s stubbornness that was tougher than ox tendon, he answered compliantly.
“It’s about fixing the barrier. It seems to be mostly done, so I called you to take a look.”
At those words, Kalos checked the barrier surrounding the castle walls.
There were a few more places that needed to be touched up, but it was excellent overall.
The large hole that had been the biggest concern was perfectly sealed, and the remaining minor issues could be repaired even with Kalos’s power.
“…”
Right. It’s possible now.
He had taken quite a bit of power from Irene, perhaps excessively so.
Kalos looked down at his tightly clenched fist.
He could tell without checking that he had more power than usual.
He already knew that the more overt the contact, the more power could be taken, but he didn’t realize it would be to this extent.
Well, it was the first time he had been this close to someone who had become a sacrificial offering for the curse, so maybe it was natural.
The reason Kalos had brought Irene.
It was because Irene was a ‘sacrificial offering for the curse’.
He didn’t know for what reason Irene had been selected as the sacrificial offering, but.
What was certain was that when all the flowers on the flower branch tattoo on her back bloomed, the shackle-like curse binding Kalos to the human world would be broken.
And the one who became the sacrifice would die.
Because the flowers on the branch tattoo bloomed by feeding on the life of the sacrificed one.
“…”
Suddenly, that fact irritated him to the point of being painfully disturbing, and Kalos furrowed his brow.
It wasn’t the first time Kalos had brought a sacrificial offering to Esper Castle.
He had brought about three others before Irene.
Or was it four?
Anyway, Kalos hadn’t particularly cared that those who became sacrificial offerings would die.
Even when they actually died, he only regretted that the curse wasn’t broken, without attaching any meaning to their deaths themselves.
But why was the fact that Irene would die so irritating and annoying?
“…”
“Hey, why is your expression like that?”
Seeing Kalos’s face crumple miserably, Abel asked in a worried tone.
“Is there some problem with the barrier?”
Let’s stop these useless thoughts.
If Abel were to notice, it would become troublesome, so Kalos shook his head as he rubbed his face dry.
“No, there isn’t.”
“Of course there wouldn’t be.”
Abel placed his hands on his hips and laughed triumphantly, as if he had never been worried.
“There’s no way there could be a problem with a barrier I repaired myself.”
“…”
What confidence allows him to say such things?
Kalos looked at Abel with disbelieving eyes.
It would have been absurd even if there really were no problems, but that wasn’t the case.
There were too many issues visible right away to count on both hands.
Kalos could resolve this much himself, and knowing how much Abel had struggled until now, he refrained from mentioning it.
But with Abel speaking this way, he felt a mischievous urge to point out each issue one by one and tell him to fix them.
However, he couldn’t indulge in such pettiness.
Not only because of Abel’s hard work until now, but also because the investigation team sent by the temple would arrive soon, so it was inconvenient for him to remain in Esper territory any longer.
The unfortunate encounter between Abel and them had to be prevented at all costs, so the barrier repair had to be stopped here.
“Thank you for your hard work. It must have been a difficult request, but I’m grateful you agreed to it.”
Separately from that, Kalos sincerely expressed his gratitude.
At that, Abel scratched the nape of his neck with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“What’s this? It’s not like you to say such things.”
“I simply said what needed to be said.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
Abel grinned.
“If you’re that grateful, then grant me one request too.”
Abel’s requests were usually mischievous pranks that troubled those around him.
The kind of pranks that, while lacking malice, were still annoying when actually experienced.
So Kalos was a bit reluctant to grant Abel’s request, but since Abel had granted his request, he had no choice but to nod.
“What’s the request?”
“I don’t have one now. I meant that I’d like you to grant it when I do have a request later.”
It’s not a misunderstanding to hear this as meaning he’s preparing an enormous prank and wants Kalos to participate too.
Just how big of a prank is he planning to do this?
Although Kalos thought inwardly that he didn’t want to do it, outwardly he had no choice but to agree.
*
On the way back to Esper Castle after finishing the barrier repair.
Abel interlaced his fingers behind his head and muttered while looking up at the night sky twinkling with countless stars.
“We’ve finished fixing the barrier. What should I do now? Maybe I’ll go sightseeing in the human world after so long.”
Kalos, who was walking ahead, turned back to look at him quizzically.
“Shouldn’t you be returning to the underground world?”
Abel waved his hand in disgust.
“Don’t say such horrible things. If I go back now, I’m sure I’ll be bombarded with nagging, so I don’t want to return yet.”
Kalos asked incredulously.
“If you had done your job properly, there wouldn’t be any reason for you to be bombarded with nagging, would there?”
“I did do it properly. I definitely finished all my work.”
Abel grumbled as he walked ahead of Kalos.
“But that bastard Hugo, he seems to dislike everything I do and picks fights over every little thing. Just take what happened last time. He knew full well I was on vacation, but he came looking for me and pestered me to come back because there was a lot of work to do.”
Kalos recalled the contents of the letter Hugo had sent and replied.
“It did seem like there was a lot of work to do.”
“As if.”
Abel snorted.
“Right now is the harvest season, so there’s hardly anything to do.”
While other territories in the underground world were busy with the harvest, Whidor was an exception.
Due to the island’s characteristics making it difficult to farm, most crops were brought in from other territories, so unlike other territories, there was no large-scale harvest.
Instead, Whidor had developed a tourism industry utilizing its year-round mild climate and beautiful sea.
Not only hotels, but also a well-established villa system made everyone in the underground want to travel to Whidor.
Many tourists actually visited too.
However, during busy periods like harvest season, the number of tourists sharply decreased, making this the most leisurely time for Whidor.
So Abel must have come on vacation, briefly setting everything aside.
“…”
Kalos knew this fact well too, so he closed his mouth, unable to tell Abel to go back anyway.
He needed to send him back to the underground world somehow.
It seems he can’t use work as an excuse.
As he was deeply thinking about what other good excuses there might be, Abel, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped.
“It’s because of that, isn’t it?”
He turned around to face Kalos with his hands behind his back.
“You’re trying to send me back to the underground world because of the pigeons coming to Esper territory right now, aren’t you?”
The Male Lead’s Obsessive (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: She is his lifelong obsession, to the point where he was willing to be a third wheel, scorned by society, just to wedge his way into her relationship with her fiancé.
Synopsis:
Cold-hearted and indifferent female lead + Scheming and subservient CEO male lead
Summary:
Rong Xiu’s biggest regret in life was missing out on Fan Xia.
He secretly loved Fan Xia for 7 years.
Watched her go public with her boyfriend.
Watched her kiss her boyfriend at their wedding.
Until that man blissfully nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, obtaining everything he could only dream of.
The crazy jealousy stripped away his hidden secret love, layer by layer, burning like wildfire.
Fan Xia, how can I have you!
【Reading and Trigger Warning Guide】
1. Female dominant, male submissive, male pregnancy
2. Male lead schemes his way to the top, male competition