The Obsessive Male Lead Is Actually Scary-Chapter 53: Not Now, Not Yet

"Then, what happened next?" I asked, leaning toward Alessio with wide eyes, fully absorbed in the story now.

I had brought up the maid on a complete whim, but hearing it all laid out like this... it felt different. Realer, somehow.

"...She shared some intelligence with us. Mostly things she’d overheard, like Marius speaking to others either in person or through a communication pendant. It gave us more insight into what he might be planning, but... even then, she couldn’t provide solid proof."

My brows furrowed instinctively. I didn’t interrupt, but the unease showed on my face. Something didn’t sit right.

"I see."

"There were some documents she managed to steal from Marius’s secret room, later on," Alessio continued, his voice low and even. "But they were incomplete. The information included names, transactions, and schedules, but nothing carried a proper family seal. Without that, they were practically useless in court. Just paper, easily denied."

"Then... why didn’t she just wait and gather something more concrete before coming to you?"

Alessio sighed faintly. "We were planning to meet on the path through the orchard behind the greenhouse, near a small unused shed. She promised to bring more documents with real seals that we could use, and she agreed to testify if we kept her and her family safe."

He paused, his gaze dropping slightly.

"But... she never showed up. After that, there was nothing. I was ready to leave for the capital and perform my Descent ceremony, but with no witness, no evidence, everything was postponed."

"Then what did you mean earlier? When you said my attitude toward Marius changed around the time she came to you?"

His expression grew serious. "...It was around the same time she vanished that my men reported something odd about you. You’d always been bright, cheerful and kind, but then you turned quiet. Sad. You stopped visiting the garden for tea. You barely left your room. And there was that time you started crying and refused to see Marius altogether."

"Then... this can’t be a coincidence." I pressed a hand to my chin, deep in thought. "Not with the timing."

"Yeah. At first, I thought maybe you’d had a fight with him. But when a month passed and you still hadn’t gone back to normal... when it got to the point you disappeared from the estate entirely and were found on the cliffs... something clearly wasn’t right."

"But with your guards watching the estate so closely, watching Marius, there’s no way they would have missed me. Didn’t anyone see me leave?"

"No. That’s the thing. You never left through any of the visible paths. None of the guards saw you step foot outside."

My eyes widened. I could feel something beginning to spiral inside me.

’That doesn’t make sense...’

My hands clenched tightly as fragments flooded my mind, from memories just out of reach to the broken timeline of Selena’s disappearance and my own unsettling shift in behavior. Everything was swirling.

"This is... ughhh... this is more confusing than a damn puzzle!" I groaned, grabbing fistfuls of my own hair in frustration.

"Stop! Don’t do that, you’ll hurt yourself," Alessio said quickly, reaching out to stop me. He gently pried my hand away from my head, his touch soft and firm, like he was afraid I might break.

His expression... his voice... 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Why did it feel like he was speaking to someone he loved?

I blinked, thrown off by the sudden sweetness. The chaotic mess of my thoughts began melting in a completely different direction, drawn to his stupidly handsome face, his perfectly shaped lips, and those intense purple eyes locked onto mine.

I swallowed hard as a blush crept rapidly across my cheeks.

"I-I get it. Y-you can let go now..." I stammered, my voice cracking a little. My face was definitely turning redder by the second.

He blinked, as if realizing what he was doing, and slowly let go of my hand with a soft sigh.

’What’s up with him recently, seriously?!’

He’d been acting strangely sweet to me, more and more often. Was I imagining it? Or maybe...

No. No, no. This was not the time to entertain romantic delusions!

I needed peace in my life. For that, Marius had to be dealt with first. I couldn’t afford to think about Alessio’s lips or his eyes or the way his voice made my chest flutter.

Not now.

I clenched my fists, trying to steady my breath, and rose from the chair with renewed resolve.

"Alright then. I’ll head back to my room now."

"Already?" Alessio looked up at me with... were those puppy-dog eyes?

Like a forlorn dog abandoned by its owner?

Ugh.

My heart skipped a beat.

’Get a grip! You just decided to forget about romance for now!’

I screamed internally, furious with myself.

"Yeah... it’s bad for my heart to stay here any longer."

"What?" Alessio blinked, visibly confused.

’Aghh, damn it! Why’d I say that out loud?!’

I turned away quickly, scolding myself inwardly as heat flooded my cheeks.

"Well... anyway! I’ll see you tomorrow at the training yard!"

Without waiting for his reply, I bolted for the door, flung it open, and rushed out with all the grace of a panicked deer.

The door clicked shut behind me.

* * *

The next morning arrived far too quickly for my liking.

Warm sunlight slipped through the cracks in the curtains, brushing against my cheeks with a kind of smug cheeriness that felt borderline disrespectful, considering how little sleep I’d gotten.

’Ugh... morning already?’

I rolled onto my side with a muffled groan, burying half my face into the pillow. My mind was still tangled in last night’s mess, the storm of thoughts, the emotional whiplash, and Alessio’s stupid gentle hands pulling mine away from my hair as if I were something precious.

My cheeks warmed just thinking about it again.

’No. Snap out of it!’

I eventually peeled myself out of bed, went through the usual routine, washed up, dressed in training clothes that already carried the faint scent of effort, and made my way to the yard with a determined pace.

By the time I arrived, the training field was already bathed in golden light, the dewy grass still sparkling a little like it hadn’t decided whether to wake up yet.

Alessio stood with his arms folded, casually watching as I approached. His coat was slung lazily over the fence nearby, and his undershirt was rolled up at the sleeves, revealing lean, defined forearms that made my stomach do something inconvenient.

"Morning," he said simply, offering a half-smile that was... annoyingly charming.

"Morning," I echoed, trying to keep my voice neutral. Friendly. Not heart-attacky.

He nodded toward the target. "Let’s get started. You’re already warmed up from the walk, right?"

"Yeah," I said, flexing my fingers as I took the bow.

"Good. Then we’ll do a final form check. Last chance to polish anything before we move on to daggers tomorrow."

I nodded, straightening my stance.

"Feet shoulder-width apart. Knees slightly bent. Back straight. Relax your grip."

I adjusted my posture. Alessio stepped in a little too close, circling behind me to fix my arm position. His hand brushed my elbow and slid lightly down to adjust my wrist.

"Lift from the shoulder, not the forearm. And exhale slowly before release."

I swallowed. His voice was low, calm, and entirely too close to the side of my neck.

"Got it," I said quickly, trying to ignore the way my pulse had picked up.

Thunk.

The arrow flew straight, not quite center, but close.

Alessio gave a short, approving nod. "Better. One more."

I drew again, this time focused entirely on my breath. The world narrowed to the target, the string, the moment between heartbeats.

Thunk.

Bullseye.

I exhaled, letting the bow drop slightly. "...That felt good."

"You’ve improved," he said simply, walking over to retrieve the arrows. "Fast learner. If you keep this up, you’ll be teaching Emir in no time."

I glanced around. Sure enough, Emir and Amira were jogging across the field to join us, both dressed in slightly oversized training gear that made them look more like lost extras from a village play than actual fighters.

"Morning, Miss Sonia!" Emir called brightly. "You’re glowing today!"

"That’s probably just sweat," I muttered with a smile.

Amira giggled, flashing a shy grin. "Did you hit the bullsey?"

"Just now, yeah."

"Wow! Maybe I should start calling you ’Lady Sharpshot’."

"Please don’t," I said, laughing.

Alessio set a fresh set of arrows beside me before turning his attention to the siblings.

"You two ready for Day Two?" he asked.

"Yes, sir!" Emir straightened up a little too fast and nearly tripped on his own feet.

Amira nodded more gently, already doing light stretches. "I promise not to aim at my brother’s toes again."

"Try not to aim at people in general," Alessio replied, his tone dry but his eyes soft.

He directed them to a separate patch of grass for warm-ups, leaving me with a brief moment of peace to wipe the sweat from my brow and catch my breath. The light breeze tugged playfully at my loose hair. A dragonfly buzzed lazily past.

Then—