The Obsessive Male Lead Is Actually Scary
Chapter 19: You Belong to Me

Chapter 19: You Belong to Me

* * *

BANG!

Marius slammed the table, the sound cracking like thunder through the study.

"You still haven’t found her?!"

The two knights standing before him flinched. The fury radiating off Marius was palpable, thick enough to choke on. His eyes burned like embers, and his clenched fists dug into the polished surface of the desk. The knights could hardly keep still, their legs stiff and trembling beneath the weight of his glare.

"How much longer are you going to make me wait?!"

"Y-Your Grace," one of the knights stammered, bowing slightly as sweat formed at his brow. "W-We’ve scoured the western territories. The locals mentioned some talk about a woman who matched the lady’s description heading that way. We went after the lead, questioned everyone we could, and searched the area thoroughly... but there was no sign of her."

Marius narrowed his eyes, his voice dropping into something far more menacing.

"And what about the other directions? Did it not occur to you to check the east as well?"

The knights exchanged a quick, nervous glance.

"W-we didn’t check the east thoroughly, sir."

Another one quickly added, almost tripping over his own words, "There were no reports of a pink-haired lady at any of the checkpoints in that area!"

In a flash, Marius hurled the inkwell on his desk straight at them. It shattered against the wall behind, dark ink splattering across the surface.

"So? You didn’t find reports, and that’s enough to rule it out?!"

"N-no, sir! We apologize!"

Both knights immediately dropped their heads in a deep bow, the tremble in their shoulders visible.

"I don’t care how you do it. Search the east, search the borders, search the entire empire if you have to. Bring. Her. Back."

"Understood!"

The knights all but scrambled out of the study.

Marius didn’t move at first. Then, slowly, he raised a trembling hand and pressed it over his face, as if trying to silence the storm of thoughts clawing at his mind.

"Nia..." His voice was hoarse, almost hollow. "You can’t do this to me. You’re mine. You don’t get to leave me."

He murmured her name again and again, each repetition softer, more fractured. It was like a chant spoken to no one.

"Nia... Nia... come back to me... Sonia... You can’t abandon me. You can’t abandon... you can’t..."

His hand pressed harder against his face, fingers digging into his skin. The words spilled between his knuckles like a fevered prayer.

There was something in his presence that reeked of madness..

"I’ll find you... I’ll fix this... You’ll see. You’ll see. You’ll see..."

When he finally lowered his hand, his eyes held something far darker than rage. Madness burned quietly behind them, ominous and fixated, the calmness in his gaze all the more unsettling.

A moment later, a raven landed silently on Marius’s shoulder.

"Did you find her?" he asked the bird, his tone low and edged.

"Not yet." The sound resonated from the raven, quiet and clear, though its beak never moved. "She’s a Nullifier. Magic can’t trace her presence."

Marius clenched his jaw so tightly the veins along his jawline stood out. His hands curled into fists once again.

"Then use your eyes. Your wings. Search every shadow. Every forest. Every corner. Find her. No matter what it takes."

The raven cawed once before launching itself out the window.

Marius stood in silence for a moment. Then, he suddenly laughed—short, sharp, and unhinged.

It was the laugh of a man stretched too thin to be sane.

His gaze fell to the desk, to the black ink staining the floor, and he whispered, half to himself, half to the empty air—

"I told you, Sonia... You belong to me."

* * *

The tension hadn’t eased. Clara had grown used to it, but that didn’t mean she stopped noticing. Sonia’s disappearance still hung over the household.

Servants walked with quiet, careful steps, heads bowed low as if hoping to become invisible. No one dared make eye contact with the duke. Not even in passing.

Even after her disappearance, Marius kept visiting Sonia’s room just as he always had. At first, there was nothing unusual about it. But gradually, the silence surrounding those visits grew heavier. Servants who passed by mentioned hearing soft murmurs behind the door or the faint sound of footsteps pacing inside.

Worse still, a few of the household staff had already been thrown into the dungeon for barely anything at all. Whispers spread that even being seen near Sonia’s quarters at the wrong time could get you locked away.

’I wonder how they’re doing...’

Clara had considered asking for permission to leave the estate. She wanted to sneak out and visit Grandmama’s cottage, if only to search for some clue, or just to find out if Alessio had left a message. But she knew it was impossible now. Not with the current atmosphere choking the manor and Marius growing suspicious over the slightest thing.

’Please... let them be safe. Both of them.’

Clara continued down the corridor, keeping her head low as she made her way back to the servant quarters. The hush of the manor pressed in from all sides. She didn’t stop until she reached her room.

The sky outside had already darkened. After washing up, Clara sat on the edge of her bed, running a wooden comb through her damp hair.

Her fingers slipped, and the comb fell with a soft clatter, skidding across the floor before disappearing under the bed.

She sighed and knelt down to retrieve it.

Just as she reached beneath the frame, something else caught her eye.

Half-hidden in shadow, a faint glimmer reflected the low light.

Curious, Clara reached further. Her fingers brushed against something cool and smooth.

She drew it out slowly.

A round, cobalt-blue pendant, no bigger than a coin, lay in her palm. It shimmered like moonlight caught in glass.

A folded strip of paper was tied to the cord threaded through its center.

She unfolded it. Her breath hitched.

She recognized the handwriting.

[This is a communication artifact. When you find it, contact me immediately.]

Her fingers tightened around the pendant.