Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 118

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 118

“I really do love you, daughter.”
Father pulled me into a tight embrace.
“You’re beautiful and warm and cute and lovely and alive and soft and you smile so well and……”
He poured out his heart to me, enumerating all the things he adored about me.
Wait—haven’t I heard this pattern somewhere before?
Is it some kind of trend?
“Sigh.”
“Why the heavy sigh? Should I go on?”
“No, it’s not that I don’t believe you.”
I’d believed that Father loved me since the moment he found me in that other realm at the Imperial Palace.
It would’ve been impossible to find me there otherwise. That place is rather… unusual.
‘Even if crossing in and out is possible with Halbern’s Innate Ability……’
Later, Father told me he doesn’t carelessly enter such places.
He said it’s the perfect place to meet a gruesome end.
“Even the way you look at me is adorable……”
I gently silenced Father’s prattling mouth and steered our wandering conversation back on track.
“If you don’t dislike Fession, why do you always look at him like that?”
Father blinked, his expression utterly blank.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re uncomfortable? Like you’re at a loss?”
“Ah.”
Father nodded slowly, as if something had just clicked.
“When I see that boy, Ed always comes to mind—is that it?”
Ed? You mean His Majesty the Emperor?
“Why would that be?”
I tilted my head in confusion, and Father gently stroked my hair.
Beneath his long lashes, his violet eyes had darkened with intensity.
“It must be……”
“…?”
“…that people who have everything handed to them so easily are just unlucky?”
The unexpected answer made me laugh despite myself.
“Coming from you?”
“Well, I’m the one missing more than I have.”
“You’re deceiving yourself.”
“I’m not.”
Father drooped his eyes in mock grievance. Watching him, I had to admit the man really did know how to work his face.
“Halbern exists as a symbiote with the Alermagne Clan and serves as their mutual watchdog, so the Alermagne Clan’s Innate Ability doesn’t work on Halbern. That’s why, I suppose.”
“What is the Alermagne Clan’s Innate Ability?”
“Being Loved.”
Both Father’s gaze and mine fell on Fession, who was conversing with Griam in the distance.
On that boy who seemed to receive all the light and blessings of the world, as if he were the very protagonist of existence.
“It’s a powerful Innate Ability—one that draws respect and affection from everyone, regardless of what lies beneath.”
Is such a thing even possible?
Well, if it’s an Innate Ability, then yes, it must be.
Now that I think about it, Fession always seemed puzzled whenever I pushed him away or showed dislike.
If his Ability didn’t work on me alone, that would explain things……
“I’m envious.”
He really does get to live an easy life.
Isn’t that what everyone wants?
A life where you’re loved no matter what you do.
“It’s all right. But there’s a clear limitation.”
“What limitation?”
Father played with my hair.
“The Alermagne bloodline has always been short-lived. Unlike other clans, their Ability is Always Active Type, so they often die tangled up in love affairs. They also harbor deep distrust of others, thinking people only love them because of the Ability. They’re mentally fragile too. Conversely, many become tyrants, thinking ‘whatever I do, they’ll love me anyway.'”
Father laughed, remarking that the issue of a successor’s fitness had always been a headache for the Alermagne royal family.
“Because of how broadly their Ability affects things, the emperors after the founding king have never been particularly capable.”
“I see.”
“And lastly, the Ability doesn’t work well on other races.”
Father whispered like he was sharing a secret, suggesting that the Albrecht Empire having become the “most prosperous empire of mankind” probably had something to do with the Ability’s effects.
“Anyway, you don’t actually hate Fession, do you?”
“Does it matter?”
“I’d like the two of you to get along well.”
“Mm. I’ll try.”
There she goes again, saying she’ll try with just her words.
When I gave him a sidelong glance, Father’s hand gently stroked my head.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re a bit strange, Father.”
“Says the one who’s even stranger than I am.”
Father laughed heartily, and in the process mussed my hair so badly that I glared at him with a glower.
Father poked my cheek.
“Then shall I just accept being strange?”
“No, you ARE strange—that’s not something to accept, it’s a fact.”
“But I am curious about something regarding you.”
So this is what oddity looks like.
Father coaxed me gently, watching my reaction.
“May I ask?”
“When have you ever asked permission for things like that?”
Valere’s eyes crinkled softly.
There he goes with that face again.
This won’t work on me anymore!
When I frowned, Father let out a hollow laugh. His eyes glimmered with something……
Mm. I’ve lost.
“So what are you curious about?”
His large hand reached up to stroke my head with care.
“Aren’t you curious about your mother at all?”
His gaze was thoughtful and calm as he studied me.
“It’d only make sense if you were, yet you never ask about her.”
What should I say to that?
Whether I had no memories of my past life or when they began returning, “mother” remained an unknown territory—a forbidden one.
A Pandora’s box best left unopened.
Before I recovered my past-life memories, I avoided the subject because I feared that asking about Mother would only make me more disliked. And now that I remember my previous life……
Well, I think I might actually know something, so I’ve been avoiding it. Especially since I saw someone who might be “Mother” in the Portrait Chamber.
“I don’t want to know.”
“Why?”
If I’m being honest……
“I’m afraid.”
My voice grew quiet.
My eyes lowered unconsciously, and I found myself curling inward.
“Afraid of what?”
“……”
“What exactly frightens you?”
His voice, already low and flat, descended further, revealing Father’s mood through the change in tone.
Father lowered himself to meet my eyes. The violet irises that met mine seemed pitch-black.
“What if Mother……”
“……”
“What if Mother never wanted me?”
My voice trembled thinly. The mere thought terrified me.
There was only one thing that always made me weak: Mother.
“If Mother didn’t want me, if I just… happened, and that’s why she abandoned me……”
I had no confidence I could survive that without being wounded.
Wouldn’t it be better not to know? At least if I didn’t know, if I kept avoiding it and didn’t dig deeper, I could be all right.
In an instant, tears welled up in my eyes. When the first tear fell, Father’s breath caught.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
Father pulled me into his arms and held me tight.
“For not explaining things properly, for letting you misunderstand.”
Father fumbled helplessly to wipe my tears, stroking my hair and back.
He didn’t realize that his uncharacteristic gentleness only made me want to cry harder.
“Arelin.”
“Yes?”
“You were…… born because your mother loved you.”
Father’s face showed clear anguish as he carefully chose his words, as if unsure how to begin.
“She loved you so much, you meant so much to her, and she sent you to me to protect you, because she wanted you to be happy.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Can you swear to that?”
“I’d write it in blood if I had to.”
“You’re too extreme, Father.”
Father’s lips curved upward in the smallest smile at my tiny complaint.
“Now I see you again.”
Our foreheads touched. Father stroked my cheek repeatedly. His unusually careful touch made me feel how precious I was to him, and the turmoil in my heart eased considerably.
“What kind of person was Mother?”
“The most beautiful, radiant person in the world.”
His gaze, which had seemed to wander toward distant places, returned to me.
“So brilliant and strong and wise and remarkable…… I always wanted to follow along behind her, always.”
Sometimes Father looked like an underdeveloped boy.
Like now.
“I wanted to save her.”
“……”
“I couldn’t, though.”
Father smiled bitterly, his face etched with deep remorse and regret.
“Someday I’ll have to return to that moment and face my bitter regret head-on.”
But not now, Father whispered softly.
“Someday, when you’ve grown and the time comes for you to judge me……”
“……”
“I’ll stand there and accept it willingly.”
“……”
“Whatever it may be.”
At the sight of him, so fragile he seemed about to crumble at any moment, I wrapped my arms around his neck instead.
“Please grow safely until then.”
The arms holding me back were firm.
“I’ll do anything for you.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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