Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 121

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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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Episode 121

It was Mehren’s first outing since the major lawsuit.
“How tedious.”
Valere was beside him.
With a languid expression and his long legs stretched out, Valere had dressed impeccably in a three-piece suit—dress shirt, waistcoat, and frock coat—which was unusually meticulous of him.
The sight of him in civilian formal wear rather than court dress or knight’s uniform was striking enough to draw the gaze of everyone around.
Cufflinks and a Necktie Pin carved from obsidian, even a Handkerchief bearing the Halbern crest—yet somehow, in everyone’s eyes, there was only Valere’s face.
Perhaps because he stood beside a totem that commanded all attention, Mehren felt not the slightest concern about the eyes turned toward him.
‘Now that I think of it, the lawsuit against this man is the real problem.’
The Grand Duke of Halbern was so prominent a figure that the tribunal could not reach a swift conclusion.
What infuriated Mehren most was that Valere made no mention of it, yet everyone intuited and deferred anyway.
When their eyes met, Valere tilted his head with a questioning tilt.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re irritating me.”
The moment Valere opened his mouth again, Mehren quickly covered it.
This spared them from whatever foolish endearment he’d been about to utter.
Seeing Valere’s eyes narrow, Mehren hastily changed the subject.
“Have you given thought to her birthday gift?”
Mehren released the hand he’d placed over Valere’s mouth and feigned innocence.
As they climbed into the waiting carriage, Valere echoed the question.
“A birthday gift?”
“Arelin’s birthday is approaching, is it not?”
“Ah.”
Valere exhaled quietly.
“So that’s what the dream was about.”
A birthday gift.
Now that he thought of it, the memory of preparing such things felt distant—as though from another lifetime.
When his sister was still beside him, when he himself was young and foolish.
“What do you think she’d like?”
“That is something you must decide for yourself, my lord.”
“What do young people like these days?”
“Do I appear to be the sort to know?”
“My lady.”
“I’ll kill you.”
“And what are you preparing?”
“Your head.”
Mehren replied with lethal dryness.
“Interesting.”
“Wouldn’t she be delighted to inherit a title and an astronomical fortune at such a young age?”
Valere burst into laughter.
“I wasn’t joking.”
“Yes. Do try your hardest.”
Valere waggled his fingers with mock magnanimity, as if to say he’d gladly die if she wished it.
“So you’re truly not going to tell me?”
“No.”
“You’re cruel, Mehren.”
“The truly cruel one is you.”

* * *

The grand Foundation Festival had ended.
The tourists who had filled the Capital’s streets were now savoring the lingering atmosphere and preparing to return to their ordinary lives.
The succession of events had concluded in great success, and society circles were growing quieter with each passing day.
Tonight, the final official event—a Relic auction hosted jointly by the Imperial Household and the Gremwat Ducal House—was being held.
“Why is His Majesty so anxious? Constantly summoning us back and forth. How irritating.”
Valere and Mehren’s destination was none other than this Auction House.
Valere made no attempt to conceal his annoyance. Mehren sighed.
“You’ll be arrested for lèse-majesté if you’re not careful.”
“Let them arrest me.”
It wasn’t that Valere regretted his return to the Capital, but each time Emperor Edward displayed such paranoid behavior, he grew weary. Had the oath between Halbern and Alermagne been the sort to break, he would have declared independence for his duchy long ago.
His patience had worn thin years ago.
“Why not examine the auction while you’re here?”
“It’s always the same goods.”
Relics, excavated only rarely from archaeological sites, already filled Halbern’s treasure vault countless times over.
Moreover, anything displayed in such venues was predictable.
Relics—rarer than Artifacts and still shrouded in mystery—would not be so readily offered by the Imperial Household.
If they were, it was almost certainly because they’d been deemed of little practical use.
“The same goods every time—your grandfather would be livid to hear that.”
Duke Sperom, who had arrived earlier, chided Valere.
“Is it something to boast of, being the only one still in the field?”
“You—you insolent wretch.”
“It’s the truth, though.”
Every other ducal house had already passed succession to their heirs, yet Sperom’s grandfather, the patriarch of the Gremwat family, still held the title of duke in his sixties.
His heir had died in an accident during an expedition, and the patriarch refused to pass the title to his second son—a decision that had sparked considerable discord within the Gremwat family itself.
“Valere.”
“What?”
Duke Sperom leaned in close, lowering his voice.
“I’ve sent letters asking if Mehren would consider dropping the suit, given your regrets. Could you ask him on my behalf? He hasn’t replied to my correspondence, and he won’t even agree to meet.”
Duke Sperom’s gaze slipped past Valere and fixed on Mehren. Valere glanced at Mehren before turning back to Sperom.
“Simon.”
“Hmm?”
“Stop being pathetic.”
……
Duke Sperom bristled but seemed to lack the will to press further; he fell silent and merely shook his head before walking away.
Duke Mubisk, who had just arrived, witnessed this exchange and looked thoroughly bewildered.
“His Imperial Majesty and Her Imperial Majesty are entering.”
Before the auction began, in the hall where the orchestra sponsored by the Sperom family played, Emperor Edward and Empress Azeni made their entrance to the full attention of all present.
The moment Edward spotted Valere, his eyes sharpened.
“Where is the Duchess? Are you here alone?”
“The Duchess?”
“Mehren, you fool.”
“Ah.”
Valere let out a brief laugh and shrugged.
“Does anyone know why His Majesty is displeased?”
“Because of you!”
For a moment, Edward forgot his dignity and raised his voice, then caught himself with a cough and spoke more quietly.
“You should have told me sooner. This fool. Was I supposed to learn of it from the newspapers?”
“She’s my wife.”
“What?!”
“Mehren. Come here.”
As all eyes turned to Mehren, standing apart, his smile took on a rictus quality.
“Absolutely not.”
At the sight of that deadly smile and its unmistakable refusal, Valere’s expression fell.
“I’ve been abandoned.”
“Serves you right.”
Empress Azeni, who had been observing the situation, sighed and led Mehren away to another location. Edward began to follow her but then stopped.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Valere tried to rise, but he was held fast. He’d paid his respects and was about to leave—
“Stay in your seat. You missed every event during the Foundation Festival. Show your face for once. The world ought to see that brilliant countenance of yours.”
“I’ll be wearing a mask anyway.”
“They’ll know you by your seat.”
Valere put on the Butterfly Mask provided by the auction house, his gaze downcast.
“You’ll attend the charity banquet after the auction too.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Don’t cause any trouble.”
Having thoroughly impressed upon Valere the importance of compliance, Edward returned to where Empress Azeni now sat comfortably beside Mehren.
How dreadfully dull.
He should have stopped Azeni from taking Mehren away.
Valere clicked his tongue and killed time meaninglessly.
The auction proceeded as scheduled.
The Relics on display were varied, but as Valere had anticipated, none were of great practical value. It was as he was watching the tedious proceedings that it began.
“Ah.”
The hallucinations started again, as reliably as ever, and Valere’s brow furrowed.
Unable to remain seated any longer, he quietly rose and slipped out into the corridor.
The quiet emptiness of the hallway allowed Valere to breathe again.
‘It seems to be getting worse…’
Just as Valere sighed at the resurgence of the Madness, which had been dormant for some time—
Footstep.
A sound from the far end of the corridor caught his attention, and Valere went still.
Fine silver hair flowing long. Between the delicate butterfly mask, fierce green eyes shone unmistakably.
“Ha.”
There was no way he wouldn’t recognize this person.
Valere’s lips curved upward in a smile.
“I knew we’d meet one day, but I never imagined it would be here.”
Regent Prince Rok.
The man presumed to be Arelin’s biological father smiled back at him.

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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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