Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 148

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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 148

I blinked slowly.
What did that man just say?
Unable to feel quite real, I pinched my cheek.
Yes, this is real.
“…….”
The Regent Duke still knelt before me, tears streaming down his expressionless face while his clenched fists trembled faintly. I found myself staring at him, and the sight made me profoundly uncomfortable.
Why did he look so fragile?
Watching him sit there as if he might shatter at any moment, his eyes fixed only on me, left me feeling strangely unsettled.
‘It doesn’t suit him.’
Even in the memories of my birth mother that I’d glimpsed, the Regent Duke had knelt before, but I’d never seen him weep. He’d never worn an expression of such regret.
To be honest, I didn’t pity him.
Unlike Father, who’d been swept into circumstances beyond his control and played only the victim, the Regent Duke had set all of this in motion himself. Hadn’t he?
Wasn’t he a textbook example of reaping what one sowed?
And yet, why did I suddenly recall a conversation I’d once had with Duke Idicels?

“Don’t you dislike the Regent Duke? You said it’s been a long time since you could return because of him.”
“Well, that’s true, but… I don’t know. He doesn’t strike me as hateful.”
“Why not?”
“Not being loved by someone you love is painful, isn’t it?”
“Even if it’s their own fault?”
“To my eyes, the Regent Duke seems quite lonely and clumsy as a man.”

I didn’t understand the mind of an idealist who preached universal love and altruism, but that conversation had stuck with me.
‘It would be simple to turn away.’
But I didn’t want to.
Even if I turned away, this man wouldn’t give up on me.
He’d linger near me and clash with Father constantly, and there was no guarantee he wouldn’t orchestrate another kidnapping in the process.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.
“Sir.”
This man resembled me.
More precisely, the me of my previous life.
Watching someone who’d been continuously rejected and rebuffed in my birth mother’s memories, suffering in that pain, I projected my own past self onto him.
The aching memory of hovering endlessly nearby, desperately hoping Mother would finally turn to look at me.
Perhaps because I understood what it felt like to gaze at someone’s back for so long, someone who would never acknowledge you, I couldn’t turn away so easily.
He was a bad man.
Truly terrible.
But still, I couldn’t help caring.
‘Why am I so kind?’
As I extended my hand, I thought that if I were still the past version of me—mired in that wound and drowning in pain—this situation never would have happened.
None of this would have occurred if not for the meddlesome stubbornness of a small child who couldn’t bear to be left alone.
“……This is.”
Watching the Regent Duke stare blankly at my palm, I felt unexpectedly embarrassed.
Just moments ago, I was the one clinging desperately, unilaterally begging him to let me go.
‘Should I refuse? It would serve him right.’
The instant I thought that, tears spilled down like a faucet had been opened, startling me.
“Oh my, why is a full-grown adult crying like that? Stop it.”
“I thought you were dying.”
“That’s ridiculous. You wouldn’t even listen when I said I was in pain.”
“…….”
The Regent Duke fell silent, unable to respond. Watching him, I felt laughter bubble up.
To think a man who’d never yielded an inch was now enduring this one-sided onslaught from me.
The generational difference in power felt palpable.
“You were wrong, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Very wrong?”
“Yes.”
“So you’ll have to be good to me from now on?”
“……Yes.”
“Do your best.”
Sensing my playful attitude, the Regent Duke glanced at me hesitantly and asked, “Are you forgiving me?”
“That’s still too difficult.”
“…….”
“Once you diligently repay your karmic debts, I may forgive you someday.”
Even that seemed to satisfy him as he nodded, and I found the feeling strange.
“So you will accept me, then?”
I couldn’t give in that easily.
“If you make me some promises.”
“……Promises?”
“Listen to what I say.”
The Regent Duke nodded immediately, as if that were simple. His ready compliance was so suspicious that I added another condition.
“You really have to listen. If you don’t again, I won’t forgive you at all.”
“I will.”
“And don’t fight with Father.”
“…….”
The light that had just returned to the Regent Duke’s eyes dimmed again. After a long silence, he asked me carefully, “Does that include not responding if he provokes me?”
Now that I thought about it, it wasn’t just the Regent Duke who disliked Father. Father disliked the Regent Duke terribly as well.
“Well then, I’ll allow for extenuating circumstances depending on the situation.”
“Is there anything else? Tell me if you want something more.”
“Treat Mother and Father with respect.”
“…….”
The Regent Duke’s expression stiffened slightly. Unsure whether his understanding was correct, he asked, “By Mother, you mean Mehren?”
“Yes.”
Who else could be my mother besides Mehren?
My confident answer caused the Regent Duke’s expression to crumble in a peculiar way. He forced himself to accept something he found hard to believe, then nodded.
“Understood. I’ll treat her with respect.”
“What about Father?”
“…….”
Silence fell immediately.
“…….”
“…….”
“Deal’s off?”
The Regent Duke grimaced reluctantly.
“……I’ll try.”

* * *

Halbern Manor had recovered its peace.

After the servants had dispersed, three uninvited guests emerged from the corner of a hallway where they’d been hiding, listening to the servants chat idly as they passed.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, is it really true that Arelin returned to the manor?”
“Are you sure you heard right?”
The uninvited guests were none other than the Demon Twins from Sperom and Crown Prince Fession.
“No, really—I definitely heard Mother and Father talking about it.”
Arelin’s return to the Capital manor was confirmed, and when the three young intruders had been formally refused entry to visit, they’d unexpectedly banded together.
“But, Your Highness, you really do know Halbern Manor well. Do you come here often?”
“Of course. I’m practically an honorary member of Halbern now.”
Crown Prince Fession had visited frequently to see Arelin before, often eating there without formal invitation.
Halbern Manor’s layout wasn’t particularly difficult to navigate, aside from having many restricted areas.
‘If the adults won’t let us see Arelin, we’ll go see her ourselves.’
And so the three young conspirators crept into the manor.
“This way should work.”
“Arelin’s really in that direction?”
“Has His Highness actually been inside Arelin’s room before?”
The three youths who’d snuck in so (not quite) quietly immediately faced a crisis.
“Mehren, as your liege, I order you. Tell Arelin to throw that brat out at once.”
“I must refuse such an order laden with personal sentiment, sir.”
“What? I say otherwise. What in the world is our daughter thinking?”
“Noble and virtuous thoughts, I assure you. Unlike certain others.”
“……Are you referring to me?”
“I’m relieved you grasped it so quickly. Your perceptiveness hasn’t abandoned you yet, I see.”
“Darling, that’s too much.”
“Do you want to die?”
The entrance of Mehren and the Grand Duke of Halbern.
The three young eavesdroppers held their breath and remained perfectly still, watching the bickering pair.
“Sigh, to actually side with that brat. What was she thinking to turn out so kind? Who does she take after?”
“Your sister Fession?”
“……I love Sister, but honestly, she wasn’t particularly kind either.”
Under normal circumstances, the Grand Duke’s alertness would have caught the three young intruders immediately. But with his attention elsewhere, they slipped through undetected.
“Phew.”
“That was close.”
“I thought we were done for.”
Each with their own urgent reason for seeing Arelin, the three youngsters resumed their advance toward her room.
“The manor seems awfully unsettled.”
“Arelin must have been really ill.”
“Do you think we’ll really get to see her?”
“Is Arelin still sick?”
Speaking softly to one another as they walked, they reached their moment of reckoning.
“What are these brats?”
A man with long silver hair carelessly bound caught the poorly hidden youngsters in the act.

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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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