Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 149

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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 149

It had been ten days since Arelin woke.
When Arelin had been carried in unconscious, the Halbern Manor had seemed precarious, teetering on the edge like a magical bomb ready to detonate without warning, but peace had returned to the estate.
Of course, that was merely the surface, and internally, things churned in complex currents.
“Anyway, that’s how it happened.”
After her private audience with the Regent Duke, Arelin spoke little.
“Have you forgiven him?”
“No? He said he’d repay his karma, so I told him to go ahead.”
……!
The people of Halbern Manor were moved by Arelin’s resolve—that she did not turn away the Regent Duke even as he knelt, but accepted him instead.
“Our young lady is so kind, isn’t she?”
The public opinion of the Regent Duke, by contrast, only worsened.
Already an unwanted guest, and on poor terms with the Grand Duke of Halbern, his liege and master.
When everyone wondered why the Regent Duke, who had kidnapped Arelin and stood at odds with the Grand Duke, remained obstinately in the manor, the brief information provided meant they all saw him as an enemy.
Ludwig’s reputation among Halbern’s retainers fell from “trash about to be discarded” to “trash stuck in the house.”
“Haha. Daughter, you’re joking?”
“I’m not joking.”
……Is that a lie?”
“It’s not a lie.”
…….
So no one was surprised to see Valere laughing with his mouth but never with his eyes.
“Wait, does this mean we’ve just gained another rival?”
“The young lady’s favor cannot be shared for even a second, damn it.”
The Yukyadan, brimming with nothing but selfish concerns, bore the brunt of the mockery.
“It must have been a difficult choice, and yet our Arelin has learned forgiveness and tolerance without even being taught. Truly impressive.”
Mehren, suddenly captivated by Arelin’s moral education for reasons unclear, lavished enthusiastic praise.
And so Regent Duke Ludwig settled into the West Annex as his quarters and planted himself firmly in Halbern.
“Dear, are you cheating on me? I’m right here staring with wide-open eyes, and you like another man?”
“Do you really want to die? Should we settle this today?”
“Dear was the one who hurt me first. I’m hurt, you know.”
Argh!
Valere launched a mental assault on Mehren, displeased that Mehren had accepted the Regent Duke’s presence, but the decision that was already made could not be changed.
“My lord, why don’t you also try learning a bit about forgiveness and tolerance? Mm?”
“Forgiveness and tolerance? I never learned such things. Give up.”
“That’s exactly why you should start learning now. What on earth have you been learning all this time?”
“Well. Unfortunately I had parents, but they were worse than useless, so I taught myself home education. And I had one older sister figure, but…….”
…….
“I lost her because of someone.”
Mehren’s first defeat on the scoreboard.
“I hate that bastard, dear.”
“I hate you more!”
“You hate me? You’re embarrassed? It’s alright, I know your heart completely, dear.”
……? What are you saying. I said I hate you.”
“Mm-hmm. I love you too, dear.”
“Argh, get away right now. Stop talking such nonsense before I kill you!”
“So you love me enough to want me dead? Such passionate confession is new to me too, how embarrassing.”
“Argh, I really will kill you! I’m going to!”
Mehren knew in his mind that throwing a tantrum only made Valere enjoy himself more, but he couldn’t bear Valere’s “dear” for anything.
He could barely manage hearing Arelin’s “Mother,” and he still startled sometimes!
“Come here, you bastard!”
Thanks to Mehren, who had actually drawn his sword and raised hell, the Saren Knights—now half-unemployed—clapped and delighted in the scene.
“Go, Mehren! Show our lord the taste of the blade!”
“Mehren, if you get rid of our lord, you might become our lord! Keep fighting!”
But despite the Saren Knights’ fervent cheering and their subtle offers of assistance, Mehren couldn’t so much as graze Valere’s toes.
“So is it settled then, our lord’s wife is Mehren?”
“I vote yes.”
“So do I.”
“I strongly vote yes!”
A new hierarchy within the Saren Knights had been established. Jaren, as representative, offered his congratulations to Mehren.
“Congratulations on your marriage, Mehren.”
“Keep your mouth shut if you want to live, Jaren.”
“What did I do to deserve that?”
Jaren protested his innocence, but as always, none of the Saren Knights took his side.
“Jaren is bullying Mehren!”
“What? Jaren is bullying Mehren?!”
“It must be Jaren’s fault again.”
“Poor Mehren.”
“It’s definitely Jaren’s fault.”
“What’s wrong with Jaren’s character?”
Jaren shuddered at the familiar pattern of being cast as the villain alone.
“Hey, you knights. Why are you looking at me like that? What? Why are you talking like that?”
“Angry Jaren is coming to oppress us!”
“Run!”
And so the chaos of Halbern Manor deepened.
By now, one truth had settled firmly in the minds of everyone at Halbern.
The current hierarchy at Halbern was: first place belonged to Arelin, second to Mehren, third to the Grand Duke Valere, fourth to the Yukyadan, fifth to the Saren Knights, and Regent Duke Ludwig’s ranking was a mere sixth place!
“Me, first-ranked in the South Empire hierarchy, am reduced to last place in this world?!”
“Yes? Young lady, I’m not sure what you’re suddenly saying……?”
“Oh? Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
Arelin, who had carelessly let slip industry jargon, laughed nervously while wiping cold sweat from her brow.

* * *

Regent Duke Ludwig, who had taken residence in the West Annex of Halbern, lived quietly despite his accumulated notoriety.
It might have been because the household servants and retainers of the Main Building so clearly avoided him, but considering his arrogant nature, one would have expected some disturbance by now—yet there was silence.
“My lord, are you well?”
Even his shadow guard, for whom silence was a virtue, dared speak out of turn, yet no response befitting his station came in return.
‘What sort of change of heart could he be undergoing……?’
It was as the shadow guard began to express concern at the Regent Duke’s uncharacteristic behavior.
Ludwig was lost in retrospection, turning over many things in his mind.
‘What went wrong?’
The beginning of this twisted, tangled relationship.
‘It must have been from here.’
Meeting Sione Gracia Halbern.
Falling for Sione.
Ignoring Sione’s wishes and striking a deal with the previous Grand Duke of Halbern.
Ludwig closed his eyes, gripped by the vertiginous weight of choices from a past that could never be undone.
All those days wasted, imprisoned by the hell and wounds Sione had inflicted upon him.
Ludwig gave a bitter smile, seeing himself only now coming to his senses at the brink of losing not just Sione, but Arelin as well.
‘I thought I would never be forgiven.’
Arelin was Sione’s daughter, so he had assumed she would never forgive him as Sione never would. That was why he had never even hoped for forgiveness to begin with.
Yet perhaps the mere possibility of receiving forgiveness, and the faint hope of beginning anew from the very first step unlike with Sione, had become the final light in Ludwig’s hellish existence.
‘Repaying karma…….’
Had Arelin demanded his entire fortune, he would have given it. Had she demanded his position as Regent Duke, he would have surrendered it. Had she asked for the South Empire itself, he would have handed it over—so asking only for him to repay his karma felt impossibly merciful.
He was beginning to understand why the people of Halbern were so enamored with Arelin.
And Ludwig had just joined their ranks.
Ludwig moved first to understand Halbern’s power structure and approached Mehren. Mehren, suddenly given such high-quality information, tilted his head in confusion.
“Why would you give such premium intelligence to me……?”
“I made a promise to Arelin. To diligently repay the karma I accumulated.”
“?”
“Should you desire it, I can grant you authority to use the intelligence organization I possess.”
……!
While Halbern had its own dedicated intelligence unit, an intelligence network belonging to the Regent Duke, who was called the true ruler of the South Empire?
Mehren could not resist the temptation.
“I accept your offer gratefully.”
“The pleasure is mine.”
Having formed a simple cooperative arrangement with Mehren and thus greatly reduced the risk of being driven out, Ludwig saw no need to rush anything.
Simply seeing Arelin’s face was enough for him.
He could be content watching from afar, but now he could even speak to her—how could that not be a joy?
That day too, he had taken steps toward the Main Building to try speaking with her.
“?”
“Is something the matter, my lord?”
He had spotted something suspicious.
Weren’t three little ones creeping about cautiously as if pretending to be assassins?
Moreover, the Saren Knights, who should have been maintaining security in the Main Building, were grinning and desperately ignoring the children.
A scene far too strange.
“What are these brats?”
And so Ludwig succeeded in apprehending the three wild children.

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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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