Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 152

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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 152

The moment the Three-way Meeting began, Valere tilted his head at an awkward angle.
“Anything we need to clarify?”
“Quite a lot, actually. Though a lord who does nothing but idle away his time wouldn’t know.”
Mehren’s barb found its mark, and Valere’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“Mehren, is your salary insufficient?”
“No, sir. It’s the working conditions that are abysmal.”
“I see.”
Watching Valere grin and shrug as if it couldn’t be helped, Mehren felt a vein throb visibly at his temple, but he managed to hold himself back.
‘Stay calm. If this Three-way Meeting falls apart, only that bastard wins.’
When Valere made his uncooperative stance openly clear, Mehren drew out his final card.
“Arelin.”
“……!”
“…… I’m going to tell her.”
No need for threats or complaints anymore. The mere name Arelin was enough.
Mehren watched quietly as amusement played across his face, and Valere blanched, his expression contorting.
“How could you resort to something so underhanded.”
“And who started playing dirty first?”
Having neutralized our reckless lord—a troublemaker who’d be shameful to present anywhere—Mehren turned his attention to the other party with a considerably more relaxed expression.
Fortunately, unlike Mehren’s initial assumption that Ludwig would be as formidable as Valere, the man proved surprisingly cooperative and well-behaved throughout.
Because of that alone, Mehren’s regard for the Regent Duke climbed measurably.
“May we proceed to the main agenda now?”
“Yes, please go ahead, Regent Duke.”
Ludwig fixed Valere with a direct stare.
“Grand Duke of Halbern, withdraw the troops stationed at the border.”
“I’d rather not.”
“There’s no reason for them to remain there anymore, is there?”
Valere smiled crookedly and crossed his legs the other way.
“Well, once you leave this place, I’ll have them pulled back.”
Ludwig let out a scoff.
“Do you really think I’ll be leaving?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
Their gazes clashed in the empty space between them. The air no longer crackled with the murderous intent of old, yet their eyes still burned with that familiar intensity.
As the conversation ground to a halt, Mehren exhaled heavily.
‘These men are truly something.’
In the end, Mehren had to step in.
“My lord, His Imperial Majesty of Albrecht has expressed a desire to hear a personal report on this matter.”
“Is that so?”
“You’ve managed to avoid it thus far by using Arelin’s health as an excuse, but now that she has recovered, that excuse no longer holds. I would recommend you make the journey promptly.”
“And withdraw the troops while you’re at it.”
“Yes.”
Valere’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, his lips merely curving upward in reluctance, but such pressure had no effect on Mehren.
‘Do you know how much it costs to maintain those deployed forces?!’
One problem handled.
Having received documents from Dylan, Mehren now turned his gaze to Ludwig.
“Regent Duke, what will you do about the international lawsuit? Lemuren City-State has demanded your attendance at a trial regarding custody of Arelin.”
Ludwig’s expression darkened subtly.
“I’ll settle that matter personally.”
“How uncharacteristically cooperative of you.”
Valere jeered, but Ludwig and Mehren cleanly ignored him.
“I’ll make the journey to Lemuren City-State myself shortly.”
“I appreciate the sincerity, but is it truly necessary for you to go in person?”
“I have business there as well.”
“Well then, I suppose it’s settled.”
Having resolved the two most pressing issues, Mehren’s expression grew noticeably lighter as he nodded.
“So you intend to remain in Albrecht, then?”
“Is there a problem with that?”
“Not as long as no problems arise.”
Ludwig was a man of such power that even the Imperial Palace granted him a separate annex and extended special treatment; yet he was contentedly staying in a modest guest house at Halbern. This weighed on Mehren’s conscience.
‘As long as he’s satisfied, I suppose it doesn’t matter.’
Ludwig studied Mehren intently.
A commoner-born genius advisor. The right hand of the Grand Duke of Halbern. The Grand Duke’s proxy.
The true architect who had restructured all of Halbern’s systems after Valere inherited the position of Grand Duke.
Because of his work, many of the eyes that had kept watch over the Halbern house were lost, making this direct meeting all the more poignant.
‘So the “mother” who wanted to keep watching over him was Mehren.’
It still struck him as strange that such a man had suddenly become Arelin’s “mother.”
‘Though children do enjoy playing house when they’re young.’
The Regent Duke merely envied him—particularly the absolute love Arelin showered upon him.
“Why is our Mehren suddenly staring at me like that? Look away.”
Ludwig glanced at the Grand Duke, who was picking another childish quarrel, before asking.
“What exactly is your relationship to each other?”
“An ordinary lord and his retainer, nothing more.”
Mehren answered immediately.
His intention was to shut down any foolishness before it could escape Valere’s mouth, but unfortunately his effort proved less than effective.
“Mehren is…….”
Valere’s lips curved smoothly upward as he spoke softly.
“Family.”
Mehren’s eyes hardened as he pressed Valere with a look that said: the man isn’t even listed in the family registry, so what nonsense is this?
“Our blood may not be mixed, but we raised the child together, didn’t we?”
“…….”
“Isn’t that right, my dear?”
“Do you want to die?”
Mehren clenched his fist, then lowered it with a sigh, pressing his palm to his forehead. For a moment he failed to suppress the emotions rising within him, and his reaction showed. Valere laughed with obvious delight, his shoulders shaking.
Mehren turned to Ludwig with a request.
“Please disregard my lord’s nonsense.”
“Nonsense? Now I’m hurt.”
“If you continue in this vein, sir, I cannot guarantee I’ll remain silent.”
“How have I been acting, exactly?”
“You’re really going to die.”
“If it’s by your hand, I welcome it.”
“Argh, die already! Just die!”
In an instant, the office dissolved into chaos.
Ludwig stroked his chin as he watched Mehren chase Valere around the room wielding a fountain pen, while the Grand Duke deftly dodged and weaved his way to safety.
‘So they’re locked in that sort of dynamic.’
“Hmm.”
Mehren had drawn the line first, but Valere paid no mind to boundaries—not because he didn’t know them, but because he chose not to honor them. What crystallized in Ludwig’s eyes was something far more complex than the simple relationship between lord and servant—a bond deeply entwined.
The atmosphere bore no resemblance to the rigid hierarchy maintained at Rock Castle.
As the Grand Duke of his own house, Ludwig found Valere’s complete lack of dignity contemptible, yet he was simultaneously shocked that such a man could show such ease and comfort with another.
Even so, Valere remained the Grand Duke of Halbern, and every retainer and servant of the house served him with absolute devotion.
“Shadow.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“I should monopolize Arelin while I have the chance. Where is she right now?”
“…….”
Shadow paused momentarily, but soon fulfilled his duty.
“I shall show you the way.”

* * *

The Magic Tower.
Star-rank Mages bearing the insignia on their robes heaved sigh after sigh, plunging the already dim Magic Tower deeper into shadow.
The reason was as follows.
“After all the preparation we invested.”
“We risked censure from our Master and went through with the operation.”
“Only to have the prize stolen right out from under us.”
Over the span of mere days, they had poured their overflowing magical talent into meticulous planning for Arelin’s abduction, only to fail completely.
“That’s why the castle seemed so restless…….”
“The security wasn’t lax at all—it was because the Regent Duke of Rock wasn’t even there.”
The mages ground their teeth upon learning belatedly that the Grand Duke of Halbern had conducted an infiltration operation with a handful of his knights and made off with Arelin directly.
Wild-eyed mages were on the verge of marching on Halbern in force when.
“Breaking news! Young Lady Arelin has collapsed!”
“What?!”
Like thunder from a clear sky, the shocking news jolted the mages back to their senses.
“A healer summoned to Halbern Manor reports that Young Lady Arelin is gravely ill! She’s currently recovering!”
“Is her constitution weak?”
“Didn’t someone mention a chronic ailment?”
“If the records show periodic summonings of healers, it does seem like she has an underlying condition. But what’s actually wrong with her?”
The mages, who typically harbored not a shred of worldly interest, gathered together this once to read through healing records they’d magically pilfered.
“These records don’t tell us much. We’d need to see her directly to know how serious it is.”
“But there’s no one among us who uses Healing Magic, is there?”
“Couldn’t our Master use it?”
“Oh? Now that you mention it, where has our Master gone?”
When the question turned to the whereabouts of the Grand Mage who commanded the reverence of them all, every mage tilted their head in puzzlement.
“Didn’t she go into the library?”
“The library?”
The Mages’ Library—commonly called the Infinite Library.
A library that stretched infinitely, so vast it could be called another world entirely, was itself one of the Magic Tower’s great mysteries.
“Then we won’t be seeing her for a while, will we?”
“That’s actually good news.”
All of them welcomed the temporary absence of the only being capable of restraining a Star-rank Mage.
Then.
“Attention, everyone! A reply has come from Halbern!”
“Ooh!”
“Read it quickly!”
A response to their “polite request for a visit.”
“What? They’re inviting us?”

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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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