Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 153

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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 153

The Sperom House.
Here lived one person for whom Arelin’s whereabouts mattered no less than they did to the Magic Tower itself.
“So, my sons.”
During a pleasant evening dinner.
Simon, the Duke of Sperom and head of house, pressed his sons with an urgent expression.
“You did meet with Arelin, yes?”
Noel and Ciel both nodded in unison.
“Mm-hmm!”
“Of course we saw her!”
“Ooh!”
The Duke of Sperom’s eyes sparkled with hope.
Even dung has its uses—so there were times when these precious sons of ours actually accomplished something!
“Then surely you also discussed that automobile business, or whatever it is, naturally?”
At the Duke’s hopeful question, Ciel and Noel exchanged glances.
“Oh.”
“We forgot.”
…….
The Duke of Sperom’s expression froze on the spot.
“It’s been so long since we’ve seen Arelin that it slipped our minds.”
“We were just so happy to see her.”
The Duke of Sperom could not suppress his rising emotions and slumped in disappointment.
As if dung would be useful for anything.
“What, you wretches! How could you forget such a thing?! This is supposed to become a lucrative business worth millions of gold! You’re telling me the Business Exhibition got turned upside down, and you forget about a business opportunity like that?! If this came from your father, you should have already sorted it out seamlessly, no? Is there no money running through your veins?!”
“If money ran through our veins, we’d die, Dad.”
“How would human blood become money? That’s terrifying.”
The twins whimpered as if frightened, trembling.
“Sigh. To think I fathered these creatures.”
“Dad didn’t father us, though.”
“Right, it was Mom who gave birth to us.”
“Well, enough. My precious boys, just grow up healthy, will you?”
The twins, nodding in agreement, shoved the Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin Steak that had been served for dinner into their mouths eagerly.
Watching the twins eat as voraciously as baby birds, the Duke of Sperom let out a deflated sigh.
When the Duke of Sperom first heard that “the twins had gone to Halbern with the Crown Prince,” he’d thought the worst had come.
These sons of his—called the Demon Twins—who would dare try to stop them?
But his own sons alongside Mehren’s sharp temperament and Valere’s unpredictable nature……?
He had braced himself, wondering when some incident would erupt.
‘Why have there been no messages?’
Strangely, the Grand Duke of Halbern’s house had remained quiet.
‘What is it? Did they let it slide because it was something children did? Or because it’s tied to the Crown Prince? Yet these wretches have been refusing my requests for an audience one after another?’
“Ah, if only Mubisk had been available—I would’ve suggested we go together.”
Unfortunately, the Duke of Mubisk happened to be away at the Northern Fortress.
Valere had taken every last soldier stationed at the Northern Fortress and marched them to the border with the Southern Empire, and to fill that gap, the Duke of Mubisk had volunteered to move himself.
‘The Northern Fortress is crucial, of course. Crucial, but…….’
Even if they called it humanity’s final line of defense, for the Duke of Sperom, who ran a monster corpse and by-product trading business, the Northern Fortress was essentially a goldmine.
‘But there’s a business opportunity that surpasses even that!’
The problem was that the Business Exhibition site had been completely destroyed in a terrorist attack, leaving only the ‘testimony’ of Sperom merchants who had been at the scene.
The Magic Tower had also been sealed off for some reason, making it difficult to obtain accurate information.
The Duke of Sperom grew even more impatient.
“Should I just go?”
If there was any lead, he’d dash off recklessly without a second thought.
“Is there really nothing else?”

* * *

The Halbern Manor, peaceful as always today.
“Well, I’ll be going then.”
After the three-way meeting conducted under Mehren’s supervision, the Regent Duke had to leave temporarily to settle court matters and affairs with the Southern Empire.
“I’ll come back without fail.”
“Yes.”
The Regent Duke, Ludvich, looked at Arelin with lingering reluctance in his eyes.
“……? Aren’t you going?”
Arelin, showing not a trace of regret, tilted her head at Ludvich’s hesitation to depart.
“I should go.”
Though he said so, reluctance lingered, and Ludvich could not bring himself to leave.
As he lingered awkwardly beside Arelin, Valere suddenly appeared and unceremoniously drove him out.
“What are you doing? Get out already.”
…….
At the appearance of this clueless man, Ludvich felt a slight sting.
Valere watched from behind, as if to ensure Ludvich left properly, having closed the door.
“What are you staring at?”
Receiving Ludvich’s gaze, Valere openly furrowed his brow.
“There’s something I’d like to ask.”
“If I’m asked, I imagine I’ll answer?”
“All this time you’ve been so desperate to torment me, yet how did you hold back?”
Valere shrugged his shoulders with a face more handsome than any brushwork.
“If you went so far as to recruit even Franz, that’s no small effort. So what’s the reason you haven’t lifted a finger all this time?”
“You’re curious about that?”
“I’ve only just begun to wonder.”
There was a discord born from the certainty that just as he had wished for Valere’s misfortune, Valere must also wish for his own—Ludvich’s—unhappiness.
All this time, the Southern Empire had been oddly peaceful. Valere could have turned everything upside down whenever he wished. So what reason could he have for not doing so?
Needless to say.
The answer that came was grotesque.
“Because you’ll destroy yourself anyway.”
Even without a push to die, Ludvich was already rolling in hell, dying sufficiently.
“So there was no need for me to take the trouble to torment you.”
Valere’s lips twisted.
Ludvich nodded, recalling himself from before he knew Arelin.
“I see.”
Valere spoke coldly, making no effort to hide his animosity.
“I hate you.”
“And I find you displeasing as well.”
“Well, that’s convenient. For once our opinions align.”
Valere smiled brightly.
“So, how long do you plan to keep fawning over our daughter?”
“Until the day I die.”
“Then can I kill you now?”
“If you’re able?”
The moment Valere’s killing intent surged, a shadow erupted and enveloped Ludvich. Valere’s handsome face twisted.
“I don’t know what thoughts run through your head to make you think you can stand beside my daughter, but if you touch my daughter even once more, I’ll make you understand why every human in Albrecht fears Halbern.”
At the warning—or threat, he couldn’t tell—Ludvich let out a hollow laugh.
“Don’t you dare think the position of father will be yours forever. I’ll take it from you someday, without fail.”
Atonement for Sione, correcting the misstep with Arelin from the beginning, and improving the relationship ever since.
Ludvich made no secret of his ambition: that after accomplishing all of it, he would become Arelin’s father.
Valere laughed openly.
“That’ll be difficult.”
……?
“Because my daughter likes me far too much.”
This was the composure of one who possessed.

* * *

At the moment Ludvich left the manor.
Mehren sat in his study, lost in unexpected contemplation. The conversation he’d had with Ludvich before his departure was the problem.
“There’s something I’d like to ask.”
“Yes, please speak.”
“Does Arelin suffer from illness often?”
Ludvich, who had come suddenly, asked none other than about Arelin’s health.
Faced with such a bleak subject, Mehren kept silent before barely managing to answer.
“……Probably, she won’t live long.”
“Why?”
“I’m not certain. We’ve exhausted every method trying to find out the answer, but we’ve failed. So rather, we’d like to ask: is it a problem with the Southern Empire bloodline?”
At Mehren’s sharp question, Ludvich fell silent for a moment before answering.
“Even if there is a problem, it has nothing to do with Arelin.”
“What do you mean…….”
“Because I’m not Arelin’s biological father.”
Silence descended in an instant.
Mehren, who had been absolutely convinced that Ludvich was naturally the biological father, was shocked.
“Wait, I think I just heard the Regent Duke say something absurd—that you’re not Arelin’s biological father.”
“No, you heard correctly.”
…….
What on earth had Sister Sione done?
Mehren blinked rapidly and let out a hollow laugh.
‘Then who is Arelin’s biological father?’
A new confusion had been added.

* * *

……?
Valere tilted his head, watching Mehren absorbed in deep thought as if something troubled him.
‘What could there possibly be for Mehren to ponder like that.’
Valere’s attention, which had been on Mehren, soon shifted to the bothersome visitors.
A hundred or so Star-rank Mages had arrived in droves from the Sky Tower.
“Finally, we can meet Arelin!”
The mages, excited at the thought of finally meeting Arelin, soon realized something had gone wrong when the master of the house appeared to block their way.
“Welcome, distinguished mages.”
The Grand Duke of Halbern, ill-famed even among mages, greeted them with a sinister smile.
“So, why are you looking for my daughter?”
Gulp.
The sound of someone swallowing saliva rang out loudly.

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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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