Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 181

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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 181

Valere’s eyes swam with confusion as he drifted in the void.
Had he suddenly gone mad? Seeing things that weren’t there?
Arelin’s body was glowing. And his own body, holding her, was too.
To be more precise, light pouring from Arelin’s form was being absorbed into Valere.
“What is this……?”
The resonance of an Innate Ability so faint he would have missed it if he hadn’t been paying close attention.
“Ah.”
Valere’s teeth clenched as a throbbing ache suddenly seized his head.
Dream-memories came flooding back like waves.
As though they had been waiting for this moment alone.
Rustle, rustle, rustle—
As pages turned in a sound from nowhere, memories sealed deep in his unconscious began to surface one by one.

“Failed again?”
“What more can I do……?”

Those moments he had dismissed as mere dreams.
Valere swallowed a groan as the visions grew vivid and real.

“I have to turn back time…….”
“……This time, surely.”

Fragmented memories rushed in, arranging themselves piece by piece until they formed a coherent shape.
Valere had harbored suspicions that those countless dreams might not be mere dreams.
But what he could not confirm was whether they might be a side effect of one of his many Innate Abilities.
Yet even those abilities—they were things he had gained through Regression.
“No wonder…….”
The starting point was always the same.
A hollow laugh slipped between Valere’s teeth.
Now he understood clearly.
He had regressed.
‘I don’t know what method was used, but……’
The purpose of the repeated regression was singular.
Arelin’s survival.
……
He couldn’t even say how many lifetimes he had lived through.
The influx of memories was too vast to count.
Valere, who had covered his face with both hands, suddenly went rigid.
The timing of the memory’s return wasn’t supposed to be now. The trigger was always Arelin’s death—the moment he realized his failure.
Valere turned to look beside him.
Surely not……?
He carefully checked Arelin’s condition. Soft, steady breathing—faint but regular. Only then did his entire body relax from its tension.
His gaze, complicated and searching, touched her cheek before falling away.

* * *

The sun hung at its zenith above the Sky Tower.
The nocturnal mages, who normally stirred during the hours when stars glimmered, all scratched their heads upon seeing someone who had arrived from the first crack of dawn by magical standards.
“Where is the Tower Master?”
Valere, meanwhile, lounged in the reception room with casual composure.
The mages, their faces gaunt with dark circles hanging to the base of their jaws, exchanged glances.
‘Did you bring him?’
‘Are you insane? Why would I?’
‘Then how in the world did this bastard get in?’
Entry to the Sky Tower was strictly regulated.
Only those who had been ‘chosen by the stars’—High-ranking Mages—could come and go freely.
It made no sense how Valere, not even a mage, had entered without ‘permission.’
‘Did the Master grant him permission?’
While the mages spiraled into confusion, Valere laughed silently to himself.
He could move through the Sky Tower as though it were his own home, purely thanks to his Innate Ability.
The mages didn’t know, since they couldn’t possess an Other Side World, but the Sky Tower was fundamentally a space similar to that.
An Other Side World with an owner.
‘The owner of this ‘Domain’ is probably the Grand Mage, the Tower Master.’
Which meant only the Grand Mage could drive Valere out now.
“I think I just asked where the Tower Master is.”
“Ah, yes, well. You see, the Master has not yet returned…….”
“I see.”
He’d expected as much.
The Master was far too occupied with other matters.
“Probably in the Infinite Library, then?”
“Well, there’s nowhere else for him to go.”
“He said nothing to us about going elsewhere.”
In fact, this was Valere’s first time meeting the Grand Mage directly in this life. The figure was so shrouded in mystery.
Valere dredged up what he knew about the Grand Mage from his memories.
Famous among the long-lived races as an elf…….
According to Valere’s ‘memories,’ the Grand Mage was an Immortal.
‘I don’t know his exact title, but……’
An Immortal.
The term encompassed a secret of this world guarded by Halbern, and a higher order of existence most humans didn’t even know existed.
Some races, like dragons, were entirely Immortals by nature, while others—like the Sloth sleeping behind the Imperial Palace, or the Grand Mage dwelling in seclusion at the Sky Tower—were individual beings of that rank.
The reason they were all grouped under one name despite their different races, authorities, and origins was simple.
‘They do not die.’
In a world where even gods had died and been reborn, the title of one who does not perish would be the highest respect given to the strongest of beings.
‘So that was why.’
Valere recalled words the Grand Mage had spoken to him in a distant past, during a visit meant to ask about the Singularity.

“It would be best if you stopped that now.”
“……?”

It had been an odd thing to say.

“You’ve wandered through many places for far too long. Both your soul and body have grown threadbare. A limit will likely arrive soon.”
“You…… probably won’t last much longer.”

At the time, he’d thought it nonsense.
Had the Grand Mage seen through his Regression?
Valere clenched and unclenched his fist. The watching mages asked cautiously.
“Have you come to see the Master?”
“No.”
Valere moved to the matter at hand.
“There was something in the report I didn’t understand.”
When the mages retreated, reluctant to deal with him further, it fell to Hila, a High-ranking Mage who had made significant contributions to the Arelin Recovery Wish Alliance, to come forward.
“Which part exactly…… though I should mention we really did put in the effort. We were limited on resources, and besides, healing was never my specialty—I focus on immortality research…….”
“Start with the conclusion that Arelin isn’t actually sick.”
“Oh, that!”
Hila’s eyes brightened.
The moment her field of interest was mentioned, she perked up with that characteristic mage-like fervor.
“Your Grace, do you perhaps know anything about Miss Arelin’s Innate Ability?!”
“Why the sudden question about Innate Abilities?”
“Well, it seems to be caused by her ability, all things considered.”
To a mage, Innate Abilities were always an unknown force.
Yet you couldn’t capture ability users for research, so nothing had ever been confirmed. The compatibility between mages and ability users was poor anyway.
Partly because Innate Abilities themselves defied clear definition—unlike magic, which worked through the manifestation of Mana or Star’s Essence via spells and incantations, they were difficult to study.
The reason mages lost to ability users was precisely because of this ‘process-less’ nature.
“Mages sense mana and convert it to magical power, accepting only as much force as their body can handle in that process, so this rarely happens. But Innate Abilities are different, right? They’re inborn powers, so…….”
The mage’s characteristically long-winded explanation was about to start again.
“Just the essence.”
“Right, so…….”
Hila, wearing a troubled expression, thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers.
A balloon appeared in empty space.
Seeing the balloon puffed up so full it looked ready to burst, Valere’s brow drew tight.
“In magical theory, we say the body is a vessel and mana is air that fills it. We compare Star’s Essence to a more viscous liquid. That’s where corruption comes from.”
“Does that relate to Arelin’s condition?”
“Yes. It seems Innate Abilities work something like this.”
The air drained from the balloon, and small and large wooden boxes stacked neatly in a square arrangement appeared within. The balloon swayed precariously now for a different reason.
“What do you think would happen if one of those boxes grew larger?”
“The balloon would burst.”
“Exactly. Miss Arelin’s body hurts because whatever ability she possesses is so powerful her body cannot handle it.”
The wooden boxes inside the balloon grew larger still.
“And it’s likely that ability is her Innate Ability.”
The evidence was clear.
‘Purification’ was a supreme-tier Innate Ability.
Even High-ranking Mages, who had devoted hundreds of years to studying it, had produced no results.
“So we’ll need to study Miss Arelin’s Innate Ability if we’re to find any clue toward her cure.”
It was indeed High-ranking Mages investigating the matter.
For such a short span of time, the progress was remarkable. Valere’s gaze darkened.
“……That’s why you couldn’t save her.”
He’d truly thought it was an illness.
Valere let out a hollow laugh.

* * *

“Achoo—!”
Who’s speaking badly of me?
Why are my ears so itchy?
‘Should I continue exploring the secret library today?’
For some reason, her body felt off.
“Strange.”
Mace had said nothing bad was absorbed, that she was in perfect health, yet why did her body feel so drained?
“Ah.”
The strength suddenly left the hand holding the cup.
Crash—!
As something shattered, her vision went blurry.
“Miss!”
The last thing she saw was the Maid rushing toward her in alarm.
As consciousness faded, the last thought that crossed her mind was a resolution to grab Mace by the collar and interrogate her once she woke up.
This bastard was going to pay for this.

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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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