Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 194

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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 194

The mages of the Sky Tower had lived with utmost dedication these past six months.
Toward a single goal.
To heal Arelin’s affliction.
Mages from different schools of magic abandoned their own research and unified their efforts on one pursuit alone.
They gave everything they had—more than any person should be expected to give.
Such unity among mages was unprecedented since the founding of the Magic Tower, a moment that would be recorded as extraordinary in its annals.
“Well, not entirely unprecedented. There’s the Mage-God’s research.”
“Ugh, that’s ancient history! We’re not counting that.”
“These research-addicts argue about everything, even now.”
“What’s a research-addict?”
“Someone mad for research.”
“We’re mages, so of course we are!”
Drinking potions, they pored over every resource in the Infinite Library to find a way to cure Arelin, yet with each answer they uncovered, despair deepened their grip.
“It’s… so… hard…”
“There’s no hope through magic…”
“Wait, people will misunderstand. Let’s phrase this properly. With our current magical capabilities, a cure seems impossible.”
“Same difference.”
After all their posturing about not giving up and promises to find a cure, the mages could not lift their heads before the harsh reality: there was no answer.
Meanwhile, their rivals grew bolder, the starlight weakened day by day, and the atmosphere of the Sky Tower grew ever grimmer.
“Master… do you have any word for us?”
They did not want to lean on someone so helplessly, yet they craved any assistance from Mercedes, their tower master and Grand Mage.
“Nothing to say?”
Whether about the traitorous fools running rampant or Arelin’s healing, their throats were parched for her voice.
“You don’t know, but Master must see a possibility, right?”
“Wasn’t Master taking interest in Arelin?”
“She seemed quite fond of her.”
“Or was I wrong?”
The mages, grasping at straws, murmured among themselves, but the answer that came back was merciless.
“She’s gone again.”
“Damn.”
The absence of the Grand Mage—which normally would have gone unnoticed—cut more deeply than ever.
Half-zombified from sleepless nights of research, the mages nonetheless forced themselves to their feet and continued their work.
For mages never truly surrender, even when hope seems lost.
“…Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
Hila, turning pages, furrowed her brow.
“Where did I put that document?”

* * *

Mehren swallowed hard.
He could not readily accept what was happening before him.
What is this?
Why is she here?
Am I dreaming?
A dream born from yearning too desperately?
The fey’s natural detachment mingled with the aura of a high mage, making the Grand Mage seem like a being not quite of this world.
Even without the countless stars embroidered upon her robes, he would have recognized her.
He could not have failed to know her.
…
While Mehren rubbed his eyes, uncertain whether he was dreaming, Mercedes’s gaze rested upon the sleeping Arelin.
Mercedes’s eyes narrowed.
The presence of Cheiyen was powerful and impossible to ignore.
‘…So he did come after all.’
A breath precarious as a thread about to snap tickled at her heart.
When was the last time she had felt sorrow?
The Grand Mage could not even now be certain that her choice was right.
“Just now, what did you… No, remove your hand from Arelin.”
Mehren flinched, startled as he tried to pull Mercedes away.
Light poured from the tips of her long fingers, and Arelin’s pale cheeks flushed with gentle relief.
“Did you not understand?”
Her quiet, unreadable eyes fixed upon him.
“I said I can save this child.”
…
Mehren let out a low sound.
He felt a hollow laugh bubble up within him.
A dream, truly? Such fortune comes now, of all times?
“But it is not an easy path. It requires resolve and determination from me as well, and the process is not something a young child could easily endure. It will be terribly painful, and the chance of success is slim. Yet in this moment, it is the only way.”
Mehren’s expression crumpled.
Of course. He should have known.
“What sort of treatment is it?”
“I cannot explain.”
“But…”
“You would not understand even if I tried.”
Mehren wanted to protest, but she was right—he had nothing to say.
“The treatment cannot be performed anywhere. It will take place within my Realm, and you cannot see her while the treatment occurs. Will you consent?”
Not a single condition appealed to him, yet perhaps because the other party was the Grand Mage herself—
This situation felt like a single thread of hope.
The only choice that existed in a circumstance where there were no other options.
“If I refuse and leave her as she is…”
“She will die.”
…
“Her young body cannot endure the fate she has been given.”
It was a miracle that a life that should have already ended still clung to breath.
‘So we were destined to be entangled in this way.’
Mehren’s frown deepened before he finally spoke.
“Why… would you give such an opportunity?”
Was this the amusement of a Grand Mage?
Mercedes paid no heed to his eyes, full of doubt and suspicion, and opened her mouth calmly.
“Do you believe that human fate and future are predetermined?”
“You mean the Predestined Harmony Doctrine that the Holy Temple speaks of? That the Divine has arranged everything?”
“It may seem absurd, but most living things cannot overcome the Heavenly Fate or circumstances granted to them and are swept along by life. We call this destiny.”
As if recalling something, Mercedes closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, they were serene.
“Even if a living thing should fortunately surpass its limits and attain a higher rank. Yes, even if it became Immortality itself, it would be the same.”
“The same in what respect?”
“The more one knows, the more one becomes entangled, the more one is bound. Can you imagine it? An endless, dreary, arduous existence.”
The life of an Immortal who could not die no matter what was not as enchanting as people imagined.
For living things, death was the motivation for survival.
Infinite time without struggle paradoxically stripped life of its value.
The world changed and time flowed, yet the Immortal’s time did not flow.
A life so long and isolated from others was largely meaningless, and the countless farewells and losses that came with it inevitably gnawed at the Immortal’s spirit.
“No one can escape this wheel.”
Yet no law is perfect.
The intense yearning of a great being inevitably influences something, and from that yearning, a Singularity is born.
The Grand Mage’s gaze turned back to Arelin.
“And so.”
How the future involving a Singularity unfolds cannot be known. Most Singularities are born under the fate of dying before they can truly bloom.
That is why she could not be certain this decision was right.
‘I have already…’
Moreover, she had already tasted failure once before.
The price of recklessly defying fate was never light.
Yet because she had failed, all the more so, she could not turn away.
This young life that wished to survive.
“Do you know how many are working to save this child?”
It was not merely a reference to the mages who had forgotten day and night in their research.
As a Grand Mage, she could read the spiritual forces and energies woven through Arelin’s soul and body.
Countless Regression Fragments.
The last Divine Blessing.
And even the Blessing of the Stars besides.
The blessings and prayers for her life were as vivid as the fate that wished for her death.
If there were gods in this world, would they not gladly save this child?
…
Mehren, being a mage, could not follow this pedantic, cloudlike discourse.
Yet the reason mattered little, whatever it might be.
He sensed that even the Grand Mage had not made this decision lightly.
Mehren nodded, grasping at straws with all his heart.
“Can you truly save her?”
“Possibly.”
“Then, I beg you.”
The Grand Mage nodded.
“Will you take her now?”
There was longing in his voice, and Mercedes regarded him quietly.
After a moment’s deliberation, she spoke softly.
“I will give you time to say farewell.”
As a Grand Mage, she could not guarantee Arelin’s perfect survival, and so she deemed it necessary to grant this time.
Mercedes made a simple gesture, and radiant light enveloped Arelin’s form. Her pale cheeks began to flush with rosy vitality.
Come in a week.

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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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