Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 202

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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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202
Chapter

If those fifteen years had taught me anything, it was a baseless confidence that no matter what lay ahead, nothing would ever hurt quite as much as that time had.
A brutal sort of treatment—relying solely on Elixir’s efficacy to destroy and regenerate organs and tissue already ravaged and broken.
The crux was deciding how much to destroy and regenerate in a single dose: too little, and the regeneration’s potency diminished; too much, and death was the cost. Each time, I had to endure the full, searing agony of my body shattering and mending itself while still conscious.
They say that when a person endures something unbearably difficult, something breaks inside them.
I suspected the same might be true of me.
“Come to think of it, you’ve seemed much brighter lately, miss.”
“It’s because my body feels refreshed. When you’re light on your feet and your body obeys your will, irritation just doesn’t take root.”
I understood now why people always emphasized that vitality was a nation’s strength, that health was paramount.
When my body had been a wreck, every little thing grated on me, and I’d snap at the smallest provocation. But with ease came peace of mind.
“So everyone else has lived with a body like this from the start.”
A healthy body was a blessing.
I even counseled Rena not to neglect her own health.
“…Yes.”
Anyway, back to the matter at hand.
Mehren had said there was no way for me to see Fession, but…
“Haven’t the Imperial Palace sent an invitation to Mehren this year as well? Wouldn’t that suffice?”
“Ah.”
There was an avenue I hadn’t considered.
Right—Albrecht was in the throes of the Founding Festival, and the jewel of that festival was undoubtedly the Imperial Ball held within the Imperial Palace.
“Will Fession attend?”
“Having returned to the Capital from the Northern Fortress after so long, he’ll likely have to attend regardless of his preference.”
The problem, however…
“With Valere absent, it will be difficult to enter under Arelin’s name.”
If Mehren were still acting openly as the Grand Duke’s proxy, it might be manageable, but given how long he’d been in hiding, there was no help for it.
“So we’ll need a new identity…”
Seeing the three of them at a loss for where to begin, I smiled.
“What’s there to worry about? Call me a mage—a Star-rank Mage and prized student of a Grand Mage. That standing alone is more than enough to secure entry, isn’t it?”
Rena’s eyes widened.
“Miss, you’re a Star-rank Mage?!”
“Of course. Didn’t I tell you I was good at Magic?”
“….”
“Right, you didn’t believe me.”
All three of them coughed awkwardly.
I’d known they didn’t believe me, but seeing it laid bare like this still stung.

* * *

The Imperial Ball held during the Founding Festival had among the Imperial Palace’s various events one of the most transparent purposes.
One had only to note the Empress’s Debutante Party held before the Founding Festival to grasp its rather blatant goal.
As a major undertaking designed to provide suitable matches for the many young noble men and women across the Empire, it was an event most nobility felt obliged to attend.
“What? Who’s arrived?”
Mehren’s attendance.
At the rapidly delivered news, Emperor Edward stroked his jaw.
After more than a decade of sending invitations that went unanswered, what wind had finally blown Mehren into an appearance?
“Surely nothing’s gone wrong?”
“It doesn’t appear so. Perhaps merely a whim?”
“Ha. Mehren, whimsical? My chief attendant has a way with jest.”
Though he’d vanished, Edward kept himself subtly informed of Mehren’s movements.
The fact that Mehren had installed a figurehead mayor in El Sionel and was conducting the actual administrative duties in secret was rather something to welcome.
Halbern’s influence, which had been expanding by the day since Mehren became the Grand Duke’s proxy, had finally begun to wane—and from the Imperial Palace’s perspective, there was nothing to dislike about that.
“And Valere?”
“The Grand Duke of Halbern did not attend.”
Yet, however erratic and inscrutable Valere might be, he rarely crossed certain lines…
‘Or has he finally lost his senses and stepped over them at last?’
Valere’s disappearance was being treated as a matter of considerable concern within the palace. Edward furrowed his brow, then shrugged with a murmur.
“Well, I suppose I’ll understand once I meet with Mehren.”
Such matters weren’t what truly occupied Edward’s mind.
“So then, what of Fession?”
“The Empress’s palace sent word, and fortunately he has confirmed his attendance for tonight.”
“A relief, truly.”
Emperor Edward exhaled deeply.
He’d never once imagined Fession would become a problem. With Siru, that obstinate lord with his own firm convictions and marked preferences—perhaps. But not Fession.
All he’d dreamed of was raising the boy to take the throne, then shedding every obligation to enjoy his twilight years as a contented Former Emperor alongside Empress Azeni…
“Should I change the heir to Terion while there’s still time? Surely it’s not too late yet.”
Though Terion paled in achievement compared to Fession and showed scarcely a hint of imperial bearing, wasn’t he endearing?
And if he was endearing, wouldn’t that be enough?
“Your Majesty, it is time for your entrance.”
“Yes.”
Emperor Edward abandoned his musings and departed for the ball hall, radiant and beautiful beside his beloved.
And then…
“Sione?”
After exchanging the customary greetings and well-wishes, as he took his seat of honor, Empress Azeni’s eyes widened.
At a name she’d believed she would never hear again in her lifetime, Emperor Edward froze.
Then, following the Empress’s fixed gaze, he turned his head in that direction.
“Hmm.”
There, unmistakably, stood a young noblewoman who could only evoke Sione—standing at Mehren’s side.
An ominous feeling seized him.
“That young lady… surely not…?”

* * *

“The attention’s rather thick.”
“…It can hardly be helped.”
Mehren regarded the unflappable Arelin with a look of mild displeasure.
“Why?”
Ninety percent of the stares in this hall were aimed at her. She seemed oblivious to the fact.
‘She does have quite striking features.’
Having grown up watching Valere and Sione’s beauty up close since childhood, Mehren hadn’t been particularly struck by it—but the vitality that had bloomed in Arelin with her newfound health eclipsed even theirs.
When Arelin had mentioned she’d attend as a mage in a Star-rank Mage’s Robe, Rena had audibly gasped and procured an elegant dress instead.

“It would be a sin to hide beauty like this away!”

In her childhood, the health struggles had left her with a pallid complexion and an expressionless face—pretty as a doll, perhaps, but without warmth. Yet watching her now, constantly smiling with lively animation, Mehren felt what Rena had said—Arelin’s character truly had transformed.
‘She looks good.’
“Why are you staring like that?”
“It’s fascinating.”
“Fascinating how?”
“Well.”
Mehren set down his wine glass and rested his hand at his waist.
“When did our little one grow so tall?”
“What is that?”
Arelin giggled, and the hall seemed to stir once more at the sight of her laugh.
“Everyone’s stealing glances at you while pretending not to look.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“…Shamelessness seems to run in your family.”
At Arelin’s observation—one that made Valere spring unbidden to mind—Mehren narrowed his eyes, and Arelin gave a small shrug.
Both their gazes drifted toward the hottest spot in the ballroom: a cluster of young noblewomen surrounding Crown Prince Fession.
“Aren’t you going to join them?”
“I’m considering it.”
“I expected you’d rush straight to the Crown Prince the moment we arrived.”
“I have a certain social standing to maintain.”
At that moment, an attendant approached Mehren’s side. Mehren exhaled lightly, as though he’d been expecting this.
“His Majesty is calling. I’d best go.”
“Go on then.”
“Try not to cause any trouble.”
“Do you still think I’m a child?”
“In my eyes, you always will be.”
At Mehren’s parting warning, Arelin shrugged.

* * *

“She’s popular.”
Left alone after Mehren’s departure, I sipped at White Wine and lost myself in thought.
My original plan had been to approach Fession the moment I entered the ballroom, as Mehren had suggested, but there were far more people than I’d anticipated.
I couldn’t find a gap to slip through.
“Hm?”
Lost in thought for a moment, I looked up to find Fession had vanished from sight.
I glanced around urgently and spotted him leaving the hall.
I hesitated briefly, then moved.
I hadn’t come all this way just to watch him leave without a word exchanged!
“Where’d he go?”
He seemed to have headed this way.
I was standing at a familiar corridor junction—having visited the Imperial Palace a few times before—when I found myself at a loss.
With a click, a door opened, and a large hand shot through the gap, seizing my arm.
Bang!
The door slammed violently, and startled by the noise, I looked up to see who’d dragged me in—only to freeze in utter shock.
…Fession?
Was this a dream? I was trying to make sense of what was happening when—
“Who are you?”
A cold voice descended from above.

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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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