Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 210
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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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210
Chapter
“Wow, another one? A fake?”
Fession gave no response to Sirua’s exclamation.
“These counterfeits just keep appearing. Do they really think all it takes is one success? Remarkable. Truly.”
By now, watching from the sidelines as a third party, Sirua found it tedious.
The people manufacturing endless fakes and presenting them to Fession naturally believed that if they succeeded even once, they’d seize the future of the empire—but what crime had Fession committed to deserve this?
Sirua understood why Fession had developed such a severe distrust of people.
“This time, did they find someone who actually resembles her, or is this another magically constructed appearance? Want to bet? I’m going with the latter.”
“According to her, she’s natural-born.”
“You believe that?”
Fession let out a short, derisive laugh.
It was a smile laden with desperate ennui and emptiness.
Sirua glanced between the strikingly beautiful young lady at a distance and his own blood relative, then flicked a finger with a question.
“They look that similar?”
“No.”
“No? Yet you can’t tear your eyes away.”
Fession furrowed his brow as if hearing nonsense, but his gaze remained fixed on the platinum-haired young lady whose name he did not know.
Of all the counterfeits that had appeared until now, this was the first time Fession reacted so strongly.
Sirua concentrated on studying what made this young lady so different.
‘Platinum hair, rose-pink eyes, beautiful—so what’s the difference?’
Though there was distance between them, it was not so great that he couldn’t make out her features. Yet Sirua found himself unable to distinguish what set her apart from all the fake young ladies he had observed before.
‘The atmosphere seems different, somehow?’
The previous counterfeits had been pallid and sickly-beautiful, but this young lady radiated life—her cheeks flushed peach-bright, her face lit by constant smiles, her entire presence brimming with vitality in a way that seemed strikingly different.
‘Did they conduct insufficient research on Arelin? Show a lack of effort? Or are they trying a new strategy, targeting the Crown Prince’s heart from a different angle?’
Regardless, she had clearly succeeded in drawing Fession’s gaze.
Based on what Sirua had observed, Fession hardly ever paid this much attention to anything—except when someone claiming to be Arelin was revealed as a fraud.
“Is there something different about her?”
Even after Sirua’s keen observation, the more he looked, the less he could discern.
While Sirua tilted his head repeatedly in confusion, Fession pursued the false Arelin’s form with relentless scrutiny.
The graceful line of her profile, the delicate set of her eyes, the long lashes densely arranged and glinting with vitality.
No matter how long he looked, none of it resembled the Arelin from his memories—always expressionless like a doll, always silent.
Then why couldn’t he look away?
‘If Arelin had grown up like this…’
Might she have possessed such a face? The thought made Fession curse himself inwardly.
He hated that he was unconsciously comparing Arelin to this fraud.
Arelin was…
No, there was no way Arelin could resemble such a counterfeit.
Over the years, he had watched them craft increasingly lifelike imitations with bemusement—even exasperation—but never before had he felt such revulsion.
Fession harbored deep disdain for those who sought to tarnish his cherished memories with Arelin in any way they could.
All that remained to him now were memories, and watching them be defiled filled him with disgust.
“How can two people in the world look so identical without being twins?”
“Magic, presumably.”
“Yes… magic…”
How much Magic must have been poured into creating something that resembles her so closely?
If she were nothing more than a magically constructed facade, he could accept it. It would eventually wear away and reveal her true form.
Sirua, catching sight of Fession with his eyes shut and an exhausted expression, couldn’t help but speak.
“Have you slept at all?”
“No.”
Yet his face was surprisingly immaculate.
Sirua, the one who had dragged him out to the Auction House despite his protests about what else he could do in the Imperial Palace, narrowed his eyes.
“Keep this up and you’ll die young.”
Fession smiled dryly and covered his face with his hand.
“Perhaps that’s what I’m hoping for.”
* * *
The auction proceeded smoothly.
“Next, we have a prized possession of the legendary High Lord Naran of the Shugra Empire—the Blessed Three-Leaf Clover of the World Tree. It is said that when used, it reveals memories of one’s happiest days.”
Glazing over the pre-distributed catalogs without a glance, waiting for something appealing to emerge before raising her Bidding Paddle.
The problem was…
“Eight million gold! Going once?”
“Yes! Ten million!”
“Ah, we have twelve million gold immediately! Yes! And fourteen million gold right away!”
“Sold for twenty-one million gold.”
That the bidding was far more intense than she had anticipated.
“Rena.”
“Yes, miss.”
“Is it just me, or has Fession been trying to interfere with me since earlier?”
“I’m getting that feeling too, so it doesn’t seem to be just your imagination.”
It wasn’t as though she was particularly bothered or hindered—after all, she’d come intending to spend money anyway—but the fact that items she could have acquired at reasonable prices were now being driven to astronomical sums was troubling.
“What’s he thinking?”
“Trying to get a reaction?”
“What did I do wrong?”
“It seems he’s taking you for an impostor…”
“That bastard’s just piling up bad karma.”
How did he plan to account for it all later?
Rena asked cautiously.
“Should we ask Mehren for help?”
“No, the objective’s already been achieved.”
She had already driven the auction prices to record-breaking heights multiple times, so if the Black Market was paying attention, it would surely have noticed her.
“Isn’t this enough?”
“It seems sufficient. Everyone’s been focusing only on your direction ever since you appeared.”
Even though she had spent lavishly at the Auction House today, her account balance remained even higher.
It was all money that Mehren had diligently earned and accumulated in her coffers.
All of it flowing in from one well-developed city.
‘Now I understand why nobles are so desperate to secure good lands or a city—the sums are that substantial.’
Not merely a property owner, but a city lord.
Thinking of her city, rolling along smoothly as ever, brought a satisfied smile to her lips.
She felt full even without having eaten.
Though she had contributed barely a fingernail’s worth to all of it.
“But…”
She continued to gaze downward at a corner of the auction hall that had been catching her eye since earlier.
Several figures of a distinctly different nature mixed among the ordinary attendees.
‘Mages?’
Too faint to be certain, but after observing them sporadically throughout the auction, the Remnant of Magical Power was definitely there.
So faint and subtle that no one else would have noticed—only she could detect such a thin Remnant of Magical Power.
At this point, something seemed amiss.
Where was this Remnant of Magical Power coming from?
“Miss, what are you looking at so intently?”
“Something’s caught my attention.”
Moreover, the fact that they were practically broadcasting ‘I’m suspicious,’ yet no one around them seemed to notice, was equally troubling.
“Hmm.”
Something definitely felt off.
“Miss, where are you going all of a sudden?”
“I’ll just be a moment.”
“Miss?!”
She snapped her fingers lightly, casting a Magic that let her see the situation below without turning away, then slipped out into the VIP-only corridor and ran with nearly reckless speed, nearly colliding with someone head-on.
“Oh, I’m sorry~!”
“Huh?”
She reflexively apologized and continued past, but heard her name called from behind.
“Arelin…?”
Who was that?
Now that she thought about it, the person she’d just bumped into had white hair and gold eyes, hadn’t they?
The collision had been too brief to be certain, but it occurred to her that this might have been one of the Demon Twins.
Of all the times for this to happen.
“…We can meet again later!”
This was more urgent, so priority went to this!
Postponing even a touching reunion, she rushed down to the first-floor lobby to follow the suspicious movements when—
“Ugh.”
The first floor was thick with Sleep-inducing Incense laced with Magical Power. She reflexively held her breath and raised a Shield.
Already two Magics used.
In the face of the decidedly abnormal situation in the first-floor lobby, she wavered for a moment—whether to proceed or not.
‘I was told not to cause trouble.’
But this wasn’t her causing trouble—she’d been swept up in someone else’s incident. Preventing trouble wasn’t the same as causing it.
“Fine, justification complete.”
She was curious why the usually vigilant armed guards of the lobby had been so easily neutralized by the Sleep-inducing Incense, but confirming what was happening below seemed more pressing.
The basement was little different from the first floor. Guards unconscious from the incense, a Magical Barrier rendered inert, and—
“Kyaaaah!”
“What’s wrong?! What happened?!”
Thieves who collided head-on with her as they turned to flee, since there was only one entrance and exit.
“…”
“…”
An awkward silence settled between them.
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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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