Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 212

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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 212

“Mehren, something’s wrong.”
Here was someone who’d spent money like water at an auction, yet still hadn’t gotten what she wanted.
“The contact from the Black Market hasn’t shown up.”
It had been two days since the auction broke off.
By now, something should have surfaced—but nothing. Not a thing.
“It’s strange. No one spent money like you did that day.”
“Could it be they’re laying low too because of that attempted theft incident? I hear security’s been tightened in the Capital.”
“If so, there’s a chance it could fall through altogether.”
“No. Don’t.”
Was the auction supposed to be easy? Simple? Not when this is all it takes to break it!
“Could the Black Market auction have already ended?”
“No, that shouldn’t be the case.”
“How would you know that without a ticket, Mehren?”
“The Black Market opens after the Foundation Festival ends. It’s the last place nobility passing through the Imperial Capital visits before they scatter back to their territories.”
Apparently many even shop at the Black Market specifically to avoid being traced, then head straight back to their estates.
“I understand that, but how am I supposed to get in there?”
A question began forming in my mind.
How exactly did Master plan to bring an artifact from the Black Market in the first place?

* * *

“A ticket? What’s that?”
“Hmm.”
“You can’t just buy one with money?”
“Mmm.”
I rushed over and asked, and the answer I got was hilarious.
Yes, I suppose I was asking too much of Master.
“Have some of this. I bought plenty.”
I carefully placed bread in her hands—the kind she’d enjoyed before.
Master’s eyes blinked. She looked displeased about something, but her expression suggested she didn’t know quite what to say.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Why are you looking at me with such irreverent eyes again?”
“No reason.”
“No reason?”
“I just suddenly thought—it’s fortunate that you’re an Elf and a Grand Mage, no less.”
Plus she was a homebody and obsessed with the truth.
Perhaps such small quirks were precisely what had kept Master safe all this time?
“Are all Immortals like you?”
Master, who lacked common sense and social grace but possessed uncanny instinct when it came to detecting mockery or disadvantage, regarded me with a chill.
“You’re becoming increasingly disrespectful toward me.”
“I’ve always been like this.”
“…That’s also true.”
Master looked dejected. It was funny.
“You can’t scold me when I only speak truth, can you, Master?”
“Why would I scold you for speaking truth?”
“Most people do anyway.”
Master tilted her head, not following. My words didn’t make sense to her.
Most adults, when their pride was wounded, would resort to authority—claiming you dared mock an elder, how dare you speak back to someone older, and so on.
Master was oddly free of such behavior.
Was it because she had no need to assert authority, always receiving deference naturally? Or was it an Immortal trait?
“Immortals aren’t a race. They’re just a title given to those who happened to end up in the same circumstances—each with different personalities, inclinations, races, and desires. If there’s one thing they share… yes, there is one.”
“What do they share?”
“The moment they achieved immortality. And…”
“…?”
Master’s gaze wandered into empty space, her eyes growing distant.
There are two ways to infuriate someone—one is to start speaking and then stop.
“Arelin, aren’t you truly curious about your biological father?”
“Why? Will you find him for me, Master?”
“If you wish it.”
“What?”
My eyes widened, and Master hesitated before adding carefully:
“It’s natural for a sentient being to wish to know the reason and origin of their birth. Seeking one’s roots is only natural, yet you’re excessively… uninterested in your biological parents.”
Master found that strange.
I thought I might seem strange too. But…
“Master, do you know why a child loves her mother?”
“…?”
“Even I don’t know.”
Without knowing why, I loved my mother.
It didn’t matter what kind of person she was—I always wanted to meet her expectations and fulfill her wishes.
Because back then, she was my entire world.
Yes, there was such a time.
“I think it’s because I already have different roots inside me—roots so firm they can never be torn out.”
Even if I was reborn, as long as my memories remained, I wouldn’t change as a person.
“Still, you’ll have to seek them out someday.”
“Will I?”
Master pulled out bread and put it in her mouth with a dissatisfied expression. Watching her eat, I thought to myself:
I should have brought something to drink.
“Master, instead of looking for your biological father, what if you helped me find mine?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“…”
Master looked at me as if genuinely confused by the question. What on earth had my father done to Master?
“Your father is… no, never mind.”
“Master, you really have an annoying habit. Why do you always leave things unfinished? It makes me curious.”
“Words can’t be taken back once spoken.”
“So I really do need to find the actual artifact to get your help?”
“Yes.”
“How am I supposed to find it? Should I steal it?”
“That wouldn’t be a bad idea either.”
“Master, are you seriously encouraging your student to commit theft?!”
“I’ve never taught you morality.”
“You really should teach me some!”
“…”
Master looked dejected.
“I thought so.”
“What’s with that expression?”
It was the look of someone who had ruined a disciple before.
Was there actually a track record?
“Then shall we have a lesson in morality…”
“I’ll take my leave now.”

* * *

Ah, I forgot to tell Master something.
I realized it only after leaving her chamber, but since I was still inside the Sky Tower, I could just mention it to another mage on my way out.
The Star-rank Mages were still sprawled out like dust motes of the cosmos, pressed flat against the floor.
“Hege.”
“Well, if it isn’t the prodigy Arelin, who singlehandedly made off with the fruits of my hundred-and-two years of magical research?”
“I think I saw it. A Defector?”
The atmosphere turned cold instantly.
Everyone who had been melting into the ground suddenly lifted their heads toward me in unison, like a scene from a horror film I’d watched in a past life.
“What, what did you see?”
“A traitor? A Defector? A dark mage? I can’t remember what they called him.”
The day I was officially recognized as a Star-rank Mage, I took the mage’s oath and learned about various histories tied to the Mage Tower.
About the Tower’s three great stains and the Defectors.
Everyone had just said, “Now that you’re a mage, just know about it in case”—but I never thought I’d actually encounter one.
“He was after the auction item. He called it the ‘Door.'”
“The Door?”
“It’s another work left behind by Master Grander, titled Quiet Memory. Do you know it?”
After a moment of silence, the Sky Tower transformed into a bustling market in an instant.
Someone insisted Breghemin had to be opened immediately, another argued they needed to investigate first, someone else demanded Master be called.
I watched the chaos unfold in the Sky Tower before leaving. Well, I’d told them enough—they’d handle it themselves.

* * *

As for the Black Market ticket issue, Mehren said:
“Our best option seems to be approaching an existing member who might have a ticket and accompanying them. I’ll look into it.”
With him taking it upon himself that way, I suddenly had time on my hands.
“Rena! What if we cooperated with law enforcement instead and raided the place?”
“But then all the auction items would be seized, and that wouldn’t suit you, would it?”
“…Right.”
My goal wasn’t to shut down the Black Market but to obtain the artifact.
If the list of buyers was clear, I could try negotiating a separate purchase after the auction. But it wasn’t.
“Why! Does! The tax authority! Spend hundreds of millions every year! Building electronic reporting systems for?!”
Underground dealings—the bane of my existence!
“Our young lady’s saying strange things again.”
“That’s just what mages are like.”
“Of course, Mage. Then shall we go get some ice cream?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
Led by Rena’s hand down to the first-floor lobby, I noticed the hotel’s landscape afresh.
“I still can’t believe this hotel is the Demon Twins’ work.”
“You provided the concept, didn’t you?”
“Did I? I don’t remember.”
Somehow I’d ended up staying here indefinitely at the Sperom Hotel.
Rena smiled as she spoke.
“Even though this is the first Sperom Hotel, we hardly ever run into the Demon Twins.”
“Really? They’re coming now though?”
“Sorry?”
I’d wondered why the lobby seemed chaotic today, but now I understood—one figure stood out even from a distance.
‘Is that Ciel?’
The angelic appearance that was famous even in childhood had remained unchanged growing up.
They’d grown well.
“Aren’t you going to acknowledge them?”
“Rena, after how Fession has treated me all this time, would I step forward here? Forget it. Let’s just go get ice cream.”
I’d confirmed they were alive and well—that was enough.
Honestly, I was also afraid the Demon Twins’ behavior might be even worse than what Fession had shown.
I was pushing thoughts of the Demon Twins aside and wondering what flavor to try today when I felt something like a shout growing closer behind me.
Why did it feel like every passerby’s gaze was fixed on me?
Was it just my imagination?
At that moment, an arm suddenly grabbed me.
“Arelin?”
Ciel, who had approached without warning, looked at me with an expression of surprise.
…? How did they recognize me?

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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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