Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 216

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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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216
Chapter

The gaze that looked ready to kill me grew steadily more intense.
Well, if someone could kill with a look alone, I’d be dead already.
“You alright?”
Since the Demon Twins kept tabs on Fession’s movements, they checked on me periodically to see how I was holding up.
“No reason not to be.”
Though I hadn’t expected such a heated reaction.
I gave Fession a bright smile, and his expression twisted visibly.
‘Is this why he likes tormenting me?’
In the end, Fession looked away first.
‘Wait, is he coming over?’
“Nope.”
‘Where’s he going, then?’
“Arelin, congratulations on the victory.”
Noel offered me his congratulations readily enough, but…
That’s strange. Why don’t I feel as pleased as I thought I would?
“Mm.”
I didn’t understand my own heart.

* * *

The party’s atmosphere lifted only after Simon, the Duke of Sperom, made his entrance.
“Ah, are you all having a pleasant evening?”
Those who had been huddled together away from Fession’s chilling presence perked up and gravitated toward the Duke of Sperom instead.
“We should pay our respects too.”
“Yes.”
I readily agreed with the Demon Twins’ suggestion and went to greet him.
The Duke of Sperom welcomed us with a smile, but his eyebrows twitched when he saw me.
The Duke of Sperom stared hard at me.
“Could it be?”
“Yes.”
The Duke of Sperom and the Demon Twins exchanged glances. They didn’t say much, but it was clear the Duke had recognized who I was at once.
“Well. No, I… that is…”
His expression changed markedly as he looked at me, and the Duke of Sperom made this request:
“We must talk later. Truly, we must.”
‘What exactly does House of Sperom have?’
At this point, their Special Ability seemed suspicious.
“Does your Golden Eye have some kind of truth-reading function built in?”
The Demon Twins’ eyes widened, then they laughed.
“Nothing like that.”
“Well, for Arelin it does.”
“What does that mean?”
I grumbled, but the Demon Twins only smiled without explaining anything further.
The party held at Sperom Manor rivaled the Imperial Ball in scale. You could disappear into a corner and no one would notice.
‘Has Fession left?’
I’d thought he might come pay respects to the Duke of Sperom too. I habitually searched for Fession’s location, then noticed the Demon Twins were still standing beside me.
“Why are you both staying here?”
The Demon Twins both wore awkward smiles.
“Go attend to your duties.”
“But Arelin—”
“I’m fine, so please go do what needs doing.”
It made no sense for the busiest people here tonight to be glued to my side.
After pushing the Demon Twins away, I shook my head.
Why did it feel like someone was watching me? What was this feeling?
I looked around, but saw only people laughing and enjoying themselves. Yet the sensation of being watched didn’t fade and—
‘Am I under surveillance?’
I tilted my head, then suddenly stiffened.
I reacted instinctively to the faint magical resonance emanating from beyond the hall.
What’s this? A mage? Or perhaps a magical artifact?
I wanted to ignore it, but the subtly spreading magical resonance kept drawing my attention.
Ugh!
“Ah, curiosity kills the cat—and apparently kills mages too.”
‘Could this be the same situation as the Domel auction?’

* * *

“What are you doing here?”
At the familiar voice, Fession looked up. Sirua, who had just addressed him, appeared to have only recently arrived.
Fession noted the slightly wrinkled dress and disheveled hair, and realized once again that Sirua had used some unconventional means of transportation.
“Did you ride the falcon again?”
“Shh, it’s a secret from Mother.”
Fession rested his chin on his hand.
Even if he said nothing, if a large hawk appeared in the Imperial Capital’s sky, people would gossip about it anyway.
“What were you staring at?”
At Sirua’s question, Fession blocked her line of sight with his body.
“?”
When Sirua tilted her head in confusion at his action, Fession asked first:
“Did you find anything?”
“Yes, I checked.”
Sirua’s expression grew weary.
“But tracking is difficult. All this trouble for nothing.”
Sirua grumbled about being so close yet unable to catch her quarry.
“What are you looking for?”
“Is there anything else I’d be searching for?”
Fession recalled his sister’s interests.
A celestial cat, divine beast, animals.
“Grinia pleaded with me so earnestly to find it. I really wanted to help her, but I don’t know what to do.”
This only sister, born in the same year as Fession, possessed a different form of the Alermann Imperial Family’s “beloved” Special Ability.
An affinity that drew the love of all creatures.
With the qualifier of “non-human” attached, she had earned the favor of countless otherworldly races as well.
This had dropped her position in the Imperial Succession Rights below Terion, though Sirua herself remained unbothered.
She had disliked people since childhood anyway.
“So listen, Fession—you can’t die early. Understood? Terion is charming enough, but I can’t trust him to rule well. You need to become Emperor and govern properly so I can relax and enjoy my retirement in my fortress with all the animals I love.”
She had no intention of marriage, almost no farmland, and practically no vassals—just one remote fortress she’d decorated to her taste, where she planned to live happily with her beloved animals. Sirua was brimming with such ambitions.
It was selfish and materialistic: to let Fession shoulder all the burdensome duties while she enjoyed a comfortable life. What had seemed irritating in her youth now struck him as rather endearing as she grew older.
Yes, this was better than scheming and squabbling.
“Oh? Isn’t that the young lady from before?”
At Sirua’s remark, Fession stirred from his reverie.
From their place on the third-floor balcony, they could see clearly a young lady wandering alone through the garden, searching for something.
Upon seeing the young lady she’d glimpsed at the Domel auction and encountered again, Sirua felt oddly unsettled.
“What is it, Fession? You’re still interested in her?”
“It’s nothing like that.”
“Oh really—you haven’t been able to take your eyes off her since then…”
Then something flashed through Sirua’s mind.
The strange atmosphere in the Imperial Palace lately.
Ever since Fession returned from the Northern Fortress, Empress Azeni had been eager to arrange his engagement to any young lady immediately. Yet she had grown quiet. Even Emperor Edward, who had no particular major concerns, seemed unusually troubled.
And then.
The image of the two of them watching Fession flickered through her mind, and her lips pressed shut.
‘Could it be true?’
Thanks to the intelligence network she’d prepared in advance to help with Grinia’s request, Sirua had learned information she hadn’t wished to know.
Namely, that since the Domel auction, Fession had ordered an “investigation” into a certain young lady, and that the Emperor and Empress had quietly suppressed it.
Sirua’s eyes moved swiftly.
‘Fession doesn’t know, but I’m aware that Duke Mehren attended the Imperial Ball.’
The various circumstances and pieces of information aligned perfectly.
Most tellingly, Fession’s reaction was different.
No matter how similar someone’s appearance might be, he had only ever shown displeasure. He had never before been unable to tear his eyes away or actively investigated someone…
“Heh. Unbelievable.”
And yet here he was.
That keen, perceptive man stood transfixed on one thing, unaware that his own sister was boring a hole through him with her stare.
It was indeed strange.
And suspicious.
“Mm.”
Sirua’s gaze alternated between Fession and the young lady beyond.
Fession’s eyes showed no sign of leaving the small figure.

* * *

Is someone speaking ill of me?
Why are my ears tingling?
After rubbing my ear, I gathered my thoughts on what I’d discovered wandering about.
First, there was nothing wrong with the Magic Barrier set on Sperom Manor.
So was a concealed mage hiding here just like last time?
‘I haven’t spotted anyone like that yet.’
With Sperom Manor’s tight security, how would such a person even get in? But the Domel auction house had been equally secure.
So I wanted to resolve this unease and curiosity quickly and ease my mind, but I couldn’t get a clear sense of it.
“Ah, when my teacher first said I was sensitive to magical waves, I thought he was talking nonsense.”
When magic is cast or continuously being maintained, waves are created and then fade. The resonance I felt was what remained afterward.
Normally, unless someone is particularly sensitive, they can’t detect it, so most teachers simply omit teaching it. But my teacher said it seemed like I perceive magic the way others hear sound.
“This is so irritating.”
Worse, it was moving.
The resonance that had appeared in the garden seemed to be heading back into the building, so I tried to slip after it—
When my arm was suddenly grabbed.
I spun around reflexively, and cold eyes met mine.
“…”
Time seemed to slow. Even seeing the person before me, I couldn’t recognize who it was for a moment.
Fession, who had been studying my face intently, spoke first.
“Weren’t you looking for me?”
“Self-consciousness… overblown…”
“What?”
“Nothing.”

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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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