Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 217

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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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217
Chapter

As night deepened, the sound of wind and cricket song drifted through the air.
The music from the manor, the chatter of guests—all of it blended together and seemed distant.
In a world entirely separate, as though only we two remained, I looked up at the man who had drawn so close to me.
“You came to find me, didn’t you, Your Highness?”
“Me?”
Fession let out a hollow laugh.
“Why would you think I’m the one seeking you out?”
“Because I’m your target.”
“Hmm.”
It was true, but.
Hearing it put that way made it sound impure somehow.
Fession’s gaze found me—my eyes, then slipped to my nose, my cheeks, traced across my lips before returning to my eyes.
“You came here trying to seduce me somehow, didn’t you.”
That’s wrong.
You were the one who seduced me first, you fool.
“Would you fall for me if I tried to seduce you?”
“Does it look like I would?”
His brow slightly furrowed, displeasure etched across his features—yet even that expression held the refined delicacy of a work of art.
Though the eyelashes shadowed his irises so I couldn’t read his thoughts, it felt as though I could grasp his heart with just a outstretched hand.
‘But I shouldn’t say that.’
The ticklish feeling was new.
Something felt off.
Fession, standing with his back to the moon in the garden where even magic lamps couldn’t reach, his face shadowed in deep relief.
I felt as though I’d seen a scene like this before.
“It’s irritating.”
Fession’s expression twisted as he brushed his hair back roughly. I was captivated by the way his silver hair fell prettily askew, then caught myself.
“If you’re trying to make me care about you, you’ve succeeded.”
His voice, flat and affectionless, sounded strange.
“How exactly did you seduce the Demon Twins?”
I hadn’t seduced them at all.
They dragged me here on their own. Of course, I calculated that I’d meet you, but…
Fession muttered wearily.
“No matter what you do, I won’t fall for it. So stop wasting your effort.”
But it seems like I’m already halfway there.
Otherwise, why would he bother with such a warning?
It sounded less like a warning to me and more like a vow to himself.
“So stop now. And drop that face.”
“It’s my real face, I’m telling you.”
“Do you think I’d believe that?”
“What kind of life have you been living?”
Under the weight of that distrustful gaze, a sigh escaped me before I could stop it.
As I bore the full brunt of his obvious wariness, I noticed how hollow his eyes looked today, and without thinking, I reached out to touch his cheek.
“Do you sleep properly?”
Crack.
Before my hand could even make contact, Fession swatted it away. My hand stung.
That hurt.
“Don’t touch me.”
His warning came out coldly, and he stepped back.
My hand was the one that hurt, so why did Fession look like a frightened small animal? Is this love-blindness too?
‘He’s really troublesome and needs a lot of care.’
But why doesn’t it bother me at all? Was it because he looked after me like this when we were young? Or because I like him that much?
“Eat your meals on time and get proper sleep.”
I never thought I’d end up nagging Fession like this.
“You move around too much, Your Highness. Perhaps you should ease up on training and spend more time reading instead. Since you love people and get lonely easily, don’t isolate yourself. Stay with someone you can trust.”
As the nagging continued, Fession’s expression had shifted to one of bewilderment.
I don’t know how to change this deep distrust.
All I can do is stay by his side and keep knocking at the door of his heart, asking him to open it.
“Did you hear my warning just now?”
“Yes, I heard.”
“And you’re doing this anyway?”
A lethal chill closed around me, yet my thoughts were elsewhere entirely.
Ah, really. How did our Fession end up like this?
Is it truly my fault?
“Do you want to be Empress that badly?”
I can’t even grasp when or how he changed so.
“I don’t want to be Empress, Your Highness.”
I knew he’d think this answer was a lie too, but I couldn’t help but speak it.
My heart felt too heavy.
Even if I revealed my true identity now, saying ‘I’ve returned, surprise,’ I’m not sure he could return to his former self.
No, it would be difficult.
Seeing in him the reflection of my younger self—trusting no one, relying on no one—made my heart ache.
How can I make him understand my feelings?
“I just like you, Your Highness.”
You, who always looked only at me; you, who smiled and approached even when I pushed you away; you, whom I loved so profoundly that even I found it strange—why did you love me like that?
“I like you, Your Highness.”
It wasn’t the Crown Prince of Albrecht I loved—it was the man called Fession.
Clear, unbroken, sunlight-like you.
Though it seems you’re no longer that way.
But this, too, doesn’t feel entirely bad.
“Ha.”
Fession froze, then his expression crumpled. Even as his eyes filled with doubt, I found myself smiling.
“That’s why.”
Ah, Fession…
“I hope you’re happy, Your Highness.”
So that’s what I felt back then.
His lethal air vanished; Fession seemed frozen in place.
I smiled brightly, holding in my gaze the sight of Fession—burdened and suffering far more than I was being pushed away.
“I hope you’re happy, Fession.”
In that moment, I heard the sound of steel cracking.

* * *

“Huh? What’s wrong? Something on your mind?”
Sirua tilted his head at the sight of Fession’s return.
Fession didn’t answer, only reached for the wine Sirua had set out and drank straight from the bottle.
“That’s my wine…!”
Sirua seemed to protest, but Fession couldn’t hear him. His mind was chaos. Thoughts he’d barely managed to suppress came rushing out all at once, throwing his heart into turmoil.

“I hope you’re happy, Fession.”

Crack. The wine bottle shattered in Fession’s hand.
Sirua started to complain but fell silent when he saw it.
“That was expensive wine.”
Sirua muttered sadly, but Fession didn’t react at all.
He just… needed more alcohol.
“Liquor……”
Something strong. Something with a high proof.
A servant from Sperom Manor brought him a bottle, but even drinking it straight did nothing—if anything, he only became more clear-headed.
“Did something happen?”
Sirua’s voice asking questions reached him, but Fession ignored it.
He couldn’t respond.
When she’d looked at him with those eyes so full of tender affection and smiled, he felt every wall he’d built come crashing down.
Fession washed his face with cold water.
He still couldn’t erase that scene from his mind.
Damn it. What did you do to me?
“Really, what happened?”
“Be quiet.”
“Can’t I even ask if I’m curious?”
Sirua was saying something from beside him, but Fession was in no state to have a conversation.
Confusion compounded into greater confusion, until Fession could no longer even identify what he felt.
It seemed terrible. It seemed sad. And…
It seemed like longing.
He didn’t know what exactly about that woman had touched him, but in that moment, he felt he couldn’t remain there any longer.
So he fled hastily.
He should have punished someone who dared speak his name so carelessly.
“Stop drinking. You never liked alcohol anyway.”
“……”
Even as he poured the burning liquor down his throat, his mind refused to release that scene.
I like you, Your Highness.
I hope you’re happy.
He wanted to erase that voice, humming in his ears.
“Am I losing my mind?”
Fession dragged his hands through his hair in anguish. Sirua, watching him suffer, offered one thought.
“You were always a bit mad. You were obsessed with Arelin.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“Why? Did something really happen with that woman?”
Those eyes, full of teasing curiosity, turned toward him, but Fession had no mind to notice.
A sudden wave of inexplicable déjà vu swept through him.
And there—the image of Arelin overlapping with that imposter woman…
“…Damn it.”
Even sleepless nights hadn’t tortured him this much. In those days when he yearned with every moment, bound to the past, dreaming only of Arelin, wanting to go to her side yet unable to die, he wasn’t caught in this chaos and anguish.
He almost wished he could lose his mind instead.
“What really happened?”
“Shut your mouth.”
“The more you say that, the more curious I get!”
Fession ignored the chattering Sirua beside him and continued drinking.
It doesn’t make sense.
It couldn’t be.
There was no way he could have even momentarily conflated that woman with Arelin.
“God damn it……”

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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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