Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 227

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

227
Chapter

“Master, will Fession be all right?”
After we’d safely escaped the Other Side World, I stood in the Grand Mage’s chamber.
In this quiet sanctuary, I rested my arm in his care while my mind wandered elsewhere.
The moment I told him what had happened at the Black Market, he seized my arm to examine it, his expression shifting subtly as he checked my condition.
“……Did you not say you pulled him out before the abyss could swallow him? He will be fine.”
“Right?”
“…….”
“He won’t suffer any psychological aftereffects or anything?”
“…….”
“Surely he won’t just… never wake up?”
“…….”
Ignoring my mounting barrage of questions while continuing to examine my body, the Master finally frowned and turned the question back on me.
“Are you truly so worried?”
“I think it’s because I didn’t see him wake up.”
The feeling when I’d found Fession, half-broken, wandering through the Other Side World as it tried to ensnare me with countless illusions—I couldn’t quite describe it.
I could see the illusion that Fession was seeing.
The image of Fession, holding a younger me and weeping, was rather…….
“Master, I think I have a type for men who cry.”
The Master stared at me as if I’d spoken utter nonsense, his face contorting.
“I didn’t know it before, but seeing him cry… it was pitiable and heartbreaking, yet somehow appealing?”
“……Disciple. Why must I know such things about you?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we understood each other well? Master, please speak freely too.”
“Please. I’d rather not know. Stop this at once.”
“Why? Didn’t you become Immortal precisely because you wanted to know all the world’s knowledge?”
“The knowledge I wished to know was not… alas.”
The Master pressed his fingers to his forehead.
Sensing that he’d lost yet another verbal sparring match with his youngest disciple and was about to throw me out, I quickly changed the subject.
“How is my body?”
“Refrain from using any Magic for the time being.”
“Ah. That’s a problem.”
Now that I’d tasted the sweetness of Magic, a ban on its use felt cruel.
But the Master wore a rare sternness, and I had no choice but to comply.
“I wish you had possessed no aptitude for Magic whatsoever.”
“You created this monster yourself, Master! Grit your teeth and endure it!”
“…….”
I received a flick on the forehead for my troubles.
“Ow.”

* * *

“So Master, contact me when you find my father!”
Arelin departed triumphantly, leaving behind an Artifact.
She’d completed her task, that was clear enough.
The Grand Mage’s eyes narrowed at the sight of her using Magic despite his order not to—but recognizing that she had no choice to leave this realm, he sighed.
Left alone in the wake of Arelin’s departure, the Grand Mage pressed his hand to his head.
“…….”
Had he grown so accustomed to it so quickly?
In the emptiness left by her absence, the Grand Mage smiled faintly.
It was strange, truly.
When had he become accustomed to having someone beside him?
There had been such a time, once.
Reaching back into memories now so distant, the Grand Mage smiled with melancholy.

“I want to fulfill your wish, Master.”

That darling youngest disciple who clung to him with such devotion.
He’d had many direct disciples, but she was the first to possess both magical talent and his sincere affection and trust.
The sole being to make him break the taboos he’d set for himself.
The first Grand Mage, the Master of the Magic Tower, the Coveted Star…….
An Immortal who, across countless ages and by many names in mortal history, had wished to remain a hermit—yet been drawn to the surface, if only briefly, by his own disciple.
Reflecting now, the youngest disciple he’d taken on unintentionally shared much in common with the disciple he’d cherished most.
Particularly in that she’d made him break both his oath never to intervene in mortal affairs and his vow to take no more direct disciples.
“Always doing as she pleases like this…….”
His tone was gruff, yet his eyes held warmth as he gazed down at the bread and beverages she brought each time she visited.
Light shimmered beside the Grand Mage as he chewed slowly on bread.
They were all Star Language—expressions of the stars’ will.
[The brightest star says she envies you]
[The star of knowledge and wisdom wishes to explore the realm of taste]
[The star of gentle wind strongly urges that she be included too]
⋮
The stars’ will poured forth as if they’d been waiting for this moment—an avalanche of sentiment.
Across all the long ages, no human had ever monopolized the stars’ affection and attention to this degree.
All that frenzied interest from the stars surely stemmed from that terrifyingly prodigious magical aptitude.
Mercedes ignored the cascade of stellar sentiments and picked up the Artifact that Arelin had left behind.
“Restoration… I suppose it must be done.”
Restoring the Sky Tower would not be difficult.
The reason he’d ordered her to bring the Artifact was to save time, after all.
And there was one more reason.
To find the Grand Duke of Halbern with ease.
The Artifact bore the strong aura of a certain Immortal whom the Grand Duke of Halbern had possessed.
‘Wandering Hope.’
But there was another reason why this task did not sit well with him.
“……It would be better not to find him.”
The Grand Mage recalled the last time he’d encountered the Grand Duke of Halbern.
A burden and fate of a magnitude no Mortal could bear.
Any Mortal entangled with an Immortal is bound to suffer misfortune.
The Grand Duke of Halbern’s disappearance surely stemmed from this entanglement—a fate the Grand Mage had already foreseen.
“Still, I must find him.”

* * *

In the soundless depths of night, Fession’s eyes opened.
It seemed he’d slept deeply for a long time—the longest, most restful sleep in memory.
When was the last time he’d slept without dreams, so peacefully?
Out of habit, he began to sweep his hair back, when he suddenly recognized the familiar surroundings and found himself rising.
“Ah.”
It was his own room.
How had this happened?
“Ugh.”
His head throbbed as if it might split open. Fragments of memory flickered just beyond reach.
Sirua had led him to the Black Market, something had happened there, he’d fallen into the Other Side World…….
“Ah.”
He’d seen Arelin.
He knew it was an illusion, but it didn’t matter. It was Arelin.
‘Am I dead?’
By all the sensations he could feel, he was alive—yet he couldn’t comprehend how.
How…….

“Yes, I’m here.”

A memory surfaced suddenly, and Fession lowered his hand from his head, his breath catching.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
“I won’t leave you again.”

Had that been an illusion born from desperate longing, or had it truly been Arelin?
It must have been an illusion.
Reason whispered that it surely was, yet somehow Fession was certain he’d seen the real Arelin.
Because in that moment, he’d felt nothing less than salvation.
Lost in deep thought as dawn broke and the world stirred with morning activity, Fession remained motionless on his bed.
He had no desire to do anything. He would have stayed that way indefinitely had Sirua not appeared.
“What’s this? You’re up?”
Sirua, who’d been wracked with guilt over having dragged Fession along only for disaster to strike, had prayed for his safe awakening—and now, seeing him so composed, fixed him with a petulant expression.
“What’s today’s date?”
“Only two days have passed. They say there’s nothing wrong with your body.”
“I can figure that out by moving around.”
“Is your mind intact? There might be aftereffects, they said.”
“…….”
Unable to be certain of his own condition, Fession fell silent before asking reflexively.
“Who did?”
“Who else? That young lady who saved you. She said something about aftereffects.”
Fession’s body went rigid.
“Who… saved me?”
Sirua tilted his head, puzzled.
“There’s only one young lady who’d save you. That lady—they said she was a mage. Did you know that?”
A mage?
The unfamiliar claim made Fession furrow his brow.
Something hovered just beyond his grasp, like a half-remembered thought, then slipped away.
“You two suddenly vanished, and I was terrified. Then moments later you both appeared, and there you were, passed out in that young lady’s arms!”
“…….”
Fession’s expression darkened subtly.
“Are you certain that woman saved me?”
“Only the two of you were swept up in it—how could I not be certain?”
Sirua clicked his tongue.
“It bothers you?”
“…….”
“It’s eating you alive, isn’t it?”
“…….”
Watching Fession’s reaction, Sirua chuckled. He was thoroughly amused.
“Still, she did save you—shouldn’t you at least thank her out of common decency?”
Though Fession’s true feelings were unreadable behind his blank expression, Sirua sensed that his thoughts were quite turbulent.
“……If the opportunity arises.”
There—exactly the answer Sirua had been waiting for.
Sirua’s eyes gleamed with mischief.
“Then get ready.”
“?”
“We’re going to thank her!”
With a mischievous grin, Sirua pushed Fession’s shoulder.
“I already invited that young lady.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————