Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 230

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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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230
Episode

“Something’s… changed.”
Dinner with a guest.
Sirua watched Fession and Arelin in turn, unease settling in her chest.
What is this? This air that feels so different from usual?
“Terion.”
“Mm?”
“Do you feel something off?”
Sirua nudged her younger brother beside her without thinking.
Terion’s expression grew grave. A deeply serious face.
It was certain—Terion sensed it too, this shift in the air.
“I knew you’d feel it. The rice tastes saltier than usual today!”
“Ah, yeah.”
Not helpful in the slightest.
“Eat plenty. Have some of mine too.”
“Okay!”
As long as he was happy, that was enough.
Our youngest—just grow up healthy.
In the end, Sirua, having decided to bear all these hardships and trials alone, observed the two of them closely.
Arelin laughed softly throughout the meal, while Fession barely ate, his eyes never leaving her.
“What on earth happened?”

* * *

“Try to guess.”

Perhaps because her confident gaze was so clear and unmistakable, Fession felt his solid certainties crumbling.
Eyes folded in delicate curves, their glimmer drawing him in like an irresistible pull.
His reason still insisted the woman before him was merely an impostor, that she could not possibly be Arelin—but….
‘Perhaps.’
His already-wavering emotions told a different story.
‘It’s not likely.’
Yet the possibility wasn’t zero, was it?
So shaken he barely noticed his fortress of a heart trembling violently, Fession reached his conclusion.
“I need to… find out properly.”
She told him to guess, so he would.
To do that, he’d need to keep her close.
Fession thought of a small white tiger and a little girl.
The Imperial Palace had just the excuse he needed.

* * *

— When will you be returning?
“Right? How did things come to this?”
Strange. It was supposed to be a half-day of audience at the Imperial Palace, but when I came to my senses, I’d already been staying at the Princess Palace for three days.
After dinner, when I brought up leaving, didn’t Sirua suddenly insist the evening was late and I should sleep here?
I woke in the Guest Room, and it was breakfast-only before I go; then after breakfast, just a tea time before I go; after tea, lunch before I go; after lunch, Princess Luri clung to me wanting to play, and once I obliged her, Sirua grabbed me again saying dinner was next; and so on.
“What is this? The life of a kept woman?”
Am I being raised like livestock?
— As long as Arel is happy….
Mehren answered with the expression of someone who’d surrendered everything.
“No, I’m going back. But when Princess Luri grabs hold, I can’t shake her off. She just looks so pitiful… When exactly is the Beast Delegation arriving?”
— Well, they say they departed immediately at the Beast King’s urging, but the Warp Gate leading to the Capital broke down, so they’re coming through the one in Sperom instead.
“The Warp Gate…? Broke down?”
— I heard they’re rolling out the welcome carpet in Sperom, but still. They should arrive soon enough.
A perfectly functioning Warp Gate suddenly breaks? There’s something fishy about this, like someone’s scheming…..
Must be my imagination?
I couldn’t quite put my finger on this nagging feeling, so I let it go with unease.
— Well, we haven’t heard from the Magic Tower either yet, so since things have come to this, why not rest properly? And please send my regards to Empress Azeni.
Mehren spoke as if I’d do better staying put in the Imperial Palace than wandering outside causing trouble.
How unfair. When did I ever cause such trouble!
“Surely I’m well-behaved enough?”
— Well-behaved?
“Proper and quiet.”
— Proper? Quiet?
I caught the full disbelief in Mehren’s gaze.
Where did things go wrong?
When I couldn’t find words under that look of “you reap what you sow,” I was just smacking my lips uselessly.
“Arel! In about 30 minutes, Terion and I are going to have tea time. Want to join us?”
“I’d love to! Right now, right this second!”
Perfect timing!

* * *

Living at the Imperial Palace unexpectedly, I noticed something: contrary to outside perception, the imperial family got along surprisingly well.
Everyone knew Emperor Edward and Empress Azeni had a loving marriage.
But Fession, Sirua, and Terion living in separate palaces with no overlapping duties being close—that was the surprise.
They made a point of eating together, held frequent tea times, and attended various public events as a unit.
“Huh?”
So when the tea time came up, I thoughtlessly agreed to attend.
But when I arrived at the appointed place, only Fession was there.
“Where is everyone?”
“Something came up, they said.”
“Something…?”
What could come up in 30 minutes?
And not just Sirua, whose daily life revolves around filming animal broadcasts, but Terion too, whose daily life is mukbang content?
‘I think today at lunch was like this too.’
Strange. Must be my imagination.
“Please, sit.”
I caught the familiar scent of scheming again, but since staying and leaving just the two of us felt awkward either way, I simply sat.
How could I refuse that face? I’m only human.
But the formal speech….
It was nice that Fession had been so polite since that day, but I still couldn’t get used to the formal tone.
‘Now I understand why the young ladies can’t get close to him.’
I finally grasped why Albrecht’s number-one eligible bachelor had no entanglements.
What good is being handsome, high-born, and capable when you’re so perfect you don’t seem human?
Maybe all the “Arelin impostor” rumors only spread because there was no crack to exploit otherwise.
‘Whether I should like this or dislike this.’
Being his only conquest keyword felt good and bad at once.
“But, Your Highness.”
A question suddenly occurred to me, and I called out to Fession. He turned to me with quiet eyes.
“When were you planning to ask my name?”
“Young lady, your name is….”
“Arelin.”
……
Fession’s expression said I knew you’d do that, and he closed his mouth.
I hadn’t meant to be so mischievous, but I felt an inexplicable urge to tease him.
Laughing softly, tea arrived with freshly baked scones.
I was enjoying a leisurely tea time, spreading fig jam, plum jam, and grape jam on the scones, when—
Chirp!
An uninvited guest appeared suddenly.
A blue bird flew between us, its long tail trailing gracefully.
It headed straight for Fession, and the moment he saw it, his brows furrowed.
“Why are you here.”
Chirp-chirp-chirp!
It seemed to be protesting something, and I was just marveling at how beautiful even its cry was when our eyes suddenly met.
“?”
Then the bird suddenly rushed at me.
Chirp-chirp-chirp!
“Oh!”
I thought it was attacking, but the bird landed on my shoulder light as a feather and suddenly started rubbing its cheek against mine.
“…?”
What is this?
Fession muttered with an exasperated look.
“Why is it suddenly doing that.”
“You keep a bird, then?”
“…It just happened that way.”
Fession answered reluctantly. The bird ignored him and pecked at the scone I’d been eating.
Is it okay for a bird to eat this?
“It’s a Divine Beast, so it’s fine.”
“I see.”
Looking at the bird with its mystical blue plumage like a kingfisher, I remembered the bird Fession had given me long ago.
“I had a bird once too.”
Now that I think about it, what happened to my bird?
Wait—could this be her?
‘Does that mean she recognized me?’
Chirp!
…Bird language is still beyond me. Translation impossible.
The bird chattered for a moment longer, then gave up and pecked at another scone. My scone was entirely stolen by the bird.

* * *

Fession reflected on what he’d learned these past few days from having Arelin stay at the Imperial Palace.
How she took medicine after breakfast, how she always ate candy after finishing her medicine, how she had a habit of taking walks in the morning or afternoon.
Small yet unmistakably familiar daily habits.
These weren’t things anyone could learn to do through instruction, and even if someone tried to imitate them, could they truly know enough detail to pull off such an exact mimicry? When confronted with such similarities, Fession found himself endlessly confused.
And yet, was she truly so similar?
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Watching Arelin smile so naturally, Fession’s inner thoughts became a tangled knot.
The real Arelin didn’t smile like this.
She wasn’t so warm and gentle with others either.
She didn’t eat with such appetite.
She disliked walking, and detested exercise.
She was clearly different from the Arelin he knew.
Yet the more Fession watched her, the less he could say with certainty that she wasn’t Arelin.
Then…?
Seeing her irritated him, not seeing her made him anxious to the point of madness.
What had she done to him?
‘In any case, just a bit longer.’
Since the Black Market Incident, Fession had discreetly assigned people to watch Mehren and the Demon Twins.
If he gathered a clue from those two, everything would become clear.
Mustering patience he didn’t possess, he was suppressing his confusion.
“Trouble, Your Highness!”

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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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