Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 240

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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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240
Chapter

The moment Fession learned of the private audience between Empress Azeni and Arelin, he dropped the documents in his hands and rushed into the guest room.
“I—”
“—?”
Two pairs of eyes, wide with surprise, fixed on him alone.
The tea was still warm, so he hadn’t missed much—a small mercy, though it lasted only an instant before Fession positioned himself squarely between Arelin and the Empress, shielding the girl behind him as he voiced his protest.
“What is the meaning of this, Your Majesty?”
His words escaped through clenched teeth, each one dripping with barely restrained fury.
Intellectually, he knew he ought to speak with more deference, but simply maintaining his composure in this moment had already cost him dearly in patience.
“Your Highness—”
Empress Azeni called out, her voice trembling with shock.
Fession could not fathom his own mother.
“What more do you intend to do?”
“Fession, what do you—”
Empress Azeni had begun to speak reflexively, but the moment she met the cold glint in his eyes, her words died on her lips.
She had seen Fession change before, yet never had he seemed quite so like a stranger—as if the boy she knew had been replaced entirely.
“You hid from me the fact that Arelin lived. She came back unharmed, yet rather than reveal the truth, you covered my eyes and ears so I could not discover it myself. Was that not enough for you?”
Empress Azeni’s face drained of color.
She had known he was aware of her actions, but she had never imagined he harbored such bitter resentment.
Even as shock registered plainly across the Empress’s features, Fession laughed—a hollow, mirthless sound.
“What did you intend to say to Arelin without even asking my permission? What could possibly justify your coming here?”
“Sione.”
“You were trying to separate us again, weren’t you?”
His voice was as frigid as a winter wind, yet his eyes—the eyes that fixed upon the Empress—burned with reproach.
“How could I—”
‘How could I ever do such a thing?’
The Empress’s gaze clouded with sorrow.
What words could she offer in the face of a son who regarded her with such resentment?
She had sought to mend the coldness between them, to clear away misunderstanding—only to discover that her efforts had kindled far greater hatred. She abandoned all thought of defending herself and closed her mouth.
In this moment, no words would reach him anyway.
Yet her silence served only to fan the flames of Fession’s fury higher.
“Why do you say nothing? Why? You can speak to Arelin, but not to me?”
Empress Azeni’s face grew whiter still. The tension crystallized into something sharp and terrible, and everyone held their breath.
In that instant, it seemed Empress Azeni and Fession had crossed some threshold from which there was no return.
“You ungrateful wretch!”
Someone shattered the taut silence.
Arelin, who had been watching the exchange quietly from behind Fession, suddenly brought her hand down hard across his back.

* * *

I hadn’t been thinking much when Fession first appeared—just ‘Oh, there he is’—but now.
‘This guy is really crossing the line.’
Involving myself in someone else’s family affairs went against every principle of proper conduct I’d ever learned.
But.
‘I can’t just stand by and watch this!’
“Hey! Is that how you talk to your mother?”
For someone raised in a culture that revered filial duty, this situation was utterly unacceptable.
Such shameless disrespect toward one’s parent.
Show gratitude that your mother is alive, I wanted to tell him! Because later, when she’s gone, you’ll kneel at her tomb and wail and cry out her name, but it won’t matter—it will be too late!
“No matter how angry you are, is that any way to speak to your mother? Who taught you such behavior? Hmm?”
As I scolded Fession, I felt everyone around us stiffen in shock.
‘Even if she is Lady Arelin… how dare she rebuke the Crown Prince in front of everyone…!’
Their eyes found me filled with worry and barely concealed astonishment.
Even the Empress herself stared at me in alarm, eyes wide with concern.
Wait—shouldn’t the Empress be on my side here?
Fession turned to face me, his eyes glinting with such venom that if I hadn’t remembered being mistaken for an impostor before, I would have cried out for my kind Fession back, overcome with fear. The look was absolutely murderous.
But it wouldn’t work on me.
“Uh-oh, look at that glare. You trying to kill someone with your eyes?”
Fession’s intensity wavered.
I clicked my tongue as I watched his expression soften in an instant.
If he could do that, why was he acting like that before?
“Was that right or wrong?”
“…”
“Answer me.”
“It was wrong.”
“Then you should apologize, shouldn’t you?”
“…”
As Fession’s silence dragged on, my eyebrows climbed higher.
He flinched.
“Apologize.”
“I apologize.”
“More sincerely. With proper respect.”
“I apologize for speaking disrespectfully, Your Majesty.”
At Fession’s humble apology, not only Empress Azeni but also the attendants and handmaids watching the scene fell silent, their eyes wide as saucers.
“Did you hear that, Your Majesty?”
“Hm? Oh, yes, I heard.”
“Will you forgive him?”
“Of course I’ll forgive him.”
Truly, an answer worthy of Empress Azeni and her boundless heart.
Fession really was blessed in his parents.
I smiled with satisfaction and looked toward Fession.
“Good. Now out you go.”
“…”
Fession’s eyes protested—surely it wasn’t fair to be dismissed just like that—but I was unmoved.
“I’m not finished talking with the Empress yet. Who just barges in when a conversation isn’t over? That’s rude.”
“…”
“We’ll talk later.”
And we would—about the details of my own mother, no less!
At my gesture to leave, Fession retreated with clear reluctance.
Even as he stepped outside, he kept glancing back as if hoping I’d call him back. I wanted to relent—it was adorable, really—but since I hadn’t yet heard the story about my own mother, I pretended not to notice.
With Fession gone, it was just the two of us again.
“Lady Arelin!”
“Yes?”
Suddenly, Empress Azeni seized my hand.
What is this?
Moreover, her eyes were sparkling so brightly as she looked at me.
Why is she like this? It’s making me uncomfortable.
“You were the key after all. Coming here today was the best choice I could have made.”
“The key?”
Empress Azeni laughed warmly.
“Please take good care of my son from now on.”
“I… yes?”
What in the world was happening now?

* * *

Night fell on the Empress Palace.
Though the commotion that had occurred at the Crown Prince Palace during the day was contained through discretion, there was no stopping news of it from reaching the ears of one man—Emperor Edward.
“This ungrateful wretch! Do you know who gave you life?”
The moment Emperor Edward heard the news, he flew into a rage.
“Summon him at once! How dare he show such disrespect to his own mother!”
Yet his fury was short-lived.
“It’s already resolved, so please don’t stir the pot. Sit down, Your Majesty.”
“But, Sister! This is not something we can simply overlook—”
“Now, now.”
“…”
Before his sister, Emperor Edward was nothing but a powerless man. He had no choice but to obey and sit down quietly.
“You’ve had a difficult day with official duties, haven’t you? There was much to finalize with the Yuyo Alliance.”
“Yes, and dealing with the Beast King’s insistence on personally punishing the one responsible for kidnapping his granddaughter—that was related to the whole Black Market affair—wore me out terribly.”
The Beast King’s arrival in Albrecht alone was a grave matter.
For an emperor who wished above all else to avoid any incidents during his reign, it was an enormous problem.
‘At least we’re managing to wrap it up by just sending our investigative unit.’
But truthfully, such details mattered little to Emperor Edward. The Emperor glanced cautiously at the Empress.
“Sister, are you truly all right?”
Knowing how much care and effort Azeni had invested in raising Fession properly, Edward could only watch her carefully for any sign of hurt.
If her heart had been wounded even slightly—
‘I will not leave this boy unpunished.’
But to his surprise, Empress Azeni bore an expression of genuine contentment, and was she… laughing?
“Ed.”
“Hm?”
“Blood truly cannot be deceived, can it?”
“…?”
“It’s remarkable—whatever they choose, they choose so similarly.”
Fession and Arelin. Was it not like watching herself and Sione all over again?
A wistful light kindled in the Empress’s eyes. Seeing that expression, Emperor Edward—seized with jealousy—clung to the Empress’s waist.
“If I could, I would erase all memory of Sione from your mind.”
“You cannot.”
“Why not?”
Empress Azeni laughed with genuine joy.
“Because without Sione, there would be no me as I am now.”

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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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