Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 279
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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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279
Episode
While all of Albrecht fixated on one sinful man rather than the Gairen incident, other nations took a keen interest in that very event.
The Empire wanted desperately to bury it, but a catastrophe that had nearly erased an entire city of 1.5 million people sent shockwaves across the entire continent.
Why? Because ruins, large and small, scattered across the world, and every city housed them, whether willingly or not.
“Find out exactly what happened.”
The Uyeo Alliance, which controlled a third of its territory and sat atop the Great Ruins, reacted most violently, desperate to understand the worst-case scenario of a Ruin’s eruption.
By the time the delegation sent by the Uyeo Alliance arrived at the Empire, its rulers faced a different crisis altogether.
Namely, the aftermath of the Gairen incident.
“The appointed mayor is confirmed dead. The Southern Mage Tower is completely destroyed—it’s uncertain whether the Tower will even rebuild. The city appears intact on the surface, but much of its infrastructure is damaged and requires extensive repairs.”
That alone was troubling enough. While it was fortunate that 600,000 survived, there was no clear way to feed those who had suddenly lost everything.
Worse still, saving them might lead to mass starvation for everyone.
This would have been inevitable had Gairen’s owner, the Southern Territory, not been Sperom’s domain.
Sperom, Simon, groaned at the astronomical expenditures looming ahead.
Just recently he’d been delighted that his sons’ successive business triumphs were drawing wealth from across the world, let alone the Empire!
“Your Grace, how shall we proceed?”
“Set up emergency funds and send relief supplies to help the survivors.”
As one granted authority to manage the Empire’s wealth, Sperom bore the duty of opening the treasury first in times of crisis.
‘My money……!’
Though unexpected expenditures always arose, this calamity proved singularly devastating.
With Gairen, the heart of the Empire’s south, obliterated, the tangible and intangible losses were astronomical.
“We cannot abandon Gairen.”
A city where all logistics and human resources of the southern Empire converged and crossed—even Sperom could not lightly sacrifice such a place.
But how much did it cost to rebuild a single city?
More troublingly, it was Halbern who was strange for casually building places like El Sionel, no matter how much money one possessed.
‘My money……!’
In the end, Sperom simply took to his bed. The diagnosis was heartburn from distress.
* * *
While administrators debated the citizens’ futures and the city’s reconstruction, it was the Magic Tower that actually cared for Gairen’s people.
Several reasons accounted for this.
First, the city had been sealed by a Star-rank Mage and then released. Second…….
“One Star-rank Mage became a star, and a new Star-rank Mage was born.”
It was because of Luca, who had newly become a Star-rank Mage.
Those survivors who hadn’t been sacrificed simply carried on, but among those who had been offered to the Ruin, some had their souls return to their bodies and revive—a miracle. Luca was one of them.
The exact reason remained unknown, but mages theorized that the Ruin had consumed far more souls than Gairen’s 1.5 million population, and thus could not fully digest them.
What aftereffects they might suffer would need to be determined by the Tower going forward.
“Just harvesting souls? That’s possible?”
“But if the soul returns, can the body actually revive?”
“Does this mean Resurrection Magic becomes viable?”
“No, this time it was probably possible because time stopped temporarily when the city was sealed.”
Whether chance or miracle, Arelin and Luca had saved countless lives. But Arelin could not be publicly revealed, and naturally, Luca, who had received the Star’s Choice, became the hero.
Though he was still bewildered by it.
“You must now go to the Sky Tower. You’ve been chosen by the stars, after all.”
“Uh…….”
“If you’d rather not, you can live on the surface, but wouldn’t the Sky Tower be more comfortable?”
“Uh-uh…….”
The holy ground of all mages, a place one could not help but long for. Yet Luca was curious about something else more than the Sky Tower, which he’d always wanted to visit.
“But where is Arelin?”
For some reason, he felt he needed to see her.
* * *
“So full.”
Even as an adult, being coddled by maids who fussed over me, eating delicious meals, and sprawling on the bed…….
Perfect.
“This is happiness!”
Everyone else seemed breathlessly busy, but having finally escaped drudgery and returned home to lounge around, I felt this leisure was almost unbearably sweet compared to their rush.
“I alone…… unemployed!”
Mother, I want to be a ne’er-do-well when I grow up.
“It’s a shame not to see Fession though.”
Still, the Communication Device installed in my room still worked fine, so I wasn’t lonely. Fession must be busy. He’s the Crown Prince, after all.
“If anything, wouldn’t he be guilty if he weren’t busy?”
Among the Gairen survivors, only Fession and I were unscathed. The knights who patrolled the Ruin and Harun were still recovering from their prolonged battles.
“Well, that’s beside the point.”
[User verification required]
I stared at the malfunctioning Status Window blinking before me.
When I’d just torn open a rift and created a “door” to cross over, those characters had suddenly popped out and blocked my vision.
[User verified]
[Updated user information displayed]
Name: Arelin Sigria Halbern
Title: Sione’s Gift
Bloodline: Halbern, Heir to ■■■
And beneath that, my traits unfurled.
Unique Traits:
[Reincarnate(?)]
[Musical Genius (A+)]
[Blessed by Music (A)]
[Darling of the Galaxy (S)]
[Mental Fortress (S)]
[Singularity—Blooming (Ex)]
Up to here, nothing was amiss.
It was odd that my survival instinct had vanished, but I’d gained new traits instead.
“Darling of the Galaxy seems to be a trait born from receiving the stars’ affection.”
The Singularity blooming in me looked important but I couldn’t fathom what it meant.
The real issue was here.
Inherited Traits:
[Keeper of Secrets (S)]
[Heir to the Keys (S)]
[Holiness of the ■■■ ((?)]
[Language of Babel (S)]
[Blessing of the Last God (?)]
[Fragment of Regression (S)]
I remembered when everything was shrouded in ■’s, but now almost every trait’s lettering showed itself.
“Fragment of Regression…… Blessing of the Last God…….”
Fragment of Regression clearly seemed to have come from Father, but what was this Blessing of the Last God?
“If it’s the Last God…… Lemren?”
When I’d asked what the Sacred Artifact was, since it performed better than expected, the Regent Duke’s behavior had been distinctly odd.
‘He suddenly claimed something came up in the Southern Empire and fled—it looked exactly like he knew something.’
“I should have held him down then.”
My face too closely resembled Mother’s, and he seemed distressed, so I let it slide.
“Ugh!”
Why was this so complicated!
“Should I ask my Master?”
My body had felt strange anyway. The medical staff, including the healers, insisted nothing was wrong with me, but there was an inexplicable unease.
“No one knows my body better than my Master does.”
I was probably the only one who had a Grand Mage as a personal physician.
“And everyone’s busy now—something about holding a new Debutante and setting dates…….”
The people in Halbern Manor fell into three categories.
Those like Mehren were busy erasing the connections linking Halbern to the Gairen incident, while others meticulously planned my unprecedented social debut to prove “Halbern’s Return” to the world.
And finally, the medical staff whose entire fortune depended on Father’s recovery.
The only one with free time in this manor was me.
For now, anyway.
‘Should I push myself to seek out my Master?’
As I was deliberating another escape, the manor suddenly grew noisy, so I went outside to see.
“What’s happening?”
Rena rushed over, gasping for breath, and shouted.
“The Grand Duke has awakened!”
I bolted straight for Father’s room.
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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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