Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 284

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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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Chapter 284

“A deal?”
Ludwig’s eyes shifted at once.
True to a man who had once ruled the Southern Empire, the Regent Duke seemed to understand exactly what I meant.
“What do you want? Money? Artifacts? I’m a wealthy man.”
“Hmm.”
Damn. That didn’t work.
Settling things with objects would’ve been easiest, but perhaps because the Regent Duke had contributed thirty percent to my wealth accumulation, his reaction was pitiful.
“A deal, you say—you’ll grant anything?”
It seemed the Regent Duke had his own hidden aim.
Of course I knew what it was. Mehren probably knew it too, and Father, and our maids and butlers, and the heavens above, and the earth below.
“Not quite. And unfortunately, you cannot become my father. Make do with being my godfather.”
…….
That was perhaps too cruel.
The Regent Duke’s expression crumpled as though he’d been struck.
‘He’s already accumulated karma with his real mother—and now he’s trying to gloss over things?’
I was tempted to refuse the deal outright, offended, but then I remembered I was in a weak position. I forced a business smile instead.
“So, what is it you want?”
“Then there’s only one thing.”
“?”
What on earth could he ask for?
I grew nervous, unable to fathom what the Regent Duke desired from me if it wasn’t becoming my father.
“Permission to be called Father whenever I wish—ten times. How about that?”
So he was that desperate to hear himself called Father?
When I stared at him with cold eyes, the Regent Duke coughed awkwardly. Even he seemed aware he looked pathetic right now.
‘What should I do?’
I thought it over.
Calling him Father a few times to smooth this over did seem like a profitable trade.
But if Mehren found out about this and gave me an earful, and Father panicked not knowing where to run, he’d end up venting on Fession… the thought of that was—
“Really, ten times is too many. Once.”
“Seven times.”
“Twice.”
“Five times.”
“Three times.”
“Four times.”
“Fine. Four times.”
We struck a mutually satisfactory deal and succeeded in making today’s events our shared secret.
“I trust you, Father.”
……!
The Regent Duke’s eyes widened at that single word, and he immediately began nodding frantically.
For just one instance of being called Father, he even clutched at his own chest—he really must have wanted this.
“…I swear by my soul to keep what happened today secret.”
“Your—your soul?”
At the Regent Duke’s solemn words, I blinked. Wasn’t swearing by one’s soul overkill? If it was just a metaphorical way of saying he’d guard the secret zealously… I understood, but still.
Seeing the Regent Duke so fired up, I found my shoulders shrugging of their own accord.
“It’s grown quite late. Come now—get some rest.”
“Yes, you sleep well too, Godfather.”
“Yes, sleep soundly.”
After I entered my room safely and the Regent Duke saw me off—perhaps because the tension finally broke—I grew inexplicably drowsy.
“Why am I suddenly so sleepy?”
Just moments ago I wasn’t tired at all. I yawned, lay down on the bed, and fell asleep on the spot.
And I did not wake the next morning.

* * *

After the Grand Duke of Halbern regained consciousness, Mehren and everyone in Halbern Manor let go of their anxiety.
“His Grace is recovering smoothly.”
“That is indeed welcome news, Gregory.”
Mehren, worn from intense labor, had prepared a gift for Valere.
The gift was none other than documents Valere could review once he recovered even slightly!
Watching Mehren deliberately pile mountains of paperwork that he could easily handle himself onto Valere’s desk instead, Dylan felt an inexplicable dread.
…….
It was like staring into an abyss.
This didn’t seem to happen even when he served as an unofficial merchant of El Sionel.
It appeared that fifteen years of compressed resentment had evolved into something sinister.
‘And if you add everything before that…’
Dylan found himself nodding at the karma the Grand Duke had accumulated.
Just as Dylan was allowing Mehren’s schemes to proceed unchecked with the mindset of ‘Well, it’s not my problem to witness!’—
“Mehren, may I come in?”
Uni, who had wound down her successful business and returned as Halbern’s maid, entered the study with an odd expression.
“Uni, what’s the matter?”
“Mehren, the young mistress won’t wake up.”
She had gone to wake Arelin for breakfast, but the young mistress wouldn’t rise, so she came to Mehren’s study in distress.
Mehren asked back:
“Didn’t she just go to sleep late?”
“Well, yes, but she usually wakes up by this hour…”
Was it because she’d become so healthy?
Arelin used to collapse like a sick hen the moment nine o’clock came, but lately she stayed awake late into the night before finally sleeping.
“Yesterday the Crown Prince called, and she said she’d get some sleep, so I didn’t check on her separately…”
Normally Arelin woke easily when roused, but today she lay sleeping without the slightest movement.
Mehren did not think it serious.
“Seems she’s decided to be a sleepyhead today. Let her rest a bit longer.”
“Hmm, I suppose so?”
“If something were wrong, I’d understand, but hasn’t she been fine lately?”
“Well, yes…”
Worry had become a habit.
Even now, the moment anything seemed amiss, she’d fret whether calling out would startle her or staying quiet would let something slip by.
“So, what could possibly happen?”
Oh, surely not.
Uni laughed and left.
It was that evening when Uni, who had gone, suddenly shrieked as though screaming that something was wrong—and burst through Mehren’s door.
“The young mistress still won’t wake up!!”

* * *

Mariel, the healing mage, considered herself quite competent. After all, she had tended to many patients.
When a mage entered the Magic Tower, they generally decided their specialty based on their magical aptitude, and “Healing Mage” was a title that could only be earned after passing rigorous tests—and only by mages with exceptional talent in vitality and recovery magic.
The Magic Tower had the largest population of healing mages after mage engineers, and Mariel was among the most exceptional of them.
She was the designated healing mage for the Imperial Court and the Five Great Duchy Houses, after all.
“Um, so…”
But this was only true among mages without a star rank.
Mariel broke into a cold sweat for the first time in ages.
Everyone in Halbern Manor was staring at her alone.
“It looks like Mana Depletion Syndrome, but…”
“But?”
“It also looks like Mana Addiction, and…”
“?”
“Or is it Mana Combustion Syndrome?”
“??”
Mariel exhausted every magical ailment she could think of before giving up.
“…I’m not certain about this.”
In the end, Mariel threw up her hands. She felt the cold stares of everyone around her. Mariel felt wronged.
‘The priest and the doctor both said they didn’t know—why only me!’
In fact, Mariel had known from the start that this would happen and had tried not to examine her at all.
‘You all said to just look at her and see if anything was wrong!’
Did Mehren’s gaze seem unusually cold today? Or was that just her imagination?
But Mariel truly felt wronged.
“The thing is, every living being possesses at least minimal mana and thus naturally has a biological defense barrier. That’s also why healing magic works on ordinary people. But when a mage awakens their mana, they gain an upgraded mana defense barrier beyond that, you see?”
This was precisely why mages were more resilient than ordinary people and why the same healing magic had better effects on them.
“And Star-rank Mages who have received Star Power have an additional layer of blessing from the stars wrapped around all of this. Of course I wouldn’t know how to handle that—!”
You ignorant people—I’m not incompetent!
This was a gap that Mariel could never overcome, no matter how skilled she became in healing magic.
Therefore, treating a Star-rank Mage required being a Star-rank Mage oneself at minimum.
To the untrained eyes of these laypeople, Mariel would still appear incompetent, but she truly did feel wronged.
“Don’t you understand? I’m not incompetent—you need a Star-rank Mage to treat the young mistress!”
But why would a Star-rank Mage come down from the Sky Tower?
Mariel thought that even if she were a Star-rank Mage, she’d shut herself away in the Sky Tower rather than tend to nobles’ ailments.
…….
The room fell silent in an instant.
While everyone wore grave expressions, Mariel was the most distressed of all.
‘Should I say something?’
But with it now impossible to assess her condition through mana, Mariel had to rely only on outward symptoms—and that was far too difficult.
“Is it indeed Mana Depletion Syndrome after all?”
When she spoke of the most common condition among mages—prolonged sleep accompanied by lethargy after rapid mana expenditure—
“No, that is not Mana Depletion Syndrome.”
A soft but unmistakably cutting voice captured everyone’s attention.
A man in a long robe entered the room. From the emblem embroidered on that robe alone, Mariel felt a chill run down her spine and couldn’t manage any response.
“Have I come too late?”
The man drew back his robe, and his face emerged. Mariel barely suppressed a scream.
Wait—why is the Grand Mage here?

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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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