Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 285

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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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285
Chapter

Within the Magic Tower, opinions about the Grand Mage Mercedes were divided.
The original Grand Mage—called the “Mage God,” the first to define and theorize the mystical power of Magic—had been murdered, and after research within the Magic Tower produced an imperfect imitation of the Mage God, the Tower itself had been chaos incarnate. Then came a new Tower Master who restored order: the current Grand Mage Mercedes.
That was who she was now.
Unlike the first Grand Mage, who had traveled the world and left behind achievements that made her presence known everywhere, the newly appointed Tower Master Mercedes had left no remarkable deeds to speak of.
Since the operation of the Sky Tower had also fallen to the Brighemin Council, questions accumulated among the mages about what exactly the Tower Master was doing.
“So that’s the Grand Mage.”
“Wow, she really is different, though.”
The maids huddled together to catch a glimpse of this distinguished figure. Even from a distance, watching her in her Robe, they could identify her as the Grand Mage thanks to her singular aura.
This despite the fact that several other mages beside her wore identical Robes!
Meanwhile, Luca, newly elevated to the rank of Star-rank Mage, stood in her star-emblazoned Robe and thought to herself.
Where am I? Who am I…?
‘For some reason, I felt like I needed to find Arelin, so I did.’
Why had her companion turned out to be none other than the Grand Mage herself? No wonder the senior Star-rank Mages had been excessively enthusiastic.
Luca was learning firsthand what it meant to travel alongside the Grand Mage.
“So you’re saying the condition has relapsed?”
“It is not a condition. She was simply born this way.”
Mehren thumped his chest in frustration. Luca understood his sentiment.
The Grand Mage spoke in remarkably vague terms.
“You’ve done everything I told you not to.”
And she often said incomprehensible things.
“It is fate…”
Luca thought perhaps it would have been better to remain at the Magic Tower rather than come searching for Arelin.
‘I need to help with Jemelo’s funeral preparations too.’
Mages had their own ceremonies for the dead. The Sky Tower was in chaos with follow-up measures concerning the Gairen incident and preparations for Jemelo’s funeral.
Of course, there were other matters as well.
‘…And that person’s situation.’
Luca recalled the one man who had turned the Sky Tower upside down, then pulled her mind back to the present.
‘Arelin.’
Luca simply wanted confirmation—verification that she had truly met Arelin in those moments that remained so vivid in her memory.
“So you’re taking her back to the Magic Tower?”
Mehren, having given up on conversing with the Grand Mage, grabbed Luca and asked.
“Uh…”
Truth be told, Luca wasn’t entirely sure herself.
“I think she’s going to treat her here.”
And Luca realized then why all the mages beside the Grand Mage seemed to become interpreters.
Her illusions shattered.
The reality of this position she’d thought so glorious…was this?
“Luca.”
The Grand Mage had spoken only one word, yet Luca’s ears interpreted it as: you’re in the way, so be quiet and go.
‘It’s true that becoming a Star-rank Mage is nice, but…’
Why did she keep missing the old days?
It was a mystery.

* * *

Mercedes’s quiet gaze turned toward the sleeping Arelin.
Arelin’s soul possessed a rank far exceeding that of her body. Yes, it was as if a soul meant to be born as a dragon had been born in a human form instead.
The body could not withstand the power of such a soul, so it had collapsed—which meant that if the vessel could be brought to match the soul’s rank, there would be no problem.
Mercedes had carved away at her own rank to share with Arelin, forcefully expanding and strengthening her vessel.
But this was only a temporary measure.
‘Is this all I can do?’
She could see cracks forming in the rank she had temporarily filled in, the body wavering. A sight only she could perceive.
She shared her rank again, but a body that had once cracked now cracked more easily than before.
Mercedes felt a heavy sense of unease. This world seemed unusually cruel to Arelin.
“Is this the price of changing one’s fate…?”
The Grand Mage pitied the child.
And yet, at the same time, she harbored a wish.
That this child herself could change her own fate as well.

* * *

It was a strange dream.
I knew it was a dream because…
[My darling…]
Mother appeared.
“?”
The mother in my dream looked terribly unfamiliar.
The mother who was always neat and tidy was nowhere to be found—instead there was someone completely disheveled, like a derelict. Her appearance had changed so much that if she hadn’t called my name, I would never have known that woman was my mother.
‘Since it’s a dream, it’s not very realistic.’
Is it reflecting my hopes?
That I wished Mother would regret losing me?
‘…How long ago was that?’
Feeling a bit deflated watching Mother, the scenery changed between blinks of my eyes.
‘…?’
What filled my vision then was Mother again.
A face I resembled terribly.
Or rather, a face I was meant to resemble.
Hair of flowing platinum blonde, eyes a subtle rose-quartz hue.
Sione—a woman who seemed to have stepped out of a masterpiece painted with all the skill of a legendary artist whose works would endure for generations—smiled down at me.
[My little one.]
A voice I had never heard before, yet somehow deeply familiar.
A sense of déjà vu made me tilt my head.
Where have I seen this scene before?
[You’re allowed to resent me.]
This too was something I felt I’d heard before.
The last time, the dream had ended there, but not this time. Sione’s smiling expression hardened.
[I’ve taken it upon myself to save you and make the effort, so you’re allowed to resent me. All of this is my own selfish desire.]
My cheek felt soft and warm where her forehead touched. I tried to reach out, but I couldn’t move within the wrappings that held me.
My mother’s eyes gazed down at me with such tenderness.
[I just want you to be happy. Overwhelmingly, abundantly happy. I want you to live a life like that, and to depart satisfied.]
In my place.
As if she would place everything she herself had never had into my hands, her eyes burned with resolve as she looked at me.
There was no despair in those glittering eyes. If anything, Mother Sione looked happier than ever.
Was this…really a dream?
[Do you not regret this moment?]
An unidentifiable voice asked. I couldn’t turn my head to see the face, but I could sense someone standing beside Mother Sione.
[How could I possibly regret it?]
Sione laughed.
[Rather than endure this wretched life others have decided for me, I can die in the ruin of my own choosing—and I’m grateful for it.]
The murky voice said something else. Hearing it, Mother Sione laughed again.
[I would want to live if I could…and I could live now if I wanted to…but I’m a greedy person, and I don’t want to be the only one left alive.]
[If all three of us cannot live, then I want to save at least two of us.]
[And if I must die anyway, I want to die in the most meaningful way possible.]
[For the people I love.]
I appeared in Sione’s eyes, reflected there.
My real mother’s expression as she looked at me seemed sad for some reason.
[I’m just sorry toward that person. Besides, he’ll forget someone like me quickly enough.]
That person? Could this be about my biological father?
Hoping to glean something, anything, I perked up my ears.
[In fact, that’s exactly why I could love deeply without any guilt and leave. Should I be grateful?]
I heard words I didn’t understand. Hearing them, Mother Sione made a subtle expression.
It sounded like a question: if it were otherwise? Then you wouldn’t leave?
[…I don’t know.]
Sione looked at me.
[Even so, my choice would not change.]
I felt something soft against my forehead. A sensation so vivid it felt like reality itself.
[I will bear all the burdens and carry them forward. You alone must be happy.]
Along with those blessing-like final words, I felt something pulling my consciousness away, as if I were being drawn somewhere.
‘No!’
Desperate to hold onto this moment, to extract something more before it was gone, I struggled desperately to keep from waking.
In my blurring vision, I locked eyes with a pair of crimson eyes I felt certain I’d seen before.
‘Huh?’
And when I came to my senses,
I was already awake.

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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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