Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 288

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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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301
Chapter

To discuss Arelin’s social debut, one had to rewind to when she first returned from the Mage Tower after completing her treatment.
Countless impostors claiming to be Arelin, the diminished presence of Halbern, the missing Grand Duke of Halbern, and an empty seat of proxy—all of it weighed heavily.
Though fifteen years of absence hadn’t crumbled Halbern’s foundation, every situation had become a perfect storm of chaos.
That was when Mehren proposed a solution.
Once he reestablished himself as proxy, Arelin would make her social debut in Halbern’s name.
‘…but that plan had become utterly pointless by now.’
Everything had already been ‘proven’ the moment the Grand Duke of Halbern returned.
Arelin no longer needed a social debut to demonstrate anything—she was undeniably Halbern’s young lady and future head of the house.
Which was precisely why the Grand Duke of Halbern, Valere, was making his current stance abundantly clear.
“Why should my daughter undergo a Debutante Ball? Wasn’t she already seen at our Halbern gathering? Why should our Arelin waste her energy on some pointless party?”
“A fair point. How unusual—you’re actually making sense, Valere.”
With the Regent Duke Ludwig joining in, the atmosphere turned distinctly peculiar.
Those two, of all people, agreeing? For a moment, everyone wondered if the sun had begun rising in the west.
“What are you babbling about, you fool? I always talk sense.”
“Even when I defend you, you find cause for complaint.”
Valere scowled at Ludwig.
“But why is this shameless wretch still lingering in our house? Haven’t you left yet?”
“You have no authority to drive me away.”
“I’m the master of this house—what nonsense are you spouting?”
“Hardly dignified. And you call yourself Duke of Halbern? Sione would be heartbroken to see this.”
“What gives you the right to speak of my sister? She loves me exactly as I am. I suppose someone like you, who’s never known such love, wouldn’t understand that?”
……
……
A faint murderous intent began to suffuse the air between them.
Yet it was Ludwig who mastered his emotions first. There was no reason to stoop to the same petty level as this tiresome, disagreeable man.
“…In any case, I have legitimately secured my right to reside in the Separate Wing. I am now a proper member of this household.”
“What are you saying? The Southern Empire is your home—why hasn’t your emperor said anything?”
“Do you honestly believe Franz still has any authority over me? How naive.”
“The real fool is the one who let my sister slip away.”
As the two began their growling match anew, Mehren and everyone else shook their heads in resignation.
“That’s enough.”
Arelin, now quite accustomed to this, brought them to heel with a single clap.
“If you’re going to keep fighting, take it outside.”
“Fighting? Miss, your father never fights with anyone.”
“Nor do I. Raising one’s voice in public is beneath dignity.”
“Removing vermin hardly counts as fighting.”
The two exchanged another barbed comment and resumed their hostile stares.
Their eyes crackled with electricity—but there was one person in this room neither could possibly defy.
“Leave! If you’re going to fight, get out!”
……
……
In the end, both men quietly remained in their seats.
Ultimately, within Halbern, only Valere and Ludwig opposed Arelin’s debut.
Valere, in particular, had wrapped his arms around Arelin and refused to let go.
“You’re not going out into the world! Father won’t allow it!”
“Father, please calm down.”
“How could I have saved you only to let you go? How could I have raised you only to lose you? How could I have protected you only to abandon you? I’ve barely had any time with you yet, and I haven’t even finished spoiling you! A social debut is the last thing we need!”
At Valere’s anguished cry, Mehren clicked his tongue.
“Funny, coming from someone who abandoned his daughter for fifteen years.”
“Right, Father. I understand, so please calm yourself.”
While everyone else stared at Valere with exhausted exasperation, wondering what madness he spoke of, Arelin alone understood the weight behind his words.
She had to be filial to him.
Because he had given her so much.
‘If Father had given up, this moment wouldn’t exist.’
Still, pitching a fit over a single social debut seemed rather pathetic.
“Proposal letters are already flooding in! If we hold a formal Debutante Ball, how many more will come? I won’t have it! All men are wolves! No—garbage! Waste products!”
“Father is a man too.”
“Yes, your father is garbage too!”
“W-well, I suppose so.”
Caught up in his own extreme conclusion that even diminished his own worth, Arelin felt swept along.
“So our precious daughter won’t marry without her father’s permission, will she?”
Valere dropped his gaze, then raised it again with a smile so heartbreaking that anyone who saw it seemed as though their chest might split open.
This father was actually using a beauty trap on his own daughter!
What shameless depravity!
But Valere cared nothing for the shocked looks around him. His only concern was obtaining Arelin’s clear promise!
“Right? You won’t?”
His eyes and voice were pitiful and tender. No one seemed capable of resisting such beauty.
But the other party was Arelin.
“…But Father, isn’t Fession acceptable?”
Watching Arelin gently raise her counterargument, everyone in the room thought the same thing.
‘He’s lost.’
‘He’s definitely lost.’
‘Your Highness has been defeated.’
Valere buried his face in his hands, refusing to answer.
“…I’ve raised my daughter wrong.”

* * *

“As if he raised her at all.”
Mehren clicked his tongue.
Valere, suddenly overcome by the meaninglessness of the world, had locked himself in his room, and naturally the Debutante Ball proceeded forward without any further objection.
“Ugh!”
The sole remaining opponent…
“But isn’t Fession acceptable?”
…had been defeated by Arelin’s words just as thoroughly as Valere.
With the Regent Duke Ludwig now in a state of mental collapse and unable to voice further objections, everyone’s attention shifted to a new question: “How do we give Arelin the most magnificent Debutante Ball possible?”
“We need a dress! The absolute finest boutique must handle it!”
“The finest boutique is surely Sebelere Boutique.”
However, such a renowned establishment came with the drawback of having a rather temperamental proprietor.
“But isn’t Sebelere Boutique already fully booked?”
“That’s why we need to negotiate now. This is Halbern, and fortunately I have a personal connection with Sebelere…”
“I see.”
Uni and Rena were huddling together, pondering how to secure a commission from Sebelere for the young lady’s gown, when Mehren, listening quietly to their conversation, smiled calmly.
“Our Arelin once said something to me.”
“Yes? What was that?”
“If something doesn’t resolve easily, ask yourself whether the problem is a lack of money.”
Mehren had unveiled his ace card.
An endless stream of wealth!
“Mehren, sir!”
“You’re brilliant, Mehren, sir! The best!”
Though the wealth belonged to Valere, all the praise went to Mehren.
Just another ordinary day in Halbern.

* * *

And so, in the present moment.
I watched Uni and Rena burning with fervent energy and felt my distress deepen.
As if I had any idea what adventure I’d undergone in the Mage Tower!
I’d barely escaped from those mages and made it home at last!
A tug-of-war began between me—who had no desire to leave the bed—and the maids, who insisted on preparing the most spectacular Debutante Ball and filled my ears with meticulous plans.
“Wait! The world is on the brink of apocalypse right now—does my social debut really matter?”
“Of course it matters! What does the world’s destruction have to do with us?”
“Exactly! The young lady’s once-in-a-lifetime debut is incomparably more important than some silly apocalypse!”
They were wrong. These people.
They genuinely believed my debut was more important than the world’s end.
“You hardly ever dress up on ordinary days, miss. Do you know how long we’ve been waiting for this day?”
The maids’ clear eyes held only madness.
In the end, I found myself pinned down from the crack of dawn, suffering under the hands of those maids.
“Help…me……”

* * *

And so the night of the Debutante Ball arrived.
Valere, dressed even more elaborately than usual—so resplendent that he seemed to emanate an actual halo—stood in the First Floor Hall with a distinctly displeased expression.
What enemy’s spirits was he trying to crush with such attire?
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
Ludwig, standing beside him, regarded the still-sulking Valere with a pitying gaze. Ludwig himself, however, was dressed so impeccably that ordinary gentlemen wouldn’t dare stand near him.
“Why is she taking so long to come down? How much effort went into preparing?”
“A lady’s grooming naturally requires time. Your impatience does you no credit.”
“I suppose patience couldn’t prevent my sister from disliking you anyway?”
……
A familiar silence fell.
Ludwig resented how Valere constantly brought up Sione, yet the moment her name was mentioned, he found himself unable to speak.
It was a weakness that would never heal, a scar that would last his entire life.
As Ludwig fell silent, Valere lifted his lips in triumph and turned his gaze to the Second Floor Staircase, where he sensed movement.
Mehren appeared first, bringing Arelin with him.
-Rustle.
Then came a young lady, accompanied by the whisper of fabric.
……
……
A peculiar stillness descended.
Arelin, holding the hem of her gown, tilted her head with an uncharacteristically demure grace.
“…Father?”
He had always known she was beautiful, but…
Seeing her in this form—so enchanting that anyone with eyes would surely be bewitched—Valere could not hide his rising emotion.
“No, you’re not going out tonight!”
How could he possibly present such a vision to those wolves!

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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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