Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 29
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 29
Pesion had recently become consumed by a singular preoccupation.
‘How can I make Arelin healthier? Healthier still? Even healthier?’
From the moment he’d first learned of her existence until now, every new discovery left him freshly astonished.
“Listen here, Jade.”
Location: the Training Ground.
Convener: Crown Prince Pesion.
Attendees: Knight Jade, Harun (who’d simply tagged along as usual), Chamberlain Griam, and Master Myubisk himself.
Thus was born the First Session of the Arelin Health Council.
“Arelin takes a full two and a half hours to walk through the Garden—and that’s only half the size of this Training Ground.”
“Two and a half hours?!”
“A sigh escaped him.
……
How could such a body possibly exist in reality?
Knight Jade and Master Myubisk, confronted with something beyond imagination, could only shake their heads and heave great sighs.
Only Chamberlain Griam, who had witnessed the full truth, nodded calmly and accepted the reality.
“Still, that’s a significant improvement. At first, she couldn’t manage ten minutes.”
The reason the Garden walk took two and a half hours was that she needed frequent rest breaks throughout.
“She absolutely cannot run. The moment she tries, she stumbles and collapses.”
“Another sigh.
Yet another long exhalation of despair.
A frailty beyond even imagination.
That was Arelin.
“So that’s my worry lately. Can we make Arelin truly healthy?”
Why such a gathering had suddenly convened in the midst of training was due to one reason.
Knight Jade had stepped forward, noting that the Crown Prince was having difficulty concentrating on his exercises, and insisted they could find better solutions by pooling their minds.
A forceful argument from Knight Jade: many heads together produce better answers.
“Health, you say……”
Master Myubisk had come merely to check on his disciples’ progress, but had somehow ended up joining this gathering.
“Master Myubisk, if you have any wisdom to share, I would hear it.”
“Wisdom is a grand word, though.”
Crown Prince Pesion, Knight Jade, Prince Harun, Master Myubisk, and even Chamberlain Griam.
All possessed constitutions robust as iron and could not fathom the concept of a “weak body.”
“It must be Exercise, then?”
Knight Jade’s eyes brightened with certainty.
“Surely it can only be Exercise?”
“Exercise, of course.”
“The body grows stronger the more it is worked.”
A satisfied smile and knowing glance were exchanged between Knight Jade and Master Myubisk.
“A healthy spirit dwells in a healthy body.”
“Only when the body’s balance is properly aligned can the soul be truly healed.”
“Magnificent! I don’t quite understand, but it sounds grand. Entirely persuasive!”
Had Arelin been present, she would have objected that this was nothing more than the cult of almighty Exercise, but unfortunately, this gathering held only those who found joy in the cultivation of flesh.
“I think so too! But here’s the thing—how exactly does one become skilled at Exercise?”
At Pesion’s question, the others exchanged uncertain glances.
What meaningful discussion could possibly emerge when gathered here were only those born with silver spoons in matters of physical training?
“You simply.”
“Do it.”
“Does it not work?”
They had much to say about Swordsmanship and enlightenment, but confronted with the mere matter of Exercise, they found themselves at a loss. Their bodies were their only counsel.
“!”
Pesion was profoundly moved by the gravity of their collective demeanor.
And he wrote seriously in his notes:
「Simply do it, and it works.」
……Chamberlain Griam, who had witnessed this entire muscle-laden discourse, could only gaze heavenward and mourn.
‘Merciful heavens.’
* * *
Had the Crown Prince begun selecting his companions based on diligence and earnestness?
Four weeks into his daily visits.
I was now being hunted by an Exercise villain.
“Arelin, let’s Exercise—!”
He’d always been one to force walks upon me, but somewhere along the way, the Crown Prince had leveled up into an outright Exercise fiend.
“I’ve brought something wonderful!”
“Get away!”
“Exercise will do it! You’ll become so much healthier!”
“This nonsensical Exercise-solves-everything gospel again?!”
My body had never been afflicted by something that Exercise could fix, I’d told him countless times.
If my illness could be cured by mere movement, I would have been the first—no, more enthusiastic than anyone else—to exercise of my own accord.
Some thirty minutes of hide-and-seek throughout the Mansion had passed since this sudden quarrel began.
Pesion emerged victorious.
“Caught you!”
“Damn it.”
Why was I subject to such torment?
With a body this pathetic, I’d stood no chance against him anyway—I’d only survived thirty minutes thanks to the home-field advantage. Nothing more.
“Ugh.”
I was dragged along, glancing around us.
“How charming—quite the pair you two are~”
“Adorable, truly~”
There was no one in this world on my side.
My spirits plummeted.
“Let’s Exercise! Exercise!”
This was torture.
“I didn’t sleep last night.”
“What?! Why not?!”
Why indeed? Insomnia was standard equipment for any modern person, wasn’t it?
Though to be honest, last night I’d stayed up late listening intently to Mehenso’s voice reading me a fairy tale……
As we stepped outside the Mansion, cool air wrapped around us both.
“It’s cold.”
“It’s still spring, though.”
Pesion looked at me with a grave expression, then at the Garden with the same gravity, alternating between the two.
“Let’s just walk for ten minutes.”
So he wasn’t giving up entirely.
“It’s a bother.”
“I’ll walk with you!”
“That’s a given.”
“So let’s walk.”
“Why should I?”
“Because you need to get healthier!”
“What if I collapse again?”
“I’ll help you before you fall.”
“How?”
As I dug in my heels with all my might, the Crown Prince simply stepped forward and lifted me effortlessly.
“Like this!”
What an impossibly casual display of strength.
Was this the average for a seven-year-old in this world?
‘Surely not.’
The Crown Prince was this world’s born-maxed, jackpot SSR character—carrying all the advantages of bloodline, talent, and luck.
“Fine. Let’s go. Come on.”
There I was, hands and feet dangling, moving like a turtle, while Pesion chuckled and stayed by my side.
‘Does he have no pride at all?’
My walls grew thicker still, my words and manner increasingly blunt, yet the Crown Prince neither scolded me nor grew angry.
Was this boy unaware he was a Crown Prince at all?
“Doesn’t it wear on you, coming every day?”
“Not at all.”
“Don’t I annoy you?”
“No. Not annoyed at all?”
“You’re not irritated, even though I speak without respect, do as I please, and act rudely? Are you a sage?”
Pesion’s eyes widened.
“Even if you weren’t irritating, shouldn’t you at least scold me? Am I not your superior?”
“Should I scold you, then?”
At his playful response, my eyes narrowed—and Pesion grinned widely. He seemed to enjoy being criticized by me.
That foolish boy.
“Never mind. Forget it.”
What amazed me was that despite my coldness, he showed no sign of pulling away.
Why was he being so kind to me, anyway?
I couldn’t fathom his reasoning.
It wasn’t as if I’d done anything for him, or spoken sweetly to him.
Did he like me?
‘Could he be… face-blind for affection?’
There was a possibility……
After all, I wasn’t exactly someone to be dismissed for lack of beauty.
But that didn’t mean I accepted this situation.
‘I need a stronger approach.’
I simply couldn’t figure out what came next.
I had no idea how to make an infinitely positive, sunshine-bright male protagonist actually leave me alone—not when my coldest walls and rudest behavior couldn’t deter him.
“Ugh.”
I was deep in thought about how to push him away before we grew too close, when—
“By the way, Arelin.”
“Yes?”
“Why are you always alone?”
I’m alone……?
Was the household staff invisible to him?
“I mean, besides servants and maids—do you have no other people around you?”
“……Mehenso?”
“But he’s not family either, is he?”
Pesion’s expression shifted oddly.
‘Mehenso is my mother.’
I almost explained the complicated circumstances of why I called a grown man mother, but stopped myself. I didn’t want to make things awkward for Mehenso.
“Family.”
Family, he said.
“I don’t have any.”
“None?”
“No.”
The only person I could truly call family—my biological father—was far away.
“I do have a father.”
“……?”
“But I’ve never once seen him since I was born.”
Perhaps it was an unexpected confession.
Pesion, whose face had always worn a smile, suddenly froze in shock.
“What…… did you just say?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you…… are you all right?”
“……? I’m fine.”
What reason would there be to be unwell?
Watching the Crown Prince fuss anxiously, reading my expression over and over, it was I who grew calm instead.
“Are you really, truly all right?”
The care he took was like that of someone handling glass so delicate it might shatter at the slightest touch.
“Why? Do I seem pitiful to you?”
“Oh? No, that’s not…… that’s not it.”
Pesion stumbled over his words in his flustered state.
There was a kindness in his concern that I might be hurt—and despite myself, a bitter laugh escaped me.
How far did his goodness extend?
‘I understand why he’d be careful—a careless word could spoil the mood.’
But I didn’t see why he needed to apologize quite so earnestly, or stumble through his words like this.
It made me look wounded.
“What I mean is, that is to say……”
Pesion fumbled, at a loss for what to do, his mouth opening and closing uncertainly—until suddenly, his resolve hardened and he clenched both fists tight.
“It’s all right, Arelin!”
“?”
“I’ll be by your side from now on.”
Was it my imagination, or did the Crown Prince’s cheeks flush slightly as he kept his fists clenched?
“I will always be there for you.”
Pesion spoke softly, his embarrassment transparent, making what sounded almost like a vow to himself.
“What?”
“I’m saying I’ll always be at your side.”
A smile bright as summer’s dawn pierced my eyes, painfully radiant.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————