Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 30
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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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Episode 30
“I…….”
I should have snapped at him to stop talking nonsense, but the words wouldn’t come. This wasn’t mockery or sarcasm—it was warm comfort, genuine kindness.
I could withstand the former. The latter? I had no defense against it.
And besides…….
‘It’s warm.’
“From now on, I’ll be with you whenever, wherever you need me. So, you don’t need to worry about family or anything like that!”
Did this Crown Prince even realize how dangerous his words were?
Yet a hollow laugh escaped me despite everything—enough to stir something that had been frozen and withered for so long.
“Wait—did Arelin just laugh?”
Have you ever experienced a moment where someone’s smile brightens the entire world?
Incredibly, I was living through it in real time.
Right this instant.
The moment I nearly reached out my hand to that radiant smile, one that seemed capable of illuminating even the deepest darkness——
—Do you believe that?
The inner voice that governed all my actions echoed through me.
—Do you want to lean on someone again?
—Life is solitary.
—You have to take responsibility for your own life. Are you really going to cling irresponsibly to someone else?
Viscous, sticky black hands reached up from the shadows, damp and suffocating, grasping at my ankles, my legs, clawing upward to close around my throat.
—Salvation is do-it-yourself.
—No one understands you. You’ve lived long enough to know that already.
Yes. I know.
This is purely my problem.
The problem of this self-awareness that remembers a past life—neither a complete character from a novel nor truly human in this world.
No matter how gentle, how kind, how well someone treats me.
There was never an option to open my heart from the start.
What was I expecting from a child anyway?
“Arelin?”
Perhaps the silence had gone on too long. Fession called my name.
Countless thoughts circled in my head before dissolving. If only I hadn’t remembered my past life. If only I hadn’t been this way.
No—such hypotheticals are pointless. Then this situation wouldn’t exist at all.
‘I just wanted it to end without leaving scars.’
A bitter smile crossed my face.
I was so tired of hurting and being hurt. I had merely hoped this would become one of those fleeting, ordinary connections that people brush past and forget.
But the world won’t let me alone.
“Fession.”
“Yes?”
Perhaps sensing the shift in my demeanor, his voice grew smaller.
“Stop coming here.”
“W-what?”
Shocked by my abrupt words, Fession’s eyes widened.
“Why?!”
“Because I don’t wish to see Your Highness.”
“But, suddenly…….”
“It’s tiresome.”
I cut him off.
Even knowing that these flatly delivered words would hurt him.
“Your Highness, welcomed and loved wherever you go, wouldn’t understand. You’ve never worried about being rejected, never feared rejection, never been ignored, never known what it means to be cast aside.”
We live in such fundamentally different worlds, even though we share the same earth.
“Everything in this world has always been gentle and kind to you.”
For someone who possesses everything, how tender and kind the world must be.
I knew this well, for before my fall, I was one such person.
Your radiant sunshine has never once been crumpled, because the world around you has only ever been kind.
I don’t blame you for it.
Ironically enough.
Even though I dislike you for being that way, I wish you’d never known a world like this.
“So, I ask you respectfully.”
I’m not trying to hurt you deliberately.
“Please stop coming.”
I hope you won’t be hurt too deeply.
* * *
Fession stood frozen, unable to speak. While he remained motionless, Arelin turned away first.
So coldly.
And Fession was left alone.
“I, well, that is…….”
Should he run after her and hold on? Or should he let her have what she wanted?
Facing a situation for the first time in his life, Fession stood paralyzed, unable to do either.
“……?”
But there were witnesses to this scene, uninvited ones.
Siel and Noel, the twins from Sperom, had followed the Crown Prince and slipped into the Estate with his entourage, timing their surprise attack. Now, witnessing this, they stood frozen in shock.
The twins locked eyes.
“What should we do, Siel?”
“Beats me, Noel.”
Their plan had fallen apart before it even began.
Siel, rolling only her eyes nervously to gauge the situation, was debating whether to slip away quietly or surprise the Crown Prince after all.
Then Siel gasped.
“Wait—Your Highness, are you crying?!”
* * *
The kitchen was bustling to showcase the Crown Prince’s favorite dishes, while attendants rushed to bring anything that might cheer him.
Ordinarily, this gift offensive would have lifted his spirits.
“…….”
But today’s Crown Prince was different.
Even his favorite foods, even rearranged schedules for his convenience, even his favorite toys—all went unacknowledged.
“What on earth is happening?!”
The attendants fell into collective panic at this unprecedented situation.
Their foolproof strategy had stopped working, and they had no idea what to do.
“This is beyond what we can handle ourselves.”
“Right. Let’s bring in someone who can help.”
The attendants sent out an SOS so desperate they brought in Lady Sirua.
The Crown Prince’s sister, Lady Sirua, arrived at the Crown Prince’s Palace with genuine bewilderment at the sudden call—and her cat in tow.
“So, why exactly is he like this?”
Her demeanor suggested pure curiosity rather than any sincere desire to comfort her brother.
Naturally, Fession ignored her.
“This is annoying!”
Sirua gave up on perfunctory comfort and moved to leave.
“Give me back Siru!”
“No.”
The white cat Siru, now nestled in Fession’s arms, yawned.
“Siru, bite him!”
Meow~
“Not interested? Bite!”
Meow~
Fession kneaded Siru’s soft belly and gestured for Sirua to go.
“Ugh. Won’t you give her back?”
Sirua tried to snatch Siru, but Fession dodged lightly with the cat in his arms.
Seeing her brother evade her so easily despite holding the cat, Sirua grew frustrated and issued an ultimatum.
“If you don’t return Siru by tomorrow, I’m telling Mother, and you’re going to regret it!”
“Sure. Have a good trip.”
Meow-meow!
Left alone again, Fession stroked Siru’s soft, silky fur. Doing this somehow eased his mood a little.
‘I’ve never seen Arelin like that before.’
When he’d declared that he would visit every day, Arelin had looked displeased but sighed as if she couldn’t resist, accepting it.
But that expression—so hollow, so colorless and parched——
Crunch.
Meow!
“Ah, sorry. Did that hurt, Siru?”
Meow-meow!
“I know, I know. Sorry.”
Fession had inadvertently squeezed his fist, pinching Siru, and was thoroughly scolded for it.
Strangely, being scolded by Siru improved his mood a little.
Siru licked his hand, either knowing what she’d done or not.
“Your Highness.”
Griam, the chief attendant, had remained quiet during the earlier commotion but now noticed the change in Fession’s demeanor with keen sensitivity.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“No. It’s the same.”
Though he said it was the same, his response was markedly improved compared to his earlier silence.
“Your Highness, what exactly happened? And why were the Sperom twins there?”
“Twins? I don’t know.”
“Will you not answer my other question?”
Fession looked away.
“Arelin said not to come anymore.”
“Hmm? Hasn’t she been saying that all along?”
“No, this is different.”
It was utterly different from anything before.
“Today, when Arelin said it…….”
She had spoken so coldly, telling him not to come, and her own expression had looked wounded.
“Your Highness, welcomed and loved wherever you go, wouldn’t understand. You’ve never worried about being rejected, never feared rejection, never been ignored, never known what it means to be cast aside.”
Did that mean Arelin worried about being rejected? That she feared rejection? That she’d been ignored before? That she’d been cast aside?
‘That’s strange.’
Why does thinking about this make me feel so bad? Why does it keep making me sad?
Meow~!
Holding Siru’s warm body tightly as she grew restless to leave, Fession turned his inexplicable feelings over and over in his mind.
“Only to the extent that you like her.”
But, Mother.
‘How am I supposed to like her only to that extent?’ I want to see her so badly I’m going mad, even now.
“I want to see Arelin.”
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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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