Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 31

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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 31

While the Imperial Palace was in uproar, the Halbert Mansion lay shrouded in an unnatural silence.
The Halbert Mansion, by contrast, had sunk into profound quiet.
“Miss.”
No one knew what had happened, but Arelin—who had been dragged away by the Crown Prince—had returned alone, locked herself in her room, and refused to open the door.
The Nursery Staff convened an emergency meeting outside Arelin’s door in the midst of this unexpected turmoil.
“Does anyone know what’s happened?”
“I saw the Crown Prince with Sperom’s twins.”
“Sperom’s twins? What were they doing there?”
“I haven’t a clue. All three of them looked equally bewildered.”
“So no one understands the situation.”
“Do you think they quarreled?”
“That doesn’t quite fit either…….”
Something about Arelin and Fession’s reactions seemed off.
“Come to think of it, I heard the Crown Prince was crying.”
“Ah, yes. I saw him myself tearing up.”
“Whether he was actually crying, I’m not entirely sure…….”
The Crown Prince’s attendants were making light conversation about a subject they disagreed on when the Nursery Staff fell silent all at once, and they all heaved a deep sigh in unison.
“Why must this happen again…….”
Perhaps because an incident had occurred just weeks before, the Nursery Staff’s anxieties only deepened.
“Sigh.”
“There’s nothing to be done in a situation like this, is there?”
“No. This is beyond our capacity to resolve.”
“Unfortunately, we have no choice…….”
The Nursery Staff exchanged sorrowful glances of agreement.
“Let us call upon him.”
The Nursery Staff’s opinion converged as one.
“Meehen, we need your help!”

* * *

A door sealed shut.
In the quiet where no one enters.
In the darkened room, I stared silently at the thin line of light threading through the gap in the curtains.
A slender beam that halted just before me.
Light I could grasp if I merely reached out my hand.
“…….”
It felt so much like my own predicament that I could not bring myself to draw back the curtains, instead holding my knees and watching quietly.
Light.
Brilliant and beautiful light.

“You are light to me.”

An old, faded memory flickers on like a broken video player.

“You alone are my only hope.”

Eyes that gleamed, filled with a fervent obsession brimming with madness.

“Oh, my child.”
“Please fulfill it.”
“My dream.”

The substance of a nightmare that had dominated and tormented me for so long.

“You will be able to. You are the spitting image of me, after all.”

From the moment everything I had painstakingly built and struggled to maintain crumbled, until I was abandoned and left alone in darkness for so long.
I have always harbored the same thought.
‘How did things come to this?’
Was it my fault?
Did I do something wrong?
What was my transgression?
I blamed myself, hoped for another chance, envied those who seemed to have been given an opportunity instead of me, and suffered.
And finally, when everything slipped from my hands and twisted completely awry.
Only then did I understand.
It was not my fault.
As is natural for any child.
I loved my mother and wanted to make her happy, to fulfill her wishes.
What I truly desired was not
to be the world’s greatest violinist, nor
to earn her love.
Just one word of praise: “You did well.”
My blind devotion went unrewarded. I was abandoned by my mother for “disappointing her” and “becoming useless.”
She sought another substitute.
Another “light” who would perfectly fulfill her dreams.

“You must understand. As you know, your mother loves music so very much.”

Father merely asked me to understand, defending Mother, telling me to do as I pleased from now on.
Does that make sense?
I spent my entire life doing what Mother demanded, and now I’m told to do what I want?
A life that is not mine.
Days that belong to no one but her.
Accomplishments that are not my own.
From beginning to end, my existence was filled with what was not mine.
Then what did I live for?

‘I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.’

He spoke of his regret, yet Father ultimately did nothing for me. Even if he squandered the family fortune conspicuously, there was never a single word of rebuke.
No—regardless of what I ate or what I did, neither of them paid me any attention.
I’m still here.
I’m still here.
I, here!
Still alive!
No matter how I screamed, caused trouble, and wailed, only the empty house shrouded in darkness welcomed me.
“I’m here.”
I’m still alive.
“Why…….”
No one sees me.
So quietly sinking.
Never to rise again.
A certain heart.

‘I will stay by your side.’

It is deeply contradictory.
That I met you only after learning to give up, only after I had folded away this heart.

‘From now on, I will always be with Arelin whenever, wherever. So there’s no need for family or anything like that!’

We have only just met, and yet I am dying so soon.

‘You are light to me.’

A person who has been abandoned in darkness for long reflexively clutches light the moment it enters their grasp, determined never to let it go again.
They cling desperately to the light, binding it, obsessing over it.
As if they are trying to compensate for the time they lost the light, or to ensure they never lose it again.
I have witnessed people holding light for so long they extinguished themselves, heedless of how their own shadows deepened the brighter the light shone.
‘I don’t want to live that way.’
Not with such pitiful, ugly desperation, not by hurting others.
This is why I sent Fession away.
I don’t want to destroy you.
‘This is truly the end now.’
Did I actually feel relief?
At that gentleness and kindness?
At that attention and affection?
‘He must have lost all affection for me by now.’
I ended it of my own will, yet now that I have brought about this rupture, why do I feel so hollow and empty?
Even as I kept him at a distance, had I already come to care?
Now that he’s gone, do I miss him?
‘This is absurd.’
Everything has returned to how it was.
Without Fession’s approach, I would never have had easy access to him in the first place.
This too was temporary, fleeting.
It will be fine soon. I will feel nothing.
Knock, knock.
The sound of knocking echoes through the silence.
“Miss.”
The voice that reaches me belongs to Meehen.
“I’m coming in.”
I hear the sound of the locked door opening with the Master Key. I watched quietly as the door swung open.
“I heard from the Nursery Staff. You haven’t eaten. What on earth is going on…….”
Meehen stepped into the room and stopped short at the sight of me. He swallowed hard.
“Why are you crying?”
“I’m……crying?”
I touched my cheek. Something damp brushed against my fingertips.

* * *

Meehen summoned the Nursery Staff.
The Nursery Staff sat in grave silence, each member studying Meehen’s expression carefully.
‘I want to ask what condition the young miss is in, but I can’t open my mouth.’
‘I want to ask why the young miss won’t come out, but I just can’t.’
In that moment, they held their breath and watched Meehen’s expression intently.
“Aah.”
Meehen heaved a deep sigh.
‘What a headache.’
The emergency summons from the Nursery Staff and the urgent letter from the Crown Prince’s Palace had given him reason to suspect something, but he never imagined Arelin would be crying.
“Childcare is truly demanding.”
“Ah…….”
“Right…….”
All agreed with Meehen’s opening remark. No matter how much one studied, childcare was always difficult in practice.
“I need your wisdom. The young miss appears to be struggling greatly.”
Though he offered no specifics, it was enough for the Nursery Staff to understand.
Setting aside their curiosity and personal questions, they immediately began thinking of ways to bring joy to Arelin.
“Shall we invite a theater troupe? She seemed to enjoy theatrical performances last time.”
“Now that I think of it, she also seemed to enjoy those recorded collections of famous sites from around the world. We could procure more of that series.”
“I’ll obtain some new novels for her as well.”
The suggestions centered on activities that could be done indoors.
“What if you just spent the whole day playing with her, sir?”
Then Uni made a sudden proposal.
The conference room fell silent in an instant.
“No, I wasn’t being lazy—I actually thought about when the young miss has seemed happiest all this time, and it really does seem to be when she’s at your side.”
“…….”
Meehen regarded Uni quietly.
The atmosphere had abruptly chilled.
“Ha. That’s hardly helpful advice.”
“My apologies. We’ll ensure Uni receives proper instruction.”
“We’ll devise something more constructive!”
The other Nursery Staff members rushed forward before Meehen could grow angry. But Meehen simply shook his head.
“No. That’s fine.”
Then, unexpectedly, he rose from his seat.
“Let’s end the meeting here.”
The Nursery Staff were left in confusion at Meehen’s ambiguous response—impossible to tell if he was displeased or not. They stared after him as he withdrew.
“What, what is this?”

* * *

Having excused himself from the meeting, Meehen made his way to Arelin’s room.
He had wiped away Arelin’s tears and comforted her, gotten her to eat a little, and put her back to sleep before stepping away—yet now, an intense premonition seized him that he needed to check on the child.

“Read me a Fairy Tale Book.”

Reflecting on it, the child’s wish had been simple, something he had not fully appreciated.
‘I see.’
Reading a Fairy Tale Book had been so precious a wish that they had scarcely made memories together.
“How foolish of me.”
Looking back, there were hardly any worthwhile memories to speak of.
“No.”
It’s too early for regret.
There were many tasks awaiting him. Yet now, nothing could be more important to Meehen than Arelin.
“Miss.”
As if she had only just fallen asleep, Arelin stirred and gazed at Meehen with vacant eyes.
He brushed her cheek and swept her hair back, then made her a proposal.
“Tomorrow, let us go out to play together.”

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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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