Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 49

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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 49

The struggle for Harun ended with his escape.
“Oh! My friend!”
My Exercise Hell One-Time Exemption Pass!
As Harun fled under the pressure from Sperom’s twins and Feshion, I instinctively tried to follow, but Feshion grabbed me.
“Let go of me, Feshion.”
“I won’t!”
“Just let me go!”
My exemption pass is flying off over there!
Reading how obsessed I was with the exemption pass, Feshion’s expression darkened.
“Arelin, you like Harun that much?”
“What?”
“You really like Harun that much?”
“What are you even talking about?”
Feshion spoke with an uneasy expression.
“You chose Harun before, didn’t you?”
What is he talking about? When did I ever choose Harun?
I tilted my head, and from the depths of a half-forgotten memory, I barely recalled choosing Harun during that confrontation between Feshion and the twins.
Was this guy actually still holding that against me?
Now that I thought about it, something about Feshion’s state seemed off.
His darkened gaze, his pallid complexion, even his hands trembling slightly.
Seeing Feshion—usually so confident—in such an unfamiliar state, all the heat I’d been radiating while arguing over Harun simply evaporated.
“Is Harun… better to you than me?”
Why was his logic jumping around like that?
I just wanted to avoid Exercise Hell.
“Um…”
I was used to Feshion’s bright demeanor, but I had no idea how to handle him like this, with his spirit completely deflated.
What was I supposed to say?
As I hesitated, Feshion suddenly stopped me from answering.
“No, don’t answer.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to know anymore.”
Feshion lowered his eyes, his expression forlorn. His long lashes trembled pitifully. No matter how many times I saw it, his face was almost unreal in its beauty.
“You don’t like me anyway, Arelin…”

“I don’t like you.”

Words I’d spoken long ago came stabbing back at me without warning. Words I’d sharpened with unnecessary cruelty to push Feshion away.
‘I thought it was fine.’
Watching his lashes quiver with unease, I found I couldn’t say anything.
“It’s okay. I like you, Arelin.”
Feshion recited it like an incantation, forcing a smile.
It was still bright, still the radiant smile that melted me, yet for some reason it was shadowed, and in that instant I reached out to him.
“Feshion.”
“I’m going out for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”
“Hey, wait, Feshion.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t be long.”
“Feshion…”
My chest tightened.
I knew he was pretending everything was fine, but I had no idea what to say.
I should tell him that wasn’t it, but I didn’t know what words would keep Feshion from being hurt.
“So what I’m trying to say is…”
‘You said being with me would only make you unhappy.’
That was all I could think of.
I could wound others with my words so easily, yet I couldn’t produce a single word of comfort.
‘Why am I such a mess?’
I felt the inadequacy within myself all over again.
‘That’s why I was abandoned.’
“Okay, have a good time.”
After hesitating, I let go of the hem of his clothes, and Feshion looked at me as if there was something he wanted to say, then left.
Watching his departing back, my expression turned dark.

* * *

I found myself reflecting on my past life.
From my childhood, when an unparalleled violin talent was lauded as a prodigy and genius, all the way to the final Tchaikovsky International Competition I’d participated in.
Before ‘that day,’ I’d lived a life untouched by frustration.
I had a genius-level talent for violin, and that was enough. Mother took care of everything else.

“You just need to be good at violin.”

What I lacked was simply.
Mother’s love.
‘Was that truly all?’
A mother obsessed with her dreams. A father obsessed with his wife.

“It’s because of you. All of it! It’s all because of you!”
“I’m sorry. Dear. I’m truly sorry.”

It was an ordinary story.
A promising violinist, struck by tragedy, could no longer play. The cause of that tragedy was the person she loved.
And to these two people came a daughter brimming with talent.
It was almost strange that it hadn’t ended in complete tragedy.

“You don’t need to know anything else.”
“All you need to know is how to play the bow.”
“You won’t disappoint Mother, will you?”
“You won’t trample on Mother’s dreams like your father, will you?”

Did Mother ever realize?
How much I suffered trying not to disappoint her?
I practiced desperately, I worked, I tried so hard to succeed—and perhaps, in some part of me, I knew all along.
Perhaps Mother had never loved me at all.
What Mother loved was not me, but ‘the daughter who would fulfill her dreams.’
‘A genius daughter’—abandon me if I was anything less, anytime.
My first failure, my first disappointment, my first letdown.
Mother, as expected, abandoned me mercilessly.
And she never looked back.
“…Heh.”
Still, I’d thought she’d come back at least once.
“I thought at least I was loved as a daughter.”
I was truly nothing.
And now what good would any of that do? Everything was already over.
After being abandoned, I learned how broken I really was.
I only knew how to play violin. Without the violin, I was nothing, and I hated myself for it, so I turned away and only grew more of a wreck.
Still, Mother and Father never looked back.
That was when I first saw a novel.
And now I’ve been reborn into that novel’s world.
“People really don’t know what fate holds, do they?”
As I sat there sighing heavily, someone suddenly blocked my path.
What?
“Ahem.”
“Hem-hem.”
Sperom’s little devils.
Albrecht’s pure evil approached me.
“Arelin, don’t you have something to say to us?”

* * *

I paused to think for a moment.
How had I ended up at the Imperial Palace?
‘I came to participate in the Water Music Gathering.’
The ultimate goal was to make friends. To escape Exercise Hell by making friends and not walking less than 2,000 steps.
‘But how did it come to this?’
I glanced around.
There was no sign of anyone suitable to become a ‘friend.’
The stares boring into my cheeks were painful.
‘All this jealousy and spite in their eyes. I’m so used to it, it’s almost comforting.’
Before, there were at least some girls who would stick with me for a while, trying to catch Feshion’s attention somehow.
But for some reason, no one approached me anymore.
“Why?”
So was I supposed to play with the twins, the only ones willing to spend time with me?
‘The twins would probably be happy to be friends.’
But that was the absolute worst option.
Playing with the twins was worse than just doing exercise with Feshion.
Even if my body hurt!
Even if my mood was gloomy!
At least I wouldn’t have to worry about having a heart attack wondering what would happen next!
‘Maybe I should just go home.’
I thought things would go smoothly once I came out.
“Arelin, what are you thinking while standing in front of us?”
“Yeah, Arelin. We’re about to feel hurt.”
“Oh, sorry. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”
Sperom’s twins made pitiful expressions. It was a fake cry, obvious and exaggerated.
“Arelin, are you abandoning us?”
“Arelin, are you just playing with us?”
“Stop talking nonsense and say what you really want to say.”
I’d already spent quite a while being chased around by the twins Ciel and Noel, who proclaimed themselves cold and detached.
“If you’ve got nothing to say, I’m just leaving!”
The moment I turned to make my escape, Ciel and Noel surrounded me with sinister smiles.
“Hehe. So it’s come to this after all, Arelin.”
“Yes, it has come to this. Hehehehe.”
Why were they acting like this all of a sudden? Had they eaten something bad?
“What?”
“Unfortunately, we can’t help it either.”
“Can’t help what?”
“We know what you’re trying to do.”
“How would you know?”
Had I ever told the twins about the Friend Shield?
As I blinked in surprise, Noel and Ciel laughed triumphantly.
“You’re trying to become His Highness’s best friend, aren’t you?”
“You want to be recognized as His Highness’s very best friend!”
“Uh…”
The twins puffed themselves up, perhaps not noticing my oddly deflated reaction.
“Well then, us!”
“We are the twins who must give their approval!”
“We shall now begin the test.”
What were they saying?
“No, I’m not doing that.”

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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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