Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 58

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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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Chapter 58

The wind that tousled his hair was soft.
As the cool breeze tickled his cheek, Fession opened his eyes.
It was nap time.
Ever since he’d started the exercise regimen and Arelin—whose Physical Constitution had never been strong—struggled to keep up, this rest had naturally become part of their daily routine.
‘Arelin.’
The moment Fession’s eyes opened, his gaze flew to find one person.
The moment he spotted Arelin sleeping beside him, his heart—which had been racing irregularly with anxiety—slowed into relief.
He’d meant to just pretend to sleep, but he’d actually dozed off beside her. Fession let out a rueful laugh.
‘I need to go back and finish my assignments.’
His schedule had become brutally tight.
Between his studies, his duties, and his training, there was no room to neglect anything—not a single obligation.
If he gave up coming to Halbern Manor, he’d go back to having the leisure he once knew, but now he couldn’t find a single reason to let it go.
The second-floor balcony, canopied against the sun.
Midday light, fragmented into pieces by the leaves above, fell across both their faces.
Arelin slept, oblivious to the world. Fession gazed down at her face.
‘Is she really that tired?’
Today too, Arelin had drunk the Vitality Tonic with the expression of someone forced to drink poison before she exercised.
She’d made no secret of her displeasure, yet she’d followed along without complaint.
Her physician had even told him that Arelin’s Physical Constitution had improved. Fession was satisfied with that.
“I wish she could get healthy faster…….”
His mother had told him not to be impatient, but eagerness was too much for someone not yet ten years old to bear.
When it came to his own affairs, patience wasn’t difficult—it was easy.
But why?
Why did it become so difficult whenever Arelin was involved?
Fession reached out and poked Arelin’s cheek. The soft flesh gave way beneath his finger.
“Mmm.”
Sleeping Arelin frowned irritably and swatted his hand away. Watching her brow crease slightly, Fession smiled.
“I really do want to be your father.”
If he were Arelin’s father, no one would question him for staying by her side day after day.
Fession’s crimson eyes grew dark.
He knew that Arelin followed his absurd desires without complaint.
But.
Just a little more.
Would it be alright to want more if you permitted it?
“Arelin…….”
He leaned in close, pressing his forehead to hers. The faint sound of her breathing tickled his ear.
Her long lashes, her pale cheeks, even the delicate fragility that made her look like a soft, lovely spring blossom—everything about her seemed on the verge of shattering.
Fession was terrified.
Terrified of what might happen to Arelin in his absence.
It was a deep, wretched Separation Anxiety.
He always wanted to see her, always wanted to be with her, always wanted to know what she was doing, and he hoped she thought of him too.
Even knowing it was greedy, even knowing his desires spiraled endlessly, whenever she showed him the slightest affection, it made him so happy that he could abandon his birthright and offer her a kingdom if she asked.
Had he truly gone mad?
“Hah.”
He wanted to be loved every day, to be praised, to hear that he was cherished.
His heart grew larger without limit, but the eyes that looked at him were dry and barren…….
Even the rare moments of tenderness she showed him made him feel as though he might die from the sweetness of it.
“Tsk.”
But he was still content.
“Arelin.”
In a single night, his life had been reassembled, and now it revolved entirely around you. Strangely, he couldn’t remember his old life anymore.
Surely it had been joyful and thrilling before, but when he thought of it now, it seemed so dull, so tedious, so devoid of meaning.
The more he turned it over in his mind, the more it astonished and confounded him. He found himself checking again and again.
Though he knew better than anyone that his heart would not change.
This was a phenomenon that had its source in one person alone: Arelin Sigria Halbern.
The desire to protect someone, to care for them, to be with them, to provide for them in every way imaginable.
Perhaps it was a feeling discovered far too early in life.
“Your Highness, it is time for your return.”
Lord Chamberlain Griam’s voice echoed softly. Fession knew as well as anyone that he should rise now.
“Just a moment longer.”
Leaving Arelin’s side while she slept was unbearably difficult.
“Just a little more.”
Fession Alermond was clever.
He was not foolish enough to fail to avoid a swamp plainly laid out before him.
Which meant this.
This was a swamp he could not escape.
“Arelin.”
Fession brushed back her hair where it had fallen, and confessed the feeling he wanted to cry out again and again, day after day and night after night.
“I love you.”
He didn’t understand why he loved her, and he couldn’t fathom why he’d gone this far.
Sometimes the uncontrolled affection and impulse terrified him, felt foreign to who he was.
Whether it was painful or vexing or bothersome, the moment he saw her face, it all melted away like spring snow, and Fession felt he’d become a complete fool.
“I only wish you’d like me just a little bit more.”
Because I think I’m already giving you so much that you might grow tired of it.
“I wish you’d only like me just a little.”

* * *

If asked who held true power in the Albrecht Imperial Court, everyone would unhesitatingly name Empress Azeni. Yet the court ladies had a different answer: there was someone else.
Sirua.
This clever and charming young lady could move the entire palace with the flick of a hand.
“Hmm.”
Sirua narrowed her eyes. Fession’s brow creased slightly.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
Just back from his outing, Fession’s mood had plummeted the moment he encountered Sirua.
“Where are you coming from?”
“Does it concern you?”
“You’ve been going out a lot lately.”
“How sudden.”
“You’ve been busy lately.”
“I’ve always been busy.”
“That doesn’t seem to be the reason.”
Fession glared at her.
“When have you ever cared this much about my whereabouts?”
“Who knows? Now?”
He’d expected her to anger him, but instead Fession smiled.
The smile—with its closed eyes and gentle curve—was still beautiful and radiant, yet unnaturally cold.
“Stop playing around.”
Sirua seemed unbothered.
“Did you eat?”
Instead of answering, Fession simply turned and walked away without a word.
Left alone, Sirua crossed her arms and shook her head slowly.
“He’s completely lost his mind.”
Though her words were odd for someone her age, the young ladies-in-waiting seemed used to it and paid her no mind.
“Hmm.”
When had it started?
When had her already-foolish older brother begun to seem even more foolish?
‘Arelin, was it?’
Sirua had not failed to hear the rumors about her brother visiting Halbern Manor every single day.
Everyone in the palace was delighted by the Crown Prince’s sweet first love and cheered him on.
“A first love, huh…….”
Sirua snapped her fingers.
“Let’s go see Terion.”
The youngest imperial prince, who monopolized the entire palace’s affection, was still eating.
After watching Terion eat with satisfying relish, his cheeks puffed like a squirrel, Sirua sat down before him.
“Terion.”
“Yeah?”
Terion looked at her with his chipmunk cheeks.
“Have you ever seen her?”
“Who?”
“Arelin? That girl that foolish Fession chases around?”
Unlike Sirua, who rarely ventured beyond the Lord’s Palace, Terion frequently visited the Crown Prince Palace. Perhaps he’d seen her?
Terion blinked and tilted his head.
“Don’t know.”
“Why don’t you know?”
“Dunno.”
Having lost interest, Terion wolfed down the rest of his pasta. He seemed to have no interest in anything but eating.
“Sigh.”
Sirua piled more food onto Terion’s plate for him to eat.
“Have some of this too.”
“You’re the best, sis!”
As Sirua toyed with Terion’s plump cheeks, she fell into thought.
“I am curious though.”
Her brother’s “strange symptoms,” which she’d initially dismissed as a passing fancy or inflated rumor, had persisted far too long.
Sirua had never seen Fession skip his lessons, skip returning to the palace, or fixate on something this way before.
“I really do want to see what kind of foolish expression he wears.”
The problem was Fession himself.
His protection was too strong; it was hard to break through.
The real answer was.
“Mother, maybe?”
A mischievous smile bloomed across Sirua’s lips.

* * *

Mehren frowned as he looked over the official letter from Empress Azeni that had arrived before him.
“What is this about…….”

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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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