Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 59

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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 59

Mehren let out a groan at the official letter that had arrived on his desk.
It was rare to see him this bothered, so Dilan watched openly.
“What’s the matter?”
“…It’s nothing much.”
“?”
Is something wrong?
Mehren’s gaze, having answered vaguely, drifted toward the dedicated Communication Channel for the Northern Castle, which still showed “Connecting.”
It had been several days since they’d lost contact.
“The Northern Castle must be quite busy.”
Though Dilan didn’t seem troubled, Mehren couldn’t shake a nagging unease.
Jaren couldn’t have been taken by monsters, and even if the castle had been emptied, that would be strange. For this long?
“Has the Sky Tower sent their response?”
“They say they’ll visit to coincide with the upcoming Founding Festival. From what I’ve heard from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the preliminary coordination is proving quite complex.”
“I suppose so.”
Wasn’t the very visit from the Sky Tower itself unheard of for 154 years? It wasn’t hard to understand why people everywhere were desperate to seize an opportunity.
Everyone would try to make connections and turn them to profit. Though there were Magic Towers scattered across the realm, the authority the Sky Tower held was incomparable.
“This will be exhausting.”
Mehren pressed his temples and exhaled a dry sigh.
From the start, Mehren’s interest lay not in the “profit” the Sky Tower might bring.
It was whether Arelin could be healed.
‘The Magic Tower said it was impossible, but who knows what the Sky Tower might manage.’
Mehren had not yet abandoned hope.
“Come to think of it, I’ve heard that Arelin has been acting strangely lately.”
“Ah, yes. She’s been moving about more than befits a lady, and the other day she even sought out the family’s mage.”
“She wants to learn Magic?”
“Rather than that, I suspect she wants to study. She’s visited the library as well.”
“The library?”
“Reni got so excited about it that she brought me a thirteen-year study plan.”
Dilan set a thick stack of documents on Mehren’s desk—the study schedule Reni had drawn up with enthusiasm.
“Study, you say…”
In truth, Arelin had received far less education than others her age.
With her fragile constitution, she couldn’t venture outside. Why would anyone think of teaching her? She’d received only the bare minimum of instruction.
“What does the physician say?”
“After consulting with Uni and the attending physician, they said there’s no harm in lessons three or four times a week for an hour or two.”
Now that he thought about it, his lady had always been fond of books.
Had she perhaps wanted to study all along, rather than simply read?
Mehren wore a grave expression, entertaining a misconception that Arelin would have been appalled by and flatly denied. It was then—
The door burst open, and Arelin entered.
“My lady!”
By now, her sudden intrusions into Mehren’s study had become routine, but today the atmosphere was distinctly unusual.
“Arelin.”
Seeing her furrowed brow, Mehren made an effort to keep his voice as gentle as possible.
“Has something happened?”
Fortunately, Mehren’s effort paid off, and Arelin responded.
“Mehren.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know how to get rid of a persistent stalker?”
“…I’m sorry?”

* * *

“Are you training again today?”
Ah, you startled me.
“Wasn’t I training?”
“No, yes, I was…”
You nearly sent me to the Jordan River just now.
I thought I was having a heart attack.
“Why do you keep popping out like that? You’re scaring people.”
“Your frightened face is cute?”
“Wow, you have terrible taste.”
“I’ve never heard anyone say I have a good personality.”
“That’s not something to be proud of.”
The man poked my cheek repeatedly, chuckling. His gaze shifted toward Fession.
“That boy’s always with you.”
“He tends to be.”
“Hmm.”
“What is it?”
With his chin in his hand, the man smiled with playful amusement.
“He likes you.”
“I’m well aware of that much.”
He tells me he likes me every day—how could I not know?
For now, this was a break in my training. It was Fession’s time to bring me water.
“You train hard.”
“Yes, well. It just happened that way.”
“Hmm.”
Why are you looking at me like that?
“Training won’t cure the illness you have.”
“I’m aware of that much.”
“Then why do you work so hard?”
“Because Fession wants me to?”
At that casual reply, the man’s smile twisted for the first time.
“Ah.”
The passing breeze turned cold.
Why did my spine suddenly chill?
“So the little lady really does like that boy.”
“I don’t like him.”
“Really?”
“…”
Whatever answer I gave seemed bound to step on a land mine, so I clamped my mouth shut.
His golden eyes darkened as he watched me.
“That displeases me.”
“I’m sorry?”
“It displeases me.”
Just as the suffocating tension seemed to close in, the man released the pressure as though he’d never emanated it, and smiled brightly.
I really can’t understand him.
‘Even Mehren didn’t know how to get rid of a persistent stalker.’
I hadn’t been expecting much, but when I saw how advanced the Magic Devices were in this world, I got my hopes up for a moment. I lost that bet.
They say humans are creatures of adaptation.
By now, I’d grown accustomed to this wretched stalker’s stalking.
“But why do you keep showing up?”
“It’s fun?”
“…?”
Am I your YouTube?
“Do you have nothing to do?”
“I have plenty.”
“But you can still loiter around here?”
“Yeah. I can.”
“Why?”
“Nothing pressing.”
“I see.”
“I’m waiting for something.”
The golden eyes that had been drowsy with ennui suddenly flickered with interest.
“Aren’t you going to ask what I’m waiting for?”
“That would be too presumptuous of me.”
“Our lady really does know her place.”
“Ha ha.”
Amused by how carefully I was feeling my way forward, the man smiled brightly.
It felt like he was humoring me, and I wasn’t grateful for it at all.
“So did your investigation into me go well?”
“I’m sorry?”
“You went to the library, didn’t you? I didn’t realize the little lady was so curious about me.”
“…”
How did he even know that?
Watching me stiffen in silence, the man seemed delighted.
“Did you find out what you wanted to know?”
“…No.”
There was no point in denying it at this stage. I confessed honestly.
“Do you still have no desire to ask me directly?”
“No.”
“Why?”
As I looked up into those luminous golden eyes, I read one emotion in them that felt deeply familiar.
Indifference.
“Because if I ask, I’ll get tangled up in some unpleasant situation and quietly be purged away like morning dew.”
It was an answer he hadn’t anticipated, and the man burst into laughter again, wild with amusement.
“Oh, this is delightful.”
His golden eyes curved with a predatory gleam.
“Our little lady really is adorable.”
Everything is adorable to you, apparently.
“Ask me.”
“I’d rather not.”
“I won’t purge you, so ask me.”
Seeing the man exude such magnanimous warmth, as though offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I narrowed my eyes. It did seem like a scam, though…
“Really? You’ll swear to it? You won’t harm me? You won’t use it against me?”
“The little lady has no faith in humanity?”
“I have even less faith in non-humans.”
Not to mention, are you even human?
“What’s your true nature?”
“A secret.”
“Then what’s your name?”
“That’s also a secret.”
“…Are you joking?”
“If I answer that, I feel like I’d have to purge you.”
“Fine, keep your secrets.”
“You give up pretty quickly.”
“I don’t like dying without purpose.”
So, what should I ask next?
“What was that… in Sharit?”
His golden eyes darkened dangerously.
“Never mind, I’ll pass.”
“The little lady has good instincts.”
Watching his eyes curve in a gentle smile, I laughed awkwardly. Praise or an insult, I couldn’t tell.
“What do you want from me?”
“Who knows.”
His golden eyes, glinting in the sunlight, carried an unsettling coldness.
“It’s the first time I’ve encountered something this fascinating, so I’m not sure myself.”
Pupils narrowing vertically. Air that felt somehow trapped. A nameless pressure slowly tightening around my throat.
I’m being consumed.
This is definitely being consumed.
When I squeezed my eyes shut with that thought—
“Don’t be so frightened. I’m not devouring you yet.”
Does that mean you’ll devour me eventually?
“Fear is unbecoming.”
“…?”
As I flinched and opened my eyes, the golden eyes right before mine curved in a rapturous smile, folding gracefully in half.
“See you later.”
When that voice, whispered low and close, struck me as far too sweet—
“Arelin!”
At the sound of Fession’s voice calling from afar, all the pressure vanished at once.
“Ah.”
When I came to my senses, I was alone.
“Like I’ve been bewitched by a ghost.”

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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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