Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 66

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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 66

The Crown Prince Palace’s grand tea party—officially titled “Crown Prince Childhood Friend Meet-and-Greet Social Tea Party”—was every bit as lavish as its name suggested.
Having arrived early as a host, I couldn’t stop marveling at the hall.
“Wow……!”
The Crown Prince Palace’s main hall was so impossibly high, so majestic, so vast that it could host any state ceremony without difficulty.
Diamond fixtures adorned the entire space, and sprays of white and pale-blue flowers evoked the fresh, luminous beauty of early summer.
All fresh flowers……!
The main hall’s crystal chandeliers gleamed with renewed brilliance.
‘How much does all of this cost?’
So this is how the tax-exempt royal family throws money around? No wait—the royals would be collecting taxes, wouldn’t they.
Right, this is how the tax-collecting royal family throws money around!
“Heh.”
Witnessing the effortless extravagance of old money as naturally as breathing made me reconsider my younger self, who’d once dreamed merely of swimming in piles of gold or firing money guns to rain down images of ancient sages.
“From today on, my dream is tax exemption.”
I’d learned a lesson.
That wealth wasn’t just about coating everything in gold.
I was clenching my fists and savoring this new aspiration when the Twins at the adjacent table made an odd expression.
“Isn’t Halborn a meritorious family? They’ve always had tax exemption anyway.”
“……!”
How could this be.
“So, if I won the lottery jackpot, I wouldn’t have taxes withheld?”
“That would fall under a different category of tax, so they’d still take it.”
“Ugh.”
There went that dream.
“Even without income tax, the Five Great Ducal Families still have mandatory obligatory contributions and other levies.”
“Still, there are plenty of perks. Businesses operated by the Five Great Ducal Families—up to three of them—are exempted from taxes up to a certain size threshold.”
“Really? Why don’t you start a business?”
Noel’s eyes lit up.
“Let’s go into business together with us, Arelin.”
“If you’re going into business, it’s gotta be profitable!”
I was still pondering what kind of venture could work when the Twins looked at me with the gleam of predators spotting prey.
“Arelin!”
Fession’s voice—one I hadn’t heard in ages—greeted me.

* * *

Fession entered the hall like a dog seeking its master and immediately found Arelin.
“Arelin!”
Fession’s gaze was always fixed on the same point.
Without conscious effort, his eyes remained locked on that one person with an unwavering straightness that anyone nearby couldn’t help but notice.
“I missed you!”
The moment Fession clung to Arelin, he felt a sense of calm settle over him.
Anxiety, restlessness, irritation, anger, frustration, boredom—all of it washed away.
Over the past week, Fession had found one thing harder than his hectic schedule.
Not being able to see Arelin.
Life didn’t feel like living; time moved sluggishly, and each day withered into dull routine.
If he said this week felt like a year, would they laugh at him?
“Fession, we’re not alone here. People are watching.”
“So what?”
“It matters quite a lot.”
Arelin slipped free from Fession’s embrace and frowned. Fession felt a pang of disappointment.
“We haven’t seen each other in a week.”
“Have we?”
“Did you not want to see me?”
“…….”
Arelin hesitated.
‘So she didn’t want to see me.’
Each time this happened, he felt the gap between their feelings, and it stung—but he couldn’t show it. He couldn’t help the petulance, though.
“Did the party preparations go well?”
“Yeah. The Twins helped me out.”
“The Twins helped you?”
Fession felt a small flicker of irritation.
“Yeah. I was trying to do it alone, but somehow they ended up helping.”
‘I wanted to help.’
Fession suppressed his disappointment and annoyance.
Now that he noticed, the Twins—grinning from behind Arelin and occupying the space beside her—came into focus.
“Your Highness, Your Highness—we were invisible, then?”
“You like Arelin so much?”
Seeing the Twins’ eyes sparkle as they found fresh ammunition for teasing, Fession cared about only one thing.
“Step away from Arelin.”
“……?”
“……?”
“You’re standing too close to her.”
The devilish Twins were always clinging to Arelin, but Fession’s sharp reaction struck them as oddly refreshing and strange.
‘What is this? Does Noel know?’
‘I’m not sure—does Ciel know?’
The Twins glanced toward the Muebisc table to see if perhaps Harun had caught on, only to find him standing at a distance, having quietly retreated from the scene.
“What’s this feeling?”
“Right, it’s strange.”
As the Twins began an internal exploration of this new emotion called “unfairness,” Arelin too watched Fession with an awkward expression.
If she said Fession seemed sharper than usual, prickly like a hedgehog, would that be mere imagination?
“Did you help with the preparations?”
“Yep!”
Fession hadn’t lifted a finger; his motivation had been on empty since he couldn’t see Arelin. Yet he could afford confidence because the palace’s internal affairs office had prepared everything thoroughly.
“I trust you’ve kept up your training?”
“Hm, uh…”
“You did train, didn’t you?”
“……I did, sort of.”
‘So she didn’t.’
Fession laughed, watching her eyes dart around nervously.
Arelin had no gift for lying. Seeing her worry about his judgment made Fession feel good.
He felt a twinge of shame that he could become so light-hearted over the simple fact that she cared about him, but he couldn’t help it.
Good feelings were good feelings, after all.
“Prepare yourself after the tea party ends.”
“Pre, prepare myself?”
Arelin went pale.
“I’m doomed.”
Fession beamed as he watched Arelin’s face drain of all color.

* * *

I’d been given a death threat.
“What on earth is he planning that I need to ‘prepare myself’ like this?”
It’s so horrifying I’m actually scared.
Soon I’d need to greet the guests, but my mind had wandered into the far reaches of space.
“Arelin, snap out of it.”
“The Empress has arrived!”
Before the guests, Azeni the Empress appeared first.
The true hostess of this tea party was, in fact, Empress Azeni.
“You’ve all worked hard preparing. Enjoy yourselves to the fullest today.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Empress Azeni smiled with grace while receiving gazes of longing, admiration, respect, and awe.
“The guests have arrived.”
Guests holding invitations arrived one after another.
“Thank you for the invitation, Your Majesty, Your Highness.”
The guests first greeted the Crown Prince and Empress Azeni, the true hosts of this tea party, then took their assigned seats.
Once all the guests were seated, they would partake of the tea and refreshments offered by Empress Azeni and Crown Prince Fession.
This was the order of the first part of the tea party.
“The guests are now entering.”
Various nobles filed in and took their places with proper decorum.
One could discern the fields of the prodigies accepted as childhood friends by where they appeared—each bearing distinctive marks.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve attended a tea party like this.”
“What business would a mage have at a tea party?”
Brilliant mages from the Magic Tower, among them.
“Scholars are rarely invited to social gatherings like these. Ha-ha. I’m being treated well thanks to my student. Lucky me.”
“Indeed.”
Renowned scholars from the Golden Tower, knights of repute from various Knight Orders—
All of them figures of such ability and renown that even without title or noble birth, they were undiminished in standing.
‘Wait, wasn’t that person in the Albrecht Times last week?’
I remembered having caught a glimpse when I’d wandered into the office while Mehren was reviewing his subscription.
‘That one seemed to be featured for some paper, and that one for being some kind of prodigy, I think…’
What was their name again? I was racking my brain when—
Screech.
The moment I heard a chair scrape, every knight in the vicinity stood up.
“Grandmaster Queian!”
Knights in uniforms of different affiliations greeted one figure with solemn, precise salutes.
“What an honor to meet you!”
The Duke of Military Affairs, the patriarch of Muebisc.
The Master of the Blade, heralded as the pinnacle of swordsmanship, had arrived.
The Muebisc patriarch, radiating powerful presence, smiled at the knights gazing at him in reverence.
“Ha-ha. I see many familiar faces gathered here. I’m just a guest like anyone else, so make yourselves comfortable and enjoy.”
“Yes……!”
“If the chance comes up, let’s talk.”
The knights, moved by the fact that he’d acknowledged them, had tears glistening in their eyes—as if they’d been granted a family honor.
The Muebisc patriarch, accustomed to this, wore an affable smile as he made his way to the head table.
‘So that’s Harun’s father.’
For a moment, our eyes met.
“……?”
What was that?
“Mm.”
His eyes, full of interest, curved softly with amusement.

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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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