Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 79

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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 79

Mehren fell into quiet thought.
“Have you ever liked anyone, Mehren?”
“……?”
“Like, romance and that sort of thing.”
Why was our dear little lady suddenly asking such things?
Suppressing the urge to summon the Childcare Unit immediately and call an emergency meeting, Mehren smiled with easy grace.
“I’ve only ever lived by documents.”
“Ah.”
“Unfortunately, I haven’t even experienced romance yet.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I’m not even married, and yet I already have a child attached to me.”
Arelin blinked, her large eyes widening in surprise as she gazed at him—it was impossibly endearing. With sorrowful eyes, she pondered gravely.
“Dad, should I hit you?”
And that was the result of all that careful thought.
This is why one raises children.
“That’s quite all right. I did it to myself, after all.”
“Wow.”
Arelin threw both thumbs up. Mehren’s smile deepened.
“What made you suddenly curious about such a thing?”
“Well.”
Her delicate brows drew together, as if the question were difficult to answer. Mehren pressed his thumb gently between her brows and attempted what he might call thinking.
‘Has Arelin grown fond of someone?’
He retraced her recent behavior. Nothing stood out particularly.
At the tea party the other day, she’d stammered excessively upon seeing Crown Prince Fession, but he attributed that to being startled by the sudden appearance of her father rather than anything else—so he set that aside.
‘Could it be because of me?’
Was she worried he’d abandon her if he fell for someone?
“So there’s nothing, then?”
Watching Arelin’s eyes dart about anxiously, Mehren felt his heart ache.
He’d tried not to, yet here he was, worrying her all over again.
He gathered his precious daughter into his arms and patted her back gently.
“……?”
Though she seemed puzzled, Arelin clung to him happily.
She didn’t cling to anyone else like this—only Mehren received such devotion, as though even endless affection could never be enough.
Where did this desperate hunger for love come from? Was it karmic retribution for his past misdeeds?
“Nothing changes just because he’s here. The Childcare Unit will still look after you, and so will I.”
Arelin answered, rubbing her cheek against his.
“I only need you.”
“The Childcare Unit will feel slighted.”
“I mean it.”
The sincerity that shone from her glittering eyes made Mehren feel a small swell of pride.
Since the Childcare Unit was always by her side, he’d worried he’d need to work harder to remain her first priority—but it seemed he was still safe.
Mehren felt a warm contentment bloom inside him.
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too.”
“I love you so much, Mom.”
Sometimes he doubted whether he deserved to receive such pure and sincere affection.
Every time he became aware of how lacking and insufficient he was as a guardian, Mehren’s chest grew tight.
Compared to the love Arelin gave him, what he returned seemed so pitifully small.
But he had to try anyway.
With few talents to boast of, Mehren had always proven himself through effort.
“The Childcare Unit is very concerned. They say lately you haven’t eaten well, haven’t slept well, and haven’t been exercising.”
“Oh, that.”
“Is it because of Valeur?”
Who was that?
The question in her rose-quartz eyes soon found its answer.
“Oh, Dad.”
“Shall I bury him for you?”
At that sincere question, Arelin caught herself short.
The smile on Mehren’s face had turned dangerous.
“……No, it’s fine.”
“Whenever you wish to bury him, you need only say the word.”
Mehren said it gently as he stroked her small head. Rolling her eyes, Arelin thought.
Had it perhaps been Mehren, not her, who wanted to bury the Archduke?
“If Valeur troubles you in any way, do tell me at once.”
Arelin laughed awkwardly.
‘He seemed to have no interest in me at all.’
Perhaps he’d keep pretending not to know her.
That’s what she was thinking—
When they ran into each other.
Face to face with him!

* * *

The Archduke spent most of his time hidden away in some unseen place, alone.
Supposedly he kept to the Portrait Chamber in the Internal Annex, which was why Mehren frequently cursed and rushed off in that direction.
A room no one could enter without being a Direct Descendant or a Family Head’s authorized proxy.
The secret chamber held portraits of all the Archduke’s Direct Descendants throughout history, and while it sparked curiosity, the risk of actually encountering “Dad” wasn’t worth the gamble—so she’d given up.
But then.
‘We ran into each other anyway.’
Right there in the corridor.
During the brief moment she was alone, without the Childcare Unit!
Of all the rotten luck.
“…….”
“…….”
Contrary to what she’d expected—that he’d ignore her or slip away—the Archduke simply stood still, gazing at her intently.
‘How suffocating.’
Suddenly the object of his scrutiny, she felt cold sweat break out.
This was a separate thought entirely, but she’d sensed it from their first meeting too……
‘Those are definitely not the eyes of a father looking at his daughter.’
Even though I lived with a mother-doting father who barely noticed me, he didn’t fail to love me. He simply loved Mother ten thousand times more.
I harbored no resentment, loving Mother a hundred thousand times more than Father myself, but a father with eyes like these—that was genuinely frightening.
‘Should I run?’
She held her ground because she didn’t want to appear to be retreating first, but under his dissecting gaze, her resolve crumbled. And really, there was no harm in running.
The Archduke, sensing her inner conflict, moved first.
A soft start.
He walked toward her deliberately and stopped just before her face, then dropped to one knee to meet her eyes.
“Why do you keep avoiding me, my daughter?”
She could only blink, feeling wrongly accused.
She hadn’t been avoiding him at all!
“What, because some stranger showed up acting like my father and you found it repugnant?”
Why did he have to phrase it like that?
Now she felt even more aggrieved.
“I never said that!”
“Not in words—your eyes said it clearly enough.”
The Archduke chuckled, his expression some blend of provocation and mockery she couldn’t quite parse. In that moment, she found herself marveling.
Goodness, with a face like that, everything he did became a masterpiece.
Before she knew it, she’d been mesmerized—then caught herself.
‘Oh no, I almost fell for the looks.’
Was she actually a sucker for beauty?
No, no—being captivated by beauty is human nature! I haven’t done anything wrong!
“Quite the expressive face.”
“…….”
She fixed him with a sufficiently cold glare, and the Archduke laughed softly, almost to himself.
“So you do deign to speak with me, my daughter.”
“Honestly, this is ridiculous.”
What could she even say? He spoke as though he were a father being tormented by a cold daughter—which was absurd.
Wasn’t this his own doing?
“This is our fourth meeting now.”
“I know.”
“Is that somehow my fault?”
“Possibly?”
“…….”
When she looked at him as though he were garbage, the Archduke extended his hand.
“What if you get lost loitering about here?”
“This is inside the estate.”
“The Main Building is vast.”
“Are you worried about me?”
She asked the question almost mockingly, and her biological father nodded.
“Yes.”
Yet his transparent violet eyes remained so unfathomably serene that she couldn’t read any sincerity in them whatsoever.
What was wrong with this person?
No wonder Mehren kept cursing him.
Conversing with someone so impossible to read was exhausting.
“Why do you care about me?”
“Because I’m your father?”
“You dislike me.”
“I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
I, who was sensitive to malice and enmity above all else, could see it clearly—every time the Archduke looked at me, there was a faint, unmistakable aversion.
His hand reached up to touch her eye, and her long lashes trembled.
“No?”
Yet even at this mere touch, she showed signs of recoil.
The Archduke fell silent, his gaze lowering. Beneath his gracefully curved lashes, his serene violet eyes grew unusually dark.
Looking at these eyes—how their color deepened like ink spilling into water whenever he gazed upon her—she could not convince herself that he loved her.
“…….”
“…….”
A sudden silence. A pregnant stillness.
An unplanned staring contest had begun.
His violet eyes, impenetrable with unknowable thoughts, searched hers; unable to retreat now, she clenched her fists and held his gaze steadily.
Drowning in those eyes, turbulent with emotions she couldn’t name, she felt a sudden tightness in her throat and wondered if she regretted standing her ground.
How much longer would this staring contest last? While she pondered this question—
His pale, slender hand brushed against her brow.
“You’re wrong.”
Then his larger hand gently enclosed the one resting on her cheek.
A faint smile, and a weary laugh. His violet eyes grew even more transparent.
That subtle smile was almost dangerously seductive, and her irritation began to dissolve against her will.
“If I’d disliked you, I wouldn’t have acknowledged you. I’m the sort who never does anything I dislike.”
Then why did he look at her like that?
“It’s not me who’s afraid and trying to avoid you—it’s you, isn’t it?”
“That’s not true.”
Even as she said it, her body had already begun to pull away. It was instinctual—she couldn’t help it.
There was something uncomfortable about this, and what could she do about that?
“Call me Father.”
At that moment, his eyes glinted with playful mischief as he looked at her.

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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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