Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 81

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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 81

The Halbern dukedom.
Among the five great houses, the most secretive and mysterious, shrouded in shadow.
The Empire’s ancient ally, a faithful friend, keeper of secrets.
Generation after generation, the Duke of Halbern wielded more power than any save the Emperor himself, and the family’s dominion became a symbol of unbreakable eternity.
—So we are the true masters of this Empire.
We watch and meddle in all things from behind the invisible stage.
The secrets we grip make it possible. Surrender only one, and the rest becomes absurdly simple.
Humanity.
—No one will ever know. What we do, what befalls them, what we take. Their narrow vision could never grasp it.
The voice echoing in his mind was serpentine, treacherous.
Valerie’s brow furrowed at the phantom sound that gnawed at his reason and clouded his judgment.
The Halbern family’s insularity—born from the excuse of “guarding secrets”—had allowed their power to fester and rot with each passing generation.
It was as though all that repugnant corruption had been scraped together and molded into the shape of a man.
—Who dares stand against me?
The previous Duke of Halbern, family patriarch Morden.
—You are not like your sister, my son. You alone are worthy to inherit my kingdom.
A cunning, vicious tyrant of Halbern.
A father who had misused the family’s power without hesitation and shown not a trace of restraint.
—Sympathy? How amusing.
—Cast aside such weak sentiment, my son.
—You can seize everything.
Sometimes the blood running through his own veins sickened him so thoroughly that he felt strangled.
—If you truly care for your sister, you will listen to me, Valerie.
In the hands of patriarch Morden, who wanted not a son but an obedient puppet, Valerie had lost far too much. Even his own humanity.
—Would you lose even your sister?
Valerie’s brow tightened at the cloying sensation wrapping around him. The physical sensation was no illusion.
“Begone.”
The shadow that had taken form to burrow into his mind fled at his clipped word.
Unlike the safe Main Building, the Inner Annex—accessible only to the direct line and the patriarch’s proxies—was always like this.
Even after a lifetime spent here, Valerie had never come to like this place.
—……Valerie.
Fragments of memories he did not wish to recall scattered freely.
In the cold silence and suffocating quiet, the Duke moved his feet without sound.
—My beloved brother…….
Platinum hair gleamed palely, and eyes of violet darkness shone black.
Click.
The long-sealed lock recognized its master and opened of its own accord.
Creak.
Beyond the opening lay an immense hall consumed by shadow.
Light seeping through cracks illuminated the hall’s contours faintly—a vast gallery, its walls lined with frames of every variety. It resembled a grand museum.
This was Halbern’s portrait chamber.
It was the reason he had reluctantly come to this unwelcome annex.
—Be happy, my sister.
Passing through the numerous halls and archways of the portrait chamber open only to Halbern’s direct heirs, he walked the corridor until he reached the deepest chamber.
《52nd Duke of Halbern, Valerie Sirun Halbern》
His portrait, painted with a younger, softer face, gleamed from the shadows.
Of all the damaged frames, only his remained intact.
And one wall stood empty.
A frame larger than any portrait he had yet seen lay discarded on the floor, wrapped in velvet cloth.
With a light tug, the fabric slid away. A woman’s portrait was revealed.
—You must be happy above all else.
Valerie stood transfixed, gazing long upon the portrait.
“It’s been a while.”
Platinum hair like melted sunlight, rose-quartz eyes as clear as spring itself.
Sione Sigrund Halbern.
His only sister, whom he could never see again no matter how much he wished.

* * *

“Arelin, help us!”
Platinum hair like melted sunlight rippled. Rose-tinted eyes brimming with confusion.
A pair of little demons visiting Halbern Manor on their father’s chance wore desperate expressions.
“All of a sudden—what do you need help with?”
After blinking in confusion, I questioned them, and Ciel and Noel began to ramble incoherently.
Given how excited they were, I couldn’t understand a word.
“My sincerest apologies.”
Professional apologizer Browning issued yet another earnest apology.
“No, Noel, you have to explain this part first!”
“What are you saying, Ciel? I need to mention this first, or Arelin won’t understand!”
I was just deciding whether to stop the twins from suddenly quarreling over the order of explanation.
When I noticed Harun standing awkwardly within my field of vision.
‘Why is Harun here?’
“Harun? Why are you just standing there like that?”
Harun stiffened in alert.
He looked like a black cat with fur on end, having wandered into an unfamiliar place, so the sensation felt strange.
“Come here.”
“…….”
His expression said he didn’t want to, but he came anyway when called.
I found it funny and endearing how he approached while still vigilant, and I laughed without meaning to.
“Good boy.”
When I patted his head, Harun’s cheeks flushed red.
“Did you come with the twins?”
Harun shook his head.
His clear, steadfast gaze engaged mine in eye contact. I hadn’t yet mastered the language of looks, which was troublesome.
“Tell me with words.”
“Uncle. Visiting.”
“Uncle?”
Harun had one of those?
But why would he look for that here at Halbern?
Before my confusion could settle, one of the window shadows I’d grown familiar with suddenly fluttered and crashed straight through.
“Nephew—!”
A knight who once expounded to me about the beauty of dragons.
His name was Jaren, if I recalled.
“I’ve missed you! Where’s Johan? You came alone! But that’s fine, my precious one!”
While watching Jaren nuzzle and fuss over Harun, something occurred.
“Arelin!”
“Arelin!”
The twins had found me again.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m listening, you little demons.”
What kind of help required them to show up here in force?
“So Dad said if he brings dragon stuff, he’ll grant us a wish!”
“A Sperom Family Special Blank Check!”
“Oh, that’s strong stuff.”
Naturally, they needed help acquiring Dragon Byproducts.
“Arelin, help us!”
“Please—!”
As it happened, I possessed some Dragon Byproducts myself.
The Jaren knights I’d encountered while passing by had been eager to show off their magnificence, pressing the items on me one by one.
‘I was worried about how to dispose of it anyway—I’ll just give it to the twins.’
“If I sell it to you, what will you do for me?”
But the foundation of any trade is negotiation.
“So, money……?”
“That’s all we have.”
A bucket-list line I’d always wanted to try came from the twins’ mouths.
“Money doesn’t interest me. Help me with something first.”
“Huh?”
I’d been wanting to try something anyway.
‘How did I end up in this situation.’
Naturally, I still hadn’t admitted that I felt good, felt good—well, that sort of thing about Fession.
The pounding of my heart, the constant thoughts of Fession, the desire to see him—I attributed it all to some strange condition.
Or perhaps I was simply captivated by his face!
‘The twins aren’t bad either.’
Seeing their father taught me something: I was a face-lover. If I were truly one, wouldn’t my heart flutter for them too?
“Huh? Arelin?”
I took the hands of Noel and Ciel. While the two flushed in surprise, I remained calm.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
I pulled Ciel close in an embrace.
When I’d held Fession, my heart had raced as if broken, but now it remained quiet.
“Hehe, next time you hug me, right?”
“Why suddenly? Are you hurt somewhere?”
So it wasn’t with the twins, then.
After a brief moment of thought, I abandoned the twins and stepped outside, finding Harun playing with his uncle in the Manor Garden.
Since I liked Harun more than the twins, wouldn’t the odds of my heart responding be higher?
“Harun.”
“?”
I grabbed Harun’s hand abruptly.
Harun’s eyes widened.
‘My heart’s still calm even so.’
I pulled him into an embrace. Harun froze, and I remained unmoved.
“Should I even try kissing?”
Why wouldn’t my heart race?
I was grumbling indignantly about this.
“Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what?!”
“What in the world did I just see?”
“Romance?! Green light?!”
The Jaren knights who’d been slacking off began to kick up a fuss. I should go back inside before it became annoying.
It was as I turned my body that it happened.
“Oh.”
“Oh?”
Our eyes met.
Fession, who had just arrived at Halbern Manor, stood rigid, eyes wide.

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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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