Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 84

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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 84

The violet eyes meeting his held no trace of disturbance. And yet Mehren, who had watched him for such a very long time, could see it.
Valère was unsettled.

“Halbern is cursed.”

Words spoken by those who envied Halbern, who wished misfortune upon it—people who could neither diminish nor find fault with Halbern’s unshakeable strength, and so could only mock it in desperation.
Mehren understood.
He understood why they spoke this way.
The former Grand Duke’s mysterious accident.
Rumors of scandal and discord surrounding Princess Sione’s marriage.
The purges and controversies that followed the current Grand Duke’s succession.
And on top of it all, Arelin.
After that, even the incomprehensible movements of the Grand Duke of Halbern, observed from the outside.
Despite Halbern’s notorious insular nature, such observations alone were fascinating from beyond its borders—how much more so must the truth be?
Now only the direct line of Halbern remained: the Grand Duke Valère and his daughter Arelin.
The collateral branches, their blood already too diluted, could not uphold the Halbern name.
This was no mere ‘family.’
It required the strength to bear the weight of Halbern’s secrets—all that it guarded, protected, buried, and concealed.
Mehren, long since an insider, knew that this burden was sustained through Halbern’s Inherent Ability, passed down only through the direct line.
“Where did you hear such a thing?”
“You know better than anyone that it isn’t like that, don’t you?”
Their eyes met again, steady and unreadable.
No probing, no contests of will—only a simple facing of facts.
Mehren found himself wondering when those eyes had last smiled with genuine warmth.
He knew it, however dimly.
That a figure who had saved him and seemed so solid, so perfectly formed, carried within him a deep and wordless shadow.
That this boy had found in him a place to breathe, however briefly, however precariously.
When the weight grew too much to bear, when that face turned pale and his mouth grew tight, Mehren would simply take his hand.
And then he would smile again.
‘Though it has been long since then.’
Everything precious and good that the abandoned street urchin had ever possessed came from this nobleman’s hand.
How could such friendship and trust not be cherished?
It was precious beyond measure.
For six years he had stood in Valère’s place, fretting and aching over reasons he could not fathom.
Yet the ultimate reason he had never fled, never let go, was this alone.
Mehren could not forget the debt of Valère’s kindness.
At the very least, I must not become a burden to you.
I must be of use to you.
Even if he no longer smiled like sunlight melting frost, even if the hand clasped in his held no warmth.
Others may curse and turn away, but I must remain. I alone must.
I must keep trying to understand.
Even when his own heart froze over, when his expression hardened, when anger rose to the crown of his head—he tried.
To never relinquish his faith in him.
“Whose daughter is she, exactly?”
“…….”
“She’s not truly the lord’s daughter, is she?”
“Do you think she isn’t?”
Seeing Valère’s evasive response, Mehren felt no anger.
“Did you really think you could deceive me, when I happen to be fully apprised of your every romantic entanglement since your adolescence?”
Valère’s eyes crinkled with amusement.
“So you let yourself be deceived?”
“I haven’t yet decided.”
“What does your instinct tell you?”
“May I hit you?”
Mehren gripped the fountain pen firmly as he said this, and Valère sighed.
Despite his abundance of secrets, Valère did not lie.
He only crafted carefully the space for misunderstanding, deceiving the eyes of others.
“Honestly, that’s inconvenient.”
Valère’s eyes smiled as he spoke in a coaxing tone.
“What do you want to know?”
“The truth.”
His gaze was sharp and clear, as it always was. Those straight jade-green eyes fixed upon his lord.
“The manifest truth—no deception, no secrets. The truth you alone carry in your heart and will take to your grave, you bastard.”
“Ah, Mehren.”
The Grand Duke of Halbern laughed sourly.
“When you say things like that, I feel tempted to give in right away.”
“Spare me the nonsense and prove your innocence to one who has sworn loyalty and faith to you.”
Mehren demanded it.
“Valère, fulfill the oath you swore to me.”
At Mehren’s invocation of the old pledge, Valère too yielded.
Long ago, when Mehren swore his loyalty and faith, Valère swore in turn as his lord.
That he would be innocent in his eyes alone.
“Yes. You deserve to know.”
Valère smiled and opened his mouth without reservation.
The truth he spoke so calmly shook Mehren’s eyes.
He had braced himself, but the truth that fell from that opened box…….
“Is that the truth?”
“Have you ever seen me lie?”
“Hell. Insane.”
Mehren ran a hand through his hair. With it in such disarray, coherent thought was impossible.
Just. Just…….
“Valère…… you mad bastard.”
Are you in your right mind?
“What exactly are you——”
Is he truly mad? Or was he insane all along and I’m only now seeing it?
Mehren was on the verge of seizing him by the collar.
Bang!
The study door burst open with a small figure tumbling through it.
“Mom, help me!”
Arelin, who had rushed in so urgently, blinked in confusion at the tense atmosphere of the study.
“Huh?”

* * *

“We’ll discuss that another time.”
“Agreed.”
Mehren and Valère came to a quick accord. Though truthfully, it was less an agreement than Mehren’s unilateral ultimatum.
In any case, Mehren too needed time to gather and order his thoughts and feelings, so Arelin’s arrival was not unwelcome.
More than anything, she was adorable.
But what was this she was saying?
“About the Founding Festival Ball?”
“Yep, yep!”
Arelin nodded her head eagerly.
Mehren fell into confusion.
If he recalled correctly, our young lady despised crowded, tiresome, annoying gatherings and avoided them.
Even when asked to go, she would refuse—yet now she was asking to be taken herself?
‘Is she ill?!’
Unaware of Mehren’s shock, Arelin hid behind him and began a staring contest with Valère.
“Take me with you.”
“All right.”
“Call me ‘dad.'”
“…….”
Underhanded wretch.
Why can’t you just take her?
At her sulking glare, Valère smiled mischievously.
“Go on then, call me dad.”
“I……”
“…….”
“I……”
“…….”
“Tiny tyrant of the ancient days!”
“Pfft.”
Valère burst into laughter, and Arelin looked on the verge of tears.
How could something as simple as calling him ‘dad’ be so difficult? Yet somehow the word wouldn’t stick to her lips.
Arelin mumbled another halfhearted “I……” with an aggrieved expression, and Mehren patted her shoulder gently.
“I shall take you. Don’t worry, Arelin.”
“Mom!”
Arelin clasped her hands together with a moved expression. The sight was so adorable that Mehren’s lips curved into a soft smile.
“But why suddenly wish to attend the Founding Festival Ball?”
Arelin’s eyes darted away.
“It’s a secret.”
Mehren’s face fell to earth.
Startled by his crestfallen expression, Arelin hastily made an excuse.
“I just… wanted to go with you, Mom?”
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, rosy as peach blossoms, and suddenly Mehren lost his train of thought. Valère, seeing his momentary daze, smoothly inserted himself.
“You’d like Mom and Dad both to go, wouldn’t you? Our dear daughter.”
Even at the look of flat annoyance this drew, Valère showed no concern.
It seemed this man had developed a taste for teasing his daughter.
“When will you call me dad?”
“When we’re close.”
“When can we be close?”
“I don’t know.”
Apparently disliking the persistent father, Arelin drew closer to Mehren.
“Do you dislike me, daughter?”
“Not really.”
“Then there’s hope yet. I shall do my utmost to earn it.”
Valère carefully brought her small hand to his lips, his eyes narrowing into a smile that was far too alluring.
It was the perfect posture of one who truly knew how to deploy his own beauty.
“Stay back. You’re making Arelin uncomfortable.”
“Are you jealous, my dear?”
Mehren snapped.
“You have a real talent for accumulating karmic debt through words.”
Thwack, thwack, thwack. Mehren’s clenched fist came down on Valère, who accepted the blows without flinching and replied with amusement.
“Thank you for noticing.”
“That wasn’t a compliment!”
Arelin too clenched her small fists in encouragement, cheering Mehren on.
That’s it, hit him again! More!

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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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