Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 9

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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 9

Aida, a junior maid at the Halbern Estate, was having a thoroughly miserable day.
Nothing had gone right. The head maid had scolded her relentlessly, and her senior colleagues were in a foul mood.
The grim atmosphere that Mechen and Arelin had cast over the household persisted, forcing those beneath them to move with careful restraint lest they stumble into someone’s displeasure. That accumulated frustration was on the verge of erupting.
“This is all their fault!”
Gossip among the maids was strictly forbidden, but what harm could there be if nobody found out?
They gathered whenever they could find a quiet moment to trade stories.
Who had taken a new position, who they’d spotted sneaking around in a secret romance.
From the butlers and maids imported from Ernst, all the way up to Mechen, the highest authority in the household, and even to Arelin himself—the Estate’s sole master—no one was safe from their tongues.
“Hey, did you hear this?”
The young master, for all his shortcomings, was a favorite target.
‘He’s nothing special anyway.’
What’s more, this stupid, incompetent child of a master wouldn’t dare do anything about it even if he heard the insults to his face.
“He’s really hopeless. Isn’t he a half-wit?”
“Exactly. That’s why he’s called a half-wit, right?”
“If it were me, I’d raise hell and run straight to Mechen, demanding he be dismissed on the spot.”
“But he can’t do that, so even we lowlings have no reason to respect him—”
Blue Blood or not, he was still human.
He could be wounded. He could cry.
Arelin endured it all. Perhaps he couldn’t bear to worry those who cared for him, or perhaps he simply thought this was something he could bear.
And so the maids’ malice grew bolder with each passing day.
Some of them even took pleasure in the fact that they could taunt and bully the noble Blue Blood without facing any consequences.
But how had things come to this?
“Who…?”
Aida stared blankly at the unfamiliar young child who had materialized before her.
She could tell he was noble, but she had no idea who he was.
There was, however, one thing she could grasp.
‘We’re finished.’
They had been caught.
Bang!
“Kneel and show proper respect. You are not people who may look upon this one with such familiarity.”
At Griam’s command, the maids immediately dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. Servility etched into their bones. Terror seized them.
“Your Highness, please speak.”
Your Highness?
The maids’ eyes darted about frantically.
“Y-Your Highness, w-what brings you…”
Arelin had no close friends.
Of all people, these servants knew that best.
But suddenly, the Crown Prince? It made no sense. The Crown Prince had visited once before, but that was to apologize, they’d said.
‘So why is he here again?’
Fession’s displeasure was evident as he responded with a question of his own.
“Do you truly believe you have the right to ask me questions?”
“…!”
“I am the one who asks the questions.”
Young though he was, he was still of the royal blood.
The arrogant bearing of one born to rule dominated the space.
Fession seized command effortlessly, and the combined presence of him and the dignified Griam who served him froze the maids in place.
“I’m curious what you were discussing just now.”
The maids trembled visibly.
“So then, who was it that lacks proper understanding of their station?”
They knew instinctively that opening their mouths here would be a grave mistake.
Cold dread crawled down their spines.
Only now did the servants understand the true nature of their predicament.
‘We could die.’
Every bone in their bodies went rigid with fear.

* * *

Fession had been surrounded by people all his life.
Those who adored him, those who sang his praises, those who wanted his friendship, those who longed to serve him with loyalty, those who sought to curry favor.
People, people, people.
So many of them it was overwhelming.
With all the desires these people harbored, he had naturally grown accustomed to human greed—but this was something else entirely.
Malice.
A genuine evil will—the intent to wound someone, to drag them down.
Experiencing such malice directed at another for the first time, his chest went cold.
“Why have you suddenly fallen silent? Did your tongue get cut out? Or were you just fine speaking a moment ago?”
Fession had never truly felt anger before. But now, he felt it.
The maids, struck by the unrefined Killing Intent of a promising Sword Master, could only shudder and remain mute.
Commotion spread rapidly throughout the Estate. The Childcare Unit reached the center of the disturbance.
“What’s happening?”
“I have no idea.”
“Shh.”
As more people gathered, the maids’ trembling only intensified.
Yet Fession, the Crown Prince causing such a scene in someone else’s home, remained perfectly composed. As if he owned the place.
“What is the meaning of this commotion?”
Mechen had finally arrived.
Griam wanted to slap his own forehead. The royal family had entered the Estate unannounced, making a spectacle of themselves—it was unconscionable.
The reason Griam didn’t stop the Crown Prince, however, was that this situation remained salvageable.
‘Perhaps it’s fortunate a problem has surfaced.’
On the surface, the Crown Prince punishing the maids and reporting to Mechen afterward would suffice, but Griam sensed the deeper intention behind creating such a scene.
‘It wouldn’t look right for an outsider to handle the household’s internal affairs.’
This was what it meant to have the bearing of a Crown Prince.
Even setting aside the political calculus of establishing debts, this was instinctive behavior. For all his willfulness, Fession never truly crossed the line.
“Your Highness, what brings you to this place…?”
Mechen’s expression had hardened at the sight of Fession—a person who should not be here—and his gaze shifted from Griam to the kneeling maids and back again.
“M-Mechen…!”
The maids’ faces went deathly pale. If the Crown Prince was a terror they didn’t know, Mechen was a terror they understood all too well.
“S-sob…”
As the situation spiraled beyond control, the terrified maids began to cry.
At last, drawn by all the commotion throughout the Estate, Arelin appeared.
“What on earth is happening?”
The moment Arelin appeared, something shifted in the maids’ eyes. They immediately prostrated themselves before him.
“F-Forgive us! We’re sorry! Please, Miss! Spare us, forgive us, please forgive us!”
“P-Please forgive us!”
As one maid began to kowtow desperately, the others followed suit.
“Hah. Pathetic.”
Fession laughed bitterly.
“You think begging now will save you? How foolish. Haven’t you grasped the situation yet? Of course, being this stupid, you were bold enough to call your own master a half-wit right here in this household.”
“―!”
Gasps of shock erupted from all sides.
Not only the maids and butlers outside the Childcare Unit, but even Mechen’s expression darkened.
All save one: Arelin.
“Why?”
“……”
“……”
At Arelin’s measured question, both the Childcare Unit and Mechen’s expressions shifted.
“Has something like this happened before?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Well… it’s not entirely wrong, is it?”
“……”
Mechen’s expression crumpled visibly.
In the chaos of the moment,
“Enough.”
Mechen exhaled deeply, running a hand through his hair.
“Everyone return to your duties.”
With Mechen’s presence now commanding—colder than ever—the commotion was swiftly brought under control.
“What shall be done with these women?”
“Lock them in the dungeons. I’ll interrogate them personally.”

* * *

Mechen merely glanced silently at the Crown Prince and Griam without saying anything further.
…Which unnerved Griam all the more.
‘What is he planning to do later that he won’t even speak?’
It was Dillan, Mechen’s aide, who saw them out.
“I apologize for the unsightly display, Your Highness.”
“So you are aware it was unsightly?”
“We were caught off guard by your arrival without notice. Had you sent word in advance, we would have received you differently.”
“Mm, well…that is…”
The veiled implication that none of this would have happened if he’d bothered to announce himself made Fession recall why he’d burst into the Estate without warning in the first place, and he let out an awkward cough.
Fession’s gaze still lingered on Arelin, surrounded protectively by the Childcare Unit.
“In any case, I do hope this matter is handled properly. I’ll be watching.”
“Of course. Now that Mechen has taken notice, there’s no chance of a half-hearted resolution.”
Dillan spoke these words while silently offering prayers for the maids’ souls.
He wouldn’t have them killed outright, but he’d make sure they wished they were dead.
“Then perhaps it’s time you returned—”
“Arelin!”
The moment Dillan began to usher him out, Fession dashed toward Arelin.
Griam patted Dillan’s shoulder, watching as his forced smile crumbled.
“My condolences.”
“You’ve had quite the day.”
“Ha ha…”
The two men exchanged silent commiseration and then heaved heavy sighs.
In any case, the people in charge were always the problem.

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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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