The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 179

Whether to officially reveal the truth—that Arellin is Shione’s daughter—or to bury it as it is.

For Emperor Edward, this was a matter of great importance.

As an emperor, it would be better to reveal the truth; as a husband with a wife who loved “Shione” dearly, it would be better to keep it buried.

“Valer, depending on your answer, the stance the imperial family takes will change as well. You do realize that, don’t you?”

Strictly speaking, it would be the emperor’s stance, but since the emperor’s will was effectively the will of the imperial family, Valer did not bother to point that out.

With the chaos already caused by the regent duke and Valer, it was impossible to cleanly make this into a matter that had ‘never happened.’

Halbern being suddenly dragged into an international lawsuit was already a huge issue—but the cause wasn’t custody, it was parental rights.

Within high society, people spoke in hushed tones, yet rumors spread openly: Wasn’t it actually the regent duke and Shione’s child that Valer was raising?

If the truth were to be revealed, now would likely be the right timing.

However—

Valer smiled faintly.

“Arellin is my daughter.”

“……”

“In the past, in the present, and in the future.”

At the dry voice and clear eyes that seemed to state an unchanging truth, Emperor Edward frowned.

His persistent gaze clung to Valer, as if trying to discern the truth no matter what, but Valer’s smile never wavered.

Even the suspicious look—wondering if Valer might stab him in the back again—was brushed off with a smile.

“I see. So that’s how it is.”

Emperor Edward let out a groan.

“Hah. If this was how it was going to be, you should’ve just married some suitable woman when you registered her, leaving no room for suspicion at all. Then there wouldn’t be rumors about her being illegitimate, or her mother being of low birth. None of this would be happening now.”

“Marriage? Me?”

“For your daughter’s sake, at least—”

“Ed.”

The cold voice cut Emperor Edward off.

“If Empress Ageni were to die, would you marry another woman? For the children’s sake?”

“That’s different from this—”

“It’s the same.”

“……”

Not only was Valer’s voice colder and sharper than usual, but when Edward noticed the faintly unhinged look in Valer’s eyes, he raised both hands in surrender.

“Fine. I misspoke. I crossed a line.”

Edward did not know this, but in one of Valer’s “certain dreams,” he had once married someone for Arellin’s sake.

Every one of those dreams ended in tragedy—women who went mad craving Valer’s love failed to give Arellin her medicine on time.

No matter what woman he brought in, regardless of status, the result was the same.

Looking down at Arellin’s cold corpse while women sobbed, saying they never thought it would come to this, was unbearable for Valer.

In those dreams, Mehen had already left or been driven away, and whenever Valer faced Arellin’s body, he went mad as if following a predetermined sequence.

It was the kind of outcome befitting a horrific dream with no happy ending.

Now, he vaguely sensed that these were no longer just dreams—

—but that didn’t matter.

What mattered was that his daughter was still by his side, breathing, alive.

“I don’t care what anyone says.”

Those things were trivial.

“I’ll give my daughter only the best.”

“……You’ve really become a doting fool.”

“In that case, Your Majesty, I would like to receive the reward that has been postponed all this time. Please open the Treasury.”

At the request to open the imperial treasure vault, Emperor Edward scowled.

“You said you didn’t need or want anything. Why so suddenly?”

“I thought there might be something useful after all.”

Halbern’s own treasury was filled with rare items as well, but most were related to special abilities or non-human matters—nothing suitable to give Arellin.

The imperial treasury, on the other hand, overflowed with rare artifacts and elixirs from both within the empire and abroad.

He had already swept through Sperom’s treasury once under the pretext of the automobile industry, so while he was at the palace anyway, Valer figured he might as well settle this too.

“Considering the merits I’ve accumulated, I calculated that it would be acceptable to take about ten items. What do you think, Your Majesty?”

Staring at Valer’s shameless face, brimming with determination to squeeze him dry, Emperor Edward raised the white flag.

“Fine, take them all. Take everything!”

 

 

****

 

 

 

Valer returned to the Halbern estate after carefully gathering medicinal elixirs and artifacts from the imperial treasury—things that would be useful for Arellin and good for restoring her health.

The estate, now wrapped in dusk, was steeped in a warm, tranquil silence.

It was a completely different atmosphere from the Halbern estate of his childhood, which had been filled with nothing but sharp tension, cold air, and constant wariness toward others—without even a hint of warmth.

Could the same place really change this much?

At times like this, Valer would find himself wondering whether he was dreaming.

That this was a dream, and that in reality he had already gone mad and was wandering through the darkness……

“Have you returned?”

The voice pulled him back to reality, and Valer turned his head.

Mehen—who always carried stacks of documents—was, for once, holding a small picture book.

The sight somehow suited him and yet didn’t, and Valer felt that strange sensation again.

To think that Halbern’s genius would be walking around with a children’s storybook instead of paperwork……

“Did you go to the Mage Tower?” Mehen asked.

“Ah.”

Valer recalled the reason he had gone out.

“No. I went to the imperial palace.”

“Were you dragged there?”

“……”

Mehen clicked his tongue, fixing Valer with a look that said I knew it.

“That’s why I told you to attend the audience properly and submit your report on time.”

“And that bastard?” Valer asked, deliberately changing the subject. Mehen sighed.

“The regent duke read the Mage Tower report you gave him, said he remembered something he had to do, and went out.”

“Really? I wish he’d just disappear and never show his face again.”

“You get along fine, and yet you say that.”

Valer shrugged in response, then pointed at the fountain pen Mehen was holding tightly.

“What’s that? I’ve never seen it before.”

“A gift from Arellin.”

Mehen smiled.

It was such a rare, gentle smile that Valer spoke without thinking.

“It suits you.”

“You too.”

“Is there nothing for me?”

Mehen looked at him as if asking what he expected.

“Hm.”

When Valer drooped in exaggerated disappointment, Mehen—apparently just teasing him—chuckled softly and handed over a neatly wrapped case.

Valer brightened as he took it, fiddled with it for a moment, then handed it back.

“I want to receive it directly from my daughter.”

“Alright.”

Mehen accepted the case back without comment.

“So, where’s my daughter?”

Valer followed behind Mehen as he led the way.

Arellin was asleep in her room.

“So cute—”

“Shh.”

Mehen shot him a look to lower his voice and whispered softly.

“She played well today, ate well, and is sleeping well.”

Valer lowered his head as he looked at Arellin sleeping on the bed.

Hearing her gentle breathing wash over him, the anxiety that had been lurking around his heart melted away.

The fear that she might be sick—or dead.

It was all because of those dreams.

‘Come to think of it……’

At some point, the apparition of his sister that had tormented him relentlessly had stopped appearing.

Since when had that been?

As he quietly traced his memories back, he realized—

It was probably from the moment he first thought he was happy.

‘She told me to be happy… was I feeling guilty because I hadn’t been?’

What a ridiculous thought.

He brushed Arellin’s hair aside and gently touched her soft, round cheek. The warmth was there—the lively, supple warmth of a living child.

“I used to wonder why my sister, who wasn’t even my mother, treated me so well. Why she did so much for me.”

Valer reflected on feelings he hadn’t understood back when he was only receiving.

“This must be what it felt like.”

What should I do?

Anything I do for her feels right.

Nothing feels like a waste.

She’s this precious.

I could die if I had to.

A feeling similar to—but also different from—the one he felt when thinking of his sister.

Even before, he had thought that if he could protect this child, he would gladly offer up his life or anything else he had.

He had thought he could die at any time—

And yet……

“What changed, I wonder. Hm?”

What, exactly, changed me?

“Why are you smiling like that?”

“Because I’m happy.”

This feeling……

So I can feel it again.

Holding tightly onto the warmth in his hands, Valer couldn’t take his eyes off Arellin.

For a very long time.