The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 193

In the deep night, where even the sounds of insects had vanished into thick darkness.

Cheyen liked the night.

Because the stars—hidden and hard to see during the day—were laid bare all at once.

Stars, magicians, Master.

Between memories worn thin by the passage of time, emotions that were still vivid seeped through.

If there was one good thing about becoming immortal, perhaps it was that he was no longer bound by the flow of time, allowing him to be faithful to his present emotions.

He recalled the time when he had been cast down and sealed in the abyss of an unnamed reverse world.

The ones who broke his seal were a group of humans.

Crude and relentless, they kept throwing humans in and in until, at last, they awakened him.

‘Please lead us.’

The star’s bastards—those who called themselves dark mages.

Though chosen by the stars, they were not satisfied with that power alone, fearing a future where they would someday be corrupted and die, and instead yearning to become stars themselves……

And so, they awakened him—the traitors of the Mage Tower.

‘Interesting.’

Humans with power long to become gods.

If they cannot be gods, then they wish to be immortals.

For ordinary humans, such thoughts would end as delusions, but mages possessed both knowledge and ability.

And they had been very good at finding someone who could help them.

Cheyen was an artificial immortal, and at the Mage Tower, he had also been called this:

‘The Incomplete Mage God.’

Perhaps they had sought him out knowing all this.

Either way, Cheyen didn’t care.

Being awake—no matter what form he took—was better than remaining sealed in eternal sleep.

If he stayed awake, then someday, he would be able to see him.

His master.

Ah—was this the name he used now?

The Archmage, Mercedes.

[The Star of Longing gazes down upon you]

Looking up at the first star that was watching him from somewhere in the night sky, Cheyen smiled beautifully.

“Master, hello?”

Cheyen had once been a nameless star.

At the same time, he was a dark star that had lost its light—a fallen star.

Shattered into fragments as it fell, the star turned to dust and mist, lingering at his side.

It was after that that he gained his epithet.

After devouring countless stars.

When he saw that all names and records had vanished, leaving only the epithet ‘Nightmare of the Stars,’ he had laughed derisively.

[The brightest star mocks you]

[A darkly burning star curses that it will surely burn you away]

Listening to the curses of the stars whose power he was consuming, Cheyen smiled.

“Go on. Try it—if you can.”

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

The Halbern estate was always filled with an unpleasant aura.

Magic that repelled unauthorized visitors or killed intruders didn’t work on Cheyen.

After all, he had once stood at the pinnacle of magic.

‘That was true, once.’

He had quickly grown tired of playing the role of a child. There was no longer any reason to continue.

As he arrived, bright moonlight poured through the wide-open window.

When he let his presence flow in, the tightly shut eyes slowly opened.

“Still not dead, huh.”

The once lively, energetic heart beat sluggishly today.

A state where death wouldn’t have been surprising.

“Did you come to watch me die?”

Perhaps because she hadn’t spoken in a long time, her low, hoarse voice cut sharply.

No matter how hard Arellin tried to sound hostile, her slow speech—likely from a sore throat—made her seem merely like someone sensitive from pain.

Tilting his head as he listened, Cheyen let out a soft chuckle.

“Why would I bother?”

Human death was far too common to seek out deliberately.

Unaware of Cheyen’s thoughts, Arellin frowned. Long, slender fingers brushed over a child’s fragile skin.

“Humans really are fragile.”

So fragile they looked ready to burst just from being lightly held by mist.

“You talk like you’re not human.”

“Because I’m not.”

“I see.”

“You’re not surprised?”

“Is it something to be surprised about?”

Cheyen retraced his past actions, then nodded.

“I was human once.”

“I see.”

“But that was a long time ago.”

“Oh. Right.”

He looked at her pale cheeks—her vitality was fading. Cheyen realized his thoughts were growing muddled, his mind unsettled.

“Does it hurt?”

“It hurts.”

“Do you feel the pain?”

“Do you think I wouldn’t? Are you joking?”

As Arellin snapped irritably, a sudden cough burst from her throat.

Cough, cough.

Unable to support herself, she coughed violently, red blood staining her sleeve.

Cheyen only stared at the sight.

“Blood…….”

Her eyes brimmed with tears as she clutched her throat and rasped,

“Why is no one coming?”

“Because I stopped them.”

“Trying to kill me?”

“Why would I?”

He had merely put them to sleep because their presence was irritating.

He had considered getting rid of them, but didn’t want Arellin to hate him—so what exactly had he done wrong?

Meeting her still-reddened, glaring eyes, Cheyen found himself wanting to dissect that tiny head of hers.

What had he expected?

For her to beg him to save her? To kneel and say she’d do anything?

At the very least, he’d never imagined such calm indifference—asking if he’d come just to watch her die.

Was she really not afraid of dying?

“Are your thoughts still the same?”

He had thought she’d be frightened.

That she was only stubborn because she was still a child, because she hadn’t suffered enough yet—and that once the pain truly set in, her resolve would falter, and he could coax her into compliance.

That’s what he believed……

“What thoughts?”

Even in the darkness, her faintly pink-tinted eyes held an unbroken will, despite lacking vitality.

A powerful resolve that stirred even the bored heart of an immortal.

‘Ah.’

Seeing his reflection in those blazing eyes, Cheyen finally understood why he was so fixated on Arellin.

Was it just because she was a singularity?

That’s what he’d thought.

Until he saw these eyes.

You once had the same look as mine—when did you change so much?

Cheyen remembered the ash-like weariness that had clung to Arellin when they first met.

That look that said everything was bothersome, hateful, better off extinguished.

So why had she come to possess such brilliantly shining eyes?

It was strange.

Could a person really change this much?

Or was it because she was human that she could?

“I’m asking if you still just plan to die.”

He wanted her.

If it was the unknown power she possessed, perhaps—even he—might find salvation.

“Isn’t it painful? No matter how much you endure, you gain nothing. You’ll just die soon.”

Having once been human, Cheyen knew all too well what those facing death feared most.

“Death is the end. There’s nothing after. You can achieve nothing, and everything you have disappears. Wouldn’t it be better to live, somehow?”

At his low whisper, her gaze wavered for the first time.

Yes—there it is.

That wavering look tempted by sweet words. Cheyen was very familiar with that expression.

Just a little more—just a little more, and she’d fall.

“You don’t want to make the people who love you sad, do you? Any way of living is better than dying. I’m the only one thinking of you. Just take my hand. I’ll do everything for you. Hmm?”

Confusion flickered in her trembling eyes, and Cheyen’s smile deepened.

“This is my final offer. What do you say?”

“…….”

“Don’t you want to live?”

You know it too—there’s no other way for you.

A small hand lifted with effort. Watching it reach toward him, Cheyen restrained the urge to burst into laughter.

Just a little more. Just a little closer. That’s right.

But just before their hands could meet—

Smack.

Arellin slapped Cheyen’s hand away.

“I refuse.”

 

 

****

 

 

 

 

Dawn at Halbern suddenly erupted into chaos. The duty maid checking on Arellin’s condition urgently summoned the medical staff.

Mehen, who had been dozing off over documents, along with Yuni, Rena, and the rest of the childcare group, all rushed over at once.

“Her body is burning up!”

“Fever reducer!”

“This has never happened before—what on earth is going on?!”

The commotion from the night only barely came to an end around daybreak, when Arellin’s fever finally subsided.

No one knew what had caused it, but in truth, it was the brief conversation with Cheyen that had overloaded Arellin’s body and triggered the incident.

After suffering for a long while, Arellin fell back into a deep sleep, her breathing even once more. As Mehen slumped into a chair with a weary expression—

A long shadow fell across him.

“Who—”

Startled, Mehen looked up and froze on the spot.
Golden eyes stared down at him, utterly devoid of emotion.

“Are you this child’s guardian?”

White robes.
Countless stars.
Pointed ears.
Golden eyes.

An identity impossible to mistake.

“How did you get here—no, what brings you—”

Before Mehen could even process his tangled emotions, the Archmage Mercedes dropped a bombshell.

“I can save her.”