The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 223

The black market auction hall.

Mehen broke out in a cold sweat under the weight of an intense gaze fixed on him.

At first, he thought perhaps an enemy had come for him—but after absentmindedly shifting his gaze and locking eyes with Pession, he forced himself to ignore it.

‘Did he recognize me?’

There was no way Mehen could fail to recognize Pession. Changing hair and eye color alone could never conceal that kind of presence.

‘But what business does His Highness have here?’

Though lavishly decorated in its own way, the auction hall’s dim lighting and tight security made it unmistakably clear that this was an illegal auction.

Treasures reported stolen years ago, magic tools of unknown origin, artifacts that had vanished along with exterminated noble houses—

Goods that had never passed through legitimate channels were brought out one after another, each selling for staggering prices.

“One million!”

“Two million!”

“Five million gold!”

It rivaled the Domel Auction House in scale—perhaps even surpassed it. And since this place paid no taxes, the profits must be enormous.

“They’ve got it easy…….”

At Mehen’s mutter, Ciel nodded in agreement, carefully committing to memory who bought what.

Faces were hidden behind masks, but distinctive traits—great height, protruding bellies—were impossible to conceal.

“Mehen, what was it that Arellin needed to buy?”

“A relic… but it hasn’t appeared yet.”

“It still hasn’t? Hmm. Must be a valuable relic.”

Several relics had already come up for auction—just not the one Mehen and Arellin were after.

“If I buy one and give it to her, I could at least score some points with Arellin, right?”

“That would probably work.”

Mehen couldn’t understand Ciel’s willingness to burn hundreds of thousands—no, millions—of gold just for the sake of showing off, but he had no desire to understand it either, so he let it slide.

‘Whether we can obtain the relic safely is another matter altogether.’

For some reason, he had a bad feeling about this.

‘Before that… where on earth is Arel, anyway?’

Pession’s thoughts were in turmoil.

‘Why is Mehen here?’

A man who should have been in El Sionel.

After what happened to Arellin, hadn’t he said he couldn’t live in the capital anymore and moved to El Sionel? He’d even stepped down from his role as Halbern’s proxy.

The low-quality rumors linking the black market to Halbern weren’t even worth considering. Which meant Mehen had no reason to be here.

And yet—this timing, and with Ciel of all people. It irritated him like a hangnail snagging at his fingertips.

It felt as though he was missing something important……

That was when—

KWAANG—!

A massive explosion shook the auction hall.

 

 

****

 

 

“Harun, look at this.”

All kinds of rare animals were locked inside cages, quietly staring at us.

From small birds to massive beasts.

Why were they even selling things like this?

Setting aside their incomprehensible world, there was something else that kept drawing my attention.

“Looks like the rumors about the Black Market having a mage were true.”

Inside a cage layered with countless magical safeguards, there was a blood-soaked person and an animal confined together.

“……!”

Harun’s eyes widened.

“This is…….”

Sensing our presence, a young white tiger bared its teeth and growled at us.

Beside it lay a child who appeared to be a beastkin. Pointed ears, a tail, and dazzling silver-white fur—

“Huh?”

That distinctive pattern—I’d definitely heard of it before. Wasn’t that a trait of the royal bloodline of the beastkin?

Taking into account the divine beast beside her, my suspicion seemed almost certain.

‘Why would someone so precious be in a place this wretched?’

Then, suddenly, a memory surfaced.

I had completely forgotten, but there was such an episode in the original novel.

The granddaughter of the Beast King of the Yuyo Allied Nations was kidnapped, and later found dead in Albrecht.

The corpse bore a slave brand, clearly assigning blame, and as a result relations between the Empire and the Yuyo Alliance completely collapsed. As a butterfly effect of that incident, Empress Azeni was assassinated.

It was the first tragedy to befall Fasion, who had lived a peaceful life lacking nothing, and the episode where he was comforted by the female lead, bringing the two closer together.

‘Could this be the Beast King’s granddaughter who was supposed to die back then?’

I couldn’t hide my unease.

After all, the main story focused on Chloe’s struggles to get involved with Harun, and Fasion gradually growing closer to her as he watched and helped, bickering along the way.

“…So it wasn’t over.”

“Hm?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Harun looked at me strangely, but I didn’t have the luxury to care.

My fate—one that should have ended as a dead extra—had twisted, yet even after Chloe appeared, nothing had changed. I’d thought the novel’s story had simply run its course.

‘Come to think of it, where did Chloe disappear to?’

I realized I hadn’t seen Robetre, Chloe’s mentor, at the Sky Tower either. Was she in the Stellar Realm?

‘I’ll look into it later.’

What mattered now was saving this girl.

“This cage doesn’t look like something we can just open.”

But nullifying the multiple layers of magic on it meant I wouldn’t be able to use magic again today—which was a problem.

“Harun.”

“Yeah?”

“Can you cut this cage?”

Instead of answering, Harun released a blade of aura.

Kang!

The strike bounced off a translucent shield, sparks flying, the attack completely nullified.

Harun hesitated, as if thinking.

“Inside……”

“You mean you can cut it, but the ones inside would be in danger?”

He nodded.

“Tch. Then that won’t do.”

If Harun couldn’t, then I had to.

“I’ve been running around relying on spatial magic…….”

I’d been able to act recklessly because I always had an escape. But if I saved her, I’d become dead weight—a mage unable to use magic.

One person to protect, three burdens?

‘But I can’t just leave her.’

I know what happens to the future after this girl dies.

After Empress Azeni’s assassination, Emperor Edward loses his mind and becomes one of the worst tyrants in history. He abuses his power at every opportunity, picking fights with anyone who catches his eye—and making Fasion’s life miserable along the way.

“Arel.”

Footsteps sounded outside.

Sensing something, Harun looked at me with eyes telling me to run, but—

“Harun, you can protect me, right?”

“……”

“I’ll trust you.”

I took a deep breath and placed my hand on the cage.

Wooooong—

In an instant, another sensation unfolded.

A world composed solely of formulas and mana.

‘This reminds me of when I first learned magic.’

The magic my master originally intended to teach me was extremely basic—magic preserved in the form of “spellbooks” in every mage tower.

As long as one followed the proper structure and procedures—close to incantations—even someone with mana could cast it.

Simple and straightforward, with little risk of error and minimal demand for deep understanding.

But if that were all magic was, there’d be no reason for mages to admire high-circle mages.

The biggest difference between ordinary mages and high-circle mages—

High-circle mages could create magic.

Those who could only learn spells made by others, and those who could create entirely new magic of their own.

Of course anyone would want the latter.

‘If wanting it were enough, high-circle mages wouldn’t be so rare.’

A mage must have their own language.

Whether that language is letters, numbers, images, or sound.

My master said every mage needs a means to express and project their will.

In that sense, I passed.

My world had always been made of sound.

Ding—

Sounds only I could hear.

Among the subtly resonating composite tones, I struck a single note with precision.

Click.

At the sound of something unlocking, all the layers of magic surrounding us vanished at once.

Whoooosh—

The wind stirred by the dispelling magic made Harun’s eyes widen.

“What did you do?”

I smiled gently in response.

“Shh, be good. I’m here to save you.”

Whimper, whimper.

The white tiger, which had been baring its teeth and growling nonstop, immediately showed friendliness once the restraining magic disappeared.

“Yeah, you understand. Thank you.”

I glanced at the girl—she looked about nine—and handed her over to Harun.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and take her.”

Harun stared at me, still not fully grasping the situation, then obediently hoisted the girl onto his shoulder.

“Harun, you do have a way to escape, right?”

The only one who could save helpless, teleport-less me was Harun.

My last hope.

Harun looked at me with an incredulous expression.

“What are you staring at? Lead the way. Let’s get out of here—now!”