The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 228

The black market incident that had flamboyantly colored the dawn of the imperial capital was erased as if it had never happened, thanks to the complicated circumstances of the adults involved.

“I was definitely going to report it!”

“Please calm down, Miss Silvy.”

Under normal circumstances, it should have been splashed across the front pages of every newspaper, including the Albrecht Times. Instead, it wasn’t just erased—it was completely buried under other incidents.

There were several reasons behind this.

First, when the Emperor learned that the granddaughter of the Beast King, one of the pillars of the United Beast Alliance, was involved, he ordered the scandal to be covered up to prevent worsening international relations.

Second, there were the desperate behind-the-scenes maneuvers of the black market’s long-time VIP customers.

And finally, it was said that an unidentified organization had also pulled some strings.

“I suspect the last one was the black market itself.”

Mehen, who had even come all the way to the black market looking for me, calmly shared his opinion.

Mehen had escaped safely with Ciel as soon as the commotion broke out, and he said that when he saw Ether rushing to the Spherom Hotel with Silvy and the slaves, he understood what had happened.

“Does the Halvern bloodline… come with a built-in talent… for causing trouble…?”

“I didn’t cause any trouble.”

“?”

“It was well-intentioned help. A good deed.”

“…….”

“Therefore, not trouble.”

At my confident reply, Mehen let out a quiet laugh.

He looked as though he had completely run out of things to say.

“…I’m not going to live out my full lifespan.”

Beside Mehen, who was holding his head, Lena and Dylan were wearing the exact same expressions.

“I usually side with the young lady, but this time I agree with Mehen.”

“Me too.”

You’re all being terrible. Really.

Anyway, aside from Silvy, the slaves we rescued were sent back to their homelands at Mehen’s discretion, and those who had nowhere to return to were sent to El Sionel to settle there.

“As expected of Mom! I trusted you!”

For some reason, Mehen looked at Dad with that special ‘What do I even do with this?’ look of his, but…

It must have been my imagination.

There’s no way Mom would look at me like that, right? I’m not Dad, after all!

“Still, you did well saving Miss Silvy. If it weren’t for this incident, I wouldn’t have realized that something strange had happened to the Viscount Blark family either.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I looked into it, and this so-called uncle turned out to be a pretty unsavory character. Gambling away the family assets was just the start, and he’d already squandered his share of the inheritance. He was leeching off his relatives when an accident happened to his older brother and sister-in-law, and through sheer luck, he ended up in a position to covet the viscountcy.”

“What happened to the title?”

“It appears that the uncle has already inherited it, but since the rightful heir is Miss Silvy, it shouldn’t take long to reclaim it.”

Mehen smiled gently.

“Did you save her knowing all of this?”

As if.

“Just as expected of you, young lady!”

It was just a lucky coincidence, though……

“In any case, please leave everything after this to me. I’ll resolve it according to Arellin’s wishes.”

“Uh… okay.”

Without me even realizing it, my ‘deep intentions’ somehow came into existence.

But well, whatever. As long as the outcome is good, right?

“W-was that really the case?!”

Even Silvy, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, reacted like this.

Anyone else aside, shouldn’t you know the truth?

Truth or not, Silvy approached me with eyes full of deep emotion.

“Miss Arellin, thank you so much. How can I ever repay this kindness? I don’t even know what to say……”

Looking into her tearful eyes, I spoke seriously.

“Miss Silvy, don’t cry.”

“W-why not?”

“You’ll lose muscle mass.”

“…….”

“Stop it!”

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

Shirua thought she was pretty quick on the uptake.

‘If you receive help, it’s only right to repay it properly.’

If her blood relative dug his own grave or created embarrassing black history, she figured it was fine to just munch on popcorn and watch—but once that person became a benefactor, it was a different story.

‘Just how much help did we receive, anyway?’

All kinds of rare animals that had been trapped in the black market were safely returned to nature. Shirua decided to take care of the children who had nowhere to go.

The small field mouse got its friend back, and Grinia was able to find the young white tiger she had been desperately searching for.

Well, to be precise, she was probably more focused on finding the Beast King’s granddaughter than the young white tiger.

“First, I should confirm things.”

Jumping in blindly was amateurish.

Shirua went straight to the twins, who seemed to know something, and grilled them.

“Twins. You know something, don’t you?”

The twins looked at Shirua, who had suddenly shown up, with confused expressions, but—

“Arellin.”

Flinch.

They couldn’t shamelessly brush off Shirua’s sudden test.

“So I was right.”

Seeing the two of them flinch instinctively, Shirua nodded.

“How did you figure it out?”

The idiot at my place is still confused.

At Shirua’s impressed look, the twins finally gave up hiding it and pressed a hand to their foreheads.

“…There’s a way.”

“And you don’t plan on telling me?”

“…….”

“And you didn’t even give my blood relative a hint?”

As Shirua’s eyes narrowed, Noel shot back,

“Would he have believed it if we told him?”

“That’s separate. Shouldn’t you at least have hinted at it? You disloyal jerks.”

“…….”

“Is there some reason you didn’t want my family member to know?”

Seeing the twins’ expressions immediately turn awkward, Shirua roughly figured out what was going on.

But seriously, aren’t these two idiots? Did they think only they’d notice?

Shirua recalled Harun, whom she’d run into while cleaning up the black market. A deep smile spread across her lips.

“But you know, it’s already too late. You’re not the only ones who noticed.”

“……?”

And even though her idiot relative would deny it with words, all his attention and focus were completely on Arellin.

At that point, it was basically the same as figuring it out.

“Alright. Playing cupid definitely isn’t my style, but…….”

Shirua recalled her childhood. Pession baring his teeth and blocking her whenever she tried to get even a little closer to Arellin.

She remembered that day she tried to at least become friends, but couldn’t approach her.

This definitely wasn’t about holding a grudge from back then.

But still……

Wouldn’t it be kind of fun to snatch Arellin up as a friend and tease him before that idiot relative came to his senses?

“Shirua’s having bad thoughts again.”

“Look at that evil grin.”

Despite the twins’ jeers, Shirua didn’t care.

Hmph, funny coming from you two.

“Evil grin? Where would you find an angel as kind as me?”

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

“Welcome!”

An invitation arrived from the imperial palace.

An invitation sent by Lord Shirua.

I came because the Beastfolk princess—the Beast King’s granddaughter who had regained consciousness—wanted to see me, but for some reason, Lord Shirua seemed the happiest to see me.

“Hi—!”

The Beastfolk princess, speaking clumsy Imperial language, greeted me warmly too.

Was she greeting me in Imperial because I’m from the Empire? That’s adorable.

“Hello, Princess. But I understand Dohit language. You can speak comfortably.”

“Gasp! How do you know Dohit? Have you been to Yuyo?”

“No, I just learned the language.”

I didn’t actually learn it—I just know it—but still.

Her flicking ears and tail were extremely cute, but staring too much would be rude, right?

Still, it was my first time seeing Beastfolk this close, so it was hard to stop my eyes and hands from drifting toward her ears and tail.

Seriously cute.

Myaak!

In the middle of that, a cat and a white tiger jumped in and made the situation even more chaotic.

“Siru! We’re talking right now!”

Meow!

“What’s wrong with him today?”

“Prrrincess—!”

But this cat—round belly, imposing build, big face… he felt very familiar.

Don’t tell me……

“Gasp, the garden cat?”

Meowl!

As if asking why it took me so long to notice, Siru let out a loud cry.

“What? You know Siru?”

“Well, not exactly… When I used to play in the garden as a kid, Siru would come and play with me.”

“Huh. Siru doesn’t usually play with just anyone.”

Meoow!

“What nonsense is he spouting now? Siru, are you crazy?”

“What did Siru say?”

“He says he raised you.”

Shirua looked dumbfounded, but Siru really was the only one who played with me during my lonely days, so it wasn’t exactly wrong.

If I hadn’t run into Pession by chance back then, I might’ve kept living like that.

Meow meow~

“He says he’s both your benefactor and your friend.”

“He is my friend. Right, Siru?”

Meow.

So the garden cat from back then was a divine beast.

Story time: I became friends with a divine beast.

And then the Beastfolk princess joined in.

“I wanna be friends too!”

“Sure, let’s be friends.”

Being friends with a princess is only good for me.

Watching all this in disbelief, Lord Shirua joined in too.

“Me too! Make me your friend!”

“Sure, let’s do it.”

Being friends with Lord Shirua was also good for me.

“Yes!”

Even if our abilities were different, we were all friends.

We were humming a song that marked the start of an adventure, standing in a circle, when—

At that exact moment, I made eye contact with the man who fit this atmosphere the least.

“Uh.”

“Ah.”

“…Hm.”

With an exasperated look, Pession asked,

“What are you doing?”

“…….”

“…….”

Bonding?