The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 235

He had to find Arellin.

That was the only thought dominating Pession’s mind.

If he’d had even a little rationality left, he would’ve known that sending subordinates to put out a search for Arellin would be more effective than moving personally—but he had neither the composure nor the mental space for such thoughts.

Without hesitation, Pession went straight to the Spherom Hotel, where he ran into Mehen for the first time in a long while.

“Your Highness, what brings you here…?”

“Arellin.”

Mehen, who had been speaking in surprise, froze and swallowed a groan. The intensity of Pession—who had come to find him with bloodshot eyes—was anything but normal.

“Where is Arellin?”

So he’d finally realized.

Mehen couldn’t tell whether Pession had noticed late, or quickly—considering all the effort the Emperor and Empress had put in.

“I don’t know.”

A spark flared in Pession’s eyes.

“I’m not lying. I really don’t know. She said she was going to the Mage Tower, but I don’t know where she is right now.”

“The Mage Tower?”

“Yes. The young lady is a mage, after all.”

“So that wasn’t a lie?”

“Yes. Surprisingly enough, it’s true.”

Pession had naturally assumed that Arellin’s claim of being the Archmage’s direct disciple was a lie.

Arellin, a mage? That made no sense.

Then again, the Arellin he thought was dead had come back alive—so what didn’t defy logic anymore?

Right now, whether Arellin was a mage or not wasn’t important.

What mattered was where she was.

He had to go to the Mage Tower.

Though he withdrew without protest, Pession didn’t forget to warn Mehen.

“Mehen, you have a lot to explain to me. I’m busy right now, but later—later, I’ll listen very carefully.”

“…Haha.”

A chill ran down Mehen’s spine at the warning, and he laughed awkwardly.

Leaving behind Mehen muttering about escaping to El Sionel as soon as possible, Pession turned away—only to frown when he spotted Duke Regent Ludwig before even leaving the hotel.

“……”

“……”

He hadn’t heard any news about the Duke Regent moving—so when had he arrived here?

Coming face to face with the source of that faint sense of discomfort he’d felt all along, Pession’s expression twisted.

After all, there were only two people in the Empire capable of blinding his eyes and ears—and holding that kind of position.

“Ha……”

His head burned with rage. He tried taking deep breaths, but once his reason had begun to collapse, it refused to function properly again.

So when Pession ran into the twins in the Spherom Hotel lobby, not a single word came out.

“Uh….”

“Pession.”

The twins, who had rushed over after hearing the Crown Prince had appeared at the hotel, fidgeted helplessly. Pession let out a hollow laugh.

“Siel. Noel.”

“You knew, didn’t you?”

“Knew what?”

“What do you think.”

The low voice answered coldly.

Seeing how it seemed he already knew everything, Siel parted his lips.

“Well…”

“Move.”

He didn’t have time to listen to the twins’ excuses.

At any moment, Arellin could be moving somewhere else.

More than raging at the betrayal of everyone knowing the truth and keeping it from him, what mattered was finding Arellin and stopping her.

On the way to the Mage Tower, all Pession could think about were the things he’d done wrong.

I should’ve realized sooner. I thought she looked so similar—so why didn’t I believe it? How disappointed must Arellin have been? Can I even stop her?

Will she forgive me?

His breathing grew tighter by the second, like his lungs weren’t getting enough air. Even so—even in this moment—he missed Arellin desperately.

He tasted blood where he’d bitten down on his lip.

I hope there’s still a chance. I hope she hasn’t really left me.

But when he finally arrived at the Mage Tower—

“What? Lady Arellin? She already left.”

“……”

In that instant, the light vanished from Pession’s eyes.

It felt like the ground had collapsed beneath his feet.

Crushed by the despair of his barely grasped hope shattering, Pession stood there, unable to speak—until he finally forced out a voice.

“Where.”

“Huh?”

“Where did she go?”

Clinging to even the faintest straw of hope, Pession pressed the mage.

His manner was polite, but the overwhelming pressure—like he’d kill them if they didn’t answer immediately—forced the mage to stammer out a reply.

“Uh… that is, we don’t really know—”

“……”

“I-I think she said she was going to another city!”

Another city?

Which city?

If it were El Sionel, he could’ve understood. That city had been built by Mehen, after all.

But this felt more like—

A declaration that she was going somewhere forever beyond his reach.

Why?

Why would she go that far?

You said you wouldn’t leave me. So why?

He desperately tried to reason it out, but there was no way he could know what was going on in Arellin’s mind.

The area beneath his eyes burned. His chest felt tight, like something heavy was pressing down on it.

I shouldn’t have left your side while you were sleeping.

No—I should’ve realized sooner.

No—I should’ve acknowledged that being blinded by the past didn’t mean the present you couldn’t change.

Swept up in a wave of regret that came crashing down too late, Pession scraped together the last of his patience just to steady his ragged breathing.

It felt like someone had stolen his breath entirely. He opened his mouth, but no matter how much air he gulped in, it was like drowning underwater—he couldn’t breathe.

Just as the pain threatened to burst his heart and crush his head, like someone was strangling his throat—

“Pession?”

At the sound of that pleasant voice calling him, Pession froze.

Was he dreaming?

Was it tinnitus—hallucinations? Had he finally lost his mind?

“What are you doing there?”

Realizing it wasn’t a hallucination, Pession snapped his head up.

There stood Arellin, arms full of bread and drinks, tilting her head at him in confusion.

 

 

 

****

 

 

What on earth is going on?

Before leaving for Gairen, I only stopped to buy some bread and drinks for my master as a last thing.

And then I ran into someone I never thought I would see at the Mage Tower.

‘Why does he look like that?’

I didn’t know what had happened to him, but his hair was a mess, his hollow, sunken eyes were bloodshot red, and his face looked half gone.

Even in that state, his looks were still so striking that I felt a moment of grim admiration. Then I tilted my head, wondering what he was even doing here.

“……?”

He looked completely different from the last time I’d seen him, in both appearance and atmosphere, so I couldn’t bring myself to speak. While I hesitated, Pession—who had been staring straight at me—strode toward me.

What is this? Did I do something wrong?

“Uh… Your Highness?”

Earlier, I’d been so startled that I’d called him Pession by name, but I came to my senses a beat late and switched to honorifics.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t I talk really casually at the end?’

I think I insisted I wasn’t drunk and then acted drunk anyway.

Even though I’d been that drunk, my memory hadn’t cut out, so my dark history replayed in my head, and embarrassment came flooding in.

I want to run away.

“Your Highness, um, it’s just… I didn’t mean to do that on purpose. You know, when you live your life, all kinds of things just happen, right? So…”

I was struggling over where to even start apologizing—to Pession, who used to hate even brushing past me—for the drunken mess I’d made, when—

Pession suddenly pulled me into his arms.

“……?”

What is this situation right now?

No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t understand it. What is happening to me?

While being held, I seriously wondered if this wasn’t actually a hug but a declaration of murder. Then Pession spoke in a low, hoarse voice.

“I was wrong.”

At the sudden apology, I just blinked. His eyes, wet with tears, looked at me pitifully.

“I… was wrong.”

What, exactly, was he wrong about?

“Everything. It’s all my fault.”

“Um, Your Highness? I think there’s some kind of misunderstanding—”

“Arellin.”

At the sound of my name, spoken softly, my mouth shut on its own.

A realization hit me late, and I froze.

Had Pession ever called my name before?

“No. Arel.”

When his eyes—eyes that clearly knew everything—fixed firmly on me, I understood without meaning to.

Ah.

He knows.

I could tell from that single change in his gaze, without any long explanation.

“Pession.”

A tear that had welled up at the corner of his eye fell with a soft drop.

“I thought you abandoned me.”

No, I didn’t. I just went because they found out where my dad was.

“I realized it too late, and I thought you were disappointed in me… so I thought you left me.”

“Mm-hm. Is that so?”

I shouldn’t have laughed, but a laugh slipped out anyway. Seriously… what did he eat to end up this cute?

“I’m sorry.”

Clinging to me like I was his lifeline, Pession begged.

“So please… don’t leave me.