The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 248 - Children’s Day Special Side Story 2

A few years later.

Many things had changed.

Shione got married, and Valer had to take successor training directly taught by Morden, the head of the family.

“Shione noona getting married……”

Because of that, Crown Prince Edward, who had lost his playmate, started making new friends.

And through them, he discovered a new world.

Alcohol! Gambling! A world of fun!

“Jaren, you don’t drink? It’s good.”

“Your Highness, someday I’m going to see a dragon.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“Wouldn’t it be overwhelming to meet a dragon? I’m saving myself for the celebratory drink that day.”

“Where would you even find a dragon in this day and age?”

“Hmph. Dragons are alive.”

With Jaren devoting himself to training out of sheer determination to see a dragon, Crown Prince Edward was truly left all alone.

Of course, he himself was supposed to receive Crown Prince education, but……

“I’m not going to listen to boring stuff like that.”

There was nothing that could stop Edward, who had already been branded a hopeless delinquent. Even the emperor of the time had tried beating him, locking him up, threatening him, yelling at him, gently persuading him, and every other method imaginable—but none of it worked, so he eventually gave up.

“That brat is possessed. Huh? A ghost that couldn’t play enough before dying possessed him, that’s what it is. We should invite the high priest from Lemren and perform an exorcism even now!”

“Your Majesty, please calm yourself.”

“Oh dear, what am I supposed to do with that child?”

With the successor so thoroughly rotten, Albrecht’s future looked bleak.

The problem was that Edward was the only legitimate heir, so there was no alternative.

“To think we have to hand the throne to someone who’ll obviously ruin the country.”

Every day, the former emperor beat his chest over the complete failure of raising an heir, while the ministers begged him to delay passing on the throne for even one more day. It was a truly disastrous political situation.

That was the scene Edward created during his time as Crown Prince.

But that wasn’t the only thing giving the former emperor headaches.

“We really should get that boy married……”

Because the imperial bloodline’s special power was absolute, someone not of the main line couldn’t be made Crown Prince. Which meant Edward’s child had to inherit the empire.

But no matter how much he thought about it, there was no suitable match. Even when he saw a desirable young lady, he couldn’t shake the thought that bringing her in would just mean tormenting a poor girl.

“That boy isn’t the type to settle down with anyone.”

If there was any silver lining, it was that the delinquent Edward liked fooling around with women, not being in relationships.

“Should we just leave him as an unmarried emperor instead of bringing in a poor girl and making her empress?”

“If we do that, there might be so many illegitimate children filling the palace that they’ll be lining up down the main road.”

“Tsk tsk. It’d be a miracle if he even does his job as emperor.”

“Please just live long, Your Majesty. That alone is the future of the nation.”

“Longevity… so the only answer is for me to live a long life?”

Because of this, even when people saw daily offerings related to ‘health’ being presented at the imperial palace, they couldn’t truly smile.

Instead, everyone brought anything said to be good for the body as tribute to the royal family and prayed for the former emperor’s long, healthy life.

Regardless of all that, Edward enjoyed his life—and at last, that day came.

An event so important it would be recorded in Albrecht’s history books.

 

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

The day Crown Prince Edward met Empress Ageni.

Because of Crown Prince Edward’s image as someone obsessed with partying, everyone assumed their first meeting happened at some party or secret club. Surprisingly, however, their meeting took place in the imperial palace.

Edward first learned of Ageni during a social gathering held twice a year, where all the great lords and notable nobles were invited.

Edward was surprised by several things when he saw Ageni.

‘She’s carrying a sword.’

Ageni, wearing a knight’s formal uniform tailored to her body instead of a dress, was more captivating than any other woman.

Next, he was surprised to learn that she wasn’t someone’s guardian knight, but a lord in her own right……

“Th-that elegant young lady over there, what is her name?”

“Are you referring to Count Haplagen?”

“Yes.”

“I believe her name is Ageni… Your Highness, it would be best not to get involved with Count Ageni Haplagen.”

Edward felt wronged when the attendants panicked and tried to stop him before he had even said a word to her.

“What did I do?”

“They say her personality is… unusual. If things go wrong, that part of you might get cut off. Apparently, it’s really happened to someone.”

“No, what do you people think I am, exactly?”

What indeed—some kind of beast that goes slack-jawed at the sight of a pretty woman……

Graham, the young attendant serving Edward at the time, swallowed his inner thoughts and applauded his own patience.

“I just want to talk to her.”

Up to that point, Edward didn’t think he had fallen for Ageni.

She just stood out a little.

He was just curious about what she did.

And maybe a little curious about what she thought of him…… surely it was only that much.

“Oh? So you’re the famous Crown Prince.”

When Ageni looked at him with clear contempt, Edward couldn’t bring himself to say anything more.

‘Why is she looking at me like that? What did I even do?’

Edward’s pride was shattered, and at first, anger welled up inside him. That look of disdain reminded him of the way Shione used to look at him when he was young.

As a Crown Prince who had been respected his whole life and treated well wherever he went, this was the first humiliation Edward had ever experienced.

But strangely enough,

as the days passed, he couldn’t stop thinking about Ageni, and his curiosity only grew stronger.

“Damn it, why?”

Edward himself was confused by this situation, something he had never experienced before.

“Could it be… love at first sight?”

“That can’t be possible!”

“Or maybe you’ve fallen in love.”

“Love? No way! It’s definitely not love! It’s just curiosity!”

Graham wanted to point out that Edward was spending far too much time on something that was “just curiosity,” but he held his tongue.

The more he learned about Ageni, little by little, the more astonishing she seemed. It was hard to believe he had only just discovered someone like her.

“Perfect.”

When the imperial family heard the news, they were delighted. They decided that the Crown Prince had finally found someone and immediately sent a marriage proposal—but the strong-willed Ageni rejected the imperial proposal outright, saying she planned to live alone for the rest of her life.

“She’s joking, right?”

“She may be serious, Your Majesty. Times have changed a lot compared to our days. And considering the other party is the Crown Prince…”

“Khgh….”

The imperial family accepted Ageni’s response calmly—but Edward did not.

“Why have you come again?”

“Well, that is…”

“If you have business with me, I’d appreciate it if you’d say it quickly.”

“So, um…”

Edward, who had insisted he wasn’t in love and that it wasn’t anything like love, had no choice but to admit it by this point.

“I think… I like you.”

“I see. I dislike His Highness the Crown Prince. Is that a sufficient answer?”

“……!”

Crown Prince Edward was forced to face a cold, harsh reality.

But he simply couldn’t back down like that.

From that day on began Crown Prince Edward’s barrage of gifts and love confessions.

Edward tried his hardest to win Ageni’s favor.

At the same time, he blocked every marriage proposal sent to the Ageni family, and any man who so much as made eye contact with Ageni or exchanged more than a few words with her—except for her younger brother and the count’s retainers—was left unharmed no longer.

“You’re really going through a lot, noona.”

“…….”

Edward didn’t seem to realize it, but Ageni, who was Shione’s friend, knew Edward very well.

She thought calmly that this gift-giving and love-confessing phase would pass soon, that he’d get bored and leave before long.

But then—

“If I can’t be loved by Ageni, I’d rather just die.”

That infamous incident that shook the entire nation finally happened.

“At this rate, I don’t know what I might do, so I’ll just die. I’m sorry, Ageni. I’m sorry for liking you so much. For loving you so much. I’m sorry.”

Amid the chaos of Edward wailing that she must at least remember that he loved her, and the knights desperately trying to restrain him, Ageni laughed.

Because it was just too ridiculous.

‘Am I really that special to him?’

She had wanted to beat him up when he acted outrageously and made sure no other man could even talk to her—but seeing him cry like that, surprisingly, softened Ageni’s heart.

And then, the miracle that all historians of the era would later call “the turning point that changed Albrecht’s history” occurred.

“I’ll accept your feelings, so stop crying.”

 

 

****

 

 

 

Valer tilted his head as he looked at the wedding invitation addressed to him. Somehow, Edward and Ageni had gotten married while he wasn’t looking.

‘What on earth happened?’

Either way, there was no reason to miss the wedding of the century.

“On such a happy day, why do you look so weird?”

“Ed.”

“What?”

“Your taste is seriously strange.”

“What are you talking about?”

No matter what his long-unseen friend said, Edward—who had achieved the love of the century—was happy.

“You used to say you didn’t need a noona when you were little. That they were annoying and tiring.”

“What?! When did I ever say that?”

“I heard it myself. Mmph!”

Edward hurriedly covered Valer’s mouth, not realizing that doing so only made him look more suspicious.

“No, that was just~ a joke. A joke.”

“Mmph!”

“What’s wrong with you today? Hahaha. Noona, I’ll be right back.”

As the groom-to-be and Shione’s younger brother disappeared with an awkward laugh, Ageni giggled.

Her young husband clearly had no idea how much of what he had said to Shione had been overheard.

Well, he should’ve behaved better back then.

Thanks to Edward’s desperate struggle, the wedding proceeded without incident—and because Edward burst into tears after the ceremony, every newspaper’s front page the next day was completely filled with a sobbing Edward.

“The Wedding That Made the Crown Prince Cry”

 

Children’s Day Special Side Story, END