The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 255 - Teacher’s Day Special: The Archmage and His Young Disciple

‘Archmage’ was a title given to the very few mages who stood at the peak of magic—but inside the Sky Tower, it referred to only one person.

The master of the Sky Tower and the teacher of all mages,
the Archmage Mercedes.

This great being usually lived in seclusion within the Sky Tower and rarely showed himself even to high-ranking mages. From his birth to the present, everything about him was wrapped in mystery, making him a frequent subject of curiosity among senior mages.

Yet none of them had ever discovered the Archmage’s true identity.

Except for one person, by pure chance.

“…No, I didn’t really want to know this much.”

Arellin, who was receiving treatment for her incurable illness within the Archmage’s domain, was suffering from information she hadn’t asked for.

“Are you not surprised?”

“I’m plenty surprised, actually.”

“By what measure?”

Mercedes had been worried that the small child—who didn’t even come up to his waist—might be too shocked or frightened. But that concern turned out to be unnecessary.

Arellin just kept shaking her head, saying this truth was more than she could handle.

Even for Mercedes, who had been born an elf of a long-lived race and had lived alone for countless years, a child like this was a first.

“I had a feeling this place wouldn’t be ordinary… so that’s what it was.”

“Are you afraid?”

“No?”

Mercedes looked at Arellin with curiosity. She was surprised, yes—but not afraid.

“Honestly, I kind of guessed. Anyone can tell something’s off. This place, and you too, Mage.”

“Off? Me?”

Arellin calmly nodded at the baffled Mercedes.

“You just look like you’ve got secrets.”

She said it confidently.

“As a devoted movie-and-drama watcher, and a proud webtoon and web-novel reader, I can say this for sure—
you totally have a backstory.”

For a moment, Mercedes couldn’t understand a single word she’d said.

It wasn’t some high-level magic formula—what was she even talking about?

“Well, you’re not secretly the final boss who’s going to remodel me into some disaster and destroy the world, right? Or turn me into something apocalyptic without me knowing?”

“…I don’t know what ‘remodel’ means, but no, that’s not it. Your imagination is far too vivid.”

Seeing Mercedes’s dumbfounded expression, Arellin grinned.

“If it’s not something like that, then why would I be scared?”

“…Truly?”

“What does your identity matter? What matters is that you’re saving my life.”

The child was far too mature.

No matter how much consideration Mercedes gave her, the pain of the treatment was something the child herself had to endure.

‘I should’ve known from the moment she woke up and asked whether parental consent had been obtained.’

“Isn’t the treatment painful?”

“Of course it is. It hurts so much that sometimes I want to hit you, Mage.”

For a brief moment, Mercedes wondered if the child hitting him during treatment hadn’t been accidental after all.

“…?”

But seeing Arellin smiling innocently, as if she knew nothing, he dismissed the thought.

What could a child possibly know?

‘No… surely not.’

 

 

****

 

 

 

 

Mercedes decided to treat Arellin on pure impulse.

Treating her was his way of trying to escape, even just a little, from the unresolved mistakes and burdens that had bound him for so long.

It was the very first day he broke his vow to never interfere with the mortal world again.

To be honest, Mercedes regretted it.

He thought he shouldn’t have gotten involved after all.

“Mo…m…….”

But when he saw the feverish child calling for her mother, he couldn’t just sit there regretting things.

‘I have to save her.’

If she were already dead, that would be one thing. But after bringing her here saying he would save her, not doing his best would be committing yet another sin.

In truth, Mercedes had known what Arellin’s problem was from the moment he first saw her.

‘An incomplete vessel, unable to endure the power it holds.’

It would have been stranger not to notice that power.

‘A singularity.’

He could understand why his first disciple had taken an interest in it. If it ever fully awakened, it could change the entire world.

But still—

‘She’s too weak.’

He had shared his own rank with her and shattered her vessel, then reforged it larger to increase its capacity, but that was only a temporary fix.

For Arellin to truly be cured, she needed to understand the source of her own power.

“Would you like to learn magic?”

That was why he decided to teach her magic as well. If she could release even a little of that power through magic, it might delay the period when her body weakened again.

Even with a reinforced vessel and the rank he had given her, Arellin still couldn’t fully endure the power sleeping inside her.

“Have you ever thought about finding your real father?”

That was why he asked this question again and again.

Yet the young disciple, whether she understood her teacher’s feelings or not, only ever said she didn’t need to.

“More importantly, Master—why did you buy such an ugly doll?”

“Don’t children need toys?”

“…This was a gift for me?”

“Is there a problem?”

Arellin looked back and forth between the ugly rabbit doll and her master, then smacked her own forehead.

“This is bad.”

“What’s bad?”

“Your sense of aesthetics, Master. It’s ruined.”

“…….”

Arellin gave her advice very seriously.

“Master, never tell anyone something is ‘pretty.’ Ever. Got it?”

Mercedes looked at his young disciple with dissatisfaction.

Wasn’t it cute enough? Why was she reacting that strongly? He really didn’t understand children these days.

“But still, thank you for the gift.”

After grumbling for a while, Arellin thanked him and held the doll tightly. Mercedes felt a strange sense of satisfaction and pressed his lips together.

As Arellin’s treatment progressed and the time she stayed awake increased, the time the two spent together also grew longer.

Sometimes Arellin went down to the Sky Tower to play with other high-ranking mages, but most of the time, the two stayed together alone in the domain.

“But Master, you’re really bad at cooking.”

“……?”

“Is it because you don’t really need to eat?”

“Are you saying it tastes bad?”

“I didn’t say it tastes bad, but… well, it kind of does.”

Mercedes’s pride took a hit. He thought he was decent enough, even if he wasn’t amazing.

The previous child had eaten it well noting—always said Master’s cooking was the best.

Maybe she noticed his expression, because Arellin shrugged.

“What? If it’s unfair, then cook better?”

“…….”

From that day on, meals were prepared by the Sky Tower’s assigned cook.

“What? Even the Master’s meals? It’s not difficult, but… didn’t the Master usually eat separately?”

“Just prepare it.”

“Yes, yes. Well, it’s not hard.”

The cook later bragged that even the Archmage had acknowledged their food, but Mercedes didn’t care in the slightest.

“Why don’t you cook yourself anymore these days?”

“Didn’t you say it was bad?”

“Come on, Master. Are you sulking?”

“…….”

“You are sulking.”

Arellin burst out laughing.

Then she added,

“It’s okay, Master! I’m even worse at cooking than you!”

“…Of course you are.”

She was young and had grown up sheltered—if she could cook, that would’ve been more surprising.

“Even if it’s bad, I like your cooking better sometimes, so just make it.”

“You said it was bad.”

“You eat it because it’s bad.”

He was speechless, but when Arellin begged, he eventually gave in.

“Eat too, Master. It tastes worse when you eat alone.”

“…Alright.”

“When I go out and eat something good, I’ll bring some back for you too. You’re stuck here eating whatever, so that’s why you cook like this.”

“…….”

Mercedes wanted to argue, but his disciple was so confident that he just stayed quiet.

Still, even Arellin—who seemed so mature—had moments when she struggled.

“I miss my mom.”

That was something Mercedes couldn’t fix.

As he worried over what to say without hurting her, his disciple reached out her hand.

“Master, hold my hand.”

After hesitating, he took Arellin’s hand. The hand, smaller and warmer than his own, felt especially fragile today.

“Aren’t you lonely, Master?”

“…Sometimes.”

“That’s nice.”

Was it nice?

“Don’t you have someone you miss? Or is it because you’re immortal?”

“No. I do.”

“Oh? Who?”

“That’s a secret.”

“Wow, that’s unfair!”

Arellin grumbled, but Mercedes stayed silent.

And he thought of someone— a disciple who once believed Mercedes was her entire world.

‘I shouldn’t get attached.’

He knew this was only meant to be a brief connection.

And yet—

It felt like one day, even this moment would become something he missed.

So the Archmage couldn’t bring himself to let go of the hand he was holding.