The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health – Chapter 268

Author: Asternkm

Where had the real Arellin gone?

And why had he ended up in a place like this?

In this world that felt like a single moment of the past copied exactly as it was—except for Arellin—Pession wandered aimlessly for a while, unable to figure out what he was supposed to do.

If this was the real past, it felt like he shouldn’t touch anything.

But for some reason, people who met Pession could recognize him and talk to him face to face—yet once the conversation ended and they walked away, they completely forgot about him. As if there had never been such a person there at all.

‘It’s like the world is erasing my presence.’

At least it meant he didn’t have to explain his hair color or eye color.

Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling of having become a perfect outsider.

‘What should I do?’

Should he go to the source of this incident—the Gairen ruins?

But Pession’s instincts wanted him to stay by young Arellin’s side.

He told himself he would just watch her a little longer, only for a moment, as he lingered nearby… and that was when he noticed the difference.

‘Only Arellin is different.’

A difference no one else would notice but him.

Unlike the Arellin he knew, who always wanted to be alone, the Arellin of this world wanted to be with someone—anyone. Even if those people mocked her.

‘Because she’s lonely.’

Because being alone was worse than being with people like that.

‘Was the Arellin who chose to be alone shaped by this?’

He didn’t know.

‘Is it really right for me to interfere?’

He hesitated, wondering if it was okay for a stranger like him to appear before Arellin again—but the moment he saw her, that hesitation vanished.

Arellin wasn’t crying. She had simply been left behind, alone.

She looked calm on the surface, but her robe-less, unsteady steps clearly showed she was hurt. Seeing that, Pession stopped hesitating.

Back then, and even now—

Pession still couldn’t leave Arellin alone.

“I came to play with you, Arell.”

Even if he would regret this moment later, Pession knew his choice would always be the same.

How could he make any other choice when those wide-open eyes were looking straight at him?

Pretending to be a guardian from Halbern, Pession slipped Arellin away and headed for the plaza.

“You haven’t been out here before.”

Maybe the unfamiliar place scared her—Arellin tightly clenched one hand and stuck close to Pession.

Seeing her grip his hand with her little dumpling-like fingers was so cute that Pession had to struggle to keep the corners of his mouth from lifting.

“Even if I want to go out, everyone stops me! But I still know everything I need to know!”

Maybe she misunderstood his look—Arellin puffed up her pride and pursed her lips. With no intention of hurting her pride, Pession nodded and casually asked,

“Is there anything you want to do?”

He expected her to say no.

But—

“…Yeah.”

An answer he hadn’t expected came back.

****

What Arellin wanted wasn’t anything special.

“They say the ice cream here is good.”

“Ice cream.”

“Is-cream!”

“Alright, if you say it’s is-cream, then I guess it’s is-cream.”

Eating the ice cream and desserts that other kids said were good. Going to places everyone else had been to.

“This is my first time at this plaza. On weekends, theater troupes even do free performances.”

“I know. I’ve seen them before.”

“Was it fun?”

“Well… I don’t know.”

“I want to see one too.”

Looking at Arellin with her sparkling eyes, Pession gave a bitter smile.

Street performances were often flashy to grab people’s attention. He had seen them in passing once or twice, but they weren’t really his thing.

‘She wants to see something like that.’

“Novels are fun, so I wonder how fun plays are?”

Watching Arellin let her imagination run wild made Pession feel like he didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t the adults take you?”

At his careless question, Arellin flinched.

“Yeah. Because my body isn’t very strong……”

“I know.”

“You know, if I run, I collapse.”

“I know that too.”

A memory suddenly surfaced—when someone had told her to try running because they couldn’t believe a person like that existed, and she actually collapsed, causing a lot of trouble.

That was how he ended up getting involved with Arellin, but……

‘Why didn’t that incident happen in this world?’

Arellin, who had been fidgeting her feet, lifted her head.

“Uncle, when are you going home?”

“Why are you suddenly asking about home? What are you curious about?”

“…Will I be able to see you again?”

At the unexpected question, Pession swallowed hard.

See her again.

“I’m looking for someone. If I can’t find that person, maybe we can see each other again?”

“Who are you looking for?”

“There is someone. Someone I like very, very much.”

Maybe it showed on his face just thinking about her—Arellin let out a small sound of admiration.

“Uncle, you must really like that person.”

“How can you tell?”

“I just know. Your expression totally looked like it.”

“What does ‘totally looked like it’ even mean?”

“What kind of person is she?”

Arellin asked with eyes full of curiosity. For some reason, a bit of mischief rose up in him.

“She’s mean, always leaves me behind and goes somewhere else, and I never know what she’s thinking.”

“Then why do you like her?”

“She’s pretty.”

“Uncle……”

Arellin looked at Pession with a disgusted expression.

“She looks like you.”

“What? Then she must be a super pretty older sister. No wonder you like her!”

At Arellin’s sudden change in attitude and playful tone, Pession burst out laughing.

Before he knew it, the sun was setting.

“Don’t you want to go home?”

Maybe they had grown closer—Arellin nodded.

“Why don’t you want to go back?”

“…….”

Arellin bit her lip tightly and looked off somewhere.

In the direction where the Halbern estate stood.

“Even if I go back, no one welcomes me.”

“What?”

“Everyone hates me.”

He was left speechless.

Not knowing what he should say, Pession was instead met with a question from Arellin.

“Uncle, do you pity me?”

“…Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“I was just wondering if you’re being nice to me because you feel sorry for me.”

Pession thought that even if the situation changed, Arellin’s personality didn’t go anywhere.

‘Yeah. This is Arellin.’

A slightly less cynical Arellin, a slightly less closed-off Arellin.

“When people feel sorry for someone, they’re a bit nicer to them. Even though they won’t be nice forever.”

Her small trembling hand, her tightly pressed lips, her eyes that sharpened and then drooped again—all of it showed her feelings without any filter.

Pession felt deeply regretful that he wasn’t good with words. There had to be better words to convey how he felt.

Yet all he could do was hold her small hand.

Still, this was something he really wanted to say.

“I don’t hate you. Not ever.”

Arellin’s eyes widened.

“Yeah.”

When she smiled brightly right after, like a flower in full bloom, Pession found himself wishing she could smile like that every day.

‘Still, I’m worried.’

What if she ends up falling for someone just because they’re a little nice to her?

“Then you’re not going home?”

“No, I have to.”

After buying one more ice cream—the one Arellin said she liked—and placing it in her hand, Pession took her toward the Halbern estate.

“They’re probably looking for you.”

“I don’t think so.”

Arellin shook her head, saying that couldn’t be true—but there was no way it wasn’t. He still vividly remembered how much the Halbern family had doted on Arellin.

‘We were just supposed to play for a bit, and somehow it got this late.’

Still, he didn’t regret it.

When the two of them arrived together in front of the Halbern estate, built unusually high and far from any people—

“Uncle.”

“Yeah?”

Suddenly, Arellin disappeared.

“Arellin?”

As Pession stood there in confusion at her vanishing without any warning—

Creeeak.

A slightly opened door caught his attention.

“Did she go inside?”

Just to make sure Arellin had gone in safely, Pession stepped into the estate.

But in that brief moment, something had gone terribly wrong. The old mansion, usually full of people, was eerily silent, giving off a chilling presence.

‘Something’s different.’

Sensing the unease, Pession moved deeper inside with more caution.

Though it had looked fine from the outside, the mansion inside was stained and broken in places, as if it had been battered by the passage of time.

And when he reached the garden—

Pession saw it.

A grand pavilion, and a single stone coffin.

『 Arellin Sigrea Halbern lies here 』

A stone coffin of Arellin, who had died at the age of six.

‘We were together just moments ago.’

It felt like someone was squeezing his throat, making it hard to breathe. It felt like a terrible dream.

‘Arellin… is dead?’

Even as he looked at the coffin and gravestone engraved with a year, he couldn’t believe this unreal situation.