The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 293

The party held in Halbern came to a grand conclusion.

“Halbern Party, Not Only Famous but Overflowing with Food!”

“May the Power of Halbern Be Eternal.”

The articles were nothing but glowing praise.

It seemed that the expensive return gifts Mehen had prepared with even more care than the party itself had completely won over the guests, reporters included.

“Hm.”

Mehen smiled in satisfaction.

“It couldn’t be helped. We handed out artifacts, after all.”

This was all thanks to the magical engineering mages, who kept making artifacts whenever they had the chance and sending them as gifts, trying to stay on Arellin’s good side.

They said it was to repay the favor of being able to make automobiles, or something like that.

They were only popular artifacts—single-use protection, minor vitality boosts, emergency location transfer—but that made them perfect as return gifts for guests.

Even now, when the popularization of magical engineering had succeeded, these were still items one had to brace oneself to acquire.

“They’ll be satisfied too, then. At least the mages.”

Mehen smiled contentedly after emptying out an entire warehouse, then let out a deep sigh at the mountain of letters caught in the corner of his vision.

“All of these arrived just today?”

“Yes, Lord Mehen.”

“I see……”

Even Mehen, who valued etiquette, stared at the piled-up letters with a look like he’d bitten into something unpleasant.

They weren’t just one or two—there were enough to be called a hill—so it was impossible not to frown.

After all, the one who actually had to read these letters wasn’t him anyway……

“I’ll go see my lord for a moment.”

 

 

****

 

 

Mehen entered the bedroom of a man who had drunk himself senseless the night before.

“Ugh……”

It hadn’t been that long since his body had recovered—what kind of reckless drinking was this?

‘What on earth happened last night?’

From the middle of the party onward, Mehen had realized that Valer truly intended to do nothing more than briefly show his face, and from then on, he’d been busy running around entertaining guests, so he had no idea what had gone on.

“Please wake up now, my lord. Duke Spherom and Duke Idikels, who drank with you, sobered up and left long ago, so why are you the only one who can’t get up? Hm? Your condition should be better than theirs.”

Unable to withstand the nagging, Valer woke up, let out a deep breath, and replied in a hoarse voice.

“I’m a patient, you know.”

“As if.”

Valer cracked his eyes open and sat up, clutching his head.

“Should I call your physician?”

“No.”

Mehen thought Valer was suffering from a hangover due to the previous dawn’s excess, but in truth, something else was to blame.

‘That damned relic’s effect……’

There was no way Valer wouldn’t suffer shock during the process of sealing such immense authority.

Was it a side effect of regressing too many times?

As Valer tried to gauge how long this shock would last, he let out a heavy sigh.

Still, judging by the fact that the Great Mage had left without saying anything, it probably wasn’t a severe side effect.

“My stomach hurts, Mehen.”

“So what do you want me to do about it?”

“I feel like I’m dying, dear.”

“Would you like me to kill you myself?”

He really did feel like he was dying, but the response that came back was colder than a midwinter storm.

Mehen shoved a tray in front of Valer, who was sitting there blankly with half-lidded eyes.

On the tray was neither rice nor soup, but a pile of inedible letters.

“What is all this…….”

“These are the marriage proposals that flew into Halbern this morning.”

Valer’s eyes sharpened instantly. He took the tray and threw it, letters and all, into the decorative magic fireplace.

Mehen stared at him in disbelief.

“Hey, you didn’t even read a single one…….”

“What’s there to read?”

Mehen clicked his tongue at Valer, who looked refreshed after burning them all.

“I knew this would happen, so I set this one aside separately. Good thing I did. Take it.”

“What’s this?”

“A marriage proposal from the imperial family.”

Before Mehen could even finish saying that this one at least required a formal reply according to etiquette—

Valer tore the proposal to shreds, turning it into scraps of paper.

“Hey, you lunatic! Are you insane?!”

“If Empress Ageni says anything, just tell her we never received it.”

“Are you serious? The imperial courier delivered it in person and even got confirmation. Do you really think that excuse will work, you idiot?”

“If it doesn’t, then it doesn’t.”

Valer stood up lightly, as if it were none of his concern, then suddenly turned back to Mehen with a look of realization.

“By the way, where did our daughter go?”

Mehen replied while staring at him with an expression that said, how am I supposed to make this guy human?

“The Mage Tower.”

“The Mage Tower?”

He’d asked because he couldn’t sense Arellin’s presence even after spreading his awareness lightly, but the answer was unexpected.

Mehen shrugged and added,

“The mages hurriedly took her away as soon as the party ended last night.”

“Kidnapped……?”

“As if. Calm down.”

Valer, who looked like he was about to dash straight to the Mage Tower, plopped back onto the bed with a sulky expression. He looked so much like Arellin when she sulked that Mehen got goosebumps for no reason.

Was this the mystery of bloodlines?

“Our daughter is way too popular.”

“That she is.”

“How do you think I raised her…….”

“You didn’t raise her at all. You ran away from home and only just came back.”

Valer’s brow creased sharply.

He couldn’t explain the details, but still, Mehen’s lack of sympathy made Valer feel wronged, and he glared at him.

“You don’t know anything.”

“What don’t I know?”

“Forget it. You don’t know anything.”

“Hey, you little—!”

Mehen let out a hollow laugh as he watched Valer, who wasn’t some sensitive teenage girl, pull the blanket over himself in a sulk.

“Hey, hey, get up! We’ve got work to do!”

“I’m not doing it!”

 

 

*****

 

 

 

Arellin was attending a mage’s funeral.

The party had ended quite late at night, but funerals for mages blessed by the stars were held at dawn, when sunlight did not overshadow starlight, so there was no issue.

“A star-rank mage becomes a star upon death.”

That saying was no lie.

Gemelo returned to the embrace of the star that had blessed him and became a star himself.

“Well then, it’s time to proceed with the final step.”

“Gemelo’s research fields are as previously announced. Those who will inherit Gemelo’s will, step forward and receive his research journals.”

“As for his possessions, they will be distributed according to the deceased’s wishes……”

And so, Luca inherited Gemelo’s staff.

“Huh? Is it really okay for me to inherit this?”

“You carried on Gemelo’s final will, so of course it belongs to you.”

“It’s a staff Gemelo personally made—fussy as he was—so it’s quite good.”

What surprised me was that Gemelo had left something to me as well.

“This is……”

A music box of a young girl playing the violin. When I wound the spring, a melody I couldn’t even remember when I’d last played it flowed out.

Claude Debussy’s Clair de lune.

It was originally composed as a piano solo, but I had played a violin arrangement of it.

Why did this make me feel so empty?

Listening to the music box, I looked at the other mages.

“Reviving Gemelo would be difficult, right?”

“There is no magic that resurrects the dead.”

“…Or so we should say.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to a certain spot in the Sky Tower.

“Hah, what is this world coming to? For a phenomenon of defying the heavens to occur……”

“Is the world really ending? But Saint Remren never made such a prophecy.”

“I don’t know, you idiot. If you’re curious, go research it yourself.”

Once the inheritance was settled and the funeral ended, the star-rank mages dispersed on their own. Amid them, I saw someone gesturing for me to come over, and I reluctantly moved my feet.

In the distance, veteran mages were showering the newly appointed youngest member of the Sky Tower, Luca, with enthusiastic guidance, but I couldn’t afford to be distracted by that.

Creak—

As I opened the door, I met the eyes of a man who had been quietly waiting inside.

I bit my lip for no reason, then let out a sigh and spoke.

“Hello.”

A man with such a gentle face that he seemed like he’d never broken a law in his life smiled softly in reply.

“Good day.”

Inside the glass container beside him lay an old man with his eyes closed—the very man the current members of the Gremwatt family were desperately searching for.

Yes. That old man was Duke Gregory of Gremwatt.

And this man was……

“Please feel free to call me Zylo.”

Zylo—the revived eldest son of the Duke of Gremwatt.

It was the mages who first discovered Zylo. Because everyone was in disarray, having essentially died and returned to life themselves, no one recognized the revived man’s face.

Yes—revival.

This man had returned from death.

When the mages realized this, they were so shocked that an absolute law had been broken that they locked themselves away in their laboratories.

Zylo was found holding his father’s corpse, looking utterly confused as to why he was there, and was brought straight to the Sky Tower.

And I was here to deal with this situation.

“I heard my father calling for me. He’d never even called my name before.”

“I see.”

“I followed that voice, and that’s where I ended up. When I opened my eyes, my father had collapsed, not breathing. As his son, I couldn’t just leave him…….”

“Yes, yes.”

After calmly telling his entire story, Zylo thanked me.

“Thanks to the invitation to the recent party, I was able to safely see my wife and son.”

It was only possible because the scale of the party held in Halbern had been so large.

My head throbbed.

“Anyway, since you’re not planning to return to your family immediately… please stay here for a while. And……”

I trailed off, unable to continue through my confusion, but Zylo smiled as if he understood. After watching him say nothing and ask nothing, I took my leave and exited the room.

One deep breath.

“Master—!”

I’m using my Great Mage chance now!