The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health – Chapter 294

Author: Asternkm

On the morning when Albrecht was buzzing with talk of the Halbern party, after Arellin had cried out to use her “Master chance,” there was one unhappy person.

“I… could’ve enjoyed the party too…….”

That person was none other than Albrecht’s supreme sun, Emperor Edward.

Of course Empress Ageni was attending, and all three siblings were going as well, so Emperor Edward wanted to join the Halbern party too, but—

“Your Majesty wants to attend as well? Ah, then the scale would become far too large…….”

“I’ll go in Your Majesty’s stead. Please maintain your dignity.”

Because of Mehen’s troubled response and Empress Ageni cutting him off decisively, Emperor Edward had no choice but to be the only one who couldn’t enjoy the party.

While everyone else had fun together, he drank alone in loneliness—and that wasn’t all. On a morning when the whole world was abuzz with stories of the Halbern party, he had to endure the crushing sense of isolation of being the only one who didn’t know what everyone was talking about.

“Look at this, Chief Attendant. Being emperor is such a sad position. With no one to share one’s heart with, how lonely and desolate it is.”

“Yes…….”

“I even secretly asked Valer, whom I believed to be my close friend, whether I could sneak along—but do you know what that bastard said? ‘Join where you belong,’ he says. No matter that he’s the Duke of Halbern, at times like this I really want to beat him up.”

“Ah… yes…….”

“Haa. What’s the use of holding the world in my hands, when it’s this lonely?”

“Y-yes…….”

Watching his boss sulk like this just because his beloved wife hadn’t taken him to the party, the Chief Attendant secretly let out a sigh.

As if that weren’t enough, Emperor Edward clicked his tongue in displeasure as he looked at Valer’s face plastered across the front pages of every major newspaper.

“Tch, this face worship really never ends.”

While the Duke of Halbern refrained from public appearances, it had seemed to die down a little, but after the party it exploded again. Some newspapers even had every single page filled with images of the Duke of Halbern.

It looked like they originally wanted to make a photo book, but since Halbern wouldn’t sit still if they published one outright, they were selling it indirectly like this instead.

“It’s the end times, truly.”

Emperor Edward wore an expression that said he absolutely refused to acknowledge it, but from the Chief Attendant’s perspective, it was completely meaningless resistance.

In truth, both of them knew why Valer’s popularity was soaring by the day.

‘He really is handsome.’

A face handsome even in a man’s eyes. A subtly youthful sensuality that came through even in photographs. Above all, officially still unmarried.

If one were lucky enough to marry the Duke of Halbern, the minimum title would be Duchess. In Albrecht, that was the second-highest status a woman could gain through marriage.

Unlike the small kingdoms, the Empire didn’t prohibit marriages across class, so a single marriage could completely overturn one’s status.

That alone was already more than enough, but on top of that, Halbern was one of the wealthiest houses in the Empire.

You could tell just by the fact that they’d maintained a knight order that devoured money like a hippo for several hundred years.

‘But the reason the ladies are going wild…….’

It really must be because of his face.

The Chief Attendant was scanning the newspaper with a subtle expression when Emperor Edward, who had been flipping through it, turned his head.

“How are things between the Empress and Pession? Still cold?”

The Chief Attendant hesitated, then answered calmly.

“From what Sir Griam told me… yes, it seems unchanged.”

Emperor Edward, who was only watching and waiting because Empress Ageni had restrained him, clicked his tongue.

“Tch. I really don’t like it.”

***

At present, the Albret Imperial Palace was steeped in a strange atmosphere.

In the outer palace, where outsiders and officials came and went hundreds of times a day, no one noticed it—but the palace servants of the inner palace, where the imperial family resided, all knew.

‘It’s suffocating…….’

This was all due to the strange distance between the Empress and the Crown Prince. The palace atmosphere, which had briefly improved thanks to news of the Halbern party, had at some point returned to an inexplicable cold war.

“Has His Highness the Crown Prince ‘again’ skipped the morning greeting?”

“…Yes.”

“Haha, well now…….”

The lower-ranking palace servants, unaware of the details, walked on eggshells, even suppressing the sound of their breathing. But the ladies-in-waiting and attendants who served the imperial family closely knew the truth.

In other words……

“It seems His Highness the Crown Prince is truly very angry.”

Indeed. This cold war was Pession’s lingering resentment toward Empress Ageni over the past incident involving Arellin.

“…I never knew His Highness had such a side to him.”

“Truly. To think he’d be this angry.”

Hiding the possibility that Arellin might be alive, and then hiding the fact that Arellin had returned alive even after knowing it.

These two things were what had turned the once-close mother and son cold toward each other.

On the surface, Crown Prince Pession was still impeccably polite toward Empress Ageni.

It was just that their once-warm relationship had become as barren as a desert.

Even so, given that the other party was the Empress herself, many had expected Pession to let it go gracefully—but his actions exceeded those expectations.

“They say that even when Her Majesty invites him to chat, His Highness refuses every time, saying he’s busy.”

“I heard that even when an attendant used a trick and reported after all his work was finished, His Highness picked up his sword and refused, saying it was training time.”

“It was sudden extra training, apparently…….”

“I passed by the training grounds that day and heard screams myself.”

The cold war was between the Empress and the Crown Prince, but everyone in the palace suffered for it. Even Emperor Edward, the ruler of Sirua, and Prince Therion moved carefully, watching the two of them.

Still, it wasn’t as if one could blame Pession alone. The Crown Prince truly was busy right now.

In fact, he was handling more state affairs than Emperor Edward himself.

It was the crime of being too competent.

As a result, the people of the palace split into two camps, each defending either the Empress or the Crown Prince.

“No matter how lovestruck she was, do you think Her Majesty did it on purpose? She withheld the truth out of concern for His Highness, didn’t she?”

“That’s right!”

“And now she’s even actively supporting him by sending marriage proposals—so why is His Highness being so cold?”

“How can this be only His Highness’s fault? Don’t you all remember how bright he used to be? Why do you think he lost his smile? If Her Majesty truly cared for him, shouldn’t she, as the elder, have helped His Highness reach the truth himself instead of simply hiding it?”

“Exactly!”

“Hmph, even though Her Majesty has reflected and is lowering herself this much, you’re saying it’s not His Highness’s fault that he’s still being so stiff?”

“There are times when the head understands but the heart doesn’t follow. Perhaps it’s precisely because His Highness knows she made that decision out of love for him that he’s letting things remain at this level.”

“That’s right. Nothing has actually happened in practice—yet you’re all trying to brand His Highness as an unfilial son!”

It wasn’t hard to find people having such heated debates.

But no one there truly knew Crown Prince Pession’s real intentions.

****

The Crown Prince’s Palace.

There was one brave soul who had come here to find out those intentions.

“What on earth are you thinking?”

The ruler of Sirua stared steadily at Pession, who looked like he was thinking, I’m busy to death—why did you come all this way to bother me?

“You’re not going to tell me?”

With an annoyed sigh, Pession set down the documents he’d been holding.

“Hah. What am I thinking?”

“You know exactly what I’m asking. What are you thinking, really?”