The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 303

I looked quietly at Dad.

This man, Valer, definitely had a habit of using his looks whenever he was at a disadvantage.

“You’re not going to abandon your dad, right?”

“Think rationally.”

The regent duke argued that since everyone else would be entering hand in hand with someone their own age, it would look strange if I alone walked in holding my father’s hand. He said it would be better for me to be escorted by him instead, since he was a foreign noble.

The way the regent duke was looking at me wasn’t normal either. It felt like he was about to stare a hole through me.

‘Why is this kind of crisis happening to me?’

“Meh—”

“I’m not in a position to escort Arellin, so I’m eliminated as a candidate.”

No way!

Since I couldn’t settle on Mehen as a compromise, the moment had come where I had to choose between the two.

A moment so tense my palms were sweating.

But honestly… wasn’t my choice already decided?

‘…I should be filial.’

I grabbed Dad’s hand.

Dad burst into laughter like he’d just gained the entire world.

“Ha! Ha! Ha! Hahahahaha!”

“Ghk!”

Meanwhile, my godfather looked like the world had ended.

Regent Duke Ludwig stared at me with truly wounded eyes, but I had my own excuse.

“It’s a debut ball. I can’t exactly walk in holding my godfather’s arm. I’m a Halbern.”

“That’s right! Exactly! Yes!”

I ignored Dad enthusiastically agreeing beside me and looked straight at the regent duke. With a serious face, he said:

“Should I change my family name?”

“…Please restrain yourself.”

He honestly looked like he might actually do it, which scared me.

“We’ve arrived.”

While that was happening, the car had already reached the imperial palace.

 

 

****

 

 

The imperial palace’s audience waiting room.

The young ladies—today’s supposed main characters—were gathered in the large room, trying to calm their shaking hearts.

A chance given only once in a lifetime.

They had all heard it so many times their ears hurt:  You must become the star of today’s ball.

There were rare cases of ladies re-debuting in society, but for high-ranking noblewomen, that was considered disgraceful.

Still, every lady in this room knew one thing.

The main character of today was already decided.

‘Why did it have to be the same year as me?!’

‘Why does she have to debut at the same time I do?!’

But delaying their own debut wasn’t an option.

So the ladies decided that, at the very least, they would get a look at Lady Arellin.

That was especially true for Caroline Gremwat, who had confidently believed since last year that she would be the star of this debutante ball.

‘Just who is Arellin, anyway?!’

As Caroline looked around, her brows unconsciously furrowed.

“…?”

‘Why are there so many platinum blondes?’

Because information about Arellin had been tightly controlled during the wave of impostors, society only knew two things: that she had platinum-blonde hair, and that she looked very much like the Duke of Halbern.

But unfortunately, platinum-blonde hair had become extremely fashionable among young ladies in recent years.

And now, nearly 80% of the ladies here had platinum hair.

“……”

“……”

So which one was the Halbern young lady?

As Caroline narrowed her eyes and scanned the room, one figure stood out.

‘Who is that? Why does she stand out so much?’

A girl sitting alone, with an unusually pale face and calm, indifferent eyes.

‘How can a side profile be that pretty?’

While everyone else was standing stiffly, afraid to wrinkle their white dresses, she alone sat openly with a bored expression.

Her eyes were closed, so Caroline couldn’t tell their color, but her presence felt completely different from the others.
It was overwhelming.

‘Could that girl be Arellin…?’

If only she could see her eye color.

As Caroline stared intensely, the fabric of the girl’s white dress caught her attention.

‘Wait— isn’t that Celestial Feather, the fabric produced in extremely small quantities by the Wuyo Alliance?’

On top of that was layered elegant Sugra lace— that fairy-made lace that was incredibly light and delicate, and so outrageously expensive that sellers named their own price.

Once she started looking closely, the jeweled decorations on the dress stood out next.

The brilliant beads, clearly embroidered by master craftsmen, were all real gemstones.

With that level of beadwork, it would take at least a year to embroider.

“…?”

Even the white ribbon worn only by debuting ladies was decorated with diamond and gemstone beadwork.

Her shoes, fan, and gloves were all pure white, exactly as decreed by the royal minister in charge of imperial formal wear— but every single detail was extraordinary.

‘Did she just… pour money into this?’

Caroline had dressed lavishly herself, but that girl looked like she was spending enough to buy a mansion in the capital.

No matter how important a debutante ball was, who prepared this much?!

Just as Caroline was reeling in confusion, the girl suddenly opened her eyes.

“…!”

Their eyes met.

As Caroline froze, an attendant entered the waiting room.

“Lady Arellin, someone is requesting your presence.”

 

 

****

 

 

As soon as we arrived at the palace, our group split up.

Mehen and the regent duke headed straight to the main hall, and Valer disappeared with an annoyed expression, saying he had to go get scolded.

‘The Emperor is going to scold him?’

It didn’t really make sense, but Dad said it confidently, so I let it go.

“I’ll be back soon, my daughter.”

Thanks to that, I was left alone.

With nothing else to do, I followed the attendant to the waiting room.  When I first entered, I could tell a lot of eyes were on me, but I stayed quiet…

‘Then why do I hear those noises the moment I leave?’

Right after stepping out behind the attendant—

“Kyaa—!”

“Arellin? Is that really Arellin?!”

“Really?! For real?!”

“Did you see her?! Did you?!”

The sounds of chaos continued behind me. It felt like going back in would be a bad idea.

‘You’re not supposed to make that much noise in the imperial palace…’

Sure enough, I soon heard the head palace maid scolding them.

‘But who even called for me?’

The attendant just smiled and said, “You’ll see when you get there.”

“Huh?”

After walking a bit, I spotted a familiar figure in a palace corridor not far from the waiting room.

It was Pession.

Pession had pushed himself hard for several days, finishing all the duties expected of him as Crown Prince in preparation for today.

Lately, Emperor Edward had been subtly handing over his own workload to Pession under the excuse of “successor training,” making Pession busier than ever.

Even so, since today was the day Arellin would come to the palace, he rushed through his work and prepared to attend the ball—

And then the condition flared up again.

“I want to see Arellin.”

No matter how much he missed her, Arellin was usually in places Pession couldn’t easily visit— the Halbern estate, or the Sky Tower.

But knowing she was close today made it impossible for him to sit still.

“What has happened to our dignified Crown Prince…?”

“Give us back the majestic version of His Highness!”

Some subordinates who had sworn loyalty after falling for his charisma suffered quietly, but Pession didn’t care.

Among them, only Graham calmly gave up and made a suggestion.

“Why not go see her briefly before the ball begins? The ladies should all be waiting in the audience room anyway.”

“!”

And so he came.

“Ah.”

The moment Pession saw Arellin, he stopped dead. Seeing him unable to speak, Arellin tilted her head.

“Pession?”

This was bad.

Arellin had always been powerful, but today was on another level.

He had always been indifferent to debutante dresses, but this time, he couldn’t look away.

Seeing Pession cover his mouth with a flushed face, Arellin grew serious.

“Do I look weird?”

“No……”

“Then why do you look like you’ve seen something you shouldn’t?”

Pession’s expression turned grave.

“You’re… too pretty……”

“If I’m pretty, why do you look like that?”

Because imagining other people seeing her like this made his stomach twist.

Pession glanced at her without daring to touch her, then shut his eyes tightly.

“Arell.”

“Why are you calling me so seriously?”

“Do you really have to go to the party today?”

“Huh?”

“This look… how am I supposed to let people see it…….”

With the exact same attitude as a certain troublesome dad, Arellin froze, and Pession spoke with eyes that looked like he might cry.

“I want to steal you away.”

Arellin burst out laughing at his heartfelt words. Thinking she misunderstood him as joking, Pession hurriedly added:

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

“Now the whole world is going to know how pretty you are. What am I supposed to do?”

“What are you even saying? You’re exactly like my dad.”

“This is serious.”

“Yeah.”

“I wanted to be the only one who knew.”

Seeing the regret dripping from his eyes, Arellin laughed again.

“Stop laughing.”

“You’re funny. How am I supposed not to laugh?”

Pouting, Pession looked at Arellin—still smiling beautifully—and made up his mind.

“…Should we run away after all?”