The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 317

Several days had passed since the debutante ball ended.

Just as I expected, the next day’s newspapers were completely filled with my father’s dignified face on the front page, while articles about me were only a few lines long.

Thinking that was strange, I asked Mehen if she had restricted information about me, but she said she had no idea.

Silby quietly hinted that it was an order from “someone higher up”……

‘It’s not Pession, right?’

There’s no way our cute, lovable Pession would do something like that.

Anyway, since I’d made my debut and survived a major event, I planned to relax after the drive I’d promised Ether—but……

“Are these all invitations?”

“Yes.”

The world refused to leave me alone.

Before my debut, invitations had come addressed to the “House of Duke Halbern.” Now they were flooding in addressed directly to “Lady Halbern.”

“Why is everyone sending invitations? Are they obsessed with socializing?”

“Well, obviously, they want to get close to you.”

“With me?”

Why? Because I’m a Halbern?

When I tilted my head, Yuni—who had quit and then returned after hearing I was back—along with Emma and Lina, exchanged looks.

“She really has no awareness.”

“That’s what makes her cute. Let’s just leave her be.”

“Miss, would you like me to bake more bread?”

What is this? I suddenly feel offended.

I glared at the three of them for openly treating me like a child, but they only smiled.

…I’ll let it slide this time.

“Miss, don’t you plan on making friends of your own?”

“Friends? I already have plenty.”

Yuni stared at me in shock.

“Pession, the twins, Harun. That’s a lot, isn’t it?”

Then Lina and Emma looked at me with worried expressions.

What’s with them?

“Oh, I also became friends with Sirua. Therion is a friend too. Six is plenty, right?”

From the perspective of someone who had zero friends in her past life and one online acquaintance, it was more than enough—but for some reason, my maids looked serious.

Whatever. Not my problem.

I picked up another round of Emma’s new desserts—cookie choux, madeleines, fat macarons, and financiers.

They were unbelievably good.

It felt like I was poisoning the baking industry of this world, but I didn’t want to give up good food.

As I slowly enjoyed them, a single rose decorating one side of the table caught my eye.

“Hm.”

The pale pink rose Cheyen had left behind was still full of life even after sitting in a vase for days.

I’d debated throwing it away, but since it was the same color as my eyes and felt suspicious, I kept it for now. No matter how much I looked at it, it was just an ordinary rose.

What was that bastard Cheyen thinking when he gave me this?

‘My master definitely knows that Cheyen and I made contact… and the fact that he’s still silent is bothering me too.’

Ugh, whatever.

I took a bite of a snack modeled after a Korean-style chocolate pie—marshmallow sandwiched between cake and coated in chocolate.

Emma really was a cooking goddess.

“By the way, why is Mehen suddenly digging around the basement?”

“Oh, apparently there’s something down there.”

“That whole area is full of weird artifacts, and access is restricted to blood relatives only. All of a sudden?”

“Well, maybe she’s renovating the mansion?”

“Then why bring priests? I heard they’re holding a requiem.”

The maids tilted their heads, saying they didn’t know either.

Mehen had firmly drawn the line, saying, “This isn’t something Arell needs to know,” so I didn’t know the details—but it was still strange.

“Hm.”

Well, Mom will handle it!

My thoughts shifted to Olivia, the wife of Sir Zylo, whom Mehen was taking care of.

“Has Madam Olivia returned to her family home?”

“No, she’s still staying in the guest wing.”

“What do you think? Does Madam Olivia and her son seem okay?”

The maids exchanged looks again, as if unsure how to take my question.

Why are they like this?

When I stared at them sulkily, Yuni stepped forward.

“Ah—don’t tell me you’ve taken a liking to Sir Derek…?”

What nonsense!

“I only have Pession!”

Yuni replied with a sad expression.

“High-ranking nobles usually keep lovers or concubines, so I thought I’d ask—just in case!”

“How is that the same thing?!”

What do I care how other people live?

As a devoted believer in monogamy, I couldn’t tolerate such thinking and ended up lecturing the maids at length.

“You all need to fix your mindset first!”

When I went on and on about how much I loved Pession, the three of them eventually looked fed up.

“What about the Spherom twins?”

“Young Lord Harun also seemed to like you, Miss……”

“Well, that’s not our business. As long as you’re happy, Miss.”

“Indeed, indeed.”

The three maids whispered among themselves and smiled at me.

I’m really only letting it go this once.

 

 

****

 

 

 

The Shugra Empire.

Located on the western continent by Albret imperial standards, this empire was the only nation with a history stretching from ancient times to the present, and the homeland of fairies and elves who had branched off from ancient spirits.

Over time, smallfolk, humans, beastfolk, and others migrated for various reasons, turning it into a multi-racial nation—but internally, elves still formed its core.

This was entirely thanks to the Great Forest, a woodland soaked in the blessing of the sacred tree, the World Tree.

The Great Forest was originally a land where tens of thousands of species coexisted, a primal place where only hardy flora and fauna could survive.

The elves who lived there were like ancient trees or dusty old books—old-fashioned and static—and as long as other races didn’t harm the forest, they left them alone.

That was why the Shugra Empire, despite occupying nearly 70% of the Western Empire’s territory, was strangely peaceful.

From the outside, it looked like a calm, fairy-tale “land of elves”……

“But in reality, it’s a country where a bunch of old fogeys gather to complain every day about declining birth rates, how the younger generation is hopeless, and how back in their day they already had kids at two hundred.”

Robert muttered with a hollow expression. Once a great senior-grade mage of the Sky Tower and Chloe’s mentor, he was now sick to death of elves.

In truth, it was a super-aged society with a disastrous total fertility rate of 0.3. That was the reality of the Shugra Empire.

Out of a total population of 370,000, elves barely made up 80,000.

“And they even call themselves an empire—when they’re not really one at all!”

They didn’t even have an emperor.

With one World Tree Archivist and three World Tree Proxies—four leaders total—the elves only called themselves an empire because they didn’t want to lose to human empires.

The other 290,000 demi-humans were scattered throughout the Great Forest, barely maintaining their own territories. Fairies were so rare they were hard to encounter at all.

In the end, only the elves truly remained.

The same was true for the elves living in “World Tree’s Shade,” the capital of the Shugra Empire—and that was exactly why Robert, a senior-grade mage, looked this worn out.

In this empire that seemed to have built its own world and would enjoy eternal peace, there was in fact one problem that had plagued the elves for a long time……

“Did the ‘Child of Fate’ go to the World Tree again today?”

Roel, an elf who claimed to be kind, spoke to him.

“Yes.”

The reason Robert had ended up stuck in Shugra—after accepting a cute disciple’s request to travel the world, possibly influenced by a certain Lady Halbern—was simple.

The World Tree was corrupted.

The elves asked Robert, a senior-grade mage, to help purify it. For the past five years, he combined all his magical knowledge with the elves’ accumulated wisdom to search for a solution.

But the corruption was already so severe that parts of the World Tree had mutated into monsters.

Just a few months ago, Robert had seriously debated burning the World Tree down, even if it meant becoming the elves’ sworn enemy.

That dilemma became pointless when his adorable disciple, Chloe, awakened the power of purification.

And it was such a miracle that even those arrogant, rude, narrow-minded, and lazy elves respected his disciple as the “Child of Fate.”

Thinking of his disciple, who was probably plastered against the World Tree trunk even now, Robert turned his gaze to the massive tree visible from anywhere.

The once blackened, rotting trunk had regained its vitality and turned lush and green.

At that moment, Roel—completely lacking tact—tilted his head.

“What’s wrong, human mage? You look dissatisfied again. Is the food not to your liking?”

Robert looked around the area, which was practically an outdoor restaurant, and sighed.

“Didn’t I tell you humans can’t eat Peginen fruit? Are you trying to poison me?”

“Oh.”

“Oh, what? How many times do I have to say it? You guys only eat once a day—once a day! How do you forget every time, you bastard!”

Roel rubbed his chin and tilted his head.

“Hm. An elf is being considerate to a fragile human, yet you get angry. Very well, I’ll remake the meal.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just cook for myself.”

If he’d been alone, Robert would have returned to the Sky Tower long ago, World Tree or not.

But Chloe had awakened purification powers, and as her mentor, he couldn’t heartlessly leave while she devoted herself to cleansing the World Tree.

Even if it meant sleeping in a tree house carved from a living tree and enduring elven cuisine—fruits toxic to humans covered in random spices.

‘Damn elves. You’re strong enough to eat anything and sleep anywhere, but humans die if they do that. How many times do I have to tell you?’

Grinding his teeth as he swallowed his anger, Robert sighed again as he stared at the food (disguised poison) in front of him.

“Ha… I want to go home.”