The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health – Chapter 320

Author: Asternkm

To be honest, I didn’t have a good opinion of the Gremwat family.

That crazy old bastard.

World-shattering truths or whatever aside—he tried to kill me just to save his son. How was I supposed to like him?

Even so, the reason I feel a certain fondness for Sir Zilo Gremwat is… probably because I feel a sense of shared misery with him.

My dad caused that whole mess just to save me, too.

Everything was reset, and now it’s become something that “never happened,” known only to my father and me.

Anyway, I didn’t harbor any ill feelings toward Sir Zilo Gremwat.

But—

“Elder Sister, didn’t you say last time that you were going back to your estate? And yet here we are, meeting again in a place like this. Ohoho~.”

That sentiment definitely did not apply to the Gremwat family as a whole.

The second daughter-in-law of the Gremwat family, Everly Gremwat, approached Madam Olivia with eyes gleaming like a predator that had spotted its prey, openly mocking her.

Wow. What a personality.

Isn’t Madam Olivia older? Is it really okay to behave like that in front of strangers?

While I was internally horrified, Everly Gremwat noticed my gaze and—like Henry Jekyll from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—instantly put on a gentle, elegant smile and spoke to me.

“Oh my, and who might you be? Ohoho, aren’t you the Lady of Halbern? We met at the imperial ball—do you remember me?”

Her excessive familiarity instantly raised my guard. And on top of that, casual speech slipped in so naturally?

When I raised an eyebrow and looked at her, Everly laughed softly.

“Ohohoho. I suppose you don’t remember. Poor memory, perhaps?”

I wasn’t answering because I was dumbfounded.

Apparently unaware that her likability was plummeting in real time, Everly didn’t stop there.

“Carolyn, greet her too. You’re the same age, after all.”

“Hello, Lady Arellin. We met in the lounge at the ball—though you probably don’t remember, right?”

“You’re the same age, so you should get along~! Be friends, friends.”

Excuse me, who are you to interfere with my personal relationships?

“Oh my, this is such a nice spot. You can see everyone from here~.”

As she spoke, she smoothly inserted herself at our table—clearly not her first time pulling a stunt like this.

“Madam, your assigned seat—”

“Oh, Elder Sister, what’s the harm between us? We didn’t even get to talk much last time, so why don’t we take this chance to really chat? And Lady Arellin can play with my daughter too. Hohoho.”

“Even so, ignoring the hostess’s arrangements like this is—”

“Oh, honestly. This is something we can be flexible about. And do you know where the seat Countess Razrael gave me was? Such a lowly—”

Calling her “Elder Sister” while constantly disrespecting Olivia, and showing not even the minimum courtesy to me—the Lady of Halbern and sole heir—left a very bad taste in my mouth.

She was really testing the social stamina I’d scraped together just to come out today.

Did I have any reason to put up with this?

Nope. None.

Scrape.

As I abruptly stood up, the gazes of the three of them turned toward me.

No— not just them. Even the ladies seated at other tables, who had been subtly eavesdropping, turned their attention my way. Practically everyone in the garden was watching me.

I briefly considered scolding Everly and her daughter and kicking them out, but I had a better idea.

“It’s noisy around here.”

If I ignore you, what exactly can you do about it?

I glanced once at the stunned Countess Gremwat and her daughter, then turned my gaze to Madam Olivia.

“Madam Olivia. Let’s change seats.”

* * *

Once, my father had said this to me:

“Now that you’ve debuted in high society, people won’t leave you alone wherever you go. They’ll probably harass you relentlessly. They might even take secret photos and plaster them across the front page of the newspaper. And since my daughter is shy, cute, and kind, you’ll probably just endure it all without saying a word, right?”

“I’m not that bad.”

“That’s why this father of yours has something to say to his newly debuted daughter.”

What he wanted to tell me was this:

“No matter what it is—if something annoying happens, don’t endure it. Just do whatever you want.”

I’d expected him to say something about maintaining decorum and dignity. Instead, he told me not to care if my image got ruined or my reputation hit rock bottom—just do what I wanted.

Naturally, I questioned him.

“What if people start spreading rumors that I have a bad personality?”

“Wouldn’t that just be the truth?”

“What if everyone badmouths me?”

“Is that a problem?”

My father smiled confidently.

If you asked whether it was a problem, then no, it really wasn’t—but still…

It felt strange.

“…Why are you raising me to be so spoiled?”

“Because I want to love you.”

Holding out a blank check that said I could do whatever I wanted, my father looked at me fondly.

“So never endure it.”

“What if I cause a huge scandal?”

“Even if you do, it’s fine.”

“Why?”

“Because your dad has money and power.”

It was his way of saying that Halbern’s authority would protect me, so I didn’t need to endure anything.

And thanks to being raised so gently, I was prepared to be labeled as a “rude socialite brat” for acting however I pleased even at a gathering like this—but then!

“Lady of Halbern, would you like some more tea?”

“My lady, this one too. It’s a refreshing blend of rosemary and yuzu—please try it.”

“Would you like another scone?”

For some reason, every lady and young noblewoman was being incredibly kind to me.

What?

“Ohoho, thank you so much, Lady of Halbern.”

Even though we’d changed seats on our own, Countess Razrael came over again to greet me personally.

Seriously—what is going on?

I wondered if it was because of Madam Olivia, but she had blended so seamlessly into the background that her presence felt faint, so that didn’t seem right.

“This is delicious.”

“Shall I give you more?”

“…Thank you.”

“Oh, not at all. It’s nothing. Hohoho.”

Countess Maximilian, who was famous in the capital for running a tea house, personally blended tea on the spot and handed it to me.

Wow. This is really good.

“Look at how well she eats—she’s so cute.”

“My daughter is the same age, but how can they be so different?”

Being praised for eating well at this age… At this rate, it felt like I’d get compliments just for breathing.

I had no idea why everyone was speaking so positively about me.

Well, it was better than hate comments.

As I sat there confused, Baroness Sebaro at our table kindly explained.

“They’re grateful to you, Lady of Halbern.”

“To me?”

“The only people who can suppress those overbearing Gremwat daughters-in-law are duchesses—and none of the three are present today.”

“Oh.”

“They weren’t like this before, but lately it’s been unbearable…”

“So that rumor really is true?”

“That they’re strutting around saying they’ll both become duchesses soon?”

The ladies immediately fell into their own gossip.

So this was high society?

Even with Olivia sitting right there, the gossip about Gremwat never stopped. Occasionally, a few ladies would flash awkward smiles at Olivia, but she was treated almost like an outsider.

She just returned to her natal family—she didn’t divorce and get struck from the registry, did she?

Why was everyone treating Olivia like she wasn’t part of Gremwat?

Even more strangely, Olivia didn’t protest or object—she quietly accepted it all. Which only made people look down on her more…

“Ah.”

So this was why my father told me not to endure things?

I had just reached enlightenment.

Still, the current atmosphere of openly badmouthing Gremwat was entirely Everly Gremwat’s own karma.

After the tea party had fully begun, I glanced toward a certain table that was being blatantly ostracized.

“…?”

Suddenly, I sensed the scent of mana.

It was so faint that I almost thought I’d imagined it—mana with such a shallow presence that no one but me would notice it.

I thought I was the only mage here?