The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 341

After I scolded Dad, he sulked.

Clicking my tongue, I looked at the empty spot where he’d been standing before storming off in a huff.

“When is my dad ever going to grow up?”

“Indeed,”

Mehen agreed, looking especially worn out.

“When I was little, he didn’t mind us hanging out like that. So why is he suddenly picking on Pession now?”

At my complaining, Mehen’s expression shifted oddly.

“There’s something that needs correcting.”

“What is it?”

“He simply didn’t show it in front of you, but he’s always been like that.”

“What?”

“He didn’t like him even back then.”

I couldn’t understand it.

What was wrong with Pession?

“What about him does he dislike so much?”

Mehen looked at me as if asking whether I really didn’t know.

I really didn’t.

“Is it hard to explain? Should I just ask Dad directly?”

For some reason, Dad was currently grabbing the Duke of Idikels and harassing him.

The poor duke, suffering under Dad’s tyranny, cast us a pitiful look.

Beside them, the Duke of Spherom was busily hanging all sorts of things on Dad—probably new products. Looks like he was aiming for free promotion.

‘Duke Spherom? No matter what, using someone else’s dad as a free advertising board is a bit unethical, don’t you think?’

Pay properly and ask nicely!

Also, for the sake of the Duke of Idikels, who was visibly growing more haggard by the second, I called out to Dad.

“Dad! Come here!”

We were quite a distance apart, but for Dad, this was nothing.

See? He pretended not to hear, but still came right over.

“Did you call me, my dear?”

I stared straight at Dad, who returned looking utterly innocent.

“You heard everything, didn’t you? Answer me. What exactly do you dislike about Pession?”

Valer’s expression immediately soured.

Cornered, his bad habits came out.

Again—again he was trying to solve things with his looks.

“Answer.”

At my insistence, Dad put on a forlorn expression—so heartbreakingly pitiful anyone would feel sorry for him.

But oddly enough, Dad’s beauty attack worked somewhere else entirely.

The ladies who had been watching in silence nearly fainted.

“Your Grace, why do you look so sorrowful? Are you recalling a tragic past?”

What tragic past?

“What could they possibly be discussing? It must be something of great importance to the future of the nation.”

Well… the nation was involved.

“Oh, Your Grace, I wish I could bear the burden you carry.”

Ah—please don’t.

Before the ladies could say anything worse, I pressed Dad again.

“Why aren’t you answering? Are you staging a protest right now?”

“……”

This time, I had no intention of letting things slide like before. We were settling this properly.

As I crossed my arms and interrogated him sternly, Mehen clicked her tongue and defended Dad instead.

“He’s probably wondering how much he can say without damaging his own image while still being honest.”

“Is that true?”

Dad didn’t answer, but since he didn’t deny it either, that seemed to be the case.

As expected of Mehen—truly my mom.

“Just be honest. I already know you’re the worst, Dad. Are you really going to put on airs with me now?”

“When you were little……”

Valer’s violet eyes darkened, deepening into an almost blackish purple.

“I was scared of you too.”

“……!”

“So I thought it might be fine if there was someone by your side, someone who would take care of you. That wasn’t something I could do.”

Dad ran a hand through his well-kept hair. His expression revealed tangled emotions, yet somehow looked relieved as well.

“Sure, the brat was cheeky toward me—but he treated you well.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

Maybe because I could tell how embarrassed and shy Dad was right now.

“And then……”

Dad’s throat bobbed slowly as he struggled to continue.

“You lacked confidence, didn’t you?”

I finished the sentence for him.

Our eyes met—his returned to their usual violet.

After all the time we’d spent together, after seeing his past in the ruins, I understood Dad better now.

“You thought if you competed with Pession, you’d lose, didn’t you?”

Dad scowled.

“My daughter’s impossible to fool now.”

Honestly……

“Dad, are you an idiot?”

Even if most of my strongest memories were with Pession, Dad was just as precious to me.

Still… this feeling wasn’t bad.

The father who had once felt like a doll that had given up on life now felt a little more human.

Then Mehen, who had been listening the whole time, neatly summarized.

“So, Valer thought it was fine for Crown Prince Pession to stay by Arell’s side while he was off wandering, but after returning so late, he started disliking the idea of losing his daughter entirely. Is that correct?”

Mehen asked again,

“Are you a child?”

Dad, gentle only with me and no one else, replied playfully with a glint in his eyes.

“My dear, men are children their whole lives.”

“Then am I not a man?”

“You’re my dear.”

Dad earned himself another smack from Mehen.

It was summer.

 

 

****

 

 

 

“—Summer? Isn’t it winter now?”

Through the communication orb, Pession spoke flatly.

“Sion, did you know? A ninth-circle mage can turn winter into summer.”

“……”

Pession fell silent.

The look in his eyes—please don’t do that—made me laugh.

“Yeah, I won’t. That’d just give you more work. We can’t even meet because you’re so busy, which is why we’re video-calling. I wouldn’t do that.”

“…Whew. That’s a relief.”

Seeing him relax made me want to tease him more, but……

I should hold back.

‘His face looks half as small as before.’

“Is it really that hard?”

“No, I’m fine. Gairen’s situation is all settled now, the Shugra envoy has been handed off to subordinates, and the rest is just the usual work.”

“Mmm, I see.”

For a moment, I wanted to ask what he thought about Chloe—but I kept my mouth shut. Just imagining Pession and Chloe being involved made me uncomfortable.

Especially now, when something about Chloe felt off.

I changed the subject.

“Are you eating properly?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“What about exercise?”

“……”

“You’re sleeping well, right?”

“……”

“You stayed up all night again?”

Pession quietly avoided my gaze. We weren’t related by blood at all, yet he acted just like Dad.

“Hey. I told you to eat properly and get enough sleep, didn’t I? Living so irregularly is bad for your health! From now on, if you’re going to pull an all-nighter, get my permission first. Got it?”

It felt like our roles had reversed from when we were younger.

Maybe that’s why Pession replied stiffly.

“I’m healthy.”

“I know. I just wanted to try saying that line.”

I hated hearing it when it was said to me—but saying it myself was oddly fun. So this is why people nag.

“Arell, no one nags because it’s fun……”

“Standing right here.”

At my protest, Pession let out a small laugh.

Seeing his stiff expression relax even a little was nice.

“Right, right. Oh—what’s going on with your master?”

“Ah, that.”

Chloe had pushed it aside for a few days, but my master collapsing was something serious that needed resolving soon.

‘The quest, too.’

Even if it didn’t look like it, I was searching for answers together with the mages of the Sky Tower.

‘But ninth-circle mages can’t even enter the barrier, and they don’t know my master’s true identity, so there’s no real communication.’

On top of that, every mage tower in the world was in chaos, leaving everyone busy.

With Mehen’s help, I did find another approach, but—

“In exchange for helping the professors at Laurent Academy decipher the steles of the Grand Ruins, we received historical records about the ‘First Star’ and the ‘Archmage’……”

I hit a wall.

‘There’s just too much.’

Whatever my master had been doing, the traces the “Archmage” left across the world were overwhelming.

The First Star?

That was the opposite problem—there was almost no information at all.

“Honestly, I feel lost.”

There was nowhere left to ask for help.

That was when Pession, who had been listening quietly, offered a new idea.

“Then… how about asking the elves?”

Huh?