The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health – Chapter 343

Author: Asternkm

The Gremwart estate turned grim in an instant.

The second son, Jarve, who had never doubted that today would be the day he became the Duke of Gremwart, lost his temper and grabbed Count Sillow by the collar.

“You stole it, didn’t you?!”

“That’s impossible. The Sillow family is only responsible for notarization and safekeeping of the sealed box. We cannot open it on our own.”

“Then why did a perfectly fine will disappear?! Didn’t you mess with it?!”

“We are deeply regretful about this situation as well—”

“So it was you!”

Jarve shouted and raised his fist.

“Enough.”

A cool, low voice cut between them.

“That’s far enough.”

Grand Duke Halbern, Valer, who had happily attended the will-opening ceremony so as not to miss an interesting spectacle, lightly caught Jarve’s raised fist.

“There was no abnormality in the seal of the box. Count Sillow’s innocence is guaranteed by Halbern.”

“!”

The air trembled for a moment.

Valer hadn’t done anything special, yet simply standing there, he drew all eyes to himself and effortlessly dominated the atmosphere.

Crushed by the pressure weighing down on him, Jarve could no longer argue. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he stepped back.

It was fear—fear carved deep into his instincts.

“……The count will have to take responsibility for this situation.”

“We will do everything in our power to uncover the truth.”

In contrast to Jarve grinding his teeth, the eyes of the third son, Leton, who had looked completely lifeless throughout the ceremony, slowly regained their light.

‘What kind of unexpected stroke of luck is this?’

He’d been on the verge of losing the ducal seat and being purged by his brother Jarve—yet the will had vanished. To Leton, this was nothing short of a once-in-a-lifetime reversal.

‘How should I use this opportunity?’

The nobles who had attended as witnesses to the will murmured among themselves.

“If there’s no will, how does inheritance work?”

“Imperial law applies.”

“Primogeniture. Or the one who holds the family seal inherits.”

The problem was that this codified law did not recognize the second son as the eldest if the deceased first son had an heir.

And inconveniently for Jarve, the one protecting “the son of Gremwart’s firstborn”—the person most obstructing his inheritance—was Halbern.

“This is getting interesting.”

Jarve flinched.

Valer met his gaze and smiled gently, eyes curving.

“Do your best.”

It was a smile that could charm anyone at a glance.

But Jarve trembled when he saw it.

****

With the loss of the will likely to prolong the Gremwart family’s turmoil, the other dukes left the estate wearing complicated expressions.

The political situation was already unstable—this would only make domestic affairs even worse.

Inside the returning carriage, Mehen’s expression wasn’t much different from theirs.

“What on earth is going on? How could the will just disappear?”

No one had foreseen the loss of the will. But unlike the troubled Mehen, Valer kept smiling.

“My lord, is this really a time to be smiling?”

“Yes.”

“What’s so amusing in a situation like this? Please, enlighten me.”

“Want to know?”

The color of Valer’s eyes darkened with a cynical gleam.

“Mehen, if you hated your children enough to want them dead, what would you do?”

“What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden?”

“Give them hope—then snatch it away. The old man had a nasty personality.”

Valer chuckled softly.

Mehen fell silent for a moment, then stiffened.

“So you’re saying this whole situation was orchestrated by… the late Duke Gregory?”

Valer nodded.

“But why?”

“Who knows. Maybe he found it disgusting—how pathetic they were, full of nothing but greed.”

Mehen still looked confused, but Valer felt like he understood the situation well enough.

Halbern knew all the secrets—both the truth about Gremwart’s firstborn son, and the fact that the duke had been searching for ruins capable of reviving the dead.

Valer rested his chin on his hand.

After returning from Gairen, he remembered how, at the first Halbern party, Arellin had meddled.

‘She invited the dead firstborn’s wife from the Gremwart family—despite having no real connection.’

That wasn’t like Arellin.

And more importantly—

‘Mixed in among the high-circle mages… that sense of unease I felt back then was definitely—’

So it really was that firstborn son.

The old man had succeeded in the end.

A Revived One.

A being that violated the laws of the world—an existence welcomed by no one.

Valer had noticed that unnatural aura back then, but his daughter wanted the man hidden, and the revived one himself didn’t seem intent on causing chaos, so Valer had let it slide.

Above all, he thought it would be fine under the Archmage’s supervision.

But as expected, he couldn’t stop things from going in a different direction.

‘If it had been that ruin’s power… could I have revived my sister too?’

The ruin was already destroyed beyond any trace. And he himself could never regress again.

Valer clenched and unclenched his empty hand, regret surging up.

‘No… even if I could regress again, I can’t be sure I could revive her.’

If it were that simple, he would have succeeded at least once in countless past regressions.

Feeling that same sense of alienation, Valer looked down at his hand.

He, too, was an existence that had broken the laws of the world. The price of defying time was a soul that had long since ceased to be whole.

Could someone like this really be called a “normal human”?

Wasn’t he closer to those aberrations he’d once seen beneath the surface of the world?

“My lord?”

Perhaps sensing Valer’s quiet yet ominous aura, Mehen called out to him.

“Hm?”

Valer looked up and smiled as usual, but Mehen’s gaze lingered, studying him.

“Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

“No.”

As if gauging his own power, Valer clenched and released his hand. Then he slowly closed and opened his eyes and smiled gently.

“I’m fine. For now.”

It was a smile that looked like it might shatter at any moment.

****

The world froze for a moment.

[The World Tree recognizes your existence]

[The World Tree invites you into its domain]

Before I could even understand what was happening, the status window calmly explained the situation, as if telling me not to panic.

When I came to, feeling as though my consciousness had been pulled somewhere else, I was already standing in a place that was pure white in every direction.

“Ah.”

The domain of the World Tree—the sanctuary of the Sacred Tree.

I’d never been here before, yet information about this place flowed into my mind as if it had been engraved there.

But… where is the World Tree?

As I looked around, I realized it.

Everything that stretched from the ground to the sky—the enormous white forms—were the World Tree.

Looking closely, they were connecting something, and within them, entire worlds were unfolding.

It reminded me of the Mage Tower’s Infinite Archive—

Wooooong—

[Child of Infinite Possibility]

Ugh.

The overwhelming presence pouring out from the World Tree crushed my very existence. It wasn’t doing anything—it was simply being there.

‘…If a normal person saw this, they’d go insane for sure.’

Maybe it sensed my struggle.

The World Tree changed the way it spoke to me.

—I’m sorry. I was simply happy to see you.

—Child of Infinite Possibility. Please know that I never intended to harm you.

Though heavily refined, I could clearly feel its joy.

‘But why?’

“Uh… yes, I guess being happy is fine. But why did you suddenly kidnap me?”

—So that I could speak to you comfortably.

—A being as large as I am must follow many rules when interfering with the outside world. Even speaking is difficult.

So it kidnapped me for that reason?

Immortals really do operate on a different level.

“Then why am I a ‘child of infinite possibility’?”

I’d heard of singularities, but this was new.

—Because you carry infinite possibilities within you.

“Ah. I see.”

As expected.

Then the World Tree laughed.

A three-quarter beat rhythm. And separately from that, the whole world vibrated—which was not a pleasant experience at all.

This is kind of scary.

—The lawful bloodline of the Mad Hero, the final hope of the gods, and the choice born of twisted fate… such a convergence of possibilities means even I cannot help but join in.

I didn’t get the chance to ask what that meant.

The moment it finished speaking, my consciousness was expelled from the domain.

—Thank you, child of infinite possibility.

What exactly are you thanking me for?

[The World Tree has confirmed your existence and found new hope]

[The World Tree blesses you]

[The World Tree and its followers will always be cooperative and favorable toward you]

When I came to again, it was right when I’d been handed the “branch of the Sacred Tree” by the elves…

Shrrrk.

The branch of the World Tree in my hand dissolved into light and vanished.

“…….”

I mean, everything else aside—why now?