The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 352

Empress Ageni was entrusted with an important mission by Pession.

I have to help Pession.

This dependable son of hers had never been bad at anything since childhood, and even after growing up, aside from issues related to his first love, he was perfect—so there had rarely been anything Empress Ageni needed to help with.

But just last night—

That very Pession had seriously and gravely asked for her help.

“Mother, I want to help Arellin, but I have too much work. Please help me.”

Empress Ageni decided to actively help Pession.

After sending Emperor Edward, who complained the moment he woke up that he didn’t want to work, off to his duties, Empress Ageni gave an order to the chief attendant.

“Chief attendant, bring back all agendas and documents His Majesty delegated to the Crown Prince.”

“…….”

The chief attendant glanced nervously at Emperor Edward. Edward simply stuck his lips out, his face full of dissatisfaction.

Reconfirming the power hierarchy between the two in an instant, the chief attendant bowed politely and respectfully to Empress Ageni, then exited the room.

Once they were alone, Emperor Edward immediately started whining.

“Sis, Pession is handling things just fine on his own. Why do I have to go back to doing all the work…….”

“Ed. You’re the Emperor right now.”

“…….”

With an elegant smile, Empress Ageni delivered a light but pointed remark.

“I don’t like men who neglect their responsibilities.”

“Ghk.”

“Do you want a divorce?”

“Ghhhk.”

Emperor Edward’s defeat.

As punishment for slacking off all this time, Emperor Edward had to take on even Pession’s workload. Meanwhile, Empress Ageni stood right beside him, watching him work while silently cheering for her son.

My son, fighting!

 

 

****

 

 

Madam Olivia’s kidnapping was extremely strange.

“Kidnapped in broad daylight on a main street, and no one saw anything?”

And it wasn’t even a slum—it was a high-end commercial district.

“The fact that she was on her way because Camilla, the second son of Grimwart’s wife, summoned her is suspicious, but there’s no evidence connecting that to the kidnapping.”

On top of that, the disappearance of the Imperial investigation team.

As if that weren’t enough, Zilo vanished without a trace near the slums—and Mehen disappeared in the same area.

“There’s no common thread.”

I had even gone there myself, but found no traces of mana at all.

One of the twins scratched his head.

“Could this be the work of some international crime organization? But didn’t Pession wipe out part of them when he raided the black market last time?”

“I have no idea what they did to leave absolutely no traces. No mana residue either.”

Harun wore a troubled expression, while Pession seemed deep in thought all by himself.

“In cases this baffling, blaming abilities or magic is usually correct.”

And there was one more piece of information I knew that they didn’t.

Mage Tower branches all over the world were being attacked at random.

Honestly, the Mage Tower’s military strength rivaled that of the Albret Empire itself—who would dare do something like that?

The answer was obvious.

And I had a good idea of the method they were using as well.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

Mehen opened his eyes late.

Only after looking around did he realize that this place was not “reality.”

This “prison” he was trapped in looked, at first glance, like a remodeled old mansion.

There were many others imprisoned besides him, all collapsed after being drugged.

Some had lost limbs or been grotesquely altered. Others had completely lost their minds, muttering nonsense.

“Heehee… we’re all… going to be eaten… heeheehee.”

But what truly put Mehen on edge wasn’t the atmosphere—it was the pitch-black darkness spread throughout the space.

The quietly swirling, wavering darkness, and the bizarre phenomenon of being able to see clearly despite the absence of light—there was no way this was reality.

Mehen naturally deduced where he was.

So this is the Reverse World.

As a longtime retainer of Halbern, and having picked up bits of information from Valer’s words, Mehen knew enough about the Reverse World to understand just how dangerous it was.

They said the most dangerous Reverse Worlds were the ones that didn’t attack visitors indiscriminately.

Because such worlds had an owner.

Valer, you bastard—why are you never around when I need you?!

Just as Mehen was despairing, holding his head and wondering how to escape this Reverse World that seemed to have an owner—given that he hadn’t been attacked yet—

Suddenly, one side of the prison grew noisy. Figures in black robes rushed over, surrounding something and trembling with excitement.

“O—ohhh.”

“Ooooooh.”

What is it?

Mehen pressed his face to the bars and looked closely. The shape of what they were surrounding was familiar.

Wait— that’s Sir Zilo.

A chilling premonition ran down his spine.

He desperately hoped they wouldn’t recognize that face—

“The Duke of Grimwart has fulfilled his will.”

Unfortunately, it seemed they knew Zilo’s face very well.

“Oh, praise him! Revere him! Our ideal has been realized!”

“This is an entirely unexpected gain!”

“Was the Duke of Grimwart’s failure at the Gairen ruins not truly a failure? Did the Sky Tower hide it? To think the Duke achieved such a feat!”

The black-robed figures all shuddered in unison.

“A resurrected one! A human who truly returned from death!”

“Proof of divinity—proof that a new god can be born in this world!”

“We weren’t wrong. We were right!”

Filled with joy, the black robes laughed loudly.

“Did the Black Star know? Is that why he ordered that woman to be kidnapped?”

“What was her name again? Anyway, she was Zilo’s wife, right?”

“It’s good we kept her alive. She’s useful. If we use her, even this resurrected one will cooperate with the ‘experiment.’”

Normally they would have spoken quietly, but blinded by this unexpected prize, they raised their voices.

Thanks to that, Mehen gained a great deal of information.

“If we study this sample, we can create a true resurrection serum! We can become immortals too! Hahahaha!”

“Let’s hand him over to the ‘Duke.’ The ‘Duke’ will research him.”

“I already called the ‘Duke’! He’ll be here soon!”

Orders from the Black Star. Kidnapping.

The Duke. Resurrection serum. Immortality.

Mehen’s sharp mind rapidly pieced everything together.

Black robes. Their distinctive emblem.

According to classified information, they were dark mages opposed to the Mage Tower—and the owner of this Reverse World was likely an entity known as the Black Star.

And that Black Star must have ordered Madam Olivia’s kidnapping.

But why?

As Mehen considered the complicated Grimwart succession, then dismissed the idea that an entity powerful enough to own a Reverse World would care about such things, his eyes landed on Zilo.

“Ah.”

The Duke. Resurrection serum. Immortality.

It made sense if Zilo had been the target from the beginning.

Damn it, this is the worst-case scenario in every possible way. What am I supposed to do?

Even knowing it was pointless, Mehen grimaced and tried to contact Valer through his personal communicator.

Sir Zilo, wake up! You’re about to become a test subject!

No matter how hard he pushed his reputedly sharp brain, he saw no hope of escape.

Mehen did have some Halbern-family artifacts and relics on him personally, but in a place so completely cut off from reality, they were nearly useless.

What should he do?

Just as Mehen continued to rack his brain, one side of the area grew noisy again, and an unexpected figure walked down the corridor.

“Oh, Duke! Welcome. A very valuable test subject has arrived—one that will bring tremendous progress to your research.”

The person they called “the Duke.”

When Mehen naturally turned his gaze, he unconsciously stopped breathing in shock.

No—why is that person here?

 

 

 

****

 

 

Wanting to clear away at least one thing that would upset his daughter once she woke up, Valer headed for the Mage Tower.

Not all memories from the countless previous loops were intact, but even so, there was one thing Valer was certain of.

The Mage Tower always fell first.

That was inevitable, because the planetary-scale mana stabilization barrier created by Mage Towers and Sky Towers across the world both restricted the domains of all immortals and prevented the Reverse World from spilling into reality.

Well, the grand mage’s unstable mental state didn’t help either.

In any case, Valer ended up doing mercenary work he was never meant for. Thanks to that, many Mage Towers that had been on the brink of collapse managed to defend themselves successfully.

“Thank you, Grand Duke Halbern. Thanks to you, we survived.”

“You are our benefactor!”

“We’ll provide Mage Tower supplies at a 50% discount from now on!”

The mages he helped rattled off benefit after benefit, but Valer only thought, Mehen would like hearing this.

After all, he hadn’t helped because he was fond of the Mage Tower.

It was only after finishing a worldwide tour with a senior mage capable of warp magic that Valer finally noticed those messages.

The traces of Mehen contacting him frantically.

Wondering what was going on, Valer tried contacting Mehen—but Mehen didn’t answer.

Thinking that wasn’t like him, Valer returned to the Halbern estate.

“……? Huh? Dad, why are you only getting back now?”

Valer found Arellin and Pession, fully armed and about to head out.

Valer’s gaze shifted to Pession’s hand resting on Arellin’s shoulder.

“Take your hand off.”