The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 368

While Valer and Arellin were trapped inside the crystal core, it naturally fell to Mehen to deal with all the aftermath.

“Haha. Yeah. Someone has to do the work.”

Mehen processed documents with an expression he couldn’t even tell was laughter or tears.

When the magic storm finally calmed down after Arellin entered the crystal, Mehen wanted to stay there like Pession had.
But he soon realized there was nothing he could do at that place.

In the end, Mehen chose to return to the Halbern estate.

“Ha… damn it…”

What awaited Mehen upon his return was a mountain of documents that required only his final approval.

Even though his mind was in chaos because of the missing Arellin and that cursed Valer, Mehen’s work speed was monstrous.
The staff who had been waiting only for him shed tears of joy.

“As expected of Lord Mehen.”

“Our god… Mehen….”

As Halbern’s many stalled businesses began running smoothly again, those who depended on them cheered.
Meanwhile, Mehen was seriously feeling the urge to retire for the first time in a while.

That was because even after finishing documents piled high enough to climb, there was still the El Sionel side left.

‘Maybe I really should submit my resignation.’

The talents Mehen had nurtured were doing well and easing his burden, but still, everything in Halbern only moved when Mehen touched it.

On top of that, while handling all this work, Mehen was receiving updates about the crystal core containing Arellin through a private communication device.

—There have been no changes today either.

“I see. Good work. Contact me immediately if anything changes.”

Normally, he would have asked more questions about the crystal’s condition.
But today, there was an important schedule he could no longer delay.

It was the long-awaited day when Zilo would return to the Gremwart Ducal Estate.

Looking up at the night sky, now completely dark, Mehen murmured,

“So it’s finally today.”

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

 

The Gremwart Ducal Estate.

After the late Duke Gregory suffered a tragic accident at the Gairen ruins, and the Duchess’s health worsened, the estate had always felt bleak and gloomy.

Breaking the silence of the deep night, a single man appeared.

The butler, who had managed the estate for generations, lost his composure the moment he saw him and shouted,

“Young Master Zilo—!”

The eldest son, believed to be dead, had returned alive.

It was shocking news, but with a massive disaster happening in the capital at the same time, Zilo quietly reclaimed his position while only those who knew of his survival paid attention.

“How could someone who died come back alive?”

“Isn’t he an impostor pretending to be Zilo?”

Many suspicions were directed at him.

Zilo explained simply.

“I didn’t die. I survived an assassination attempt, but lost my memory because of it. I only recently recovered it. I’m just glad I returned while my mother is still alive.”

As for his identity, the Duchess of Gremwart herself confirmed it.

“He… he really is my son….”

The sobbing Duchess, Halbern’s endorsement, and finally, the evidence Zilo presented convinced everyone at once.

“I met Father once before he passed away. I didn’t understand why he gave me this back then, but now I do.”

The long-missing Gremwart family signet ring.

No one doubted Zilo anymore.

Except for two people.

The younger brothers who had tried to kill him.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

“This can’t be happening! This is impossible!”

The second son, Jarve, was terrified by the impossible reality.

He had definitely killed him.
He had confirmed his death.
Yet his older brother had returned alive!

At first, he thought it was just a con artist.
But after meeting Zilo face to face, he realized—

It really was the brother he and his sibling had ordered killed.

Jarve panicked completely and locked himself in his room.
When his wife finally went in, she found him collapsed, coughing up blood.

Doctors were urgently summoned and examined Jarve thoroughly, but they couldn’t determine the cause.

Not long after, several retainers and associates who supported Jarve collapsed with the same symptoms, quietly causing a stir in high society.

Some whispered that a mysterious “medicine” Jarve had shared only with his allies had caused side effects—but it remained speculation.

Meanwhile, the third son, Reton, shaken by guilt, couldn’t endure it any longer.
He confessed his crimes and was immediately arrested by the Imperial Investigation Unit.

Thus, everything belonging to Gremwart ultimately became Zilo’s.

And all the subtle arrangements Mehen had made under Halbern’s name were neatly concluded.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

Zilo sat deep in thought in the office of the Gremwart estate, now fully his.

‘Honestly, I thought this would be difficult.’

He had given up on ever returning to this place, yet once he made up his mind, everything proceeded as if it had already been prepared.

Zilo knew well that Mehen had been behind all of it.

And that without Arellin, he would never have received that help.

Just then—

“Zilo….”

With a soft knock, the door opened and Olivia stepped inside.

“Olivia.”

They were simply grateful that the other was alive.
More than becoming Duke and Duchess, being together at this moment mattered most.

“When Lady Arellin returns, we must thank her properly. And His Highness the Crown Prince as well…”

“Yes. Of course. So far, we’ve only thanked Lord Mehen.”

“Lady Arellin… she’s safe, right?”

Olivia asked anxiously.

Zilo replied,

“She will be. I’m sure of it.”

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

When Pession arrived at the ruins where the crystal core had once stood—now completely empty—he couldn’t accept reality at first.

‘Why isn’t Arellin here?’

He wandered the ruins in a daze for a long time, but Arellin was nowhere to be found.

“Ha… I must’ve missed her, right? There’s no way Arellin wouldn’t be here.”

About ten hours after the crystal disappeared, reality finally sank in.

He had believed that once morning came, the fruitless overnight search would bear results.

But—

“We found nothing.”

“There were no noticeable differences or changes compared to before.”

The knights reported carefully, watching Pession’s reaction.

But Pession, holding his head, was lost in thought, so Harun dismissed them.

As soon as they left, Pession muttered,

“This makes no sense. Does she hate me? Arellin… she couldn’t have died.”

His voice trembled violently.

What if—just what if—Arellin really was dead?

Then what was he supposed to do?

Seeing Pession unable to speak under the weight of his thoughts, Harun wore a grim expression as well.

This wasn’t something that could simply be dismissed as imagination.

Just then, Mehen, who had received the news at dawn, arrived.

“Arellin hasn’t been found? What does that mean?”

The disappearance of the crystal core—once visible from anywhere within fifty kilometers—wasn’t what troubled Mehen.

All he could see was Arellin’s back as she ran off to save her father.

“Mehen… is Arellin playing a prank?”

“Well, Valer might do something like that, but I don’t think Arellin would.”

“I should’ve followed her.”

Mehen comforted Pession, who regretted not following Arellin even knowing it was a path to death—but inwardly, he felt the same.

Waiting around like this only shortened one’s lifespan.

“Let’s contact the Mage Tower first. No one may know what happened, but we can’t just sit still.”

Using all their connections and information, Pession and Mehen searched the entire capital, suspecting she might have been randomly displaced somewhere.

But they found nothing.

“…Still nothing.”

After nearly a full day of despair—

Beep—.

Mehen frowned when his neglected personal communicator suddenly activated.

‘Very few people know this device’s magic code.’

He tilted his head and activated it.

Light filled the screen, revealing the caller.

It was Valer.

“You bastard! What the hell is going on?!”