The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health – Chapter 373

Author: Asternkm

Why is he here?

I frowned, then stopped without realizing it.

“…….”

Wow, he’s handsome.

I thought I’d gotten used to good-looking people by now, but this was beauty on a whole different level.

Jet-black hair fell all the way down, with a few loose strands hanging in front, creating a decadent, almost dangerous atmosphere.

The red eyes that met mine shone like a bottomless abyss, making it feel as if they could pierce straight through someone’s soul just by looking.

‘What am I supposed to say…….’

It feels like I’m under some kind of mental attack.

I completely forgot that I’d been angry and openly admired his looks before belatedly greeting him.

“Hello?”

Nod.

The man replied with a light nod of his head and looked at me with complicated eyes.

“You keep coming here.”

Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know why I keep coming here either.

“…….”

Silence fell again.

But it was strange. Normally, being alone with a stranger like this should be super uncomfortable, but for some reason, it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. If anything……

“You don’t seem to be hurt.”

“Huh? No, I am hurt. I even got side effects. It’s just because this is a dream—if it were reality, I’ve gotten way younger!”

Maybe all the stress I’d been holding in finally burst out, because I started complaining without realizing it.

The man’s eyes narrowed. For a moment, my heart—well-trained by Pession and Dad—ached, and it felt like more than just him being handsome.

Then what is it?

Did I… fall for him?

‘But I already have Pession…….’

And unfortunately, while the man was very handsome, he wasn’t my type.

Too bad.

I don’t know what he read from my eyes, but the man spoke flatly.

“Sorry, but I already belong to someone.”

“What are you talking about? I belong to someone too, you know?”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah, it is.”

What? We’re oddly on the same wavelength?

Just as I was raising my evaluation of him, the man carefully examined my condition and spoke.

“That level is normal.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes.”

That’s it?

“Don’t you have anything else to say?”

“If you’d been unlucky, you would have died.”

“I already know that…….”

The man let out a sigh.

Then, for the first time, he spoke as if giving advice.

“Be careful. Don’t stand out.”

“?”

Is that a warning not to cause trouble?

But the expression on his face was so serious, and his voice so lonely, that I nodded without realizing it.

Still, another thought came to mind.

“Um, but have you seen a slime that used to live around here?”

Why is he looking at me like that?

“I don’t know.”

I see.

As I drooped my head in disappointment, I felt the figure in front of me slowly fade away.

“Where did you go?”

Am I alone again?

In this bleak place?

As I sank into sadness, I felt something tug on my clothes.

“Slime, I missed you!”

Boing.

For some reason, the slime was even more rude and annoyed than before.

“You’re perfectly suited to being rude. Stay that way forever.”

Boing?

I grabbed it and hugged it tight.

But the way the slime wriggled made it feel like it was scolding me, asking why I kept coming here.

“It’s not like I come here because I want to.”

Boing.

“Huh? This isn’t a place living people should come to? Then where is this?”

The slime was about to answer, when suddenly the sky rippled.

“……?”

The sky tore open as if someone had ripped it apart, a horizontal line forming as something opened its eyes.

No, that’s……

‘A dragon?’

What did I just see?

Frozen by the overwhelming sight, I sat there blankly. The slime in my arms let out a deep sigh.

“?”

A slime… sighing?

As I blinked, unable to keep up—

—Go back.

“?”

A voice echoed directly inside my head.

At that moment, my vision went dark.

****

“Ah……”

I opened my eyes, and a familiar—no, unfamiliar—Lemuren ceiling came into view.

Mm, still Lemuren.

Then Pession suddenly popped his face into my vision.

“Arel, you’re awake? You slept really well.”

Seeing Pession smiling brightly made reality rush back all at once.

“Yeah. This is reali’y.”

“?”

The dream had been so vivid that I couldn’t clearly tell dream from reality. I clenched and opened my hand to ground myself, and a tiny child’s hand went clap clap.

Damn it. This feels more like a dream.

“Arel, what’s wrong? Are you hungry? Want some food?”

Pession smiled sweetly and bounced me gently. My mood sank even further.

“You’re really dead.”

“Haha. If it’s Arel’s hands, I’d be happy to die.”

Pession happily rubbed his face against my cheek. He’d always been clingy, but after I got younger, he just wouldn’t let go at all.

As I pushed his face away with all my strength, Dad walked into the room.

“Our daughter’s awake? You slept well.”

“How little sleep did you let her get for her to sleep like that?”

“Hey, stop hitting me. It’s not like I didn’t let her sleep!”

“No, it’s all your fault.”

Mehen used a magic scroll to smack Dad on the back. I wondered if it was really okay to use something that expensive for that.

‘Well, she’s a mage’s daughter, so maybe it’s fine?’

If needed, I could just make more.

As I quietly cheered Mom on, Pession suddenly said,

“The twins contacted us while you were sleeping.”

“?”

Pession grinned and sneakily reached out to squish my soft cheek again.

“They were all jealous.”

“Of what.”

“They said you getting younger is cute.”

“…….”

Wait—did he show them?

This miserable state of mine?!

No, right?

“I did show them.”

I instinctively smacked Pession on the back, then teared up because my hand hurt.

“Ow ow ow.”

Why is this guy so sturdy?

I couldn’t just let it go, though. I borrowed a magic scroll from Mehen and smacked Pession’s back instead.

“How could you tell them whatever you want!”

“But I wanted to brag. You’re so cute.”

“You little punk!”

“Hey, Arel, your hand will hurt!”

On one side, Dad and Mehen were arguing. On the other, Pession and I were fighting. The room was turning into chaos when—

Bang!

“Grand Duke of Halbern! This is serious! Right now—”

The cardinal burst into the room, then stopped mid-sentence after seeing the situation.

What? Why did he stop?

“What is it? Why’d you stop talking? Right now, what?”

“Ah.”

Snapping back to his senses at Dad’s perfectly matching question, the cardinal rushed in with a grave expression.

“The Northern Castle wall has collapsed.”

……?

What just collapsed?

****

In theory, the Northern Castle walls were designed in the optimal shape to block the monsters of the bottomless abyss.

Kwooooom!

“Hahaha! Break! Break apart!”

In other words, the walls wouldn’t have collapsed—if black mages hadn’t suddenly appeared and started using monsters as siege weapons.

“Damn it, who are those bastards? And where did Brother Quayen go now?!”

Thanks to his ability to sense allies’ positions, Jaren knew better than anyone just how badly the situation was turning.

If there was any good news—

Kwooooom!
Crash!

Many monsters were crushed to death by the massive chunks of stone falling as the wall collapsed.

But even more monsters were pouring out of the abyss, as if being vomited up.

“It’s okay! Only the outermost wall fell! The Northern Castle has twelve walls—eleven still remain! The castle hasn’t fallen! Everyone, stay strong!”

Gasping for breath, Jaren desperately tried to force his sluggish mind to think.

All of this happened suddenly.

‘I should’ve known something was wrong when Brother Quayen said Lady Chloe went into the abyss!’

As soon as night fell, unknown waves of magic surged from the abyss, and thirty minutes later, a monster wave began.

‘This is absolutely not normal.’

Jaren blasted away thousands of charging orc warriors, but it was only for a moment. Watching the monsters fill the gaps like water rushing back after being cut by a blade, Jaren realized—

‘Today’s my death day.’

You never appreciated the peace of the past.

As he tightened his grip on his sword, thinking that even the days when he felt left out of the capital’s disasters had been better—

Rumble rumble rumble.

With a massive magical surge, the very ground shook like an earthquake.

“Something else is happening now?!”

That was when it appeared.

Far in the sky, something like a gigantic castle floated up, completely covering the heavens.

An overwhelming pressure that crushed the body.

A presence so immense that lesser beings were instinctively overpowered.

Then, its elegant form was revealed.

Beautiful scales streaked with lightning, enormous wings and a body large enough to cover the entire north.