TMLOH 99

Chapter : 99

“Really. You’re the first person I’ve ever found this fascinating—so much that I can’t take my eyes off you.”

“Ah, y-yes.”

It sounded exactly like ‘You’re the first food this delicious I’ve ever eaten’.
Instead of fluttering, a chill ran down my spine.

‘How did my life end up like this?’

Why was an extra like me getting this kind of excessive attention?
I wanted to hand it all over to the heroine.

“You’re really cute.”

“?”

I didn’t even do anything. Cute, how?

The man poking my cheek met my sullen gaze, and his eyes curved gently.

“Well, it can’t be helped. They say the one who falls first, loses.”

“W-what are you talking about?”

“Next time, I’ll show up so you won’t be scared.”

Couldn’t he just not show up at all?

“No, that’s not possible.”

His answer, as if he had read my thoughts, froze me stiff.

“See you again.”

With that sweet farewell, he blinked once, and the mysterious stalker vanished.
But my heart pounded as if I had just received a death threat.

“Should I seriously get an exorcism or something?”

……I suddenly felt exhausted.

[Being immortal doesn’t mean I know everything.]

Valer’s trip to the imperial palace turned out to be a waste.
It was the first time he’d ever been kicked out without even getting a hint.

‘But it seemed like they knew something…’

So this was how immortals were.
Should he go and dig through Halbern’s secret archives instead?

“Your Grace!”

Pession ran up to him without hesitation, eyes still blazing with intensity.

Valer recalled the moment he’d seen Pession with Arellin in the otherworld.

‘So he’s imperial blood…’

And still, he wasn’t comfortable with it.

“Before, thank you for helping me. I don’t think I properly gave my thanks.”

“Yes.”

He’d only helped as a side effect of sticking close to his daughter.
Whether Pession knew that or not, his eyes lit up—those vibrant red eyes glittering like rubies.

That pure, untainted brightness twisted Valer’s mouth into a crooked smile.

The unique ability of the Aleremang imperial line: To Be Loved.

Though range and scope varied per person, it was their natural gift to receive love and goodwill without reason.

And Pession, whose bloodline was particularly strong, was the perfect heir the imperial family desired.

‘Why would a kid like this…’

…chase after his daughter?

That question lingered in Valer’s mind as well.

What could possibly be lacking for him?

The imperial family, obsessed with heirs, had already handed countless treasures into the hands of this little boy.

Everything flawless.
A future of perfection, guaranteed.

And then there was Arellin—
like a puzzle piece that simply didn’t fit.

‘I don’t get it.’

Still, maybe because he had witnessed the boy’s gaze fixed on his daughter, Valer couldn’t bring himself to snap at him.

“Uh, Your Grace, Arellin is…”

As the young crown prince tried to ask something, Valer suddenly saw another image overlap—
the emperor at this same age.

The bored gaze of a ruler who had gained everything too easily.
A man who idly played with what was his, without passion or desire, until far too late when he finally fell in love.

‘Will this boy grow up the same way?’

“Don’t grow up into someone boring.”

“…What?”

The thought of this child becoming someone who thought nothing mattered, because everything came too easily—
Valer found that intolerable.

Especially when he saw the boy’s intelligent, bright eyes.

“What was that supposed to mean?”

Leaving the bewildered Pession behind, Valer exited the palace.

“Ugh.”

Sudden pain gnawed at his veins, along with unfamiliar memories flooding in.
His steps faltered as his vision flickered.

The side effects he’d been suppressing were growing worse. He needed to return to his estate quickly.

“Your Grace.”

Valer sighed inwardly.
He wanted to ignore the voice calling after him—
but it was someone he couldn’t ignore.

Turning, he found Empress Azheni staring at him with a tangle of emotions in her eyes.

The one person he least wanted to see. His mood plummeted.

“What brings Your Majesty the Empress here?”

“I have something to ask you.”

“Since when was it possible for us to have peaceful conversations?”

A crack formed in Azheni’s smile.

“…I don’t resent you, Valer.”

“Don’t lie, Your Majesty.”

Valer’s lips curled in a crooked grin.

“More than anyone, aren’t you the one who wants me dead, Azheni?”

A relationship where only hatred and blame remained.

“Of course, the feeling is mutual. I can’t stand the sight of you.”

Sister’s friend. Friend’s younger brother.

What had once been a distant but cordial relationship shattered after the loss of their most precious person.

Azheni lowered her gaze, suffocated by the raw emotions Valer showed.

His resentment—why hadn’t she helped his sister when it mattered most.

Her feelings toward him were no different.

“Fine, I’ll be honest. I still hate you too much.”

If not for you—
Sione wouldn’t have been unhappy.

“When I think of everything she endured for your sake, I still want to kill you.”

Her beloved friend’s misery had gnawed even at Azheni’s heart.

Before becoming Empress, she had seized power as a family head—all because of the trauma left by Sione’s misfortune.

“Even so, I can’t kill you. Because you’re Sione’s beloved younger brother.”

“Same here.”

A suppressed sneer slipped out.

“You annoy me to no end, but because you’re the dear friend my sister loved, I leave you be.”

There was no hope of mending this relationship.
Not unless Sione herself returned.

Valer hated the friend who hadn’t helped his sister.
Azheni hated the younger brother who had shackled her friend.

“So then, your question?”

“Arellin… is she truly your daughter?”

“Think whatever you like.”

“Then…”

As Valer turned to leave, she called after him.

“Sione—she’s still alive, isn’t she?”

Not how is she or is she well, but—is she alive.

That voice, almost desperate, made a twisted laugh slip past his lips.

“You already know the answer, don’t you?”

From beneath his long lashes, his violet eyes darkened, as if swallowing all light.

Dad was nowhere to be seen.

By now it was the fifth day of the Founding Festival.
A grand banquet was scheduled across all the imperial palaces, but once again, Halbern was absent.

“Mehen.”

“Yes, Arell.”

“Is Dad avoiding me?”

My serious question left Mehen unable to answer easily.

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

Mehen didn’t know something?!

“When it comes to that bastard, I honestly can’t figure out what he’s thinking.”

He sighed.

“And it’s a problem, since there are important matters we need to discuss, but he’s nowhere to be found.”

“That is a big problem.”

“If you help, Arell, it will be solved.”

“Huh?”

Following him, I ended up in front of the portrait gallery—Dad’s favorite haunt.

“Please, Arell.”

“You can’t go in?”

“As his proxy, I don’t have access when the highest-level security is in place. Only direct blood relatives do.”

Mehen encouraged me.

“Go drag that bastard out for us.”

“Okay!”

“Excellent! The future of House Halbern!”

Just like he said, the doors blocked by maximum security opened easily for me.

The moment I stepped into the portrait gallery, the sight overwhelmed me.

“Wow…”

What was all this?

From the very first Duke Halbern, portraits of every duke, duchess, and direct descendant lined the walls.

This was the portrait gallery?
It felt more like I had stepped into a famous art museum.
Like I had rented out an entire gallery after hours, the solemn atmosphere made me instinctively reverent.

“Huh? Grandeur? That name sounds familiar…”

It was the signature of the painter the twins had raved about as the Great Count.

“The twins would love this.”

So Dad had actually hired that famous painter to do portraits?
The Halbern prestige hit me anew.

I wandered like a tourist until I reached the deepest room.

But strangely, this room was filled only with damaged portraits.
And then—on the one bare wall, a single un-hung portrait caught my eyes.

“Huh, this woman…?”

It was the woman from my dreams.

Even though it wasn’t a real person in front of me, my stomach churned.
As if remembering something long forgotten, realization struck me.

‘This woman is my mother.’

Blood tugged at me? A gut feeling?
I couldn’t explain it, but the certainty that she was my mother flooded my mind.

《Sione Sigria Halbern》