The Young Master I Carefully Raised Became Obsessive

It was night, yet the furniture had a subtle gleam, reflecting the moonlight, and the intricately carved patterns on the walls seemed like the work of a master craftsman.

Suddenly, my arm felt heavy. When I looked down, I saw Ardion’s dark hair. He had my arm in his grasp, lying on the bed, fast asleep.

I tried to move my hand to pull my arm free, but Ardion, seemingly lost in a deep sleep, didn’t react.

The weight in my arm was too noticeable, so I pulled with some force. Ardion flinched slightly and slowly lifted his head. At first, his eyes blinked slowly, but when they met mine, he moved closer.

"Laila, are you awake now?"

"Where are we?"

"This is my mansion, on the outskirts of the capital."

"Isn’t that dangerous? If we’re near the capital, surely they'll come looking for you here."

"Don't worry. No one knows this place is mine. It's a mansion that belongs to a relative who actually thought of me when I was young and secretly bought it for me."

"…"

"That relative died at Rowell’s hands, so he’s no longer here. Anyway, how are you feeling? You don’t feel dizzy, do you?"

"I'm fine. No dizziness."

Ardion held my hand and examined my face. His expression looked rather sharp, almost as if he hadn't slept properly.

"Shouldn’t you be resting, Your Highness?"

He gave a quiet laugh. "Rest? I’m too busy looking at your face."

Hearing those words, I averted my gaze from Ardion. Serina’s words came to mind.

"Serina gave the necklace to Rowell."

Come to think about it, Ardion had always tried to do what was best for me. But because I had lost the necklace, he wasn’t in a good position now.

"I know. Rowell already contacted me."

"Contacted you?"

"He went after Serina, then the palace knights came after me. They told me to give up because they already had the necklace."@@novelbin@@

"What did you do?"

"I don’t like it when people block my way." Ardion smiled faintly.

For some reason, his smile sent a chill through me. Seeing my expression stiffen, Ardion worriedly placed his hand on my forehead. "You don’t have a fever. Is your stomach bothering you?"

"No, I’m fine. By the way, do you have water?"

Ardion looked at the nightstand. The glass of water was empty. Without hesitation, he got up. "Wait a moment. I’ll bring some right away."

As soon as he left, I looked around. On the nightstand, there was the hat I had used, which had been helpful when I confronted Serina. But no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find Derol. Where did he go? I’m sure I put him in my pocket.

I took a moment to scan the room carefully again.

"Derol," I called out hesitantly, but there was nothing but silence.

Just then, the door opened, and Ardion entered, holding a silver tray with a gold-rimmed glass of water, which was shaking slightly as he walked.

He quickly approached me. "Laila, here’s the water."

I reached out my hand to take the glass, but Ardion raised it slightly. When I looked at him, he said calmly, "Don’t move unnecessarily. I’ll feed you."

"I can hold the glass myself."

"No, it’s not good to move too much."

In the end, Ardion fed me the water. Once I had enough, I shook my head.

"Do you not need to drink more?"

"No."

Ardion immediately took the glass away.

I looked around again. "Where’s Derol?"

Ardion hesitated for a moment. When I looked at him, his expression wasn’t great. But soon, he softened and looked at me. "He’s in the next room. Do you want me to bring him?"

His voice was gentle. When I nodded, Ardion stood up again.

"Is Derol okay?"

Just as he was about to leave, Ardion turned back. He stared at me for a moment before nodding slightly. Then I heard the door close.

A few minutes later, Ardion returned with Derol in a metal box.

"Master!"

I quickly opened the metal door, and Derol rushed into my arms.

"Derol, are you okay?"

"Yes, I’m fine. How about you, Master?"

"I’m fine too. But weren’t you injured? You fell to the ground because of Serina earlier."

Derol shook his head, his black eyes sparkling with life. "Master, I’m tougher than I look. I wasn’t too injured. I’ve been through similar things before meeting you."

"Still, I told you to stay away if it was dangerous…"

Derol lowered his head, then glanced up at me cautiously. When our eyes met, he quickly looked away.

Just then, Ardion spoke up. "Are you done talking?"

He had brought a chair beside my bed and was observing us. He met my gaze and then extended his hand. "Laila, let me see your wrist."

"My wrist?"

"When you nearly exhausted your mana before, I think the tracking spell I placed disappeared."

"So, this time…"

"I was only able to find you by following your traces."

If it weren't for Ardion, I might still be lying in the forest. His tracking spell had certainly been useful.

I owed him a lot. I didn’t want to burden him any further.

When I didn’t extend my hand, Ardion’s gaze intensified, and his eyes sharpened. "Laila, it won’t hurt. It’s for your own good…"

"Your Highness, thank you for helping me. But I don’t want to burden you anymore. And because of me, you lost the necklace…"

"Then, will you marry me?"

"What?"

Even Derol looked stunned, his eyes wide as he stared at Ardion.

"Marry… you?" I asked, unsure if I had heard correctly.

Yet he casually nodded, as though it were no big deal. "If you’re truly sorry, you can just marry me."

I couldn’t understand his words. "Marriage? In a situation like this?"

It didn’t make any sense.

Ardion leaned back in the chair, watching me closely. “You said you were sorry to me. You said you didn’t want to depend on me. Then why don’t you marry me and rely on me?”

“Your Highness.”

“Laila, do you hate me?”

“No, I don’t hate you…”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“More than anything, if you marry me, Your Highness, you will miss out on a good marriage. It’s already a time when you need to build up power around yourself, so getting married to another noble family…”

Ardion’s lips curled up. “That doesn’t matter. Above all, I don’t feel like it.”

I sighed. “And here’s the most important thing.”

“What?”

“Your Highness and I have different social statuses. I’m a commoner.”

In the original story, there was no case of marrying a commoner since Serina was also a noble. Furthermore, Ardion was the emperor’s illegitimate child, and because of this, the nobles didn’t welcome him very much.

At a time like this, it would be best for Ardion to marry a noble family that could support him.

But if he married a commoner like me?

That would be unconventional in its own way, but many of the nobles around him would rebel. After all, the imperial family often had political marriages.

Moreover, I wanted to escape from here, where my life was in danger.

My body was also very tired.

At that moment, Ardion gently grabbed my hand. “Laila, I can give you a title.”

“But that won’t be easy. Rowell has framed you for all sorts of crimes. How can you give me a title?”

“I can make him give you a title.”

“It’s easy to say, but…”

“Laila, I survived on the frontier. I held on there, thinking only of you. And even if you don’t want to get married, no, even if you don’t love me, I still want to marry you.”

“Your Highness, that’s…”

“I’m not asking you to answer right now. Think about it carefully and then answer me.”

I could only nod. Ardion’s attitude was so stubborn that I couldn’t say anything else.

When I kept my face straight, Ardion said casually, “And you said before that you brought the atrocities committed by Duke Orchid to the court.”

“Yes.”

“I recently found those documents at the court.”

When I heard that, my calm heart seemed to stir a little. “Were they still there?”

“Delzion had a hard time finding them, but he did find them.”

“What happens now?”

It was a case that had already been decided. However, the punishment was lenient. The mastermind behind it all was Rowell, and Duke Orchid ended up paying a small amount of compensation.

The real reason Duke Orchid's mansion was ruined was because Rowell personally reprimanded Duke Orchid and set fire to it, completely ruining the mansion.

"Rowell wrapped up the case rather hastily in order to cover it up quickly. And in the process, he committed the atrocity of setting fire to Duke Orchid’s residence."

"So? The duke's mansion is already completely burned down, so there's nothing left."

"No, there's still Jonok."

"Jonok?"

It was a name I didn't even want to think about.

Derol, next to me, squeaked in complaint. "I don't want to hear that guy's name again."

I gently patted Derol's head, who leaned on my hand and bowed his head.

"There was no word that he died, but there was no evidence that he was alive either. He's been quiet all this time."

"He's alive."

"What?"

"I said he’s alive."

"Where?"

"Nearby."

"Nearby… You mean he’s in the capital?!"

“Laila, so far Jonok…”

At that moment, Derol squeaked.

Ardion frowned and looked at Derol. “I know you don’t like Jonok, but will you be quiet, Derol?”

His words were full of force, as if he was suppressing something.