Ha. That was exhausting.
Having finished the day’s planned tasks, I laid my weary body down on the bed.
Gazing at the moonlight filtering through the curtains, I recalled Edan’s appearance today.
Perhaps because I continuously poured healing energy into him, his condition still seemed acceptable.
The initial symptom male leads experience due to supernatural ability side effects is a headache.
It’s an unpleasant headache—uncomfortable, but not unbearable. However, if they keep using their power, the pain gradually accumulates.
If they receive healing from the Holy Maiden during the early stage, the pain subsides, but since it’s not a complete cure, it returns as a mild headache. But if they continue using their abilities without healing, allowing side effects to pile up, they’ll end up like Edan in the original story—or worse, end their own lives from unbearable agony.
Fortunately, thanks to my healing energy, Edan was returning to his initial state—free from side effects.
‘But that’s strange.’
It felt dubious that my feeble healing power, barely contained in pepper, could alleviate Edan’s suffering.
I tried recalling Edan before he met Ivy in the original plot.
Even then, Edan had already been suffering from the side effects of his supernatural ability.
He had somehow endured using the potion bestowed by the Emperor, but the relentless wars had pushed him to his limit… Now, looking back, I began to suspect that potion might have been fake.
Because it seemed odd—if even my small healing power could ease Edan’s headache, how could a potion infused with the Holy Maiden’s power have had no effect?
‘Anyway, thank goodness.’
If things continued like this, perhaps Edan wouldn’t immediately become obsessed with Ivy on the night of the ball after receiving her healing.
…Or so I thought.
Life, of course, never follows my plans.
[This is the timeline separator]“M-My goodness… Why…?”
It was the day before Ivy’s celebratory ball.
Just hours ago, it had been an utterly ordinary day.
I’d spent the entire day sprinkling healing-infused water around the castle to prevent Edan from going mad, and secretly entering his room to infuse his bedding with healing energy.
Rarely, Edan had spent the entire day in the North, but I assumed it was for ball preparations. Aside from that, nothing seemed unusual.
Then, at dawn, I heard footsteps passing by my door.
“Master…?”
I blurted it out unconsciously, but immediately realized it wasn’t him.
It wasn’t Edan’s steady, weighty footsteps.
Nor were they cautious, stealthy steps trying to hide identity. Instead, they sounded urgent, as if fleeing something.
I opened the door and stepped out.
At this deep hour of dawn, bright light was seeping out from the library.
Then, groans of agony writhing in pain echoed all the way down the corridor.
“Kuhhk…!”
A sound—biting down hard, holding breath until it snapped and trickled out in fragments—that alone let you imagine just how excruciating the sufferer’s state must be, reverberated through the entire hallway.
My hair stood on end. Goosebumps covered my body.
A dreadful suspicion flashed through my mind—then, behind me, BANG! The door slammed shut.
And then, those urgent footsteps returned.
Before I could even turn my head toward the sound, a gust of wind brushed past my side.
Ruben, emerging from Edan’s room, sprinted past me.
“Sir Ruben!”
Ruben held three vials of potion, his expression grim.
I followed him, sprinting toward the library.
The moment I saw inside, shock, terror, and overwhelming dread engulfed me.
‘Oh… no…’
There, I saw an Edan I’d never seen before.
His complexion, darkened to the point of pallor; veins bulging violently across his forehead and neck. His face contorted, drenched in cold sweat, writhing in pain, unable to breathe properly.
His golden hair, once always shining beautifully, was now disheveled and covered in black ash. His cloak and uniform were torn to shreds, stained beyond recognition with blood—so much so I couldn’t even guess what had happened.
“Kuhhk! Hhk… Krrrgh…!”
Edan, eyes shut, head unable to lift, scraped desperately at the floor in agony.
His broken fingernails and fingertips were soaked in blood. Dry, cracked lips vomited thick black blood.
The horrifying scene nearly made me scream and burst into tears. I hastily clamped my hand over my mouth.
“Your Grace! Pull yourself together! Your Grace!”
Ruben uncorked all three vials he’d brought from Edan’s room and poured them into Edan’s mouth. Edan, choking violently through his swollen throat, barely managed to swallow the medicine.
“Your Grace!”
But the potion showed no significant effect. Ruben hurled the empty bottles aside, raked his hands through his hair, and bit his lip hard.
“Damn it!”
Edan, half out of his mind, still gasped raggedly. Kneeling beside him, Ruben looked at Edan with an expression even more pained than Edan’s own—then turned toward me.
“Lady Latieana Merigold!”
“Y-Yes!”
“Please watch over His Grace for a moment!”
“S-Sir Ruben! Where are you going?!”
Ruben sprang urgently to his feet.
“There should be more emergency medicine left in Duke’s Castle. I’ll find it and return immediately. That—”
As Ruben spoke rapidly, preparing to teleport through the portal, he suddenly looked at me—and his face twisted.
An unreadable mix of emotions crossed his features.
I stared at him, puzzled. Ruben’s lips trembled as if debating whether to speak—but ultimately, he avoided my gaze.
“…It’s nothing.”
Clenching his large fist, he turned away.
“I’ll be back soon. Please stay by His Grace’s side until then. I beg you.”
Ruben vanished into the portal, leaving me alone with Edan. Instantly, Edan’s agonized suffering became even more vividly audible.
Cold sweat poured down me in an instant. My hands trembled violently as I stared at Edan.
“Master…”
Edan, writhing from supernatural ability side effects…
What exactly had I been so confident about?
Edan had been fighting daily in war—he could have ended up like this at any moment due to monsters.
Now, Edan’s state matched exactly what was described in the original story.
This was precisely the tormented state Edan endured before meeting Ivy.
What should I do? If Edan meets Ivy in this condition… No. That’s not even the issue.
He can’t even breathe properly—he’s suffering burning agony. When I merely touched something hot, I screamed in pain—Edan is enduring horrors I can’t even imagine.
“…Just a little.”
I stepped closer to Edan. Slowly, I stretched my trembling hands toward him.
But I stopped short, clenched my eyes shut, unable to go further.
Edan won’t die here. He’s merely writhing in pain that feels like death.
Probably, when Ruben returns with medicine, it’ll somewhat ease his suffering.
But… he’s suffering so terribly. And if he goes to the ball tomorrow and meets Ivy like this…
No. I must stop it. I’ve worked this hard for that very reason. Helping him is the only path for my survival.
Yes—but…
I took another step closer to Edan, then froze again, my fingertips trembling.
“I’m scared… I’m really scared…”
The fear surged—what if touching Edan meant I might die next?
Could my healing power even make Edan better?
The original story only stated I died healing low-ranking knights, without specifying exactly how much power I’d expended.
Moreover, recently I’d spent the entire day wandering the castle, dispersing healing energy everywhere.
Attempting to heal Edan now, with my pitiful reserves, required immense courage.
The method Ivy used to transfer healing energy to male leads involved nearly physical contact—because during intense pain, skin-to-skin contact delivered healing energy fastest.
Furthermore, supernatural ability users could actively draw healing energy themselves, depending on the intensity of physical contact.
In other words, if I tried healing Edan and suddenly lost control, he might drain all my power—turning me into a mummy and killing me.
After all, those receiving healing always desire it more intensely than those giving it.
That’s also one reason Holy Maiden candidates keep dying as mummies—
Not just because they lack recovery time, but because supernatural knights, desperate to escape pain, recklessly drain their healing energy.
What should I do? I was utterly confused.
Then, between ragged, near-suffocating groans, I felt Edan convulse—coughing violently, vomiting more blood.
I opened my eyes. Edan’s bandage, wrapped around my hand, came into view.
The wound had almost healed—I could handle it myself now—but I remembered how stubbornly Edan had insisted on applying ointment to me today.
Right. If Edan goes mad, I’m dead anyway, one way or another.
“Ugh…!”
I squeezed my eyes shut, stretched my hands toward Edan, and suddenly pulled him into a tight embrace around his neck.
I felt Edan’s skin radiating unbearable heat. Slowly, I activated my healing power.
Starting from my fingertips, my healing energy bloomed, spreading gradually over Edan’s neck, head, and back, enveloping his entire body.
“Please, please.”
Just like our first meeting, Edan’s strong scent of blood filled the air.
His hot cheek pressed against my face; his neck nestled into my arms.
His sticky sweat, oozing from his agony, smeared onto me. The more it did, the tighter I clung to him.
At some point, I felt Edan’s arm—previously scraping the floor—rise and wrap around my back.
“Don’t hurt anymore. Please calm down, Edan…”
I intensified my healing power.
As the healing energy spread stronger, its pink hue gradually faded. When it turned translucent, pale pink, countless sparkling pearls exploded outward from within. The healing energy flooded the vast library. As the portal’s blue light mingled with the healing glow, creating a surreal, otherworldly sensation, Edan’s breathing slowly began to calm.
And then.
“Kyaaah!”
In the blink of an eye, I was flipped onto my back, lying on the floor.
Male lead is a Love-Obsessed Merman
When he discovers she has gone, he risks everything to pursue her on land, enduring agonizing pain to transform his tail into human legs…
One-line summary: Male lead chases female lead. The male lead’s love is a bit sick, an invincible love brain.
Synopsis
During a voyage at sea, Jiang Yang accidentally captures a merman.
Servant: I heard that mermen are fierce and brutal.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman obediently rubbing her palm like a puppy: “You call this fierce and brutal?”
Servant: I heard that mermen have no human nature.
Jiang Yang looks at the merman with wet puppy eyes, obsessively calling her ‘A Yang’ like a childish infant: “You call this having no human nature?”
With great difficulty, she releases the merman back into the sea and returns to shore.
Who would have thought that in less than half a month, the merman, who should have been freely wandering in the South China Sea, would shed his scales, endure the pain of losing his tail, transform into human legs, and come ashore to find her?
He kneels at her feet, rubbing her palm, with merman tears rolling down: “A Yang, don’t abandon me.”
_____
Please help me, I want to bring you the best possible things.
If you find any chapter or novel with poor translation and editing quality, let me know by commenting directly under that novel or chapter. I will retranslate it as soon as possible.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
