Chapter 55
Chade lowered his eyes and carefully picked up the papers from the floor.
“These are the medical opinions of other doctors about Lily’s condition. Every single one of them says she is unwell. And yet you, who are supposed to protect the duchy, let yourself be influenced by an unqualified young lady and allowed my niece to end up like this?”
“…”
“And do you even know what kind of people you tried to bring into the estate in Mabel’s place? Do you?”
I quickly turned to look at Chade, confused.
But his expression, as he read the papers, was very dark.
“They were people who had once stolen money from the duchy and were expelled. And you, without knowing this, let such people enter the estate freely…!”
The marquis stopped, closing his eyes as though to calm his heavy breathing.
“The duchy is as special to me as it is to you. It is the place my only sister, Rubian, desperately tried to protect.”
“…”
“And at the very end of Rubian’s life, who was the one by her side? Leopold? No! It was me. Me, Heres Graven!”
His thunderous shout left both Chade and me unable to say a word.
“And yet, you ignore my words, letting outsiders run freely through this house? Do you know who is truly destroying the duchy right now?”
I sat frozen, mouth open in shock.
‘Wow… unbelievable.’
It was such a perfect display of psychological domination that even I, as a doctor, couldn’t help but be impressed.
‘On the surface, what he says doesn’t sound completely wrong…’
But in reality, he twisted every choice into being “wrong” so he could force his own way.
It was pure gaslighting.
When someone so close applies relentless mental pressure, the victim must feel like they’re dying inside.
As expected, Chade looked utterly defeated, listening in silence as though he had given up.
‘…At this rate, no amount of counseling will ever help him.’
Abuse doesn’t only mean hitting or starving someone.
Isolating and mentally breaking a person like this is also classified as abuse in psychiatry.
But as this was a family matter, it was hard for me to jump in. I kept quiet, unsure.
Then suddenly, the marquis turned on me.
“Enough. You understand the situation now, so step back. Stop playing doctor.”
Playing… doctor?
The words hit me like a hammer. No—that wasn’t even enough to describe the shock.
‘What is this crazy man saying?’
It was as if he was dismissing Lily’s silent suffering over her mother’s death and everything Chade had gone through as meaningless.
If he had criticized my status or lack of a license, I could have accepted it.
But treating the children’s pain as if it were nothing but “play”? That was unforgivable.
“That is not acceptable, my lord,” I said firmly.
“What?”
The marquis’s cold gaze, and Chade’s wide eyes, turned to me at once.
“Do you think I’m asking you for a favor?”
His deep blue eyes glared as if they could swallow me whole.
“Or do you actually believe your so-called treatment had any effect?”
“Lady Lily was clearly improving! I can prove it! Call in any of the maids from the duchy as witnesses—”
“Ha. Still delusional. Very well, I’ll show you myself.”
The marquis cut me off. Then he turned to Roman by the door.
“Roman, bring Lily and Mabel here.”
Roman bowed and left calmly.
I stared after him, unsettled.
‘Strange. Even if Marquis Heres is Chade’s uncle, the current master of the duchy is Chade. Yet the servants obey the uncle more than the heir…’
It felt wrong. The problems scattered through this estate were finally becoming clear to me.
While I was lost in thought, the door opened again. Roman returned—this time with Lily and a stern-looking woman.
‘So that’s her.’
Her hair was elegantly pinned, her dark green dress covering her completely. Just by looking, I could tell she was formidable.
And behind her was—
‘Verdick?’
Verdick, whom I had sent to Lily’s annex, was bound by a knight’s rope.
“What—why are you…?”
Sensing my shock, Mabel gave the knight a small signal.
The knight forced Verdick to kneel on the floor. Then Mabel spoke with scorn.
“This man was suspiciously snooping around Lady Lily’s annex. As I thought, he was with your group.”
“…Verdick!”
I rushed to him, checking his condition.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry… this is my fault.”
“You couldn’t have known. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
He shrugged, trying to reassure me, though my anger was boiling over.
‘Ha… this is too much.’
Surely they had checked his identity before bringing him here.
And yet, without understanding the situation, they dragged him in like a criminal.
I turned to look back. The marquis was glaring at Verdick and me with a deeper frown.
‘Such a narrow-minded man.’
Neither Verdick nor I deserved this treatment.
Who was it that had risked their lives to help this family?
Grinding my teeth, I listened as the marquis spoke coldly.
“…Mabel, show this girl Lily’s condition.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Mabel bowed, then stepped in front of Lily.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“No… no!”
Lily tried to resist, but of course, she couldn’t overcome the strength of an adult.
Mabel roughly pulled up her sleeve.
And what I saw made me gasp.
‘What… is that?’
Red rashes dotted Lily’s arm. I was sure they hadn’t been there before I left the estate.
“Now, look at this. Do you still have anything to say, girl?”
The marquis’s voice was sharp as he addressed me.
***
Something was wrong.
I was certain Lily hadn’t had any rash before I left.
I slowly approached her, speaking gently.
“It’s okay, Lily. Don’t cry, you’ll be fine.”
“Hhic…”
Holding back curses, I examined her condition carefully.
“Can you open your mouth and say ‘ah’ for me?”
Lily nodded through tears and opened her mouth.
‘…It’s not hand-foot-and-mouth disease.’
That usually causes small blisters in the mouth, on the hands, or feet.
But her mouth was clear. That left another option…
“It’s a viral infection,” I said plainly.
The marquis barked, “What did you say?”
“The young lady has a viral rash. It’s common in children, and usually heals on its own. There’s no need to worry. Also…”
I sighed and looked straight at him.
“Viruses typically have an incubation period of about two weeks. And we were away from the estate for longer than that, even counting travel time.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“From the rash, it looks like it only started three days ago. You can’t blame us for that.”
This sly old man was clearly trying to dump the responsibility on us!
I bit back the words I wanted to spit out.
But the marquis only looked smug and said coldly,
“And what does that change?”
“…What?”
“As I’ve heard, viruses are contagious. If Lily had stayed quietly in the annex, following the other doctors’ instructions, she wouldn’t have caught it. Do you truly think you bear no responsibility?”
“…”
His twisted reasoning made the back of my head throb.
