Chapter 20
“Miss, His Highness isn’t leaving. What should we do?”
Just before they entered the house, Mary—who had been nervously trailing after Louisa—glanced back and cautiously asked.
Mary, still under the impression that Louisa had feelings for Raphael, seemed to ask out of concern that Louisa might want to see him before he left.
“…Just pretend you didn’t see him.”
Catching on to Mary’s intentions, Louisa calmly walked forward, unbothered.
He was only showing interest in her condition to prepare for the annulment, so there was no need to humor him.
Then, suddenly remembering Raphael’s calculated suggestion to take her to the palace physician, Louisa grit her teeth and walked faster.
‘If he keeps this up, I might just refuse the annulment out of spite—wait, no, that’s not a good idea.’
Almost getting caught in her own dangerous thoughts, Louisa reminded herself that she was just tired and needed to rest.
“Miss, are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”
“Yeah. I prefer being alone. Besides, you need to go call the physician, don’t you?”
“Well, I could just send someone to deliver the message…”
“No! Mary, I think it’s best if you go. If word gets out that I’m unwell, it could cause all sorts of problems.”
“Oh, you’re right. You’ve only just gotten engaged. A rumor like that would be bad. I’ll go right away!”
“I’m going to soak in a bath, so take your time.”
Finally managing to get Mary out of the room, Louisa let out a breath of relief and headed to the bathroom.
In her past life, she had spent most of her time alone. Now, having people constantly around her felt alien and hard to get used to.
There wasn’t even time to feel lonely anymore—she was rarely alone.
Trying to wash off that unfamiliar sensation, Louisa sank deep into the bathwater.
‘I thought I’d just be a little nauseous, but… why does this feel like I’m getting the flu?’
After bathing, she felt sluggish. It was like her whole body ached, as if she’d just gone on a brutal hike. Her limbs were like soaked cotton—so heavy it was hard to even take a step toward the bed.
‘Ugh… I’m exhausted.’
She knew Mary would return soon, but she couldn’t fight off the oncoming drowsiness. Unable to even lie down properly, Louisa collapsed sideways on the bed.
Half-asleep, her unfocused gaze fell on the bloodstained handkerchief lying on the table.
At the same time, Raphael’s concerned face—when he had handed her the handkerchief—briefly flashed through her mind.
‘He’s such a good actor.’
Maybe he’d decided to try persuasion instead. His performance had been good enough to seem genuine.
Going so far as to pretend concern so he could drag her to the palace physician?
She understood he wanted the engagement ended—but it wasn’t like they were getting married tomorrow. And at least he wasn’t clinging or being obsessive like before.
Still, the way he kept acting on his own assumptions was starting to grate on her nerves.
Raphael, who still mistakenly thought she liked him, was starting to seem downright pitiful.
‘Should I just tell him straight to his face that I don’t care about him at all? Ugh, no. He might make a fuss and accuse me of playing games. What a pain…’
There was no winning this.
Earlier, in her dazed state, she had even said the doctors couldn’t diagnose her. Now, it seemed the only option was to try to maintain distance.
She had long since realized that talking too much with people who disliked her only left her drained. That’s why she used to mentally drift off when with Raphael—but even that was becoming exhausting.
And the more they talked, the more complicated things became.
Maybe she should just stay holed up at home, using her poor health as an excuse. Or, if it came to it, flee north and hide until the original female lead appeared.
Avoiding people might be the best choice—for her health, if nothing else.
Louisa sighed and rubbed her tired eyes. Just then, a knock came at the door.
“Miss.”
“…Come in.”
Her heavy eyelids lifted slowly.
She tried to sit up properly, but her body wouldn’t move. Her mind was clear, but her limbs were limp and unresponsive. So she simply exhaled and gave up.
Mary, entering the room, gasped in shock.
“Excuse me—kyaa! Miss, are you alright?!”
“Did you faint?!”
The house physician, who had been waiting just outside, rushed in after hearing Mary’s scream. They both assumed she had collapsed from weakness on the way to the bed and were in a panic.
“Miss, I’ll begin the examination now!”
“Mm.”
With Mary’s help, Louisa managed to lie down properly. She stared through bleary eyes at the physician, who examined her with grave seriousness.
She already knew he wouldn’t find anything, which only made her feel guilty for wasting his time.
“Are the symptoms the same as before? Sudden nausea, vomiting blood, followed by total weakness?”
“Yes.”
“I thought so…”
‘Thought so?’
“It’s still too early to be certain, but I believe I’ve found a disease with similar symptoms.”
“Oh, I see… Wait, what?”
“I understand this may come as a shock. But there’s a country in the East where people sometimes experience sudden nausea and vomiting blood if their food intake rapidly increases.”
Wait a minute.
Her increased food intake was just because the original Louisa had eaten like a bird. This was ridiculous!
‘They praised me for eating well, and now this?! I only ate a normal amount…’
As Louisa clamped her mouth shut, the physician—misunderstanding her silence as worry—spoke even more gently.
“Also, I noticed another symptom. After vomiting blood, your fingertips become unusually warm.”
“My fingertips? Really?”
Louisa touched her fingers with a surprised expression.
What the—he’s right. They’re hot.
Only the very tips of her fingers felt distinctly warm.
“Yes. Using that unique trait, I narrowed it down. The illness most closely resembles a disease known as ‘reverse stomach fire.’ However…”
The physician trailed off, uncertainty written on his face.
“It’s okay.”
Louisa gave him a look that said “Go ahead,” with an indifferent expression.
Eventually, the physician closed his eyes tightly, as if bracing himself.
“…Unfortunately, there is no known cure at this time. It requires intensive research.”
So… it’s incurable? That disease actually exists?
Still, more surprising than the disease was the doctor’s dedication—he had scoured foreign medical texts just to give her a diagnosis.
Seeing Louisa’s wide eyes, the physician hurried to add:
“Of course, the Blake family clinic will do everything possible to discover a treatment. And this is just a preliminary assumption based on symptom similarity—we’ll continue verifying all possibilities.”
“Ah… I see.”
“I only learned of this today and hesitated to say anything. But since you vomited blood again, I thought it was best to inform you first.”
Which meant… the Duke and Damian would soon find out too.
‘Damian’s already overly protective. If he thinks I have an incurable illness, he’ll freak out…’
This was spiraling out of control.
Just the symptom of vomiting blood was dramatic enough—but now, if it became known she had an incurable disease, Raphael would definitely demand to verify it with palace physicians and healing priests alike.
‘Ugh. I can’t explain that I’m just purifying dark energy. I only wanted to hide this until the heroine appears. How did things get so out of hand?’
Louisa groaned and squeezed her eyes shut.
She turned on her side and curled up, covering her face with both hands. Otherwise, she felt like she might scream and start thrashing.
Her frail form stirred pity in both the physician and Mary. Their eyes met midair, filled with shared sorrow.
‘She’s crying, isn’t she? We should give her space. If I’m this shaken, how must she feel? Why did this happen to our lady…?’
‘Miss Louisa… I swear, next time, I’ll make sure there’s no need for tears. I’ll devote my entire being to curing you!’
It was a heartbreaking sight—one that invited many misunderstandings and a wave of sympathetic misconceptions.
***
Late that night, four men gathered outside Louisa’s room.
“Reverse stomach fire?”
“Yes. I suspected it after the second incident, but I waited to confirm before saying anything. Again, I’m not making a diagnosis—just beginning a thorough investigation.”
The physician swallowed hard and glanced at the grim expressions on Duke Kilberg’s and Damian’s faces.
Damian pressed his lips tightly together, taking a deep breath as if trying to suppress his emotions. Then, he forced out his voice:
“…Father, I’ll go to the Eastern nation. Maybe I can find a treatment.”
“Lord Damian, it’s best you stay by the lady’s side. I’ll send two members of our medical team to the East immediately, and once they gather data, I’ll go myself.”
“Your Grace, what about requesting a healing priest from the temple?”
Brown carefully added his suggestion after the physician finished.
