Chapter 4
“From this moment on, your master becomes me.”
“…Pardon?”
Seeing Helkin’s face go blank in shock, Alice smiled deeply.
“Helkin. If you want to live, then starting right now—this very moment—you must become completely mine.”
“Young Madam. I heard that starting today, you will be managing the Duke’s medicine.”
After finishing everything with Helkin, Alice was guided to the Dowager Duchess’s room.
As she sat there thinking about what she needed to do next, time passed quickly, and before she knew it, night had fallen.
And so, she found herself once again returning to her husband’s bedroom.
Alice looked at the butler who had already arrived in the room.
He was one of Duke Kailus’s retainers—the only one left in the mansion.
After the Duke collapsed, all of the capable vassals who served the House of Dearot had been driven out of the estate.
Later, they would gather around the female lead, but in the end, they never returned to the Dearot Duchy.
Because after Kailus died, the House of Dearot itself would disappear.
“Young Madam?”
Alice, lost in thought, snapped back to reality at the butler’s call.
“Oh, right. From now on, I will be in charge of His Grace’s medicine. The Dowager Duchess ordered it.”
Kailus took medicine once a day.
Of course, it had no real effect, but outwardly they needed to appear as though they were doing everything possible to cure him—one of Lady Quillian’s schemes.
Naturally, the butler, being Kailus’s attendant, had been the one feeding him the medicine.
But now that she, his wife, had entered the household, it was only natural that she could take that role away from him.
The very reason Lady Quillian brought Alice in was to separate the butler from Kailus.
Because if the butler stayed by his side, it would be difficult to kill Kailus quickly.
“Then I will bring the medicine—”
“No. Doctor Helkin already sent it to me earlier.”
When she showed him the crystal bottle she had brought, the butler’s eyes trembled slightly.
He was suspicious.
After all, the person who brought Alice into the household was none other than Lady Quillian.
But the butler, having lost all real authority, couldn’t stop her.
“So leave now.”
“…Yes. Then I shall take my leave.”
After the butler, his face darkened, exited the room, Alice approached the bed holding the crystal bottle.
She slid open the curtains.
Reaching out toward her sleeping, beautiful husband Kailus, Alice murmured,
“There’s something on you.”
She plucked a small thread from Kailus’s cheek.
“Hmm…”
Then she paused and looked down at him.
Kailus’s face, deep in sleep, almost seemed peaceful.
But he must have been wandering in an abyss he never wanted to enter.
An eternal sleep—one he could never awaken from.
“I’m sorry, but… at least I have to survive.”
Just as Alice whispered softly, the bedroom door suddenly opened.
Startled, she stopped and turned her head.
She thought it might be the butler, but it was Maris.
“Maris, what is it?”
“The Dowager Duchess ordered me to confirm whether you are carrying out your duty properly.”
Maris looked down at her with a smug expression, as if she were Alice’s superior.
But to Alice, it looked like nothing more than clumsy abuse of authority.
“Hurry and do it.”
Maris urged.
Alice found it ridiculous, but at the same time, she thought it was convenient.
If Maris witnessed it herself, Lady Quillian wouldn’t harbor unnecessary suspicions toward her.
“Alright.”
Alice opened the lid of the crystal bottle.
Then she sat sideways on the bed.
Without the slightest hesitation, Alice reached toward Kailus.
Sliding her hand behind his neck, she gently lifted his head.
Then she brought the crystal bottle to his pale lips.
Through his slightly parted lips, the clear liquid flowed into his mouth.
Only after the bottle was completely emptied did Alice let him go.
She lowered his head back onto the pillow, then shook the empty bottle at Maris.
“There. Satisfied?”
“….”
Maris pouted with an annoyed expression.
She must have been hoping Alice would tremble and cry that she couldn’t do it.
How could her thoughts show so plainly on her face?
Holding back the urge to shake her head, Alice said,
“Maris, if there’s nothing else left, I’d like to rest.”
“…I will take my leave.”
Maris snatched the empty crystal bottle and left the room.
After Maris was gone, Alice looked down at Kailus once again.
“…Don’t worry. I didn’t feed you poison.”
That was right.
What Alice gave Kailus was not poison.
‘So what you’re saying is… His Grace will never wake up?’
‘Yes. Never. It’s a poison that neither an antidote nor holy power can cure. In fact, even without feeding him any poison, if left as he is, he will die within a year.’
‘So he’ll die eventually…’
‘Yes. If he drinks this poison, he will simply die faster.’
‘Helkin.’
‘Yes?’
‘I have no intention of feeding poison to His Grace.’
‘…Pardon? Then…’
Watching Helkin panic, Alice spoke calmly.
‘From today on, you and I will pretend to poison His Grace, and deceive Mother.’
That was how Alice received a nutritional tonic from Helkin instead of poison.
At first, she had planned to use Helkin’s weakness to force him to create an antidote.
Not because she cared deeply about Kailus, but simply because it felt like a waste for him to die.
He was too handsome to die.
Anyway, Alice tried to create an antidote to save the Duke, but Helkin said it was impossible.
Suspecting he might be lying, she threatened him, but the way his face turned pale as he shook his head showed no sign of deceit.
So in the end, she brought back a useless nutritional supplement.
“I really did try to save you. So don’t resent me too much for escaping death alone.”
Perhaps because they were originally destined to die together…
Alice whispered in guilt.
Even though she knew he couldn’t hear her.
“…How bitter.”
No matter how she thought about it, Kailus was far too handsome to die.
A face like that should live a long life and pass that beauty down for generations.
Yet he was fated to die young.
To die without ever opening his eyes again.
Even if she ran away from the duchy, whether by Lady Quillian’s hand or by a new Duchess, he would eventually die anyway.
Her mood sinking rapidly, Alice rose from her seat.
There was nothing she could do.
Now that she knew there was no way for him to survive, it would be better to keep her distance before she grew attached.
But just as she was about to return to her room, perhaps because she stood up too quickly, Kailus’s arm slipped off the bed.
“Ah!”
Alice lifted his hand and placed it back on the bed.
But then she noticed something beneath his sleeve.
A wound, as if he had been cut by something.
No one had treated it—so it was red, swollen, and festering.
“No… even if he can’t feel pain…”
He still needed his wounds treated.
Had the butler not noticed it?
Staring at the infected wound, Alice frowned as if she herself were the one in pain.
She had decided not to grow attached, but perhaps she already had, because her heart felt heavy.
“Who on earth did this to you…?”
How could someone cut skin as flawless as jade?
Whoever did it, she hoped they’d trip over a rock and smash their nose.
Even if he couldn’t feel pain… did it really not hurt at all?
She couldn’t save his life, but she wanted at least to heal this wound.
The moment Alice gently brushed over the festering wound and thought that—
A white light suddenly shone from her hand.
“What the—! What is this?!”
Startled, Alice quickly pulled her hand away.
The white light faded, as if it were being absorbed back into her palm.
Alice stared wide-eyed at her hand, turning it over.
“What was that just now…?”
No matter how she looked, her pale hand seemed completely normal.
She wasn’t some superhero in a red suit from a movie—why was light coming out of her hand?
Still confused, Alice shifted her gaze—and saw something unbelievable.
Kailus’s long wound had healed halfway.
Cleanly, without leaving a trace.
Alice’s golden eyes trembled.
“Could this be… holy power?”
Because of all the fantasy novels she had read in her past life, as well as the original Alice’s memories, she understood the basics of magic and holy power.
And healing a wound like this without any chant or incantation—this wasn’t magic.
It was holy power.
“But the original Alice didn’t have holy power…”
The original Alice was just an ordinary noblewoman.
No—she was even more timid and withdrawn than ordinary.
In any case, she had never possessed any special ability.
Yet suddenly, holy power?
“…A possession buff or something?”
That was the only explanation.
Considering the impossible act of possession had already happened, gaining holy power didn’t seem that shocking.
If anything, it was something to be grateful for.
It seemed God had tossed her into this world to ruin her life—but perhaps, out of some conscience, had at least granted her one ability.
Nodding as she accepted it, Alice calmed her pounding heart and approached Kailus again.
She looked once at his sleeping face, then placed her hand over the wound.
I want it to heal.
The moment she thought it, white light poured out of her hand again.
And the rest of the wound began to close, fresh skin forming over it.
Seeing the injury heal cleanly, Alice felt her heart ease.
“So I can at least heal wounds with holy power…”
Helkin had said even holy power couldn’t cure the sleeping poison Kailus had taken, but at least this much seemed possible.
“…Thank goodness. At least there’s something I can do for you.”
After staring silently at Kailus’s now unblemished skin, Alice carefully placed his hand back on the bed.
Then she fixed his blanket neatly and greeted him softly.
“See you tomorrow, Kailus.”
Gently patting his chest, she left the bedroom without hesitation.
And so, Alice did not see it.
The fingers of Kailus—who had not moved at all—twitch slightly.
