Episode 22
“Oh no! You must be in a lot of pain. I’ll go get the doctor right away!”
I tried to call out to Merbel, who ran out of the room, but I didn’t even have the strength to do that.
I couldn’t understand what was happening to me. Just yesterday, I had been perfectly healthy.
Until I went to bed last night, there had been nothing unusual.
The only difference was that I had drunk the tea Roena gave me.
“She wouldn’t have poisoned it… right?”
A nightmare from my previous life came back to me.
Back then, too, I had gone to bed and woken up unable to move.
This time, my entire body wasn’t paralyzed, but I was still terrified. After all, things from my past life could reoccur in a different form.
“Young Lady! I brought the doctor!”
Merbel entered with the family physician, who approached the bed.
“I heard something unpleasant happened yesterday.”
“A few strokes of the cane wouldn’t cause my body to collapse, would it?”
“Just in case, let me check the injuries first.”
Merbel helped me turn over so the doctor could examine the affected area.
I didn’t know if there were any visible marks, but thanks to Merbel’s medicine, it wasn’t sore or painful anymore.
“It only hurt when I was being hit. Now, I don’t feel even a twinge.”
“I don’t believe the injuries are the cause. Have you eaten anything unusual lately?”
I hesitated before answering. For some reason, I felt I shouldn’t mention Roena’s tea.
“No. Nothing different from what I usually eat.”
The doctor examined me carefully—checking my complexion, inspecting my eyes, asking me to stick out my tongue.
“There doesn’t appear to be anything physically wrong. My opinion is that this may be a psychological issue.”
“A psychological issue?”
“Perhaps your health is failing due to the shock of Young Master Calix’s death.”
Now I was sure—our family doctor was a quack.
I had gotten along with Calix, yes, but I hadn’t been so attached that I would collapse from grief over his death.
“Elisha, I heard you’re sick?”
“Get out! Get out, now!”
The moment Leticia burst into the room, I screamed before I could stop myself.
The sound of her voice, the glimpse of her face—it all brought back the emotions I had been suppressing since my return.
My chest tightened; I could hardly breathe.
Leticia’s final words from my past life rang vividly in my ears.
“This is the medicine I’ve been feeding you all this time. It won’t kill you at once—it’ll make you die slowly.”
“No one will suspect poison. They’ll just think you died of illness.”
“I found the letter in your room. When I showed it to Duke Mares, he agreed to cooperate with our plan without a word.”
“I’ll become the Duke’s adopted daughter in your place. Isn’t that a beautiful story? Parents mourning their daughter take in her dearest friend.”
I clutched my ears and thrashed in the bed.
Merbel and the doctor were stunned and didn’t know what to do.
“The young lady needs rest right now. You should visit another time.”
The doctor finally stepped up and escorted Leticia out of the room.
“My lady, what is going on?”
Merbel took my hand and gently patted my back, full of concern.
I clenched my teeth and shut my eyes, trying to shake off the nightmare that had returned.
Leticia’s demonic face, sneering at me, made it hard to breathe.
“I’ll prescribe something to help her rest. Make sure she gets plenty of sleep tonight.”
“She’s not suffering from anything serious, is she?”
“There’s no significant physical issue. I believe she’s been holding in her grief alone, and it’s taken a toll. If she rests and recalls happier times, she’ll recover quickly.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
Their voices grew fainter, and then I heard the door close.
Though the room was now quiet, my heart was in chaos.
I curled into a ball and replayed the memories from my past life.
It was a nightmare I wished to forget, but I deliberately recalled every detail.
“I’ll never forgive the two of you!”
Shaking with rage, I clutched the bed sheet and tried to resist being consumed by the flood of memories.
I had no idea what was in the tea Roena gave me.
Judging by my condition, I even began to wonder if I might die.
“If I’m destined to be harmed by those people again in this life, then I’d rather dream of revenge and die trying.”
I didn’t know what fate awaited me in this life.
Everything was uncertain, but now that I had taken Tirzen’s hand, I vowed that even if he told me to jump off a cliff, I would trust him and follow.
Roena stared blankly out the window as she dropped tea leaves into the teapot.
Her heart was heavy and troubled.
Even when Tirzen and Kais entered the room, she didn’t react.
“Roena, what’s wrong? You don’t look well.”
Even when Kais asked, Roena said nothing and simply poured tea into a cup.
Leaning toward Tirzen, Kais whispered softly.
“Is this because of the aftermath of the kidnapping?”
“No. She’s just worried about something unnecessary.”
“How is that unnecessary?”
Roena, who had acted like she heard nothing, snapped at her brother, eyes sharp.
Kais was startled. He had never seen her look like that.
Her eyes weren’t just annoyed—they looked deadly.
The siblings had never even raised their voices at each other before.
In other households, this might have been normal, but not in the Grand Duchy of Verato.
“This isn’t normal. Be honest—did you do something really bad to her?”
Roena would obediently slice steak if Tirzen told her to.
So if she was reacting this harshly, Kais figured Tirzen must be the problem.
“She’s worried about Lady Mares.”
“She’s this aggressive over that?”
“I gave her some Kreaty yesterday.”
“What?!”
Kais stood up in shock.
Kreaty was one of Roena’s specially developed teas.
It was a kind of diet tea—but the effects were so strong, they were problematic.
It didn’t just reduce appetite. It completely sapped a person’s energy and made them sluggish.
“Lady Mares is already thin! She should be gaining weight, not losing it! Did you even explain the effects to her?”
Hearing this, Roena sighed deeply.
She had meant to explain, but Ada had interrupted the conversation with Elisha.
Recalling that moment, Roena frowned.
“Duchess Mares didn’t seem to like Elisha very much. She talked like she adored her, but then would cut her down and mock her.”
“That’s probably because she’s not her real mother. Lady Mares is adopted.”
“Oh…!”
“They’re trying to use her in some nasty scheme, so you don’t have to feel guilty about helping her.”
Though the heaviness in her heart didn’t fully lift, Roena nodded at her brother’s words.
“I’m doing this to help Elisha… It’ll be fine.”
Roena took a sip of her warm tea, soothing her anxiety.
By afternoon, I started to feel a little stronger.
I had no appetite, so I only managed to drink a little water and soup—barely anything.
Leaning back against the headboard, I stared out the window when Merbel came in with a plate of fruit.
“You should try eating some, my lady. You mustn’t hurt yourself by grieving too much.”
She picked up a slice of fruit with a fork and held it up to my mouth.
I didn’t want to eat, but I forced myself to take a bite. The sweet juice spread through my mouth and made me realize how hungry I was.
The nausea I’d felt earlier vanished, and I quickly finished the whole plate.
By dinner, I had nearly returned to normal.
“Maybe I was just temporarily weakened by stress?”
A thousand thoughts tangled in my head.
It didn’t make sense that a cup of tea could make someone feel so deathly weak. I had never heard of such a tea.
“Maybe I overreacted to Roena’s words.”
Feeling better after a hearty dinner of soup, salad, a thick pink steak, and a sweet dessert, my strength returned completely.
“I was so worried about you, my lady. Thank goodness you’re alright.”
Merbel placed a hand over her heart in relief, and I teased her for being such a scaredy-cat.
Before going to bed, I debated whether to drink tea again—but in the end, I chose not to.
“If I skip it for a day, I’ll know for sure whether the tea caused it.”
The next morning, I woke up feeling just fine—just like usual.
Though an unexpected visitor early in the morning kept me from feeling refreshed exactly.
Leticia, trying to calm her nerves, told herself Ada wouldn’t go through her belongings.
But she couldn’t shake her anxiety.
She had stolen not only the key to Calix’s room but also to Duke Mares’s study. If she got caught, it would be a disaster.
“Seriously, nothing’s going right these days! It’s all because I wasn’t born to better parents!”
Whenever she was alone, she would mutter bitter complaints.
Even the maids didn’t treat her the same anymore. Though they seemed polite on the surface, she could feel their contempt.
Some even insulted her behind her back.
“Serves her right for acting like a noble when she’s not even one of us.”
“Even the madam seems to be distancing herself lately.”
“She might get kicked out soon.”
“Oh, I hope so—that’d be so satisfying!”
Leticia couldn’t intimidate them like she used to. Causing a scene without a plan could get her kicked out for good.
So she took the two stolen keys and slipped outside. She planned to dispose of them somewhere no one would see.
“If I toss them outside, no one’ll know which keys they were.”
But as Leticia stepped out early in the morning to commit her perfect crime, she unexpectedly stumbled upon a stroke of luck.
