CHAPTER 121………………………………
I wasn’t able to leave my bed until five more days had passed.
During that time, not only the spirits but everyone in the mansion moved as if walking on thin ice.
The butler kept a solemn expression the entire time, and Luna even broke into tears on occasion.
Even though it was only the lingering effect of the penalty, being treated like someone with an incurable disease made it uncomfortable to lie there.
I stared blankly at the middle-aged man holding my wrist and checking my pulse with professional composure.
“It seems you’ve passed the critical stage. That’s fortunate.”
“…Who are you?”
The butler, standing like a shadow to the side, answered quietly.
“I’m your new attending physician.”
“And the previous physician?”
“Dismissed due to doubts about his competence.”
“…I see.”
The old doctor had seemed competent enough; I didn’t understand why they’d been replaced.
“From now on, Sir Andrei will be responsible for your health. He is the imperial physician sent by the Third Prince, so you can be certain of his skills.”
Now that I thought about it, I remembered seeing this man at Leonhart’s palace.
‘I’m the woman who cheated with another man on the engagement day, and yet he sends a doctor? What a fool.’
Even though Leonhart had grown colder than before, his kind, thoughtful nature—taking care of his people—remained the same.
Sir Andrei gently released my wrist.
“Duke, may I ask you a few questions?”
“Go ahead.”
“When did this start? The symptoms of coughing up blood and fainting.”
“A few months ago.”
I answered vaguely, and the butler politely corrected me.
“It’s been three months. And it happened three times in total.”
It had actually happened five times, but I stayed quiet.
“So roughly once a month… How were you as a child?”
“Well… Butler, how was I?”
“You’ve always been frail, Your Grace. You often fell ill. Once you bled, it didn’t stop easily.”
Adrian’s body was far weaker than I had expected.
“Did your heart ever pound excessively, or feel achy without reason?”
“Well….”
When I see Leonhart, my heart pounds, and when I receive penalties, it hurts.
The butler answered for me as I hesitated.
“You never said your heart hurt. However, when you were born, your heart was slightly….”
He glanced at me, then continued.
“The attending physician noted it appeared malformed.”
“If it had been severe, you would have died at birth… so it must have been mild.”
“Exactly.”
“Usually, the heart develops naturally as one grows. The body grows, and the heart grows along with it.”
“That’s why until the end of your growth period, we carefully ensured you didn’t overexert yourself or strain your body.”
No wonder I suffered from muscle pain even after short walks, couldn’t drink a single glass of beer, couldn’t lift a child, and even mild exposure to lukewarm water could give me a cold.
‘It wasn’t just because I grew up like a greenhouse flower… I was truly fragile. No wonder the butler was so meticulous about my health….’
Adrian was born with a malformed heart, destined to be carefully monitored his entire life.
Now that I had possessed this body and incurred penalties, the weak heart had no way of enduring it.
Sir Andrei exhaled deeply.
“This is serious.”
“Is coughing up blood caused by the heart?”
“To be honest… we couldn’t identify the exact cause.”
That made sense—it wasn’t illness; it was the penalty.
“However, the bleeding is rapidly worsening Your Grace’s heart condition. That’s the biggest problem.”
“What… do you mean?”
“Repeated fainting with blood loss cannot leave the body unaffected. You might not have noticed, but the repeated stress was accumulating in the weakest part of your body—your heart.”
“So what should I do? Take medicine?”
“Do you think there’s medicine that can repair a damaged heart? That’s the domain of the divine.”
“What…?”
“The only solution is to rest and keep yourself as comfortable as possible. At this rate, you never know when your heart might stop.”
Sir Andrei clicked his tongue in frustration.
“If you were healthy, you would have noticed the problem earlier. But your body has always been fragile, so you likely just accepted it. That worsened the symptoms.”
“So… you’re saying my… heart might fail at any time…?”
The butler clenched his teeth as he spoke, but Sir Andrei shook his head calmly.
“No, you’re not going to die immediately. If you minimize your activities and take care, you’ll be fine.”
“So the root problem can’t be solved?”
“We couldn’t determine the cause of the bleeding… so yes.”
“Sir Andrei, are you really qualified to treat me? None of the previous physicians ever said anything like this!”
The butler pressed sharply, and Sir Andrei did not flinch.
“Are you doubting my skill?”
The tense standoff between the two middle-aged men made the bedroom feel suffocating.
To me, it was boring enough to yawn.
‘Even if I coughed up blood hundreds of times before marrying Leonhart, I wouldn’t die.’
Of course, if I refused to marry, the author could still “remove” me, but for now, I was safe.
“What are you two doing in front of me?”
The heated argument stopped immediately.
“Forgive our rudeness, Duke.”
“Butler, please wait a moment while I call another doctor.”
“No need. From now on, Sir Andrei is my attending physician.”
I liked that he was honest about what he didn’t know and had already figured out that the penalty wasn’t caused by my heart.
“Your Grace!”
“You’ve had a lot on your plate lately. You collapsed from accumulated fatigue. The blood came from biting your tongue when you fainted. Rest, and you’ll recover—stop making a fuss.”
Both the butler and Sir Andrei raised their voices.
“Duke, this is not something to ignore! If you push yourself, something serious could happen!”
“I am the Duke of the Empire. I cannot leave my duties just because I’m unwell.”
“If you want to live, you must! Stop all public duties and stay in bed! If you cough up blood again, who knows what might happen!”
“I won’t faint again. I won’t cough up blood again.”
“How can you guarantee that? You never know what might happen!”
I would endure any penalty silently, clenching my teeth perfectly.
“If this happens again, I’ll do as you say. Stop all activities and recuperate somewhere with clean air. Satisfied?”
“Will the Duke’s heart even hold out that long?”
“Make it hold out. That’s your job, isn’t it?”
“…Don’t have confidence?”
Sir Andrei’s slack answer left him speechless.
“This is unbearable. Very well. I’ll find a method, so be extremely careful. No excitement, no strenuous exercise. Understood?”
“Fine, fine. I’ll rest from now on, so you two may leave.”
I waved dismissively, and both Sir Andrei and the butler hesitated before leaving.
“By the way, Sir Andrei.”
“Yes, Duke?”
“Do not speak of my condition to anyone, or you could face a massive lawsuit.”
“…Even to the Third Prince?”
Should I tell him?
If word spread that I had an incurable disease, it would naturally lead to breaking off the engagement with Leonhart. A woman of uncertain lifespan could not become a princess.
‘But…’
Would Leonhart abandon his fiancée with an incurable disease? Or would he try to protect me even more?
“Especially do not tell the Third Prince. Understand?”
“Yes, Duke.”
Once they left, the bedroom became quiet.
I leaned against the bed, waiting for the inevitable commotion.
As expected, the spirits swarmed around me.
“This… this can’t be. Our Rian has an incurable disease… this must be a dream, right?”
Undine sat before me in despair.
“R-Rian, don’t worry. Huff… huff… It may be difficult for humans, but… there must be a cure somewhere. We’ll find it!”
Even Sylph, usually calm and rational, was hyperventilating.
“The expelled doctor said it too! The contractor’s heart is abnormal! He got angry when I mentioned it a few days ago… serves him right!”
Salamander breathed fire from his mouth.
And Gnome…
“Gnome, don’t cry. You’ll wilt the sprouts.”
