TLDOWN 15

CHAPTER  15.
A Pain Different from What She Expected

‘Why is the Duke acting like that all of a sudden?’

Even as she mixed various herbs to develop an antidote, Lea kept glancing behind her.

It had been an hour since they arrived at the annex together. The Duke had said nothing the entire time and merely stared into space.

Was he deep in thought about something? Or had she done something wrong in the room earlier?

He had been unusually quiet even before they came to the annex. Because of that, Lea couldn’t focus properly on developing the antidote.

‘If I make a mistake while working on the cure, it could be disastrous.’

Eventually, Lea shook her head as if to snap out of it.

‘Focus on making the antidote.’

Even if he did have something troubling him, he wasn’t the type to share it with her anyway. With that, Lea refocused on her work.

After a while, she successfully created a promising antidote and shook the vial. The signature yellow hue extracted from the evening primrose shimmered inside the glass.

‘Let’s try this combination first.’

She headed toward the shelf to find the Forarium to test the effect.

“Huh? I’m sure I left it here…”

She had made five bottles of Forarium for the experiment. But now there were only four left on the shelf.

‘Did I miscount?’

She tilted her head, wondering if she had been too distracted to count properly. The annex was a secret space known only to her and the Duke, so no one else could’ve taken it.

‘Could it have been… the Duke?’

Lea briefly suspected him but quickly shook her head.

‘No way.’

Why would he take the Forarium? He was the one who needed to stay far away from it the most.

It must’ve just been her mistake.

Convinced, Lea picked up one bottle and turned to go back to the desk—only to bump her elbow against the wooden shelf.

Maybe because it was old, even that slight jolt made the vials on the shelf wobble precariously.

“Ah!”

By the time she noticed one tipping toward the floor, it was too late. She squeezed her eyes shut as she saw the bottles falling.

Thud!

“Kyaa!”

With a sharp sound slicing through the air, a pain different from what she expected shot through her. Lea had fallen on the floor and was now rubbing her aching hip.

She turned around to assess the situation.

The vials that had been on the shelf were now shattered across the floor. And there was the Duke, looking down at her with a blank expression.

“Wait, Duke… don’t tell me…”

Lea stared at his raised right foot.

“Did you just kick me?!”

“Yes.”

He responded nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal.

Unbelievable. What kind of man kicks a woman who’s in danger?

“You were being careless. Your head could’ve been split open.”

He muttered as he nudged away some of the glass shards with his foot.

If the Duke hadn’t kicked her, she might’ve been seriously injured by the falling vials—or worse.

Watching him click his tongue in disapproval, Lea pouted. She didn’t expect some dramatic rescue, but… a kick?

While she was grateful, she couldn’t help feeling a bit offended. Perhaps noticing her conflicted feelings, the Duke tilted his head.

“How rude. You should be thanking your savior, not glaring at him like that.”

“But still… kicking me?!”

“Would you rather I just stood by and let your head get smashed?”

Ugh. He had to say it like that.

Though reluctant, Lea gave him a small word of thanks.

“Thank you.”

What choice did she have? She didn’t like the method, but the result was that he saved her. The Duke gave a slight nod and began preparing to leave the annex.

“Clean all this up. No need to come to the annex for a while.”

“What?”

Lea looked up, startled by his sudden command.

“Why not?”

He paused before answering.

“I have my reasons.”

Lea would come to understand those words a few days later.

❀ ❀ ❀

Since then, Lea had gone back to her usual busy schedule.

Although she no longer visited the annex at the Duke’s request, she continued researching the antidote in the dispensary whenever she could.

“Huh? Is it that late already?”

Lifting her head, she realized it was well past lunchtime.

No wonder she was hungry.

She must’ve been too absorbed in her work to even notice. Thinking she should at least grab a snack, she stepped out of the dispensary.

As she walked down the long corridor toward the kitchen, she saw maids bustling around. They were all heading to the third floor—the Duke’s residence.

Could something have happened to the Duke?

Curious, Lea stopped one of the passing maids.

“Is something wrong with the Duke?”

“Oh, no, not at all! A message just came saying guests from the imperial palace will be arriving soon.”

“So today’s the day.”

They had been deep-cleaning for days in preparation for the visit. It looked like they were now tidying up the Duke’s bedroom.

As Lea nodded, the maid hurried off. Once the imperial doctors arrived, they would likely check on the Duke’s health right away.

‘As the apothecary, I should be present too, right?’

Wondering how she would explain the Duke’s condition, Lea turned around and headed to his room.

After all, the attending physician couldn’t be off eating lunch while an imperial examination was taking place.

With a small sigh, she approached the Duke’s bedroom.

“Duke, it’s Lea.”

She knocked, announcing her presence, but there was no response. Normally, he would at least drop something to acknowledge her.

A bit concerned, she turned the doorknob hesitantly.

“I’m coming in.”

Pushing aside her uneasy thoughts, Lea stepped cautiously into the bedroom. Thankfully, the maids seemed to have finished tidying up.

She walked past the neatly arranged space and approached the bed.

The blackout curtains, usually drawn gloomily, were now pulled wide open and tied back neatly. The room was so bright, it barely felt like the Duke’s space.

‘It’d be nice if he always lived like this.’

Vitamin D was important, after all.

Lea soon stood at the Duke’s bedside.

“Duke, are you asleep?”

He had never slept in this late before.

“The imperial doctors are almost here. You should—”

As she leaned in toward him, she saw his golden hair soaked with sweat—or something like it.

“…Duke?”

She moved closer and immediately felt the heat radiating from him. Lea hurriedly touched his forehead.

The heat that met her fingers was intense—so much that even the brief contact burned.

“Duke!”

Finally, she noticed his labored breathing. He seemed completely unconscious from the fever.

‘What happened?!’

This didn’t make sense.

Just last night in the annex, he had seemed fine.

She shook him, but he didn’t stir.

Up to now, he had been drinking the evening primrose detox tea, which was steadily flushing the Forarium poison from his system.

His complexion had been improving day by day.

‘So how could his condition suddenly worsen like this?’

As she reached for a towel on the nightstand to wipe away his sweat—

Clink.

Something rolled and hit her foot.

“What’s this?”

She bent down and picked up an empty vial from under the bed. A bit of white liquid had settled at the bottom, indicating it hadn’t been completely consumed.

Suddenly, the memory of the missing Forarium vial from the other night flashed in her mind.

‘No… it can’t be.’

Please. Let it not be true.

Her heart was already pounding wildly.

With trembling hands, she opened the vial and sniffed.

That familiar scent.

Forarium.

‘Damn it!’

Everything became clear from that single bottle.

The Duke had drunk the Forarium poison again—within just a month of his last dose.

At that moment, the Duke began to stir, his consciousness returning.

“…You… what are you doing…”

Then, seeing the empty vial in her hand, he said:

“Put that away… people will be coming.”

Lea groaned. Was he seriously worrying about the bottle when he couldn’t even remain conscious?

“Why would you do this?! You’ve drunk two vials of concentrated poison this month alone!”

She demanded an answer, her voice shaking with anger.

Was he so desperate to die?

Her hand clenched the bottle tightly as it trembled.

“That… has nothing to do with you…”

“How could it not?! I’m your attending physician.”

‘My life depends on yours!’

She shouted, her voice full of frustration. The Duke, staring at her, let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes again.

“Lower your voice… it’s ringing in my ears.”

“Ugh…!”

“Just… hide the bottle…”

He twisted in pain, struggling to speak. Lea stood up, clearly done with him.

“Wait right here. I’ll go get medicine—”

“No…”

His half-lidded red eyes fixed on her.

Lea was completely overwhelmed. She couldn’t understand why he was doing this to himself.

As she parted her lips to speak—

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed beyond the bedroom door.

—Duke, the guests from the imperial palace have arrived.

With a knock, the bedroom door swung open.