Chapter 6 (Part 1)

The rain that poured for the first time in a while showed no signs of stopping all day. Therese’s face, as she stared at the heavy raindrops hitting the windowpane, was as troubled as the dark night.  

“Madam, you don’t look well.”  

Sophia, who was helping Therese change her dress, massaged her shoulders. Therese leaned her head against Sophia’s hand.  

“I’m fine. I’m just a bit tired. I’ll feel better after some rest.”  

Sophia silently stroked Therese’s head as she used to when they were children. At the gentle gesture, Therese closed her eyes.  

‘Today was a really tough day.’  

She couldn’t describe how uncomfortable she had been with Roshan visiting the office. The Duke blatantly ignored Roshan, and Roshan, while maintaining a semblance of politeness, did not hide his hostility.  

‘It was like being on a battlefield.’  

Therese had chosen to ignore it all, fearing that pointing out every issue would only make things spiral out of control.  

“Will you wear the green dress for dinner?”  

Snapping back to her senses at Sophia’s question, Therese realized it was already time for dinner.  

It was a long-standing tradition in the Richard family for the entire family to dine together, so she couldn’t miss it.  

Dragging her heavy body, Therese descended the stairs, where her mother-in-law, who had arrived earlier, greeted her warmly.  

“Oh, you’re here, dear?”  

“…?”  

Therese glanced around, wondering if Lady Volez had already returned.  

But in the vast dining room, only she and her mother-in-law were present. Duke Richard had mentioned he would stop by the knight order for urgent business.  

“Yes, I mean you. You’re my only daughter-in-law, aren’t you?”  

“Hm.”  

Having survived death once, Therese wasn’t afraid of much anymore.  

But her mother-in-law’s brazen demeanor was as terrifying to her as the ghost stories Sophia used to tell her as a child.  

“Therese, dear, what are you doing?”  

Hearing the word “dear” again made Therese’s whole body shudder, and her eyes widened in shock.  

‘…It hurts.’  

Maria’s long fingernails dug into Therese’s arm like hooks as she grabbed her.  

“The food is getting cold. Come along now.”  

Dragged by Maria, Therese sat at the table, where a cake decorated with macarons was prominently displayed in the center.  

“Everything here was specially prepared just for you.”  

“Thank you for your kindness.”  

Even though the sight of macarons made her stomach churn, thanks to the Duke’s constant insistence she eat them, Therese maintained her manners.  

“Go ahead and try some.”  

Her mother-in-law offered her meat dishes and other foods.  

Therese still wasn’t used to her mother-in-law’s behavior—neither shouting nor cursing at her.  

‘…What’s going on?’  

A strong sense of doubt clouded Therese’s pale face.  

‘It’s suspicious for her to suddenly act so kind.’  

But since she couldn’t yet discern her mother-in-law’s intentions, she stayed quiet.  

‘This feels like torture.’  

Eating alone with her mother-in-law killed her appetite, making her mouth feel dry and gritty, like chewing sand. As she picked at her food, Therese felt a chilling gaze.  

‘…What is that?’  

Her mother-in-law was resting her chin on her hand, staring at her every time she put something in her mouth. Her face carried a satisfied smile.  

‘Now that I think about it, the food tastes a bit…’  

While her sense of taste had dulled due to the poison she had ingested before, the food did taste slightly bitter.  

‘What is this? Could there actually be poison in the food?’  

But the idea of attempting to poison her so openly seemed unbelievable.  

‘If it’s the smell of raw almonds, then it’s cyanide, isn’t it?’  

At that moment, Duke Richard, drenched from the rain, entered the dining room and quickly took the seat next to Therese.  

“Did you wait for me?”  

“…Ah.”  

Therese, who had been relieved at the thought of not having to see the Duke during dinner, let out an odd sound.  

Across from her sat her strangely kind mother-in-law, and beside her was her deranged husband.  

There was nowhere to retreat.  

“No, I heard you’d be late, Your Grace.”  

Flustered by the Duke’s unexpected return, her mother-in-law looked visibly unsettled.  

Maria Richard’s reaction solidified Therese’s suspicions.  

‘Is she stupid or bold?’  

How much must Maria hate and despise her to resort to such measures?  

‘Now that I think about it, even before I died, I often ate the medicine or food my mother-in-law gave me.’  

Each time, she had suffered from severe stomach or head pain.  

‘Back then, I was so clueless and even happy to receive anything from her.’  

Even the smallest attention from her mother-in-law, who rarely praised her, had made Therese as happy as a child.  

After all, in the vast and empty ducal residence, it was only Therese and her mother-in-law.  

‘I didn’t even realize I was dying inside.’  

Though five years had passed and she had started anew, it wasn’t easy to forget everything. Harsh words and glances had a way of carving themselves into her body.  

‘Yes, I thought many things had changed, but it seems my mother-in-law hasn’t changed at all.’  

Pretending to care, holding her hand gently, all while trying to poison her.  

Wiping the bitter expression off her face, Therese turned to the Duke and spoke.  

“Your Grace, this beef dish is delicious today.”  

“Ah, is it?”  

When she offered the dish to the Duke, Jeremy’s face lit up with joy.  

As Therese prepared to cut the meat for him, her mother-in-law, seated across from her, jumped up in alarm.  

“Oh, no!”  

Maria Richard, who valued silence during meals, raised her voice, causing the Duke’s thick eyebrows to twitch.  

“Why not?”  

The irritation in Duke Richard’s voice was unmistakable.  

“Th-that’s because… I made it especially for the Duchess…”  

Even as the Duke’s displeasure grew, Maria flailed her arms and offered a clumsy excuse.  

Watching the Duke and her mother-in-law, Therese’s pale face turned even paler.  

‘There’s no need to watch a play elsewhere.’  

Under the dazzling chandelier, the long dining table was filled with delicious-looking food. And a beautiful noblewoman was offering poisoned food to her daughter-in-law.  

The clueless daughter-in-law accepted it and smiled.  

As Therese’s face overlapped with the imagined daughter-in-law’s, her lips twisted into a bitter smile.  

‘It’s ridiculous.’  

Cold sweat formed on her forehead, and her stomach churned.  

‘Why now of all times…?’  

Even though she had taken suppressants, she couldn’t stop the occasional episodes. Her hands and feet trembled, and a searing heat surged in her chest.  

“…Ugh.”  

As Therese gagged, the Duke’s face contorted, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.  

“My god!”  

The blood dripping from her lips was dark red, a clear sign of poisoning.  

The enraged Duke shouted at the servants.  

“Someone tried to poison the Duchess! Seal the gates immediately!”  

He had no intention of letting the culprit escape.  

As the Duke raged, Therese raised her arm to stop him.  

‘It’s not poisoning…’  

This was from the poison she had already consumed.  

The food laced with poison given by her mother-in-law was, ironically, not enough to harm Therese.  

However, her entire body weakened to the point where she couldn’t even utter simple words. The world spun around her, and her body, which had been sitting on a chair, tilted to the side.  

“…Madame!”  

Hearing the Duke’s shout as the last sound, Therese closed her eyes.  

In the dead of night, when even the birds were asleep, painful groans echoed from the bedroom of the Duchess of Richard.  

On nights when her seizures occurred, she was always in poor condition.  

“…Ugh.”  

After tossing and turning for a long time, Therese opened her eyes, overcome by severe thirst, only to find the room completely dark.  

‘It seems I fainted again this time.’  

Although she had told Roshan that she was fine, her condition was worsening. No matter how much she tried to muster her strength, she couldn’t control her body, which had grown weaker due to the poison.  

After some time, her hazy consciousness began to return.  

Then, she sensed something unusual.  

‘Is someone here?’  

There was a presence, but due to the effects of the poison, her vision was blurry. After blinking a few times, she could faintly make out the silhouette of a man standing beside her bed.  

The only men who could enter her bedroom were her father or Roshan.  

“Ro… Roshan, is that you?”  

At Therese’s unsteady voice, the man slowly turned around.  

“Unfortunately, it’s not that slave, but your husband.”  

Hearing the voice of Duke Richard, Therese’s chest went cold with dismay.  

“…Ah.”  

And at her reaction, Jeremy’s face contorted completely.  

‘It’s that “Ah” again, isn’t it?’  

Therese usually didn’t try to engage in much conversation with him. She would barely answer his questions or express her displeasure.  

The word she used most often was “Ah,” and it was never said with a positive meaning—this much he understood.  

‘Do you know how shocked I was when you collapsed?!’  

Jeremy couldn’t suppress the feeling of disappointment caused by Therese’s indifference to his feelings.  

Thus, an unintended remark slipped out.  

“Don’t tell me that bastard has free access to your bedroom?”