Chapter 25

Dyffrin, having left Evelyn’s room, called Merrilyn and instructed her to schedule an appointment at the medical center.

With a worried expression, Merrilyn agreed and quickly disappeared.

Dyffrin was about to enter his bedroom when he stopped and looked back at the room where Evelyn was.

‘With such frail health…’

She had always had a pale face and a delicate demeanor, as if she could collapse at any moment, but this was the first time she had actually fainted.

Hearing the diagnosis of nervous exhaustion due to stress from the physician, all his strength drained from his body.

He was relieved that it wasn’t a serious illness, but at the same time, he wondered what had caused Evelyn so much stress.

However, he decided not to ask anything for now. Not about Fenris either.

The fact that the man Evelyn had helped on the street turned out to be Fenris still didn’t sit well with him, but there was nothing he could do.

“Lord Dyffrin, please be a little more affectionate.”

Right. Throughout his life, ‘affectionate’ was a word as distant as could be, but he decided to at least try to fake it.

Hoping that the unpleasant feeling writhing inside him would disappear, even just a little.

* * *

Fenris sat crookedly at the desk in his office, rolling a fountain pen back and forth.

His gaze was unfocused, looking at nothing in particular.

Then, one of his eyebrows lifted slightly—a habit when he was deep in thought.

‘Hmm…’

Fenris was recalling what had happened at the ball today.

Since it was a ball hosted by Nosellerton, he couldn’t show himself openly, so he wore a wig and makeup to disguise himself as a servant while he surveyed the area, carrying drinks.

Since most of Nosellerton’s close associates and supporters were likely to be present, eavesdropping on conversations wasn’t a bad idea.

It was then that he spotted Evelyn. Judging from her attire in the library, he had guessed she was a noble of some standing, but her partner being Dyffrin was unexpected.

‘I really must have been out of touch with society.’

Not recognizing the famous Dyffrin’s bride, Evelyn, he smirked bitterly.

Contrary to rumors, she seemed quite close to Dyffrin. He had heard that their relationship wasn’t good.

To be precise, it was said that Dyffrin didn’t like Evelyn. But it wasn’t hard to understand why Dyffrin’s attitude might have changed. She was undoubtedly a charming person.

It was obvious without needing to see it that the social circles would be buzzing for a while due to the argument involving a maid named Patricia.

It was surprising enough that Evelyn, known for her quiet demeanor, responded to the other lady without blinking an eye. But what was even more surprising was that Dyffrin stepped in to take his wife’s side.

This hinted at something significant. The fickle ladies would be wondering whether they should align themselves with the new mistress of the Liwonoc household.

Fenris, too, had a lot on his mind.

‘Of all people, Dyffrin.’

Dyffrin was perhaps a more troublesome figure than Nosellerton. No, he couldn’t even be compared to Nosellerton. Nosellerton was an idiot who couldn’t do anything on his own.

If Dyffrin hadn’t supported him, he would have long been exposed for his mistakes and dethroned from the crown prince position.

So, his real opponent was not Nosellerton but Dyffrin, and he was a formidable adversary.

Yet, he didn’t want to give up meeting Evelyn. He wanted to get close to her. How could he let go of something so interesting that he had found after such a long time?

Fenris, rolling the fountain pen, quietly moved his eyes. The toxicology book he had borrowed from the library that day caught his eye.

‘Alright, first, I’ll deal with Nosellerton.’

He would think about Evelyn afterward.

Fenris picked up the fountain pen he had been rolling and placed it on the cover of the detoxification book.

* * *

The next day, as soon as Evelyn woke up, she headed to the medical center that Merrilyn had scheduled.

Normally, she would have called the physician to the mansion, but for a thorough examination, she needed to go to a medical center with the proper equipment.

Merrilyn prepared the parasol and opened the carriage door for her.

“Please get in, ma’am.”

“Thank you.”

With Merrilyn’s escort, she climbed into the carriage.

As the carriage started, Merrilyn began to chatter about what had happened yesterday. Evelyn reassured her several times that she was fine to ease Merrilyn’s worries.

“Still… wasn’t there something particularly stressful that happened yesterday? Otherwise, I can’t see why you would have collapsed.”

Indeed, there had been some incidents. For example, verbally thrashing Karina and Dyffrin appearing while she was with Fenris.

Of course, the latter caused more extreme stress.

Just when she thought things were getting better with Dyffrin, seeing him appear with that grim expression made her expect that he wouldn’t let things slide that day.

‘Though he didn’t say much surprisingly…’

In the original story, Dyffrin and Fenris were constantly at odds. Partly because Fenris flirted with Evelyn, but also for political reasons.

Dyffrin was Nosellerton’s closest aide and his de facto strategist.

In other words, in the political arena, they were almost inseparable.

Thinking about it that way, there was one thing that bothered her: the detoxification book Fenris had borrowed.

‘Is he really… going to make poison to attack Nosellerton?’

In the original story, the kind and gentle Evelyn stops Fenris when she learns he plans to make poison, but she didn’t get particularly involved herself because she didn’t want to be entangled with him.

But now, for some reason, she was concerned about his plan.

If Nosellerton were seriously harmed by Fenris’s poison, Dyffrin might also be affected.

And it was possible that the poison could be aimed at Dyffrin afterward.

Even though she knew Dyffrin was someone who could navigate any muddy path, she couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling, like a thorn in her throat.

Deep in thought, Evelyn eventually changed her mind.

‘I must meet Fenris again.’

She couldn’t hastily reveal that she knew about the poison, so she needed to meet him and subtly probe his intentions.

It would be a very important matter.

Evelyn didn’t know why she was so concerned about Dyffrin’s affairs, but she concluded that it was because she had grown fond of him due to his recent kindness.

Otherwise, there was no other reason.

“Madam, we’ve arrived.”

The carriage stopped in front of the medical center just in time.

Seeing the white building brought a sudden wave of worry. It was because of the dream she had last night. It felt like a warning directed at her.

Evelyn entered the medical center, hoping that the physician wouldn’t utter the name of a dreadful disease.

Indeed, being the largest medical center in the capital, it was equipped with various facilities, including several magical devices emitting a blue light.

The physician led Evelyn around, using various instruments, and finally spoke with a serious expression.

“I cannot determine the cause.”

After an hour-long examination, he couldn’t find the cause. Evelyn frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“The symptoms are peculiar. It resembles a cold but without a fever, and it seems like stress-induced neurosis, but the pulse and brainwaves measured by the magical devices are normal. Usually, the pulse would be irregular.”

“I didn’t come all the way here to hear that.”

The physician seemed troubled. After all, his patient was the duchess, and he had discovered nothing.

Using all his medical knowledge accumulated over 30 years, the physician finally came up with a possible diagnosis.

“There is a very low chance, but it might be a rare disease called ‘Kendallen’.”

“Kendallen…?”

“Kendallen shows symptoms similar to a common cold at first glance, but it is a completely different disease. It’s a serious illness that is hard to treat.”

Evelyn furrowed her delicate eyebrows.

Although there were some similarities to what the physician described, it was too early to conclude it was the same disease based on such a brief explanation.

“Is it a hereditary disease?”

“I’ve heard it’s not hereditary… but if a mother has the disease while giving birth, the child might be born infected.”

Evelyn was even more puzzled by the vague answer.

‘Not knowing the disease even at the largest medical center in the capital.’

“Is there any physician in the Empire who knows Kendallen well?”

“There was a scholar who researched the disease in the past. Kendallen became known thanks to his papers. However, his current whereabouts are unknown.”

It seemed there was nothing more to gain from this physician. Evelyn stood up, deciding she had extracted all the useful information she could.

The physician, realizing his words had been irresponsible, hurriedly stood up and said,

“I will inquire with the Imperial Medical Association to find that physician…!”

“Let me know if you find him.”

Evelyn received a prescription for medication to alleviate her symptoms from the pharmacist and left the medical center.

At least, the medicine should reduce her coughing and the weakness in her body, so she had to trust in that for now.

Merrilyn, who had been waiting in front of the carriage, ran up to Evelyn like a little squirrel and asked,

“My lady! What did the physician say the disease is?”

Evelyn hesitated. She wondered if she should reveal the unknown disease. However, her hesitation was brief.

“Stress-induced neurosis.”

“The physician who made the house call yesterday said the same thing. It must really be neurosis.”

“He said it would be okay with medication.”

“That’s such a relief.”

Watching Merrilyn’s relieved expression, Evelyn decided it was best not to tell anyone about the disease until she had more information.

‘Not that there’s anyone else to tell.’

Other than Merrilyn, there was no one concerned about her.

Evelyn briefly thought of Dyffrin but quickly dismissed the thought.

Just because he was being kinder than before didn’t mean he had come to love her.

If he knew she had contracted an unknown disease, he would undoubtedly look at her with the same weary, annoyed expression as before.

Even though she knew Dyffrin was originally that kind of person, she couldn’t help but feel a bit bitter.