The Only Way to Break the Curse is Through Contact with You - Chapter 60
#60
I Diart carried me from the reception room to the bedroom, laid me on the bed, and instructed them to call a doctor. I couldn’t say that I had already woken up after fainting so loudly, so I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes firmly. Meanwhile, a doctor who arrived in a hurry examined me.
“How is she?”
“…It seems like her condition has worsened.”
The doctor diagnosed in a painful voice. I gnawed on the inside of my cheek to stay calm as everyone in the room held their breath.
“How much worse?”
Diart asked slowly.
“Her heart rate is too fast and irregular. Since stress and pain are the main causes of Puythan disease, stability is more important than anything else…”
Of course, since I was deceiving everyone now, my heart was pounding, and it was obvious that it would burst since Diart had been holding my hand since earlier.
“Has she experienced anything that might have caused emotional shock?”
The doctor asked Diart, who did not answer. But the energy emanating from him was not reassuring. I was almost certain that he would blame someone when I collapsed when I was fine just eating dinner with Adelia. In fact, I even cursed Adelia with a cold ghost in front of her.
I pretended to collapse in front of Adelia to get a rise out of her, but I was terrified of the momentum Diart had. It looked like he was going to strangle her at any moment.
“Have you found a cure yet?”
When Diart, who had been silent for a while, asked, the doctor seemed startled.
“Ah, not yet…I’ve been going through the books you sent me day and night, but since there’s so much information, it might take some time.”
The doctor replied defensively with a trembling voice. Since Diart knew that I had an incurable disease, he seemed to have been looking for a way to cure me all this time. I guess this is why Lily said he would definitely make me better.
My chest felt itchy, so I bit my lips.
“Gordon.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Call Lambert.”
As soon as he gave his order, Gordon left the room, and the sound of the door closing was heard.
“Everyone leave.”
After sending everyone out of the room, Diart firmly held my hand with both hands.
“Wake up, Roeni.”
His pleading voice was so pitiful that I wondered if I had misheard. Diart rested his forehead on the hand that held mine.
* * *
Diart didn’t let go of my hand the entire time I was unconscious. Thanks to that, my body, which was already light, felt even lighter recently, but I couldn’t move a muscle on the bed for several days.
Partly because it was too embarrassing to fall down in a heap and wake up the next day feeling fine, and partly because Diart wouldn’t let me get out of bed.
It seemed like he was quite surprised that I collapsed in front of him for the third time already.
Since I received Lily’s devoted care, who took care of me with unwavering sincerity, and the servants, who never left my side, my body improved to the best it could be, but my conscience was pricked, making the bed feel as uncomfortable as a bed of thorns.
While Diart was momentarily absent, I called Lily after sitting up on the bed. Perhaps she sensed what I was going to ask, but Lily couldn’t meet my eyes and her gaze wandered.
“Lily, why did you hide the letters from me?”
“Well…that’s…”
Lily hesitated with a thoroughly dejected expression. She looked as cute as a maltese, but I sternly hardened my face.
“Did Diart order you to?”
“…Yes.”
So even Lily sided with Diart. I thought she was completely on my side, but it turned out that all these tiger cubs everywhere1I’m not sure if this is right, but apparently, the ‘새끼’ from 호랑이 새끼들 (tiger cubs) is used for swearing among friends, like ‘dumb guys’ or ‘bastards’ are everywhere.
Seeing my betrayed expression, Lily hurriedly poured out her defense.
“Master thought of Madam and was worried that there might be letters that would upset her. And since Milto and Lambert said there were rumors of arguments between you at the banquet hall, I also worried if there might be letters that would hurt Madam’s feelings, so… “
“Did you also exclude letters from other people besides Lady McGregor?”
“Countess Myrus, Viscountess Weston, and Baroness Leopold. And…”
Lily counted on her fingers. They were all people who had acted hostile towards me at the banquet hall. What was even scarier was that some of them were present at the tea party that Leticia had invited me to. I couldn’t understand how Diart found out about them.
“Was there a letter from Crown Prince Jarvis in there by any chance?”
Since she couldn’t answer right away, it seems to be true. I thought it was strange that Jarvis proposed to me and then didn’t send any letters.
“How many?”
“About five letters.”
The fact that I ignored the crown prince’s letters five times and did not know anything about it meant that Diart completely blocked them.
Lily, who had been observing my expression, opened her mouth with a determined look.
“Madam, the master is not entirely bad as a husband.”
“Huh?”
“Of course, he has a selfish personality, and he doesn’t think about others and acts like he lives alone in the world. Sometimes he can be cold to the point where you wonder if he really has the same blood running on his veins.”
……Why don’t you just curse him? I blinked at Lily’s sudden backhandedness.
“He is one of only three dukes in the Empire, and he has an unimaginable amount of money. And above all, he is handsome and attractive, attracting people’s attention wherever he goes. Of course, that’s because they don’t know his personality, but anyway, I think my grandmother was right when she said that if you’re good-looking, you have face value, and if you’re ugly, you’re worthless.”
And Lily firmly held my hand and declared.
“Our master is much more handsome than Crown Prince Jarvis.”
I couldn’t follow the context at all and tilted my head. Lily raised her eyebrows.
“Everyone is nervous and worried that Madam might abandon the master and go to Crown Prince Jarvis.”
Even so, isn’t ‘abandon’ such a strong word? Perhaps during the times when I went out or talked to other men, did Diart appear like a ghost on his own accord to play the role of a CCTV?
“In the past, when the master was cold, I hoped that Madam would meet someone else for your happiness, but not anymore. The master truly values Madam. Even the butler who has been with him since he was young said that he has never seen him like this before.”
“So.”
“When Madam collapsed, seeing how the Duke never left your side and guarded the bed, you don’t know how moved I was.”
Actually, I was moved too. When I pretended to collapse in the reception room, I was a little worried. I couldn’t guarantee how Diart would react when he saw Adelia again.
But he immediately ran to me and hugged me. His voice, as he gave orders to Adelia, is haunting me to this day. I feel like an asshole for being so relieved.
There might come a time when he falls in love with Adelia according to the original storyline. It’s beyond my comprehension to hope for that and wish for it to happen someday. Whether it’s because of the lingering affection or his intense contact, or maybe just because handsome men are appealing, I don’t know.
I came out to the garden with a complicated mind. The slightly cool breeze refreshed me as much as my light clothing. Sitting at an outdoor table, I took in the pouring sunlight and the vibrant green leaves that adorned my view.
As I gazed ahead, I saw someone walking towards me from afar. Diart, dressed in a white suit, brushed his silver hair swaying in the wind and briefly lifted his golden eyes. I stared blankly at his figure, and our eyes met.
Without blinking his eyes, Diart walked towards me and smiled, the corners of his mouth curling up. I absentmindedly placed my hand on my chest, unable to take my eyes off him. It was a tingling sensation that was difficult to explain, even though we weren’t holding hands, I felt a ticklish energy flowing through me from head to toe.
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