The Villain's Sickly Wife Dislikes Being Overprotected - Chapter 1.2

The corners of my mouth turned up involuntarily.

“You can go now. I want to rest a bit more.”

“Are you really… okay?”

“Of course, of course.”

I reassured her with a confident nod.

But the maid’s expression as she looked at me was strange. Why is her face becoming so stained with fear…?

“My lady!”

She let out a shrill scream.

“Eek! What’s happening!”

The maid rushed towards me. Her gaze was fixed on the central part of my face.

“I thought something was off, but oh no…!”

Why is she acting like this?

The maid was stomping her feet, not knowing what to do.

Feeling something trickling from my nose, I reflexively looked down.

A few red dots were falling, plop, plop, onto the white bedding. It was a familiar pattern I had seen many times in my past life.

“This is… a nosebleed.”

But I thought I possessed a healthy body?

After seeing a few drops of blood, I fainted right there. Along with the maid’s fading screams.

As I lay unconscious, the real Ekette Dermond’s memories began to seep into my mind.

As I had expected, her life was one without presence. She was a Duchess in name only, practically a wallflower.

It wasn’t just that she wasn’t mentioned in the novel; even in this world’s context, she didn’t receive much attention from people.

The daughter of a rural viscount family barely maintaining their title. A daughter from an insignificant family with no standing in imperial politics or social circles.

The point where her life seemed to change a bit was her marriage to Duke Dermond.

Duke Kyron Dermond. A young but powerful duke.

There was no romance in their marriage. It was chosen purely based on convenience and benefit. Solely because she was the daughter of a powerless, insignificant family.

It was a custom among the empire’s high nobility that one must marry by a certain age. This was a troublesome custom for the duke.

He was annoyed by the pressure to marry and all sorts of families clinging to him. He had more important and grand goals than marriage or family.

The duke’s goal was to kill his second half-brother. It was due to his desire for revenge over the past.

He had already killed his eldest half-brother, and he planned to find and kill the second brother who had fled.

To carry out this ruthless act, he even created a secret knighthood and attacked the temple.

But all of this was a complete secret. That he was the leader of the knighthood, and that he was trying to kill his second half-brother.

No one in the empire knew his true identity yet.

The duke needed a duchess who wouldn’t be interested in or interfere with what he was doing, but would adequately fill the position. That way, he could continue his work while also solving the annoying marriage issue.

Ekette was vaguely aware of the duke’s attitude towards marriage.

She knew that the duke didn’t love her at all. She wasn’t foolish enough to expect love from such a husband.

She, too, didn’t have feelings of love for her husband and decided to marry simply out of a desire to be of some help to her family.

The day after the wedding, her husband left the house without even consummating the marriage.

After the marriage, Ekette spent most of the past year alone, guarding the duke’s mansion.

Once her husband left, he wouldn’t return for several months. Even when he did return to the mansion, he would stay for only a few days before leaving again.

It wasn’t sad that her husband treated her like an invisible person. She had married knowing this would happen.

However, being alone in the large mansion often made her miss her family back home. She would often sigh while looking out the window, longing for her family.

Staying home alone, and occasionally receiving disdainful looks from other nobles she happened to encounter outside…

That was Ekette’s daily life.

Yes, it was a life with many unfortunate aspects. But…

…at least she wasn’t sick.

So why did I suddenly collapse with a nosebleed!

***

While I was unconscious, I learned about Ekette’s memories up until the possession.

And I also learned that she had never had a nosebleed, coughed up blood, or fainted before.

I opened my eyes, denying this confusing situation. I had regained consciousness.

“Oh, my lady! Are you coming to?”

It seems Lia, the maid I saw earlier, had been keeping watch by the bedside all along.

She approached me as she noticed I had opened my eyes. Her face looked like tears were about to fall at any moment.

“Are you alright? Can you recognize me now?”

“…Yes.”

“I was so shocked earlier, sob. You couldn’t remember your name, and then you collapsed with a nosebleed. I was really worried.”

“We were all worried, my lady.”

Only then did I realize there were other people in the room. Not just Lia, but other servants were gathered around the bed as well.

They must have been quite shocked since this had never happened before.

I was shocked too.

It doesn’t make sense for someone who had been healthy until now to suddenly become sickly from the moment I possessed her.

I’ve never seen such a possession story. Don’t they all inherit the healthy body and beautiful appearance of the character they possess?

This must be just a one-time incident. The body was momentarily shocked due to the possession. I only fainted because I was receiving Ekette’s existing memories.

I repeated this to myself like a mantra.

And right now, my body feels fine. The nosebleed had stopped, of course, and although I had fainted and woken up, I didn’t feel dizzy or dazed.

I sat up.

“Oh no, please lie down a bit longer!”

Lia tried to stop me, but I shook my head and raised my upper body.

“I’m fine now.”

“Shouldn’t we still call a doctor?”

“No, it’s not necessary. I’m perfectly fine now.”

Even though I smiled brightly and said I was fine several times, she still looked worried.

“Are you really okay? I was so shocked when you couldn’t even remember me earlier…”

“Haha, that was just a little joke.”

“A joke?”

Her eyes widened. Well, Ekette wasn’t the type to make such outrageous jokes.

“The nosebleed was probably just because I’ve been tired for a few days. You know, sometimes you get nosebleeds when you’re tired, right? It’s nothing serious, don’t worry.”

At my words, Lia bowed her head deeply as if she had committed a grave sin.

“Sob, I must not have taken proper care of you, not realizing how tired you were, my lady. I’m so sorry… You suffered because of me…”

I almost shed tears of emotion at her words of concern for me. Although Ekette’s life was lonely, it seems the servants were on her side at least.

“It’s not because of you. You don’t need to blame yourself so much. Rather, I’d like to have some food now and regain my strength.”

Although I had fainted briefly, I believed that if I filled my stomach properly, I wouldn’t collapse again.

I decided to believe that.

“I’m hungry and my appetite is good, so please prepare today’s meal with extra care. The highest-grade course.”

Now that I’ve become a Duchess, I should enjoy everything I can. Starting with a top-class fine dining experience.

“Yes! I’ll have it prepared right away!”

When I suddenly said I had an appetite, despite usually being a picky eater, Lia responded enthusiastically.