Sickly? Husband’s Contractual Wife

Chapter 25

I could still remember how Selena was first described in the novel 「 Lady Crown 」

[ By the name of the moon goddess, how could you do such a terrible thing, Selene? Compared to all the incidents and scandals I’ve seen in this land, you must be the most cold-blooded woman by far. ]

One after another, records of the heroine’s calm declaration appeared.

[ This woman is the most vicious, most malicious in the entire world. She felt not even one twinge of remorse as she poisoned her bedridden husband, the Duke of Eftret. ]

Next, was a vivid recountment of when the moment the Duke of Efret had been poisoned.

[ Upon completing the autopsy, we have found traces of an extremely toxic poison in the body. ]

Still, what kind of poison was it? No matter how much I wracked my brain, I couldn’t remember the novel ever going into detail regarding the poison.

‘I guess it doesn’t really matter what kind of poison kills a character who isn’t even the male lead…’ Not only was I, Selena, originally a supporting character in the novel, but so was Amoide, though he did have more scenes than me.

The Duke of Efret was so brutally poisoned that all the gorey details were included. What was left of him after he died was a mess as what poured out of his nose, mouth and ears was a substantial amount of blood enough to ruin the bed on which he lay.

The portrayal of his death was so vivid that it’d stayed with me until now, making me feel nauseous every time I recalled it.

But honestly, this was nothing—nothing compared to Selena’s execution.

Bringing me back to the present, Emma wiped off the silver rod with a piece of cloth, and with a mechanical voice, she uttered, “…There seems to be no problem here.”

It was for a moment, but the image of Amoide’s death in the original novel lingered, and cold sweat dripped down my back.

“You did well, Emma.”

I already knew that there was no poison in the food, but I couldn’t help the sigh of relief escaping my lips.

“I simply did what I had to do. It’s my duty to keep my master out of danger.”

“All right.”

She only repeated what she said before, but somehow it felt like a calculated move to ruin my mood. Well, it’s no use trying to do that anyway. Years and years of the cold shoulder from someone as imposing as Amoide made me numb to such cute tactics.

I smiled softly and held out a plate to the man who trained me diligently.

“Then, shall we try tasting this felonious fish, Amoide?”

“…”

Without saying anything, Amoide took the plate from my hands.

Throughout the meal, what could be heard was only the intermittent clinking of utensils. I wanted to initiate a conversation with him, but he didn’t take his eyes off his plate.

‘Is the food that delicious?’

Nonetheless, dealing with this man sitting across me, of course, I knew it wasn’t that. It’s because he didn’t want to talk to me.

It was a sad truth, but the truth nonetheless.

‘That said…’

This guy ate as if eating was an art form. The demeanor he radiated was breathtaking, and the mere act of using a fork and knife to bring food to his lips kept me mesmerized as his elegant jaw chewed gracefully. Even the movement of his Adam’s apple as the food went down captivated me.

Everything was perfect.

An absurd story came to mind just now. It was about a king who peeled boiled eggs so elegantly and wonderfully that when his subjects clamoured to see the eggs, they forgot their own hunger. When I first heard this, I just thought it was a bit funny but paid it no mind, but now this was exactly how I felt.

“Are you done eating?”

As I watched him eat with my chin cradled in one hand, I forgot my own plate that was set in front of me.

“If you’re done eating, then leave.”

“What… but we’re doing something else after our meal.” As I said this, I removed my chin from my hand.

“Something else?”

Amoide asked, glancing at me with an exasperated expression, though I only smiled back quietly.

“Since we’ve stuffed ourselves, it’s only natural to go out for a leisurely stroll.”

I held out my bandaged hand toward him.

“With your wife, of course.”

At my urging, he stood up from his seat and grudgingly followed me.

“You can’t, Milord.”

“What’s this, Emma?”

“The Duke has recovered only recently,” Emma reproached, looking directly into my eyes.

Not backing down, I retorted, “Doctor Raymond himself said that walks are good for Amoide’s health, and I agree with him. It’s also healthy to take in just enough sunlight.”

Amoide had been especially careful ever since he collapsed. Every time he had a seizure, he always holed himself up in his room for days on end. Rather than a problem with his body, it seemed more like a self-inflicted exile due to shame. It might be because of his frustration over his body’s fragile condition.

“That’s why we should go on a stroll. Let’s walk. The sun’s warmth feels so nice,” I spoke, laying it on thick to persuade him.

In response, he pursed his lips as if he was about to say something. He was probably going to say that I was annoying, or that he had no need for a stroll.

Emma smiled in triumph as if she’d already won the war.

Peering at Amoide, I gazed up at him and asked, “…You don’t want to?”

I raised my bandaged hand to place a stray lock of hair behind my ear.

“If it’s like that, then I can’t help it.”

“…Let’s go out.”

As I heard his answer, I hid my lips behind my hand and smiled widely.

“Before that, Milord,” Emma interrupted. To be honest, I was amazed at how she still had something more to say, but before long, she continued, “Please take your medicine.”

I heard a sound similar to teeth grinding, but it must be my imagination.

Emma briskly walked around me and brought a pill from a small glass jar to give to Amoide.

“Please drink it,” Emma said as she handed it over to him with a glass of water.

The look she directed at my husband was the opposite of how she glared at me just moments ago. Amoide quickly took the pill and drank it right away with water. As he did so, I peered intently at the pills in Emma’s hands—those pills in that black glass bottle.

“What is it, Milady?” Emma asked, feeling my piercing scrutiny of the item in her hands.

I tried to keep my eyes off it, though my gaze kept gravitating towards the bottle. It was the medicine that Amoide regularly took, the one that Raymond prescribed.

[ These are the medications that the Duke is taking. ]

Raymond presented a list to me, but I couldn’t find anything unusual in the listed prescriptions. Since I used to work at a pharmacy, I was familiar with a variety of drugs. Only ordinary herbs used for painkillers and tranquilizers could be seen on that list, albeit of higher quality since they were for a Duke.

[ Is there a problem, Milady? ]

Raymond had asked me, puzzled as he went over the list again.

I immediately dropped the subject. I shouldn’t doubt Raymond anymore. But suddenly, as an afterthought, I added. [ Raymond, do you know if there’s such a thing like a medicine that doubles one’s strength? ]

[ Hmm… I don’t think there is. ]

At this, both of us had flushed cheeks.

Well, it wasn’t his strength or vitality that really mattered here, anyway. What’s most important was the preservation of Amoide’s life, and the prescription Raymond gave was perfect.

Even though I was still skeptical about the list of herbs and drugs since any of them could be the ingredients for the poison, it would arouse suspicion if I asked about it outright.

As I thought about this, Emma left the dining room while carrying the pill bottle with her. I bit my lower lip.

‘How can I get ahold of those pills naturally?’

It was hard to imagine Emma willingly giving that bottle to me, especially since she had already started paying more attention to my actions.

“What are you doing?”

Amoide’s voice and his blue eyes that peered down at me pulled me out of my reverie.

“Yes?” I asked back foolishly, forgetting everything I was thinking about at that moment. He had that kind of power over me.

‘Oh, my heart.’

No matter how many times I saw his face, his visuals never fail to take my breath away. That’s why, please, control your temper.

“Are we not going out?”

At his question, I heard my own voice as it rose an octave higher as I replied hurriedly.

“We’re going!”

I linked his arm with mine and grinned. He still had a surly scowl pasted on, but Amoide didn’t resist this time.

“Then, let’s go, Amoide.”

As I hurried out the door arm-in-arm with him, I could feel the back of my head stinging. When I turned to look behind me, Emma was there, staring holes at me with her lips clamped shut.

* * *

“The weather is nice today as well, don’t you think so?”

As if we had been doing this for years, we walked leisurely and comfortably together. Even the estate’s employees that passed by us from time to time seemed to have gotten used to seeing us on our strolls as we’d been doing this for a few days now.

Amoide, who was the focal point of this exercise, was reluctant at first because he avoided being in public as much as possible. And so, it had been rare for him to walk around like this in broad daylight.

This was why the one who saw his face the most was the servant who attended to him the most: Emma.

‘But wow, there’s no need for you to glare at me so hard like that.’

I could feel Emma’s eyes still trailing after me from a distance.