Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The next day was a very busy day. I interviewed and hired all the employees who would start working in the Duke’s estate, and Bleon had to do some work that he had never done before. But even in the midst of being so busy, there were things that I had to do every day that I shouldn’t forget.

“Madam. The doctor is here.”

“Come in.”

From the opened door entered the doctor I saw yesterday and a young woman with very pretty pink hair.

‘Ah…’

And I knew that she was Philia Ruavis, the female lead of the original story.

“Madam, this child is the disciple I spoke of yesterday. Philia, give your greetings to the Madam.”

“Greetings to the Duchess of Einer. My name is Philia Ruavis.”

“Philia…”

I whispered her name again in my mouth. After hearing that, Philia lifted her head slightly and looked at me. She was surprised as soon as her sharp green eyes met mine, and she immediately lowered her head.

‘Beautiful…!’

Philia was so beautiful, especially her dazzling eyes. She would definitely suit Bleon well if anyone saw them side by side. Bleon wasn’t someone who gave importance to outward appearances when he met people, but if she’s that pretty anyway, he might fall in love at first sight.

‘And she has good skills.’

She was not lacking as a partner for Bleon. Now, he was living in Astell’s shadow without doing anything, but after all, Bleon was also a handsome man who would surely be everyone’s ideal type. His eyes were outstanding, he’s handsome, he’s young, he’s got a good body and he’s tall. Besides, looking back at Astell’s memories, he was also very good at… nightly duties.

Even though he was given the title of Duke and now he maintains his family with Astell’s dowry, his original mind was clever enough and he was a fast learner. So, the Duchy was very likely to prosper very soon.

‘The two of you will get along very well.’

Philia was also much younger than Astell. She was just right for him, as she was only three years older than Bleon. Although Philia was a commoner, there was nothing that money couldn’t solve. Even in the original story, the two used the method that Philia became the adopted daughter of Bleon’s distant relative’s family for the sake of their marriage. This time, I was able to use it the same way. I stopped thinking for a moment and opened my mouth as I glanced at her.

“I heard you have a knack for detoxification.”

“No. It’s just a little bit of what I’ve learned.”

‘Even humble…!’

I admired her kindness internally.

“From now on, what you have seen and heard here, you must not speak to anyone. Can you keep that promise?”

“I will never tell anyone. I swear on my name.”

“Then you can go. I want to talk to this child for a while.”

I didn’t want her to go for an interview like the other employees. I tried to tell Philia a little more about Bleon’s condition.

“Understood, then I’ll be on my way.”

Everyone went out to leave me and Philia sitting opposite each other on the couches. I brought up the subject right away.

“Your job from now on is to heal the Duke. The Duke has been addicted to drugs for a long time. So, it is your responsibility to return the Duke to his original state.”

“Before that, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me.”

“My treatment method is a little different from others. It seems to be possible only if Madam agrees on that.”

“What is it?”

I knew it already through the novel, but I asked her with an expression that said I had no idea what she was talking about. According to the novel, there were a few incredibly rare people throughout the continents in this world. It was the people who performed healing magic through the magic in their body.

Now, wizards no longer exist and almost all magic has disappeared, but only healing and some magic have been passed down. But it wasn’t something anyone could do. Being born with magic in the body was only possible for very few chosen ones, and Philia was included in those chosen ones.

And Philia was a healer who specialized in detoxification.

“I heal by using the magic inside me. Especially in the case of detoxification, I collect magic in my hands, caress the bare body to find and heal every poisonous place one by one.”

When I first read this novel, I thought that the treatment method was really suited for an R-19 novel.

‘No, that’s why the two of them met.’

“It does not matter. If you can cure the Duke, any method is fine.”

It really didn’t matter. Because it was my plan to deepen their feelings during treatment.

“All right. By the way, can I see the Duke and his condition?”

“I’m thinking of going to see the Duke soon. But before that, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“To tell you the truth, the Duke has been severely mentally abused since childhood. So his mind is very unstable. I want you to treat that as well.”

“Psychological problems must be addressed first. Has he ever been separated from the abuser?”

“No. That person is me.”

Philia looked at me with astonished eyes and then hurriedly lowered her head.

“I-I apologize, Madam.”

“But I have no intention of doing anything to the Duke anymore. So you can rest assured. But even if I change, the Duke’s injured heart will not heal in an instant. So I want you, Philia, to help me.”

“I understand. I will do the best I can.”

“Thanks. I will trust you, so please.”

“It’s unreasonable for you to implore like this, Madam. I just do what I have to do.”

‘She speaks so beautifully.’

The more I talked with Philia, the more my confidence in her grew.

“Let’s get up and go to the Duke.”

“Yes.”

We left my room and headed to the office where Bleon was working. But the employee who was guarding the door saw me and tried to open the door right away without telling him inside.

“Ma, madam…!”

Before the employee could open the door, I hurriedly shut the door with my hand and stopped him.

“What are you doing?”

As I spoke in a sweet, cold voice, the employee, who had a bewildered expression on his face, not knowing what he had done wrong, hurriedly fell to his knees.

“I-I was wrong…! Fo-forgive me, Madam…!”

“Did you forget that I told you to regard the Duke first in the future?”

There was a loud noise from the outside, and the door opened from the inside and the butler came out.

“What is going on, Madam?”

“Jace. I told the employers firmly, but were you doing things in such a stupid way?”

“It-it’s my fault. I apologise. The Madam always goes in without a word when she comes, oh, I thought it was like this today too, so I…!”

The butler who understood the situation after hearing the employee’s words, who now realized what he had done wrong, bowed his head to me.

“I apologise immensely, Madam. I should have properly educated the employees. It is my fault.”

Obviously, I could have simply forgiven his mistake and moved on. But all that had been tolerated so naturally until now had to be resolutely corrected.

“Educate them properly. If something like this happens again in the future, it won’t end at just this.”

After I said that, I took Philia into the office.

“Let’s go in.”

“Yes…”

Upon entering, Bleon was standing near the door with a restless expression on his face. Looking at his expression, he looked nervous as if he was going to get hit as well.

“Duke.”

However, I wasn’t angry with Bleon, so I looked at him and approached him with a bright smile, despite the fact that I had just been angry.

“Wife… Who made you so angry?”

“It’s not a big deal. The servant didn’t do his job properly, so I gave him a stern scolding.”

As I approached with a smile, Bleon took my two hands with a look of relief.

“Wife…”

Then perhaps to release any anger left in me, he smiled prettily, like a puppy that wags its tail. Looking at me and smiling softly, then Bleon averted his eyes slightly. Then, looking at Philia behind me, his pupils shook. I know that he had made eye contact with her without even turning my head to her.

‘Uh? Don’t tell me…?’

This fast?

I thought it was because Bleon fell in love with Philia at first sight. It seemed like anyone would fall in love the moment they saw Philia…

‘Bleon. Now that I see it, he was the type of person who was weak in appearance.’

It went well in many ways. If the two of them get along well sooner than later, I’ll be fine too. Thinking about it that way somehow made my heart tingle a little. But like the last time, I brushed it off, thinking that it was only because I was assimilated with the original Astell, so I quickly introduced Philia to Bleon.

“This is Philia, a student of the attending physician, and she will be in charge of treating the Duke from today.”

“Greetings, Duke Einer. My name is Philia Ruavis.”

Although Philia greeted Bleon, Bleon remained silent. So Philia kept her head bowed.

“Duke?”

I called Bleon to accept her greeting.

“Welcome…”

Only then did Bleon accept Philia’s greeting. And Philia raised her head. But Bleon didn’t even look at Philia, and looked at me in embarrassment.

“Duke. Nobles do not speak politely to commoners. Of course, if the Duke wants to do that to Philia, I won’t stop you, but you have to remember that you should usually talk down to them.”

It was his first time dealing with a woman of around the same age as him since he was twelve, so he looked awkward and didn’t know what to do. I decided not to worry about it anyway, as the two would get along better together in the future anyway.

“I see, Wife.”

“Let’s sit over there.”

I led them both to the sofa.

“Philia. Examine the Duke.”

“Understood, Madam.”

Philia approached Bleon and reached out to examine him. But Bleon hastily avoided Philia’s touch and came to me.

“Wife…”

And he was just looking at me, clearly not knowing what to do. I recalled Astell’s memory for a moment and quickly figured out why Bleon was doing this.

‘Oh. I see.’

Astell told Bleon not to make eye contact with anyone but her, and never let anyone touch his body. I used to say very badly that if that day happens, I would kill him, everyone else, and then kill myself. That’s why Bleon was making such an anxious expression.

“It’s okay. She’s a doctor. She’s just trying to examine Your Grace.”

I talked to him gently.

“But… Wife…”

“It’s okay, Duke. I’m fine with it now, so you don’t have to worry anymore.”

Even though I repeatedly said that it’s okay now, Bleon still had a hardened expression in addition to a gesture of denial.

“I think it would be better for me to go out for a while.”

It seemed that this would not be a proper treatment. As I was watching, Bleon seemed to keep watching my reactions, so I decided it would be better not to be there, so I got up right away and was about to leave, but Bleon suddenly hugged me from behind.

“Don’t go… My wife, I’ll listen to you… So please…”

Bleon’s voice was somehow lower than usual. And even so, there was a desire to see if I really didn’t want to go out.

“I see. I’m not going, so get treatment. For both of us.”

“…Yes. Okay.”

As I told Bleon that he would be taken good care of, I stayed and he sat next to me while getting examined by Philia. This time, when she touched his hand, he was still. But his head turned toward me and he was still looking at me with unease. The look on his face made me feel like he was constantly looking for something in me, so I tilted my head a little.

“It is done.”

As soon as Philia took her hands off his body, Bleon wrapped his arms over my waist from behind, buried his face in the nape of my neck, and took a deep breath. I felt a warm breath behind my neck. I found Bleon to be a bit annoying, but on the other hand, it didn’t feel too bad. So I just let him do what he wanted to do.

Philia looked for a place to turn her eyes, embarrassed to see us, so she lowered her head slightly to avert her gaze, then she spoke.

“Fortunately, the addiction is not that deep. Since he’s taking an antidote, the treatment won’t take long.”

“Really? Then I’m relieved. Can the treatment start tomorrow?”

It would be nice to start doing it today, but seeing Bleon’s condition, I felt like I had to explain to him in detail about the treatment method Philia was doing.

“It’s possible.”

“Okay then, let’s do it.”

“Yes. I will prepare and come back tomorrow.”

After saying so and greeting us, Philia left the office. Philia went out or not, Bleon just hugged me from behind. I tapped his hand.

“Bleon. Let’s talk face to face.”

When I was alone again, I spoke in a friendlier way. From my experience so far, it was effective to approach the situation in a friendly manner to make him understand and persuade him properly.

“Yes, Wife…”