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Dante could not understand at all.
What reason did Serpina have for spinning lies?
Why did she calmly say she was "fine" with a composed face?
Her lips, which had once spoken of death, now only held a smile.
And so.
Dante couldn't bring himself to question the lie. He didn't have the courage.
“Duke?”
The response Dante would give to Serpina's call was already determined.
“I’m glad to hear that you’re fine.”
That night.
Dante secretly summoned Barhan. Perhaps it was due to his ongoing worry, but Barhan’s face seemed more deeply lined than usual.
“Barhan.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Are you hiding something from me about my wife?”
At the Duke’s question, Barhan had no choice but to stifle a sigh.
So it had come to this.
Instead of remaining silent, Barhan chose to speak honestly.
He revealed what the maidservants had reported and the suspicious aspects about the lady. Furthermore.
“In my opinion, it is certain that the lady is ill.”
Including his own opinion.
Dante stayed silent for a moment and then asked in a calm voice.
“What do you think should be done?”
“……Pardon?”
“What should be done about this situation? My mind can’t figure it out.”
Early death had always been the domain of the head of the family, not the wife’s.
...It might be my fault too.
All the family members he had relied on had left his side.
His mother, father.
And his brother too.
“Sorry, Dante. I’m sorry.”
The tearful voice echoed in his mind.
“What am I supposed to do?”
Unable to hide his sigh, Barhan couldn't suppress it any longer.
A few days later.
Those who had learned of Serpina’s illness, including Mari and Sienna, spent their days with somber faces.
In front of Serpina, who made efforts to smile and, for some reason, tried to hide the secret, they could not question why she was lying.
They could only feel a deep, consuming frustration.
On the third day of this gloomy and depressed atmosphere.
“Hey? That person is…”
“That quack doctor?”
Mari and Sienna discovered a suspicious-looking doctor wandering around the mansion.
“What’s going on?”
“Indeed. Why is he sneaking around like that…”
The two exchanged glances and quickly followed the doctor.
The doctor, constantly looking around nervously, eventually slipped into an empty guest room.
“Guest room?”
A new figure appeared with a question.
It was Serpina.
She appeared with her usual pale face, sighed, and entered the guest room where the doctor had gone.
Mari and Sienna gulped nervously as they watched everything.
Then, shortly after.
The door opened and the doctor emerged first.
“Well then, I will leave before others notice. I will definitely come back with an appropriate answer next time, so please take care of yourself in the meantime!”
“Yes... Let’s do that.”
“Goodbye then.”
Bowing deeply, he quietly exited the corridor as he had entered.
Serpina, who had been quietly observing, clicked her tongue and headed back to her room.
“What should we do?”
“Indeed. What should we do?”
While they were debating whom to follow, the doctor had already distanced himself.
But, just for a moment.
“Dr. Hetterson.”
Barhan, making an elegant appearance, blocked the doctor’s path.
Hetterson, who thought he had managed to slip away, was startled and jumped in place.
“M-M-Major Butler?”
“The Duke is calling for you. Please follow me.”
His tone was smooth yet strangely threatening.
Hetterson hesitated, unable to act, and eventually drooped his head and followed Barhan.
Mari and Sienna stopped their tailing only then.
Following Barhan, Hetterson arrived at Dante’s office.
As the door opened, Dante, who was sitting upright and examining documents, looked up.
He put down the pen he was holding and leaned back lightly against the backrest.
Even the smallest of movements conveyed a sense of immense pressure.
“Why did you come to see me today?”
The heavy voice made it unbearably frightening. His sharp, blue gaze was too intimidating to meet.
He trembled like a poor goat in front of a predator and answered.
“W-Well, that is, um…”
His voice barely came out due to his nervousness.
Yes. He had tried to come quietly, hoping not to attract attention.
He wanted to personally bring the medicine for the Duchess, whom he admired, but the people in this mansion were too frightening.
They glared at him with sharp eyes whenever they had the chance, cursing him with their gaze.
It seemed they thought he was a quack doctor.
It was unfair.
He was the best physician in the North!
How much praise had he received for being unmatched in his field?
Hadn't he been offered the position of the Duke’s personal physician several times?
Yet, driven by his pure desire to help more people, he continued as a private physician. Why did they keep disparaging him?
What had he done here except to diagnose the lady as healthy?
He had said she was fine because she was fine; if they asked why she was fine…
Could it be that they all hoped for something wrong with the Duchess?
Oh my. What if that’s the case?
In his ongoing dilemma, he kept his mouth shut for a while.
“It's better to speak properly.”
“I-I’ll say it!”
The harsher threat made him forget his worries.
Sorrow, unfairness, and loyalty were all useless in the face of fear.
“I’m here to deliver medicine. That’s all!”
“Just to deliver medicine?”
“Yes, truly.”
Dante narrowed his eyes and glared at Hetterson.
“What kind of medicine?”
“G-Gastric medicine!”
“That’s all?”
“Yes?”
“Is that all?”
“...Y-Yes, that’s all.”
Faint lines appeared on his forehead above the narrowed eyes.
Hetterson was in a state of near-death.
From now on, he resolved to have his apprentices deliver the medicine instead.
“I want you to answer honestly to what I’m about to say.”
“I-I will.”
What more questions could he possibly ask?
“My wife… is she fine?”
“Ah, that is…”
Hetterson was flustered by the unexpectedly primitive and somewhat vague question.
What does ‘fine’ mean exactly?
For symptoms, she is ill, so she is not fine.
But, her body itself is healthy, right?
So what should he say?
After some thought, he decided to approach it medically.
The Duchess’s body, medically speaking...
“Yes. She is fine.”
“...So you’re lying.”
“N-No? It’s true!”
“No. My wife is not fine.”
The firm declaration made Hetterson blink in surprise.
It seemed he had misinterpreted the question.
Yes, that’s right.
Upon reflection, it was clear that the lady’s condition was not normal.
She had symptoms but was healthy in body.
Hetterson quickly changed his stance and nodded.
“...Y-Yes, that’s correct. In fact, there are some issues.”
“Ah, as expected.”
The first to sigh was Barhan, who stood in the corner.
Dante stared at him for a moment and then wiped his face with his large hand.
His face, covered and then revealed, looked even more despondent.
“...Do you know the cause?”
“No, I don’t know at all. Although I am researching and studying, I have no idea at the moment. I’m sorry.”
At that moment.
Hetterson felt an overwhelming silence all around.
So quiet that he couldn’t even hear his own breathing.
Ah, I want to go home!
“...So there is no medicine either?”
Hetterson answered almost in tears.
“Well, that’s the case, but... I will do my best to find it! The Duchess is my top priority patient!”
With those words, Hetterson was able to leave with Barhan’s guidance.
Wow, I won’t come directly again!
Hetterson sighed with relief as he returned home.
When Barhan returned to the office, Dante was already standing.
He stood quietly by the window, looking down at the herb garden.
In his place, Markops was guarding instead of Serpina.
“Duke…”
“Did I understand correctly?”
“…”
“A terminal illness.”
Barhan lowered his head at Dante’s words.
“So that’s why it was hidden?”
No medicine, so they had given up early.
“Duke…”
“What should I do? Should I lock my wife in her room and call all the doctors in the Empire? Will that solve anything?”
“That’s not possible, Duke.”
“Then, should I just leave her as she is? Just let her die?”
Facing the growling Dante, Barhan lifted his head straight.
“Yesterday, a maid who attends the lady closely said something.”
Barhan’s words brought to mind the two maids who had been by Serpina’s side.
“What did she say?”
“She said that pretending not to know, just as we are now, seems to be the best thing for the lady.”
“What?”
It was unbelievable.
Pretending not to know about an ill person was like pushing her into an abyss.
“What nonsense…”
Before Dante could express his anger, Barhan cut him off firmly.
“More than anyone else.”
He stopped Dante’s words with determination.
“More than anyone, the lady herself knows her own condition best. If she is trying to hide her condition, it is because she wishes for a normal life.”
A normal life?
Dante’s gaze, which he had silently repeated to himself, shifted once again to the herb garden outside the window. At some point, it seemed Markops had left as well, leaving the herb garden in the middle of the yard completely deserted. In front of it, Seraphina’s image came to mind. Seraphina, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a dress covered in stains, along with mismatched boots and gloves. When she squatted down with a trowel in hand, the servants would hover around her for no reason. What kind of expression did she have back then? Ah, yes. "...She smiled." She smiled. Happily.
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