Chapter 13

Yes, that was the problem.

There is a condition in order for one to be a priest, but before that… Alice had married. Because of Kaillus’ condition, they naturally couldn’t spend their night, but she can’t say that they are legally still virgins. However… it is still ambiguous whether she is eligible to become a priest or not. 

“I will know for sure if I go there in person and ask.”

She wanted to personally go to the temple and find out the procedure to enlist as a new priest, but the problem is it won’t be easy for her to go out. She will need Madam Quillian’s permission before she can leave the Duke’s house. 

Even now, she was checking even the smallest things about her through Maris, so it was impossible for her to go out freely. She was thinking that Madam Quillian had been liking her lately, but she’s sure she was upset today because of what happened with Young Lady Meltain today. 

“Ah, Meltain Sienna… I wish she could just leave me alone….”

I mean, I don’t think that’s even possible. It seems that Young Lady Meltain was using her to disturb Madam Quillian’s heart no matter how much she thought about it. Of course, Madam Quillian will take revenge on her. 

But even so, I can’t stick with Young Lady Meltain. This is just….

“It looks like this “shrimp” will explode in the back of the whale’s fight.”

How can I go to the temple…. 

She heard a knock on the door just when she was thinking about it. 

“Come in.”

Alice took a deep breath after that and got up from the sofa. Even if Young Lady Meltain grabbed her by the ankle today, she still had work to do today. But the person who opened the door and entered was an unexpected person. 

“Huh? Why were you the one who came instead of the butler?”

Now wasn’t the time to give Kaillus his medicine but to attend to him. The butler would usually share the work with her on his upper body and him on his lower body, so the butler would bring water and cloth instead of Maris. However, the person standing with the silver basin and cloth was none other than Helkin. 

Alice tilted her head as she looked at Helkin.

“Ah, the butler has a lot of work to do for the guests now. I don’t have much to do today, so I came to replace the butler.”

“… Not the other servants, but you, Doctor?”

The butler and Helkin weren’t very close, but he asked Helkin to do this…? 

When Alice gave him a puzzled look, Helkin blinked his eyes and told her, “About that, not only the butler was busy but the other servants of the Duke’s family as well, to welcome the other guests. That’s why, I had no choice but to… come here.”

“I see.”

“Yes, haha…. But I don’t know how I can exactly help you, so what do you want me to help you with?”

“Oh, you can wipe the Duke’s body.”

“Oh, wipe his body… pardon?!”

Helkin’s eyes widened and alternately looked between Alice and the Duke. 

“What is that?! Why are you so surprised about that? This was what the other servants have been doing until now.”

“Of course, it is. Haha. Well, I’ve never done anything like this myself… so I was a little bit confused. Haha.” Helkin laughed awkwardly.

It was a bit strange, but since Helkin wasn’t a servant, he might not be used to attending to someone. 

“I will wipe his upper body, and you… can do his lower body. Hand me the cloth.”

Alice roughly explained her embarrassment before taking the cloth and wetting it with water. On the first day, she struggled with his blouse, but she got used to it after doing this after three days. Alice took off Kaillus’ top pajamas and started gently wiping his body with a familiar touch. 

“… Little Madam.”

While concentrating on wiping his chest, Helkin softly called her out.

“What is it?”

“Were you attending the Duke like this continuously for the past few days?”

“Hmm, because mother ordered me to do it myself.”

“….”

She then heard him inhale and swallow his breath. 

“Is there any problem?”

Turning his head, Helkin grinned clumsily and scratched his chin. 

“What… could be a problem? It’s just that I was surprised that… Little Madam and the other attendants were doing this.”

Hmm, I think he was overreacting since a while ago….

Alice stared at the strangely disturbing Helkin. As the corners of her eyes narrowed, Helkin changed the subject with a loud cough. 

“You must be unfamiliar with this… shall I do this myself?” 

Reaching out for a cloth, Alice turned her head to Kaillus.

“It’s alright. I got used to it after a few days. Now, it feels like I’m not cleaning a human body anymore, but just a piece of expensive work of art.” Alice then added as she wiped Kaillus’ hands, “I feel no excitement at all.” 

“Cough, urgh….”

Helkin coughed at Alice’s soft-spoken words, as if he was choked. 

“… Water is over there.”

“Cough, cough, yes.”

Alice finished her work while Helkin was gulping down the water. She then approached Helkin. When she suddenly approached him, Helkin widened his eyes as if it would pop out of his socket. 

“Why, why are you being like this, Little Madam?”

“You’re quite strange today…. You’re hiding something from me, right?”

Helkin’s eyes blinked vigorously. And at that moment, Helkin saw – the Duke who had been lying still opened his eyes. 

“Ack!”

Alice was startled when Helkin suddenly screamed. 

“Ack?! What is it?! Why? What’s the matter?!”

Helkin was looking behind her. What is behind me? Alice felt a chill on her spine for no reason, so she turned around and screamed. But there was nothing behind her, except for Kaillus who was sleeping quietly. 

“Helkin! What was that? What on earth is wrong with you?”

“I, I’m sorry. It seems like I’m not in a good condition today…. I swear that I am hiding nothing towards you. Please trust me, Little Madam.” Helkin said with a pale face. 

Is he really unwell? He looked to be really unwell when she saw cold sweats forming on his forehead. 

“… I think you’re very unwell. Wouldn’t it be better to call another servant?”

“I’m alright. I can attend to the Duke so you don’t need to worry. More than that, Little Madam can go now. You worked hard.”

“Alright. Then… finish it well.”

“Y, yes.”

Handing over the cloth to him, Alice turned around before leaving the door, feeling very uneasy. 

“Helkin.”

“Yes?”

“You better not forget that I know a lot.”

What looks sick means sick, but Helkin’s strange behavior today was very strange. 

“I, I will keep that in mind.”

Looking at Helkin with fierce eyes, Alice shook her head and said, “See you tomorrow, Duke.”

She turned her head to say goodbye to Kaillus before leaving the room without any hesitation. 

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Haa, I won’t be able to fully live my share of life years at this rate.” Helkin softly murmured as soon as the door closed.  

He was threatened side by side with a knife. Helkin felt like his lifespan was decreasing day by day. 

“I am holding your life, but you are worrying about nothing.” 

Perhaps hearing what he had muttered, a low and cold voice echoed through the room. Helkin turned his head to Kaillus with an unnatural smile. Kaillus was already leaning against the bedhead before he knew it and tying the straps of his shirt. 

“Haha, you’re awake as well, Your Excellency. Then, since Little Madam wiped your body earlier….”

As Helkin continued speaking, he shut his mouth at the brutal look in Kaillus’ eyes. 

“Yeah, I was awake. Thanks to your foolishness, I was able to listen very well. Your actions were clumsy, shouting that you don’t have anything you’re hiding.” 

Kaillus’ harsh criticism seemed to stab Helkin on his body, but he couldn’t really refute his words. Helkin thought that his acting was really bad. But still, it was still unfair. 

Helkin knows that Kaillus was conscious, but how can Alice not panic when she removes Kaillus’ clothes and wipe his body? In particular, she was wiping Kaillus’ body as if removing an old dirt that he was surprised he swallowed his saliva in the wrong way and choked. Kaillus, who was called the battlefield beast, is helplessly at the hands of a mere Young Lady? 

It was truly a shocking sight. So, how can he lie so casually? But there was no way that Kaillus would know that. 

“You said you’d be useful to me, so is what you showed me today your usefulness? I don’t need such an idiot.” 

Kaillus got up from the bed and approached him. Helkin hurriedly fell flat on the floor. 

“Your Excellency, I will never make such a mistake again. Please give me one more chance. She will never find it out.”

Kaillus coldly looked down at Helkin. His anger wasn’t easily quenched, because he wasn’t mad at Helkin in the first place. He was annoyed by his foolishness, but that was all. 

It wasn’t Helkin that made Kaillus feel down, but that woman named Alice. It has already been three days since Alice started washing his body. His discomfort was accumulating day by day, but what made it worse were her hands that were becoming less and less hesitant each passing day. 

Shouldn’t there be even the slightest hesitation? But he heard what Alice said today when he was feeling that way.  

[‘I feel no excitement at all.’]

No excitement at all? He certainly wasn’t a narcissistic person, but he didn’t fall behind in any aspects that no one would feel no excitement towards him at all. What do you mean you don’t feel excited at all when my body is numb with your ridiculously insensitive voice? 

Kaillus’ high self-esteem collapsed as soon as he heard that. He was so dumbfounded that he wanted to open his eyes and grab her hand – as much as everytime she scanned through his body with those tenaciously perverted eyes. 

“Really, it’s annoying.” 

Alice is getting on his nerves day by day. She was occasionally talking to him, greeting him regularly, and even changed the poison against Madam Quillian’s orders. The whole thing bothered him. So everytime he planned for the future, she was there. 

He intended to destroy everything related to Madam Quillian. Of course, it included his half-brother and Madam Quillian’s people in the Duchy. However, there was an annoying person like a bone stuck on his throat everytime he organized his thoughts like that. 

(T/N: My prayers are all with you Helkin hahaha Kaillus was also cute thinking that Alice wasn’t the little bit shy about wiping his body [a little perverted if I may add lol])