Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was absurd because my body kept reacting contrary to my will, but I also felt a little sorry for Astell. But since I was her right now, I had to keep doing things against her heart for my own well being… For the rest of this life.

‘I’m sorry, but I don’t want to live like you did in the novel.’

With that in mind, I placed my hand over my heart and pressed it against my heart hoping that the pain would go away. Then, I looked at them again, smiling even as the corners of my lips refused to go up.

Bleon quickly went to my side and hugged my shoulders a little tighter. I looked up at Bleon, recognizing his actions. But Bleon was looking at McCain Holster, not me, with a wary look.

“Are you finished with treatment?”

As I spoke to him, Bleon glared at McCain, then he looked at me and said,

“Yes. It’s finished, Wife.”

Bleon’s voice seemed to be subdued somehow, but I thought it was because of the treatment. I introduced Bleon and McCain to each other.

“Ah, this is Sir McCain Holster, and he will serve as the commander of our family’s knights in the future. This is my husband, Duke Bleon Einer, head of the Einer household. You two can greet each other.”

“I am Bleon Einer.”

“McCain Holster.”

The two shook hands with each other and gave their full names.

“And from now on, the Sir will teach the Duke swordsmanship. He is a very talented person, so he will definitely be a good teacher.”

I thought I found a good swordsmanship teacher, so I smiled and said this to Bleon.

“I don’t think I told you yet that I’ve agreed to do it?”

This man seemed to be teasing me again.

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to become the knight’s commander, would you?”

I also responded with a calm and brazen face.

“Is that how it works?”

“Yes. That’s how it will be.”

“I see. Then I will gladly dedicate myself to this task.”

“What?”

His words were so absurd that I burst into laughter without realizing it.

‘He’s really funny.’

I exchanged short jokes with him and looked at Bleon, but Bleon’s expression hardened.

“Duke?”

I called him carefully.

‘Did the treatment really go wrong?’

Come to think of it, he didn’t look very good from the moment I bumped into Bleon earlier. I looked at Philia behind him, then turned my head again and said to Bleon.

“I’ll come and talk with Philia for a while, so you two can talk for a while.”

But Bleon did not let go of my shoulder.

“Duke. I’ll be right back. Please let go.”

As I said that, his hand relaxed slightly. So I jumped right out of his arms, gestured at Philia, and walked ahead first. As Philia understood, I sensed her following me. We entered my room on the second floor.

“How was the treatment?”

“Today’s treatment went well. Fortunately, there is not much poison in the body. Since I am treating the Duke with an antidote, I don’t think my treatment will take very long.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

I was a little worried, even though I said that it was a relief.

‘The treatment shouldn’t end so soon…’

In the original story when Philia treated Bleon, Astell was away from home the entire time for over a month. Yet she said that the treatment was not perfect and she continued to struggle with it… He was now in a weak state because of his addiction, so she did think it would take longer.

‘Well, they can meet again in a different way.’

Even if it wasn’t necessarily a way to purge the drug’s effects from his system, I felt like I had to rethink how to bring Philia into the mansion. And anyway, if Bleon’s treatment ended soon, it’s good for his health, so it wasn’t bad enough.

“By the way, did anything happen during the treatment? The Duke doesn’t look very good.”

“That is…”

Philia was showing hesitation.

“Speak comfortably.”

“The Duke’s expression has been stiff since the Madam went out.”

“Since I left?”

“Yes. He didn’t even answer my questions, so I was a bit confused about how to proceed with the treatment.”

“Really?”

Why? Was it because he didn’t want to answer and was afraid to speak?

“Alright. I will tell the Duke not to let anything like this happen today, so please continue.”

“No. I will do my best to do the treatment.”

I went down to the first floor again to see her off. But the two men were nowhere to be seen.

“Go back carefully.”

“Yes, Madam. Then I’ll be on my way.”

After sending Philia away, I looked for Bleon. But he was still nowhere to be seen.

‘Where did you go?’

Just then, an employee greeted me.

“Where is the Duke?”

“His Grace is at the training grounds at the moment.”

“The training grounds?”

I headed straight to that place. And at the training grounds, an unexpected situation unfolded before my eyes.

Bleon and McCain were fighting with swords. I rushed closer and closer to where they were. But as soon as what they were doing was clear to my eyes, with a startled expression on my face, I shouted at the two of them.

“What are you two doing now?!”

They were fighting with real swords, not wooden swords for practice. As far as I knew, swordsmanship training was rarely done with real swords. But at the same time as I shouted, McCain’s sword cut Bleon’s arm slightly.

“Ugh…”

“Bleon…!”

I was startled that I forgot to not call Bleon’s name casually in McCain’s presence and ran to him.

“Bleon…! Oh my God…!”

I took the handkerchief out of my pocket and placed it on his arm to stop the bleeding. And I yelled at McCain.

“What are you doing now?! If you are going to train, you should do it with wooden swords, not real swords! How could you do this?!”

“I…”

McCain was speechless and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“If you’re going to do it this way, let’s forget about what we agreed on before. How can I entrust the Duchy’s knights to someone who would hurt the Duke like this?”

I was really so angry and dumbfounded. To harm Bleon in this way, knowing their difference in skill…

“Bleon. Let’s go and get treatment. I shouldn’t have sent Philia back… Let’s go.”

“I…”

“I will have to reconsider. We’ll think about what the Lord really wants to do, and we’ll talk about it later.”

I notified McCain without even giving him any time to respond. Leaving McCain alone at the training grounds, we entered the mansion. I grabbed any employee around and said,

“Call the doctor right away.”

“Yes. I understand.”

After giving the order, Bleon and I entered the bedroom on the second floor. Then I sat Bleon on the sofa, and I sat next to him.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“No… It’s okay… Wife…”

“You’re bleeding so much…”

“It doesn’t hurt at all because my wife is taking care of me.”

Maybe I worried too much that Bleon was hurt, but his smile for me never faltered.

“Madam, The doctor is here.”

“Come in.”

The door opened and Philia entered. Fortunately, she hadn’t gone too far, and she seemed to have returned in no time.

“Madam, they said you were looking for me urgently so— Ah…!”

When Philia saw that the ripped part of Bleon’s shirt had been stained with blood, she hurried over without continuing to speak. I quickly gave way to Philia and stepped behind her.

“The Duke was injured by a sword.”

“A sword? Please prepare warm water and some clean bandages first.”

“Alright.”

I immediately called a maid over and told her to bring what Philia had asked for. Not long after, the maid brought bandages and a basin of water and handed them to Philia.

With a doctor’s urgency, Philia took out the equipment she always carried from her bag, and then she hurriedly treated Bleon’s arm. I sighed in relief and looked at the two of them. However, Bleon’s eyes seemed a little unstable at Philia’s touch, but I couldn’t find much of a difference.

‘What was different about Bleon when it came to the detoxification earlier?’

I had yet to see it myself, so I had no idea.

“The treatment is over.”

Philia healed the sword’s cut, wrapped the bandages neatly, and stood up.

“Fortunately, it’s not a deep cut and it’s not infected, so there doesn’t seem to be any signs of a fever.”

“Thank God… Thank you, Philia.”

Still, I approached Bleon to see if there were any more injuries.

“Are there any other injuries anywhere else?”

“No… There is none.”

“Why the hell did the two of you do that?”

“Because I want to see his skills…”

“Who? Sir McCain Holster?”