The blood on her sleeve made it abundantly clear that she didn’t have much time left.
She didn’t know the exact disease, but the original story had set it as terminal. As time passed, death was certain.
“Cough! Cough!”
Atia recalled the content of the original work.
According to calculations, she had about a year left to live.
In the Duke’s household, they probably only knew her as physically weak.
When Atia dies, the royal family uses this as an excuse to put even more pressure on the Duke’s family.
Claiming that they turned someone else’s precious daughter into a corpse.
The rumor that the pitiful Atia was driven to death influenced Casus’s reputation even amongst the Duchy’s people.
Atia’s death was exaggerated and inflated.
The duke abused his wife, treated her cruelly, and she died early such grotesque rumors spread.
This would later become a decisive incident that influenced Casus’s death at the hands of the crown prince.
‘So I was just used as a tool and then I die.’
It was a truly horrible life.
A miserable life, decided by others, without a sense of self.
Perhaps the original Atia didn’t want to live like this either.
Perhaps due to swinging her wooden sword during the day, a wave of fatigue suddenly hit her.
She managed to withstand it during the day using willpower, but the effects were fully manifesting now that it was night.
‘I pushed myself too hard.’
It would have been nothing under normal circumstances.
‘I’ll probably be sore all over tomorrow.’
But if she stayed like this, she might not be able to walk tomorrow.
‘I need to take measures.’
She squeezed out her remaining energy, wet a towel.
“Phew…….”
After giving herself a sports massage with a special technique from Gangjiha to quickly relieve fatigue, she felt much lighter and better.
Atia made a firm resolution in her heart.
‘Even if it’s short, I’ll live the rest of my life meaningfully. That would be a duty to the real owner of this body.’
[This is the time separator]Tap, tap, tap,
Every time Casus’s fingers lightly tapped on the office desk, a clear sound of wood resonated.
Casus stared at the investment document labeled with numbers for a long time.
“You seem to be considering where to invest. For number 1, never choose the Barel region.”
Atia’s sincere voice lingered in his ear.
Anyone could see that investing in the Barrel region was prudent.
The 5th Naepit was initially not even considered.
But to be told to invest in that region.
He wondered if it was a remark made on a whim.
However, she knew far more detail than expected, even providing direction on how to proceed.
As if she had seen through even the situations Casus was worried about.
The investment was a matter requiring utmost prudence; Casus had always been pushing it off, merely observing.
However, as the deadline approached, it had now become one of the toppriority issues to be dealt with.
‘She seemed to have deduced that not much time was left…’
Casus, who was thinking about Atia, felt a question arise.
‘What kind of woman is she, really?’
Even though they were married, let alone being intimate, she was a wife whose face he had not properly seen for months.
But then, out of nowhere, she came into his office and told her husband she wanted to see his body.
Moreover, wasn’t she accurately aware of his physical condition as if she had known him for a long time?
“……”
Soon, Casus picked up his pen, the nib stained with black ink, and lowered his head.
‘It must be a coincidence.’
[This is the time separator]The day had dawned.
The sunlight had slowly seeped through the window.
Knock, knock.
With a small knock, Kesha poked her head in.
“Are you alright, madam?”
“I’m not dead.”
Atia, observing the maid’s face as if she had come to verify a corpse, responded while scratching her nose.
Kesha awkwardly shut her lips.
“I brought some warm tea.”
“Thanks.”
“Please have it before it gets cold.”
While placing the steaming teacup down, Kesha carefully watched Atia.
“Madam, about yesterday…”
“Hm?”
“You won against the young master yesterday.”
“Ah… did I do that?”
Yawning, Atia stretched.
A day had passed since the possession, but her body had not yet adapted.
Unlike the healthy body that used to jump out of bed every morning, it was extremely frail.
Even stretching felt somewhat unsatisfactory.
Atia started her morning stretch by rotating her neck, shoulders, and all the joints she could.
Then, the sleeping muscles began to loosen up a bit.
“Madam, to be honest… I was so satisfied!”
Kesha started to excitedly speak, then immediately lowered her voice, thinking it was too loud.
She was still overwhelmed by yesterday’s emotion and could not escape that moment.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Everyone at the Duke’s residence must be talking about how cool you were blocking the young master’s attacks.”
“Leading a wayward teenager to the right path is something adults should do.”
“I never dreamed you had such a side to you, madam!”
Kesha said, her eyes sparkling.
It was a look Atia was familiar with.
‘I’ve gained another fan.’
The woman, who was popular with women in her previous life, looked at the maid with a smirk as she twisted her neck.
Was it because she was looking at her too intensely?
Kesha’s face turned bright red.
“Did I… get something on my face?”
“Your posture is quite poor.”
“Pardon?”
“Try sitting up straight, chest out.”
“Excuse me…?”
“Hold on, why is this area so tensed up?”
“Due to my long hours of work….”
Atia placed her hands on Kesha’s trapezius.
Kesha didn’t know how to react to the facetoface position. She forgot to breathe in the awkward atmosphere.
The distance was close enough to feel her breath.
Kesha, a maid, didn’t know why her mistress was approaching her this closely and didn’t know what to do.
It was then.
Atia wrapped her arm around Kesha’s neck and without warning, twisted it left and right.
Crack!
The sound of bones aligning was next.
“Ahh!”
Startled, Kesha screamed and flailed his limbs.
“Sa, save me! Ma…ster! Huh!”
Thud!
With the refreshing sound of bones, all strength left Kesha’s body.
“How does it feel? Refreshing, right?”
“Uhh…”
Kesha looked at Atia with a drained face.
“What, what have you done to me… Ma’am?”
It had made a huge noise, but surprisingly, it felt refreshing.
“Posture correction.”
“……What?”
“Your body is misaligned. If it continues like this, it’s harmful.”
“Ah… Hahaha.”
Kesha laughed like a man who had lost his mind.
“It’ll hurt for a moment, but you only need to bear it then.”
“I don’t quite understand… but I feel somewhat refreshed.”
“It’s only a momentary observation. You need to keep doing it.”
“Con, consistently… Haha.”
“Is there any other part of your body that hurts?”
“A painful place?”
“Yes. Like a headache, a heart that throbs for no reason, being unable to wake up the next day even after a bit of alcohol. Even such trivial things are fine.”
Kesha spread out his limbs and scrutinized his body from corner to corner.
“Can, can I talk about such things…….”
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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