“Could it be the Empress? Did she send someone to our house and poison you?”

The anger I had endured until now erupted.

“I can’t take it anymore. I don’t care if I’m helping or not! I’ll push away the Empress and everyone!”

Unbearable emotions mixed together, and harsh words poured out.

All the concerns I had before meeting him shattered.

How could someone be brought to this state?

He, who had always devoted himself to me, was collapsing for the first time. The shock from holding on barely was breaking down his sanity.

‘Why is our life always full of thorns?’

The realization made me cry out of sorrow. I cried uncontrollably.

“Why… we just want to live a normal life, why do we have to go through such trials?”

The world is unfair.

Some people live well even if they commit wrongdoings.

Why do we, who strive so hard, only suffer?

Is it just because I’m a supporting character?

Still, this is too much.

Living a life running away from the shadow of death, not knowing when I’ll die.

I buried my face in his stomach and sobbed, squeezing out tears and snot.

“It’s unfair, really… why do I always have to die early… I have so much I want to do.”

From lamenting reality, I started to lament my transmigration.

‘Isn’t it unjust?’

A life with a terminal illness is enough for once. So, I died beautifully. But why did they transmigrate me only to try to kill me again?

“Is there a god in this world? If there is, it’s an X god, not a god!”

Having forgotten the fact that Hertian is present, I vented my frustration and even cursed.

Only after cursing God enough to receive punishment did I regain some sanity. Only then did I see Hertian, who was groaning and moaning.

“Ah, Hertian… wait. I’ll treat you. I’ll take care of it.”

When I was about to stand up with my face covered in tears, a large and warm hand grabbed my wrist.

“Don’t go…”

“If you leave it like this, you’ll be in pain all night.”

Sniff.

He replied with a stuffy nose, breathing through the flowing mucus.

However, even with his weak hand, he didn’t easily let me go.

“I don’t want to see you in pain… so please let me treat you.”

Another round of tears welled up. It was always painful to see someone in pain. I only needed to be the one who was suffering, but even Liam died too painfully. I, who saw that, still vividly imagined his appearance when I closed my eyes.
Once again, tears welled up involuntarily. It was always painful to see someone in pain. With just me being in pain is enough, and Liam died so painfully. Even I, who had seen that, felt a pain in my chest as if it would tear apart whenever I closed my eyes.

“Misunderstandings…”

“I don’t want to see someone precious in pain anymore.”

I turned my body, cutting off his words, so he couldn’t see me weakly shedding tears. I left the room and ran to my herbal research lab.

Herbal Research Lab.

The top floor of the Marquis’s residence that I hadn’t visited in a while. I had covered all the windows because I was afraid the herbs would deteriorate in the sunlight, and it smelled damp and musty in there.

I fumbled around and found matches, lighting them. Despite the long absence, I remembered where everything was in my body. Returning to this place wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

It felt like I had wasted time unnecessarily. I couldn’t find the disease that killed Liam, and even though I told him to live happily, I couldn’t live that way.

“Where’s the antidote…”

I need to stop crying and pull myself together now.

I wiped away the remaining tears with my sleeve. Then, I opened the drawer where I stored the antidotes. There were neatly arranged more than twenty different types of antidotes.

Why did I make antidotes when I said I was treating the disease?

I didn’t intentionally make them. I just found the mixture that detoxified during my research.

“It’s here.”

Perhaps what Hertian consumed was mild.

It wasn’t made to kill people but to frighten them.

The Empress isn’t foolish enough to openly kill people.

“Let’s take it to Hertian quickly.”

Just in case, I took two bottles. Then, I turned off the unpleasantly memorable light in this place. It was a rough step to leave quickly. As I moved with the desire to get out quickly, a candlestick bumped into my shoulder, making a loud noise as it fell to the floor.

“Why would there be a candlestick here.”

I blamed the candlestick and looked for a place to put it down. At the end of the fallen candle, a faint glow remained. As I tried to blow out the faint spark on the wick, something caught my eye.

“A note?”

It was an unopened note. Blowing on it, the dust that stuck to one side of the note scattered like smoke.

I wanted to open it, but I didn’t have the courage. It felt like the feeling of going down to the floor wouldn’t come back. With the note and the antidote, I left the research lab.

“Hertian!”

I immediately returned to the room where he was.

Then, I rushed straight to the couch but was surprised and almost stumbled on my feet when I saw him.

“Why are you suddenly undressed?”

Unlike earlier when he was wearing a shirt, he was now coolly half-naked. The shirt was torn and scattered on the floor.

‘He must have undressed because he had a high fever.’

He had a constitution that was prone to heat even when walking around thinly dressed in the northern region. It must have been uncomfortable with more heat.

I tried to judge the situation calmly and approached him.

As expected, his body was full of cold sweat. It was so much that it seemed like the sweat would flow down.

“It won’t do. I’ll wipe away the sweat.”

I brought the towel I used to wipe his body earlier. I wiped his body again. Why is his body so firm like this? Due to the sweat, the well-defined muscles became more glossy, creating a sensual figure. Even his chest swelled with every breath…

‘Am I a pervert? What am I thinking while looking at a sick person?’

This body was the one I had hugged and slept with every day. There was no reason to admire it anew now. However, I couldn’t help but keep glancing at it, thinking it was just because it looked good.

“Ugh…”

Every time I wiped away the sweat, Hertian, who sighed and trembled, looked truly precarious. It was pitiful yet strangely intriguing.

‘I’m fine, but others might misunderstand.’

He seemed to be in pain rather than sick.
I folded the blanket in half and gently covered his chest. Then, I focused on wiping away the sweat diligently. Thinking that the fever seemed to have gone down compared to earlier, I wiped his body carefully and thoroughly. Now, it was time to wipe his side, passing through his belly.

“S-stop…”

Hertian twisted his body sharply and pushed away my hand. However, his physical condition, which was clearly improving, became more serious.

“Oh. Are you okay?”

From his face to his neck, it was dyed a deep red like an apple. It was much worse than when I first saw it. He squeezed his face in pain and hunched over.

“Hertian! Just come to your senses for a moment. Drink the antidote, drink it.”

I urgently took out the antidote, but he remained motionless as if he had lost consciousness.

“Come to your senses!”

I forcefully opened his mouth and pushed the antidote inside. The antidote just flowed out alongside his red lips, and he seemed incapable of swallowing anything, as if his mind was not fully intact.

“I should have given the antidote sooner… What should I do?”

Calling a doctor would take too much time. If I informed my parents, I would have to explain the entire situation. I didn’t want to speak without consulting him. It could cause unnecessary worries.

“I guess there’s no other way.”

There was no other option. I made a firm decision and pushed the remaining antidote into his mouth.