Eeeek. A hand shot out from under the covers like a zombie, stiff and trembling.

“Sister! Are you in pain?”

“…”

I feel like I’m dying. Suddenly, Vanessa’s habit of saying something similar came to mind.

‘Pathetic Diana, what am I going to do with you?’

Really, sister. This body is so inefficient.

Roderick was urgently needed. It had been days since Roderick had gone to deal with a disturbance at the northern border.

Could my condition deteriorate this much just because of a few days without contact with Roderick?

“Sister, your magic is draining again.”

“Ugh, I can see that.”

Fortunately, Noel was there to diagnose Diana properly.

If it weren’t for Noel, she would have probably been suffering, fed useless medicines by ignorant doctors until her death.

“Let’s go.”

Determined, Diana’s eyes sparkled, and Noel nodded in agreement.

Struggling to get off the bed, Noel ran, jumped, grabbed the doorknob, and opened the door.

“Get my sister’s clothes!”

The maid and knight waiting outside followed the child’s gaze.

“Huh?”

“My sister needs her clothes.”

When the child tugged at the maid’s skirt, the maid quickly entered the room.

“Miss, you don’t look well. Shall I call a doctor?”

Diana, barely able to keep her eyes open while the maid helped her into a dress, refused the offer.

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine soon.”

Her voice was weak, barely a whisper. It was unclear whether she was reassuring herself or the maid. Leaving behind worried looks, Diana stepped out of the room.

“Miss, where are you going?”

Holding Noel’s hand and heading down the corridor, the knight followed.

She was in too much pain, like her heart was being torn apart, to respond. Ignoring the knight’s question, she kept walking.

“Hey!”

An irritated woman’s voice stopped her. Ignoring it and continuing to walk, suddenly the woman blocked her path.

“Hey! Why do you keep ignoring me?”

Thump. As the woman reached out to grab Diana’s shoulder, the knight intervened.

“Please step back.”

“Ha, you even have a knight? Hey, do you know who I am?”

“I am aware. Lady Irene, the Countess.”

“Knowing and still being this rude? What faction are you with?”

“Deputy commander of the Duberg Knights. Daren Lauf.”

“…”

Taken aback by the unexpected high-ranking knight, the woman couldn’t continue.

“Step aside…?”

“What?”

Intimidated by the deputy commander of the North’s leading knights, the woman looked desperately at Diana, expecting her to back down.

“Hey.”

Feeling relieved, the woman looked at Diana, thinking she was of no consequence, a nobody who somehow got engaged to the eldest son.

“Step aside, you say? To me? I think I’m the superior here, so you should be introducing yourself first.”

Whirr. The voices became muffled as if underwater. The noise was irritating. The shrill voice grated on her ears.

“You, listening to me… Huh!”

Suddenly, Diana was in front of the woman. In the blink of an eye.

Diana’s hand was around the woman’s thin neck, capable of cutting off her air with a little more pressure.

Crush. The woman’s eyes widened with the pressure.

“Lady!”

The knight quickly pulled Diana away. Diana, easily stepping back, wiped the sweat from her brow.

“Cough, gasp.”

The startled woman clutched her throat, taking deep breaths.

“Ah, almost killed her.”

Her monotone voice quietly spread between them, sending shivers down their spines. The woman and knight froze.

With the noise gone, Diana walked past them.

Noel, following Diana, gave the woman a hard look, memorizing her face.

The others remained in shock for a while.

The office door burst open without warning.
“What’s the matter, miss?”

“Miss?”

The door swung open violently. I don’t know where the strength came from. Maybe it’s some unconscious power surging due to hitting my limit.

As the office door swung open, everyone froze in surprise.

“Sister-in-law?”

Striding across the vast space to the desk, Diana muttered.

“I’m sorry…”

Clutch. The busy Duke, holding a quill, stiffened as his hand was caught.

Diana, who nearly collapsed onto the large desk, lay motionless as if she had fainted.

“…….”

“…….”

Although Duke Declan referred to Roderick as a cursed member of the family, he himself was not free from the family curse.

The curse was subtly accumulating in his body, though not as intensely as Roderick’s. It was limited to physical effects, manifesting as fatigue and shortened lifespan. The Duke was also doomed to die in the original story.

“Sister-in-law, what’s wrong? Are you okay?!”

Absorbing a curse similar to Roderick’s, though weaker, seemed to relieve Diana’s suffocation.

“Miss.”

Her thick, wavy, dark violet hair sprawled in all directions as she lay on the desk.

Declan, whose hand was not caught, wiped the sweat-soaked hair from her forehead with a caring gesture that Felice retreated from, surprised. He had never shown such tenderness to his own children.

“Dad, I mean, Duke.”

“Are you in pain?”

Diana desperately clutched Declan’s rough, calloused hand.