The Terminally-Ill Duke Clings to Me Every Night (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9
Leah let out a deep sigh as she stepped out of the Duke’s bedroom.
‘He wants me to go fetch sanjo-in?’
Sanjo-in was a fruit that only grew in the warm regions of the East or the deep South.
There was no way such a thing would exist in Haideorn’s western territory…
Ever since meeting the Duke, Leah’s head had been throbbing incessantly.
It was already suspicious that the Duke’s supply of sanjo-in tea had run out. Filled with doubt, Leah sought out the Head Maid.
“Sanjo-in? He drinks it regularly, so it should be around. Check the storeroom.”
The Head Maid, clearly busy, replied in a disinterested tone as if refusing any further questions. In the end, Leah found herself standing before the storeroom.
The storeroom of the Duke’s manor was embarrassingly empty. Since sanjo-in was classified as an herb, it was probably kept with the other medicinal ingredients.
‘Could it be here?’
Not long after, she discovered medicinal supplies on the innermost shelf of the storeroom. Leah’s eyes widened as she scanned the shelves.
“There’s actually quite a bit more than I expected.”
She’d assumed the apothecary’s storage room held everything, but this storeroom contained a fair number of useful herbs.
Apparently, they bought in bulk and then transferred small amounts to the apothecary’s storage as needed.
As she examined the herbs, she noticed a pile of dark red seeds in one corner.
“What? It’s right here!”
Seeing the well-dried pile of sanjo-in seeds, Leah was suddenly overcome with a sense of futility.
Of course, there wasn’t a large quantity.
Though he supposedly took it often, there was only enough for about two months’ worth of tea at most. Still, it wasn’t so urgent that she needed to fetch more by tonight.
“Just as I thought…”
The Duke had smirked teasingly the entire time he spoke to her. He clearly knew sanjo-in was already in the storeroom.
Leah pressed a hand to her forehead, lost in thought.
Since she’d confirmed the presence of sanjo-in through the Head Maid, the Duke must have already known.
If it hadn’t been market day a few days ago, she could’ve just gone to the town’s herbalist to buy some.
‘But buying it now won’t be easy.’
It would take time since it had to be imported from another region.
‘No.’
Actually, the Duke never truly ordered her to go fetch sanjo-in. Gripping her skirt tightly against the deep tension creeping down her spine, Leah realized—
‘He’s watching to see how I’ll act.’
Beneath his grave illness, which masked whether he’d live or die at any moment, the Duke was testing whether Leah was someone he could place under his command.
It was a question with no right answer. Leah swallowed a bitter smile.
“What can I do? If this is a test, I’ll gladly take it.”
Her very life depended on it. Besides, she couldn’t stop now—not with that enormous sum of gold coins at stake.
.
.
.
At late evening, as twilight settled, Leah headed toward the mountains.
She knew sanjo-in wouldn’t grow wild there, but she hoped to find some other herb helpful for insomnia.
Yet, of all days, it had to be market day.
“Why is it suddenly raining so hard?”
The rain, which had begun in the late evening, poured down fiercely once the sun set. The mud, soaked by the downpour, weighed heavily on her steps.
‘What? The sanjo-in ran out?’
It was sitting untouched in the storeroom! Leah snorted in disbelief—it was absurd even upon second thought.
“I guess I have no choice but to do exactly as told.”
Leah sighed deeply. Before leaving the manor, she’d learned that a few rare herbs grew in the mountains within Haideorn’s territory.
Among them, the one Leah sought was Alpharadia. She recalled the Duke mentioning he’d been exposed to poison.
[Oh, as you said—poison was often in the food.] [That’s why I don’t eat anything prepared in this house.]She’d heard from the maids that the Duke barely ate. She’d assumed it was to appear frail, but was it because of poison?
She didn’t know the full story, but regardless—taking Alpharadia would grant immunity to poison for about three months.
‘A three-month antidote.’
For a man constantly in danger like the Duke, this would be invaluable.
If possible, Leah intended to bring Alpharadia instead of sanjo-in to prove her worth. But then—
“The rain is absolutely pouring!”
It had already been three hours since she started wandering the mountain. Her clothes were soaked through by the thick rain that obscured her vision.
Could Alpharadia really exist in such a remote, rugged place?
“Seriously… where on earth is that herb… Ahh!”
Blinded by the darkness, Leah didn’t see the ledge and stumbled, tumbling down the slope.
A groan escaped her lips as she barely caught herself on a large tree.
“Ugh…”
Her whole body ached as if beaten all over. When she finally opened her eyes, the world spun dizzily.
At this rate, she’d die before ever earning the Duke’s trust. Besides, there was no way such a precious herb would grow in these mountains.
‘Surely this much effort is enough to show I tried.’
What apothecary would wander through a downpour like this? Just as she decided to turn back and pushed herself up—
“Huh?”
A single flower bloomed proudly in the deep darkness, radiating a noble light.
“Alpharadia…?”
There it was—the very Alpharadia she’d searched for—right before her eyes, as if by miracle.
Its petals shimmered with the same mysterious violet hue she’d seen in books. Leah rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
Could this be a dream?
‘Good heavens—Alpharadia really exists in these mountains!’
She blinked again, but the flower glowed even more vividly through the rain.
“I found it…”
What had begun as sheer stubbornness now brought a faint smile to Leah’s lips as she looked at the herb in her hand.
She’d been skeptical since it was so rare—but never imagined she’d actually find it.
‘What on earth is this insane luck?’
Had the goddess of fortune paid her a visit? Leah’s heart pounded wildly. Yes—this herb was worth far more than sanjo-in.
Imagining the Duke’s astonished face when he received it, Leah turned back, eager to return to him as quickly as possible.
[This is the timeline separator]Meanwhile, the Duke gazed at the endless rain and thought of Leah.
This new apothecary was strange. She’d boldly demanded a deal with him, fearlessly visited his room at night,
and shamelessly hid gold coins in such a place.
‘A peculiar woman—impossible to predict.’
That was Akia’s conclusion about Leah. He had a pathological aversion to unpredictable situations.
Thus, Akia kept everything tightly under his control—even the maid who brought him meals and Butler Bayern.
Like chess pieces on a board, none of their actions ever strayed from his expectations.
Naturally, the new apothecary should have been another obedient chess piece under his command.
Yet instead of moving as he willed, she was more like a ball—unpredictable, bouncing off in unknown directions.
Like a ball kicked toward the goal but rolling in a completely different direction against his will—exactly the kind of thing Akia hated most.
‘How irritating.’
Already burdened with countless worries, this woman was just another headache.
Akia shook his head, dismissing his thoughts about Leah as pointless, and shifted his gaze back to his book—when—
– Knock knock.
A knock sounded at the door.
“It’s me, Leah, Your Grace.”
It was the very apothecary who’d been fueling his irritation moments ago.
What was this woman scheming? Half curious, half wary, he dropped his book to the floor—and the door opened.
Late at night, the Duke’s puzzled eyes fell upon Leah, who had come to his bedroom. With confident strides, she entered and handed him the medicine.
“Your Grace, here’s the sanjo-in.”
“Sanjo-in?”
The Duke’s pupils slowly dilated and contracted.
But only briefly—then he remembered ordering her to fetch sanjo-in from the mountains. On a rainy night like this, she couldn’t possibly have gone herself.
‘She must’ve just taken it from the storeroom.’
Recalling that a small amount of sanjo-in was indeed stored there, Akia gave a sly smile.
‘So she brings me what was already in the storeroom—and dares disturb me at this hour?’
Finding her behavior insolent, Akia frowned.
Just as he raised his eyes to reprimand her sharply, he noticed Leah’s hands—covered in fresh cuts.
‘Why are her hands…?’
Only then did Akia realize something was off about the apothecary. He scrutinized her from head to toe.
“…What on earth happened to you?”
“Oh, I tumbled down the mountain on my way back. It’s nothing serious.”
Her words rang true—aside from her hands, her face was dotted with small scrapes, and her hair was soaked as if she’d just stepped out of a shower.
‘Did she really go to the mountains just to fetch sanjo-in?’
The injuries and the faint traces of dirt on her fingertips troubled him too much to dismiss it as a lie. And yet—
‘Why on earth?’
He truly couldn’t understand.
Why climb the mountain when sanjo-in was already in the storeroom? Especially on a night of torrential rain?
‘Is she perhaps not quite right in the head?’
Could she really be so foolish as to not think of the simple lie—claiming she’d gathered the herb from the mountain?
This wasn’t how Akia had expected Leah to react. He’d imagined her trying to cleverly deceive him.
He’d even planned to pretend to believe her lie and make her suffer a bit more. But her unexpected actions left him speechless.
‘I did think she was odd…’
But her strangeness far exceeded his imagination—enough to leave even him bewildered.
As Akia stared silently at Leah’s hands, Leah, observing the Duke’s stiff expression, secretly smiled in satisfaction.
‘Just as I thought—he’s flustered.’
Exactly as planned, the Duke looked thoroughly taken aback. His expression clearly showed he never believed she’d actually go to the mountains for sanjo-in.
‘Going according to plan.’
Leah barely suppressed the smile tugging at her lips and maintained her composure.
In truth, this entire act was Leah’s plan to fluster Akia.
From observing how the manor’s staff treated the Duke, she’d realized no one here was truly on his side.
And she knew well that someone as lonely and isolated as he was would be deeply guarded against others.
‘I must prepare for the possibility I won’t finish the cure in time.’
Without extraordinary luck, completing the antidote within three months was impossible.
So Leah planned to ease the Duke’s wariness and earn his trust—just in case.
The strategy she devised was famously known as:
‘Even if no one else cares, I’m the one who thinks of you—Operation!’
Her plan was to fulfill the Duke’s unreasonable request—which others would ignore—and pretend to be his loyal servant.
Though her reflection in the mirror earlier had looked utterly disheveled, seeing the Duke’s flustered face filled her with satisfaction.
But she wasn’t done yet.
“Please drink it while it’s warm.”
Leah set down the teacup with a slight upward curve of her lips. His wavering gaze landed on the steaming cup.
“…What’s this?”
Beside the hot, steaming teacup on the table lay a small, compacted pill.
“I happened to find Alpharadia there as well.”
“…Alpharadia?”
Alpharadia was one of the finest herbs for detoxification.
Remembering the Duke’s past remark about poison often being in his meals, she’d made a pill using Alpharadia.
‘You mentioned it in passing, Your Grace, but I remembered—and prepared a gift.’
Surely even a fortress-like heart would soften a little at this.
“Yes. You mentioned poison had been mixed into your meals before. I thought you might already be regularly ingesting it, so I made an antidote. Alpharadia is extremely bitter, so I deliberately shaped it into a pill.”
‘Ah, this is truly the perfect way to win the Duke’s favor.’
Not only did she brave the rain to fetch sanjo-in from the mountains—but she even made an Alpharadia pill for him!
Leah’s voice brightened with pride.
“You already know how to take it, but one of these will last about three months. Unfortunately, I could only gather enough for one. In three months, I’ll go back to the mountains…”
“…You’re doing unnecessary things.”
Yet despite his words, the Duke’s tone was noticeably softer than before.
‘He’s probably feeling utterly bewildered by all this.’
He might be flustered by her kindness, so unlike the manor’s other residents. But that unfamiliar feeling would soon fade—and gradually, his wariness of her would ease.
‘Just keep going like this.’
Hiding her satisfied expression, Leah asked with feigned curiosity,
“…Is something wrong?”
“I didn’t realize you worried about me this much.”
“Well, I am your apothecary, Your Grace.”
“So you’d go this far for me just because you’re my apothecary?”
“Yes.”
‘Then it’s time to drive the nail in.’
Leah continued, looking at him as if puzzled by his question.
“From now on, I’ll bring you freshly brewed sanjo-in every morning with breakfast.”
“…Every morning with breakfast?”
“Yes. Sanjo-in works best when taken on an empty stomach.”
The Duke frowned at Leah’s reply.
After all, to properly extract sanjo-in’s effects, the herb needed to simmer in a pot for over four hours—just like traditional herbal medicine.
Yet she claimed she’d bring it fresh every morning before breakfast.
He was genuinely curious what went on in that apothecary’s head. Feeling strangely uneasy—as if granting permission would be a mistake—Akia refused.
Or rather, he tried to.
“There’s no need. Just bring the sanjo-in before dinner…”
“No.”
But Leah cut him off before he could finish.
“Please allow me to bring sanjo-in every morning. You know it’s better that way, don’t you, Your Grace?”
She asked with an innocent smile.
“Will you grant me permission?”
Faced with the woman’s pleading gaze—her deep green eyes sparkling brightly—Akia finally turned his head away.
“…Fine, do as you please.”
At his answer, Leah smiled brighter than ever before.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
Watching Leah’s radiant expression, Akia reached a conclusion:
This new apothecary was the strangest and most foolish person he’d ever met.
Now alone in the room after Leah had left, despite his harsh judgment of her, he stared for a long while at the teacup she’d brewed.
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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