The Terminally-Ill Duke Clings to Me Every Night - Chapter 11

“My Lord, I’ve brought your meal.”

It was another day like any other. 8 AM sharp. At that exact time, a maid enters the Duke’s room pulling a trolley with breakfast.

Warm mushroom soup and freshly baked bread that looks like it would steam when torn. Visually, it was a meal befitting a duke with no shortcomings.

The problem was that Akkia didn’t think so.

It was not long after arriving at the Haidern mansion following his departure from the palace. Akkia had fallen ill for days, poisoned by the soup.

Fortunately, it wasn’t enough to take his life. Just enough to make him severely ill for a few days. As they say, constant dripping wears away a stone.

Even small amounts of poison could be dangerous with continuous exposure. And that was likely what they were aiming for.

‘To die a sickly death in this small domain where I have no allies.’

Yes, he had no allies in the duchy.

So Akkia was wary of everyone, doubting and waiting. For the day he would leave this insufferable transparent prison.

But then.

[Drink it quickly. It would be troublesome if I caught your cold.]

Making such an absurd excuse, to do such a childish thing. Akkia furrowed his brow recalling last night’s events.

It was too impulsive an action. To have the sick pharmacist make medicine.

For some reason, it bothered him that day.

Her normally pale cheeks flushed red with fever, her usually clear voice cracked as she coughed softly, all of it.

‘Red hair…’

Was it because such a color was uncommon in the empire? She stood out vividly, like a drop of blood on pristine snow.

Perhaps it was because she was the first woman to leave such an impression on him.

Or it could have been sympathy for the pharmacist who went into the mountains through the rain to gather herbs at his word.

[I heard your meals have been poisoned before. You might have been consuming poison steadily, so I made an antidote.]

Were those words truly out of concern for him?

“That can’t be.”

But he denied the thought. How could she genuinely worry about someone she’s only known for a few days? She probably just had a lot to lose if he died or got hurt.

There was no way she truly cared about him. Everyone who cared for him that much was already dead.

For a moment, the scent of blood that once seemed to consume his entire body flashed in his nostrils. Feeling nauseous, Akkia pushed the trolley away with his foot.

And at that moment, with a knock, Leah entered.

“My Lord, I’m sorry. I’m a little late.”

She rushed into the room breathlessly with jujube tea, likely having overslept again today. Leah set the teacup down on the table where the Duke was seated.

“I’m glad you haven’t started eating yet. I was worried what if you had already begun your meal.”

Akkia stared intently at Leah, who was catching her breath roughly as if she had run. Judging by her flushed cheeks, it seemed her cold wasn’t fully recovered yet.

‘There I go thinking unnecessarily again.’

He inwardly laughed at himself, finding it absurd. Then he watched Leah move busily.

Leah tasted a bit of the soup and bread from the trolley, then turned an hourglass. It was a natural gesture, as if doing something completely ordinary.

‘What if there really is poison?’

As a pharmacist, she should know the dangers of poison better than anyone. Was she fearless, or just thoughtless?

While he was glancing at Leah with a gaze as if looking at a puzzling riddle:

“My Lord, there doesn’t seem to be any problem with the meal. Please drink the tea first for now. Jujube is more effective on an empty stomach.”

Leah held out the teacup carefully to Akkia with a bright smile. To smile so innocently after eating food that might contain poison.

Such a woman was starting to irritate Akkia.

Leah, having finished her lunch, went out to the backyard for a walk. Perhaps due to the severe cold she had suffered a few days ago, her body felt heavy at times.

“Oh right. I need to drink that.”

Leah pulled out a small yellow bottle from her pocket. A concoction of vitamin and mineral-rich fruits and herbs. In other words, a vitamin supplement!

Originally, it was something she had been researching to boost the Duke’s energy.

It was just the right time to test it on a person. Leah was testing its effectiveness by taking it herself.

“Ugh, it’s sour.”

‘If only the sourness could be improved a bit, maybe I should add some flavoring?’

Perhaps because the vitamin concentrate was strong, after a week of consistent use, it definitely had an effect on fatigue relief. Her skin seemed to be brightening up quite a bit too.

As Leah was lost in thought, looking at the empty vitamin bottle she had just downed, a group of passing maids approached.

“Pharmacist, what are you drinking?”

“Ah. This is a vitamin supplement.”

“A supplement? What’s that?”

“Is it something that gives nutrition?”

The maids tilted their heads at the unfamiliar term ‘supplement’.

Leah realized her mistake. She had spoken too casually, as if everyone in Korea knew what vitamin supplements were.

“It’s an energy booster made by combining herbs and fruits rich in vitamins and minerals.”

“Really? What happens when you drink it? Does it make you healthy?”

The maids’ eyes suddenly sparkled as they questioned Leah. As if they had discovered something interesting.

‘Oh ho?’

Seeing the maids’ unexpectedly positive reaction, Leah had a thought. Since the concept of supplements doesn’t exist in this world, if she started making and selling them…

Leah’s heart swelled at the thought of how profitable it could be.

‘Yes. This could be a money-making business!’

With that thought, Leah’s voice rose a notch.

“Not just health! I’ve been taking it for about a week, and my skin has definitely brightened. Can you see how my skin texture has improved?”

Thanks to the Duke who was strangling her with remedies, her recent mental stress had made her skin more lackluster than usual.

Perhaps because of this, the supplement’s effects seemed even more dramatic.

Of course, she couldn’t be 100% certain that the skin improvement was due to the supplement. But it clearly had some influence.

“Oh my. It really has. Pharmacist, your skin is glowing like porcelain.”

“Pharmacist, could I buy this too? I’ve been so tired lately.”

“Me too! I need it because my skin gets rough during seasonal changes.”

As Leah’s skilled sales pitch continued, the maids expressed their intent to buy as if they had been waiting for this.

Regardless of time and place, skin care seemed to be the biggest concern for women. The atmosphere around Leah suddenly heightened.

“What’s this? What are you all doing here? What’s this line for?”

As the backyard became bustling, a group of servants who had finished their meals approached.

“It’s a line to buy supplements.”

“Supplements? What’s that?”

“It’s an energy booster. They say if you drink it, fatigue disappears and you become healthier. Plus, it’s good for skin care too! Look at this.”

At first, the servant seemed interested in the mention of energy boosting, but then snorted. After receiving the yellow bottle from the maid, he muttered.

“Tch. What? This is for women.”

“Lucas. Of course there’s a version for men too.”

Leah approached Lucas, who wore a disinterested expression, and smiled brightly. In truth, she hadn’t made a separate version for men. But she could start making one now, couldn’t she?

Lucas, however, handed the bottle back to Leah as if he didn’t need it.

“Hey, Leah, look at these sturdy arms. Do you think I need any nutrition whatever?”

Lucas flexed his muscular arm, causing the thick veins to bulge along with the muscles. As expected of a servant who handles heavy work, he had a robust physique.

He raised his chin towards Leah as if inviting her to touch. Lucas wasn’t usually this boastful.

‘It must be because of that maid he’s been seeing lately.’

Just then, her eyes met with a maid passing behind him. It was the maid rumored to be Lucas’s lover.

“A man like me doesn’t need this stuff, right?”

His voice grew even louder, as if he knew his lover was passing by.

‘Men and their pride.’

While inwardly clicking her tongue, Leah suddenly had a good idea.

“Beyond health, this is something Lucas really needs.”

“Something I need?”

Leah moved closer to him and whispered secretively.

“This is really good for nighttime activities.”

“What?!”

The servant’s face turned bright red, not expecting such an explicit remark from Leah.

‘How did she know…!’

As it happened, he had been working on his physique in anticipation of his nights with Amy, whom he had recently started dating.

He had been losing sleep worrying that Amy, whom he had loved for a long time, might think him an unremarkable man.

Lucas’s eyes sparkled like finding an oasis in a desert.

“R-really?”

‘Got him.’

Lucas had finally taken Leah’s bait. Seeing Lucas cautiously asking, Leah smiled triumphantly.

“Of course. Why else would we call it an energy booster? That naturally applies too.”

Convinced by Leah’s words, Lucas whispered something to the servants who had come with him.

Then, the servants rushed over en masse and started writing their names on the reservation list.

“Leah, I’ll take one too!”

“Give me one too! This really works, right?”

“Of course. It’s a premium supplement.”

Whether it would be as effective as an aphrodisiac, who knows. But they say a man’s virility is proportional to his physical strength. There must be some correlation.

Before long, the reservation list, which had been full of maids’ names, was now packed with the names of male servants.

Leah hugged the list contentedly, thinking about starting production of the supplements from today.

As she was about to clean up and return to her pharmacy, a familiar silhouette disappearing into the mansion caught her eye from afar.

‘My Lord?’

While the back view strongly resembled the Duke, Leah shook her head, thinking it couldn’t be. He never left his bedroom except at dawn.

“I must have seen wrong.”

Leah turned back with excited steps, already thinking about the money she would earn.

Male lead first thought she played hard to get, only to realize she

really disliked him

Short intro:

What she can’t stand the most is the streets full of effeminate men, especially that so-called top beauty whom she avoids at all costs.

Shen Yaoxing looks at Jiang Mingyue, who keeps approaching her with coy shyness.

Shen Yaoxing: Bro, don’t be like this, I’m really about to throw up!

She fears nothing in heaven or earth, except for him getting close to her.

*

At first he thought she was just using the trick of feigning indifference to attract his attention. Later, he learned that she truly despised him.

This dealt a heavy blow to Jiang Mingyue, and he vowed to make her, like everyone else, fall at his feet in worship!

***

Synopsis:

Before transmigrating, Shen Yaoxing only wanted to find a reliable man to spend her life with. Who knew that after transmigrating, she would become a reliable woman herself…

A forced misandrist, highly skilled, and reliable female lead

vs.

An initially aloof and arrogant, later morbid, obsessed male lead

_____

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