“Both are under arrest by Lord Emkil.”
“Rose, be careful with your hands.”
“Don’t worry and rest.”
Terik gently stroked the hand he was holding.
Erina felt some of her anxiety dissipate from Terik’s warmth on the back of her hand.
Erina sighed, recalling how she had been attacked by Rose’s sudden action.
It was an attack that no one else would have dared to make.
Rose, knowing that no poison could affect Erina’s body, had used her own hand coated with poison.
How strong must have been her desire to kill her?
Seeing Erina’s dark expression, Terik moved to let her rest alone.
“I called for a doctor and an herbalist. We can’t risk any poison remaining.”
Terik patted the back of her hand as he stood up.
“The butler will be here soon, so rest a bit. I’ll take care of things.”
“Thank you, elder brother.”
Terik smiled at Erina and waited for Butrel to arrive.
Shortly after, Butrel entered the room with the doctor.
“My lord, I’ve brought the doctor.”
“Take good care of the Countess. I’ll handle the rest and be back.”
“Yes, understood.”
The doctor hurriedly set up his medical artifacts and took out a mana stone.
As he took out the mana stone, the doctor was surprised to see it looking different than usual.
The mana stone in his hand was strangely blurry.
“Why is this…”
At the doctor’s confused voice, Terik, who was about to leave, and Butrel beside him turned their gaze to the mana stone in the doctor’s hand.
The clear and beautiful light purple color was now hazy, as if covered in fog.
The stone that used to shimmer brilliantly in the light had lost its luster, and its once-vibrant color had changed.
Terik and Butrel immediately realized that the mana stone had become cloudy due to Erina’s poor condition.
It was true that when the owner of a mana stone mine dies, the mana stones become useless rocks.
Butrel urged the doctor with a serious face.
“Hurry, hurry and examine her.”
“But with the mana stone in this state, I’m not sure if the artifacts will work properly.”
“Just try it for now.”
At Butrel’s urging, the doctor used the artifacts to diagnose Erina.
Fortunately, the mana stone worked without issue, but the artifacts’ response to the mana stone was much slower than usual.
Terik, who was about to leave, and Butrel, standing beside him, quietly observed the unusually slow response of the artifacts.
The artifacts, which would have provided an immediate diagnosis normally, were significantly slower.
Erina, lying down and observing them, sensed that the reactions of the two men were not normal.
Terik, who was about to leave the room, couldn’t leave and was staring this way, while Butrel in front stood silently examining the artifacts without saying a word.
Erina, feeling her body much softer than before, slowly turned her head to look at the artifacts they were staring at.
The artifacts were glowing brightly, as if they had just been activated.
Erina wondered why the two men wore such serious expressions when the artifacts seemed to be working fine.
Terik, who was about to leave, had now approached and stood next to Erina.
Just as Erina was about to ask Butrel the reason, the doctor recited the diagnosis shown by the artifacts.
“Most common poisons are detected by the diagnostic artifacts, but since nothing is showing up, it seems to be an unfamiliar poison.”
“Can you tell how much has been detoxified?”
“Even with just the general information, there’s still a significant amount of poison remaining in the body. For an accurate assessment, we’d need to use artifacts specific to poisons, or call in a specialized herbalist.”
Suddenly, in the middle of the doctor’s explanation, the brightly glowing artifact abruptly went dark.
“Oh no…”
“I see. So, what needs to be done immediately?”
“The only thing I can treat is the wound on her ankle. For the poison, you’ll need to call in a specialist.”
“Then hurry and treat it.”
The doctor treated the remaining wound on Erina’s ankle.
Small glass shards were embedded in the wound, and the skin had turned a dark blue color where the poison had seeped in.
After carefully removing the embedded glass shards, disinfecting, and bandaging the wound, the doctor packed up and left.
“Speak, Butrel.”
Erina sensed that Butrel had been waiting for the doctor to leave.
It wasn’t just Butrel who was looking at her with a serious expression even after the doctor had left.
“What’s going on?”
“It seems the mana stone has become unstable due to the poison affecting you, Countess.”
“The mana stone?”
Butrel took out the mana stone he was carrying and showed it to her.
It wasn’t the color she was used to seeing.
As if in a trance, Erina reached out to Butrel and took the mana stone.
Erina examined the mana stone in her hand closely.
It was hazy, as if a large amount of gray powder had been sprinkled over a brilliantly shining jewel.
The luminous glow it used to emit when exposed to light was gone, and its once-vivid color had changed.
Strangely, Erina felt that the cloudy color staining the mana stone was like the lingering pain still in her body.
“Erina!”
Someone urgently entered Erina’s room.
It was Sandes, who had rushed over in a disheveled state, not even properly dressed.
Sandes had been in a panic since early morning when he received an urgent message from the Medelia County.
The news was that Peiron, who was supposed to join the troops departing for the frontier today, had attacked Erina at the Count’s residence.
Sandes had hurriedly rushed over with Heila, using all the artifacts and mana stones at his disposal.
Only now did he understand why Peiron’s expression had seemed like that of a man walking to his death.
He had moved with the resolve to die for his lover, Rose.
“San…des.”
“Erina.”
Sandes rushed over and knelt in front of her, examining her closely.
The woman who would always run to him lovingly when he arrived was now lying in bed, barely able to turn her head.
“I’m fine.”
Erina couldn’t help but smile at his appearance, having rushed over without even fixing his hair.
How pleased she was that he, who never showed a disheveled appearance to anyone, would be so undone for her sake.
Erina took the hand of Sandes, who was at a loss in front of her.
“Really, I’m fine.”
Erina truly felt better than she had expected, just as she had told him.
The intense pain she had felt when first poisoned was gone, and the feeling of her body stiffening had disappeared.
Although she felt a bit weak, unable to exert much strength, there was no more pain.
Whenever a stinging pain tried to surface, it quickly subsided, repeating this pattern.
Erina felt as if the deadly poison still remaining in her body and the ultimate antidote were fighting, trying to push each other out.
“Has the doctor been here?”
“Yes, Your Grace. He says there’s still a considerable amount of poison remaining in her body. In my humble opinion, we should inform His Majesty and request a poison specialist.”
“Why?”
“The mana stone is unstable. It seems to be due to the undetoxified poison in the Countess’s body.”
“The mana stone?”
Sandes noticed the mana stone Erina was holding.
Like Erina, the usually shining mana stone had lost its color and become dim.
“Has an herbalist been called?”
“Yes, they are currently examining the intact vial of poison that Rose Asila dropped, along with the dagger thrown by Count Iolls.”
After listening to Butrel’s explanation, Sandes removed a thin bangle bracelet from his wrist and handed it to Terik.
“Baron Semul, this is an artifact for direct communication with His Majesty. Report everything that has happened here exactly as it occurred.”
“Yes, understood.”
Thinking there was nothing more he could do here, Terik quickly moved to the study with the bracelet.
Butrel also left the room, saying he would meet with the herbalist again.
Erina, sensing the room had been cleared, called out to Heila, who was groaning at the entrance.
“Hei…la.”
Heila’s breath caught at Erina’s strained voice.
“It’s okay, come help me, please?”
Heila stood there, unable to respond to Erina’s words.
Last evening, Heila had asked Erina’s permission to be absent, as her father, who belonged to the Imperial Knights, was being deployed.
Peiron, thinking he couldn’t do anything else due to his deployment, had moved cautiously.
Rose had also seemed to be taking care of herself since becoming pregnant, causing them to let their guard down.
Heila had gone to say goodbye to her father and then stopped by the Kerenik Marquis’s estate.
It was to settle everything at the Marquis’s estate so she could live as Erina’s person from now on.
Just as she was about to move early in the morning after finishing everything, she heard the news that Erina was in critical condition.
Heila felt as if everything had happened because she had been absent.
The war would have ended without major incident, and settling the Marquis’s affairs could have been done after everything else was finished.
Heila hesitated, unable to approach Erina.
“Come on.”
As Erina urged her with a weak voice, Heila painfully took a step and slowly approached.
“I’m sorry, Erina.”
“What do you have to be sorry for, Heila?”
Heila’s eyes wavered at Erina’s voice, which was still choppy as if speaking at length was still difficult.
If only she had been by her side.
“It was my mistake. I allowed a gap by rushing at her in anger.”
Erina’s words were not meant to ease Heila’s mind.
It was entirely her own mistake that allowed Rose to use poison on her.
If she hadn’t rushed at her on the spot and had immediately ordered Barun to restrain Rose, the poison wouldn’t have been used.
If she had caught Rose right away, everything would have ended safely without the poison in her hand being used.
All of this was due to her inability to control her anger-clouded mind.
“I’m sorry, Heila. For causing you pain.”
Heila approached Erina with a tearful face.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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