“Yes… I also heeded Viscount’s advice, but I had to return to the Duke’s mansion due to some business. However, that day, the Duke, who had turned into a monster, went on a rampage, and there was no other way to calm him down except for me to step forward.”

Otherwise, he would have died in the rampage of the Duke, who lost his sanity.

Having heard the story, Clint leaned back against the backrest of his chair.

“…Impressive. I’ve never even dared to approach the transformed Duke, let alone help him…”

Clint’s expression, still somewhat bewildered, remained distant as he averted his gaze.

He took a short breath and then looked back at Nellia.

“Thank you, Miss Nellia. Honestly… I knew that the Duke struggles a lot when he transforms into a monster, but I was too scared to get close or offer help.”
A bitter smile appeared on Viscount’s lips.

“So, for me, the Duke turning into a monster was like a presence of guilt.”

Nellia understood Viscount Clint’s sentiment. In truth, if the main gate hadn’t closed that day, she might have chosen to escape. The colossal movements, the gleaming eyes, the menacing fangs—above all, the thick burning smell that seemed to be engulfed in flames amplified the psychological fear as if being trapped.

Even now, recalling that moment, Nellia still felt a shiver down her spine. However, regardless of the process, Clint seemed to consider it remarkable that he had reached out to the monster with his hand.

“Miss Nellia, if you have any requests or needs, please feel free to let me know anytime. Even if I spend time with the Duke, we are like brothers.”

Nellia thought inwardly, wondering if this brotherly figure knew that he treated the Duke like a pathogenic entity. Sending a sympathetic glance to Clint, she noticed that his face had become slightly redder than before.

It felt like a rise in temperature.

Is it really okay?

At that moment, Clint emphasized earnestly.

“I’m not just saying this. Anything is fine; please speak up if you need anything. It’s not just words.”

Ask for a favor… Is there anything to ask Viscount Clint for? While contemplating, Nellia soon thought of Carlos.

Maybe Clint brought up feelings of guilt because of Carlos, who had been the subject of his guilt lately. If there was any way to improve Carlos’s condition, she wanted to help.

Looking at Clint, Nellia slowly opened her mouth.

“Well… Viscount, can you introduce me to the apothecary who made the medicine for the Duke?”

Nellia was interested in the apothecary who worked exclusively for Duke Hart. This apothecary’s lineage had been developing a potion to ward off the curse of Duke Hart for a long time. Thanks to them, the Hart family’s heads could live a normal life mixed with ordinary people.

“Duke Hart has been finding it increasingly difficult to listen to the medicine, but…”

Even so, if there was a family of apothecaries who developed such a potion, Nellia thought they might be able to fix Carlos’s stiffening right arm or create a potion to delay his symptoms.

Of course, this was not just out of pure concern for him. With the certainty of developing such a potion, she planned to ask Carlos to show Elena’s tears.

If such a potion was securely developed, it wouldn’t be a bad deal for Carlos either.

However, unaware of Nellia’s plan, Clint, with a worried voice, asked.

“Why, Miss Nellia? Is there something wrong with your health…?”

“No. I know someone suffering from an incurable disease, and I was wondering if I could help that person.”

“I see. Then, for now, I’ll give you the address, and you can go there. If you say you came with my recommendation, you should be able to have a conversation with the apothecary.”

Nellia went to the desk and brought a piece of paper. Clint wrote down the address on the paper.
Nellia went to the desk and brought a piece of paper. Viscount Clint wrote down the address on the paper.

And as he wrote the last letter and put a period, Clint dropped the pen. It was as if strength had drained from his hand.

Drrrr, thud. The pen rolled under the table and touched Clint’s ankle.

“Are you okay, Viscount?”

“Yes… I’m fine.”

Clint, as if nothing happened, picked up the pen and placed it back on the table.

‘Hmm…’

A bit unsettling.

What if he collapses here?

Nellia was anxious, but Clint, the person in question, seemed unbothered, and she couldn’t say anything.

Clint handed the paper with the apothecary’s address, smiling slyly.

“Can we have a cup of tea now? I’m quite thirsty.”

Ah.

Remembering the forgotten tea, Nellia hastily poured it into a teacup. The tea was already steeped like a potion.

Still, it shouldn’t be undrinkable.

‘It might be a bit bitter…’

Rationalizing in her mind that Clint, who kept engaging in conversation, also had some responsibility, Nellia offered him the teacup.

“Here… Viscount.”

“Thank you.”

Clint accepted the teacup.

Nellia watched nervously as Clint drank the tea.

However, at the moment he was about to take a sip,

Clang!

The teacup Clint was holding fell to the floor, creating a sharp sound.

Nellia looked at Clint with surprise.

With closed eyes, Clint slumped onto the sofa.

‘Wait, what…!’

Flustered, Nellia got up from her seat and approached Clint. Putting her hand on his face, she felt a warm fever.

“Viscount…! Viscount…!”

Nellia shook Clint’s body. His limp body moved weakly.

Clint couldn’t open his eyes.

‘I need to call the aide.’

Nellia went outside to find the aide. However, the aide was nowhere to be found.

Unfortunately, the Duke’s office was tucked away in a corner, and there was no one nearby to ask for help.

In the end, Nellia left the office to find someone who could help.

She asked a guard for directions and brought back the court physician. The physician, who hurriedly ran over, had crumbs on his beard.

“Where is the patient?”

“He’s over there…!”

Nellia pointed to the sofa. Clint still lay on the chair like a lifeless body.

The physician approached Clint and checked his body. With his hand on Clint’s forehead, he spoke with a serious expression.

“He has a high fever. Have you been anywhere recently?”

“He said he went to the Kingdom of Hartla on the Eastern Continent. He got infected with a plague there. But he said he recovered…”

The physician clicked his tongue.

“If he recovered, he wouldn’t have collapsed like this. It seems he thought the symptoms had eased and considered himself recovered.”

Nellia’s face darkened.

Could it be that Clint spread the plague to the Adrian Empire as well…?
However, the physician reassured Nellia first.

“Still, it’s fortunate. The plague in Hartla hardly spreads unless the temperature is high.”

Nellia could finally let go of her tension.

Phew. I was worried.

“But once infected, it doesn’t heal well, and the fever doesn’t subside. He needs to take a high-intensity antipyretic. It could be dangerous if we leave him like this.”

“A high-intensity antipyretic…?”

“Yes, but the Imperial office doesn’t have such antipyretics in stock. You should go to a major clinic in the city.”

Nellia was in a difficult situation. She couldn’t leave her post. If she goes to the city, the Duke might transform into a snake.

With a desperate expression, Nellia asked the physician.

“Could you take Viscount to the city’s clinic instead of me…? I’ll generously compensate.”

“I’d like to do that too, but there’s an urgent royal matter, so it seems difficult. I barely made time to come here.”

Faced with the physician’s firm stance, Nellia bit her lip in frustration.

The Duke, tormented by fever, was gradually turning red. Time ticked away, pressuring Nellia’s heart.

‘Really…!’

Nellia glared at the unconscious Duke, who knew nothing and peacefully closed his eyes.

There was only one option left.