I Slept with the Villain Holding My Hand Chapter 112

💫

 

 

Meanwhile, Ariene was sitting in Deston’s room at the Ministry of Magic.  

 

After a brief stop at Demeter, she had returned straight to the capital. Her purpose was to ask Deston to treat the wounds she hadn’t been able to heal yet.  

 

At the moment, Deston was busy puttering around in the next room.  

 

He seemed quite occupied, so she decided to wait without interrupting him.  

 

Besides, she was exhausted herself from rushing around since morning.  

 

Leaning against one side of the plush sofa cluttered with belongings, she quietly closed her eyes.  

 

She began carefully sorting through the whirlwind of events from the previous night.  

 

Just yesterday, as the first day of the hunting competition was coming to an end, Ariene had barely escaped the Grand Duke’s grasp and cast a vision spell, despite her grievous injuries.  

 

‘If he let go as I told him to, it means the hypnosis took hold, even if only slightly.’

  

But since she hadn’t been able to seal it with a kiss, the plan had ended up half-finished—a failure. She had no choice but to abandon the now-useless plan and focus on surviving long enough to find another opportunity.  

 

With that thought, Ariene fled into the forest, her wounds gushing blood.  

 

It was fortunate, in a way, that she had run into Deston, who had been there to spectate.  

 

Looking back now, it hadn’t led to the best outcome, but still—  

 

Had it not been for Deston, she would have collapsed on the spot without a doubt.  

 

And she would have been captured by the Grand Duke’s men, who were surely pursuing her.  

 

When Deston saw Ariene drenched in blood, he furrowed his brows ever so slightly.  

 

Beneath his concerned gaze, however, an unmistakable glint of excitement peeked through, unable to be fully hidden.  

 

Ariene, watching her hair gradually return to its verdant hue, said to him:  

 

“I’ll owe you a favor later, so take me somewhere. Not Demeter, not the Magnor residence—somewhere else.”  

 

He had only come out of curiosity to see how things would unfold,  

but the unexpected windfall made Deston curl the corner of his lips into a smirk.  

 

“Take my hand.”  

 

Even though she knew his outstretched hand was rotten to the core, she took it anyway.  

 

Her life was already a mess—what difference would it make if it got even more tangled?  

 

Deston took her to his office at the Ministry of Magic. He first examined the wound on her abdomen to treat it, but that was when things started going awry.  

 

At first, he thought it was just a simple laceration.  

 

Using magic, he stitched the wound shut.  

 

Unlike divine power, which healed flesh by regeneration, magic worked by physically sealing the wound.  

 

Though the bleeding stopped, her condition didn’t improve.  

 

Puzzled, Deston carefully inspected her entire body—  

 

Then let out a soft chuckle and said, “The Grand Duke didn’t just swing his sword at you. Dark magic has seeped into your body.”  

 

“What?”  

 

Ariene’s face twisted as she snapped back.  

 

Deston shook his head.  

 

“Given the amount, I doubt he intended to kill you. But the power of a dark mage is slightly different from that of a regular sorcerer—even I can’t fully treat it.”  

 

‘And your body won’t hold up anyway,’ he added quietly.  

 

He then mentioned that purification through divine power might work better than forcibly extracting the dark magic.  

 

He didn’t bother stating the obvious—that she’d need to meet a high-ranking priest at the temple to do so.  

 

Ariene’s body had long been in no state to endure magic.  

 

It had been worn down by potions, weakened over time Pumping another conflicting force into such a body to remove the existing one would only threaten her life further.  

 

Even now, the clash between her own power and Reukis’ dark magic was tearing her apart from within.  

 

“How long can I hold out?”  

 

Ariene grabbed Deston’s sleeve and demanded.  

 

“I’ll try to get my hands on a potent antidote, but first, stop pretending to be someone else. Push yourself any further, and you could drop dead from a heart attack—”  

 

But she wasn’t really listening.  

 

‘Not yet. I haven’t finished everything I needed to do.’ 

 

‘I haven’t even seen Lady Helena’s flawless smile yet.’ 

 

Why had she burned through her own life force to masquerade as Shannon?  

 

It was all to fulfill Lady Helena’s long-cherished wish. But if she died now without achieving anything—she couldn’t bear the thought.  

 

Would an opportunity like this ever come to her again?  

 

She couldn’t say for sure. That was precisely why she wanted to do everything she could in this lifetime.  

 

“What… what should I do now?”  

 

Ariene couldn’t hide the turbulence in her eyes. Her pale face trembled with anxiety, making her look like a drug addict in withdrawal.

  

Deston stood nearby, arms crossed, silently observing her.  

 

His human decency told him to stop this seemingly deranged woman before she did something reckless—  

 

But his curiosity about what she might actually do clashed fiercely with that impulse.  

 

And as always, the latter won out.  

 

Without a word or action, he simply stood there and watched.

 

As Deston’s presence faded, Ariene sank deeper into the abyss of her thoughts.  

 

What Lady Helena wants.  

 

What Lady Helena ordered me to do.  

 

For Lady Helena, by Lady Helena…!  

 

Thud!

  

Ariene slammed her hand down hard on the armrest of the sofa.  

 

It felt like thousands of voices were screaming inside her head. Her frantic, spinning mind couldn’t form coherent thoughts, perhaps due to the lack of blood.  

 

From the murky, tangled sea of her mind, one thought finally surfaced, ‘Lady Helena wants to bring down the Grand Duke.’  

 

If the Grand Duke—the reckless Crown Prince’s right-hand man and ally—were to disappear, the Crown Prince’s faction would undoubtedly lose its power.  

 

Yes, let’s kill Frederick.  

 

Let’s cut off the breath of the Grand Duke, who took Lady Helena’s life in the past.  

 

Ariene clutched her still-throbbing stomach and forced herself to stand.  

 

Deston, who had been about to stop her, closed his mouth after seeing the look in her eyes.  

 

💫

 

By the time Deston finished his emergency treatment, the sun had risen.  

 

As soon as she could move, she slipped out of the Ministry of Magic.  

 

As always, she headed alone to the Magner estate.  

 

After stopping the carriage far from the estate, she decided to walk the rest of the way to avoid prying eyes.  

 

The back of the annex, where no one paid attention. It was the least guarded part of the estate, the same hole Shannon used to sneak out.

 

Swish—

 

She slid her hand through the ivy-covered wall—it was still passable.  

 

Since she now wore Ariene’s face instead of Shannon’s, running into the servants would be troublesome.  

 

If some chatterbox like Murphy caught her, she’d be subjected to an interrogation-like conversation and waste precious time.  

 

Pulling her robe over her head, she slipped into the back path of the annex. This area was practically abandoned, untouched by anyone.  

 

Fortunately, with the masters all away, the estate was running sluggishly.  

 

With the Count and Countess gone—and even Riley absent—getting to her room was easy. She arrived without encountering anyone, finding the room exactly as she had left it.  

 

‘Murphy is so lazy.’

  

Though the Count had publicly begun paying attention to Shannon,  

as long as the Countess and Riley held their ground, no one bothered to show her kindness.  

 

Besides, Shannon herself never scolded the servants for their laziness, so this was only natural.  

 

Murphy probably hadn’t even checked the room while she was gone.  

 

Maybe no one here had even noticed Shannon’s absence. This indifference was something to be grateful for.  

 

At least she didn’t have to worry about being interrupted.  

 

If Murphy had looked after her the way Ariene had looked after Shannon, she’d have been stuck in her room, unable to do anything.  

 

Silently applauding Murphy’s laziness, she opened the drawer.  

 

The familiar bottles of medicine greeted her. She took a deep breath and downed the potion in one gulp.  

 

“Ack.”

 

Her breath seized, her lungs burning as if tearing apart. The blood in her veins seemed to freeze, and she collapsed onto the bed.  

 

“Ha… haa.”

 

Pressing a hand to her tightening chest, she exhaled sharply.  

 

‘Damn it. Damn it. Damn it! Killing the Grand Duke required flawless preparation.’

 

What could she possibly do in this state?  

 

Gritting her teeth, she punched the bed.  

 

Then she thought. Creating a scandal required multiple steps, but killing the Grand Duke was simpler. 

 

All she needed was to slip him a potion that would trigger a mana surge.  

 

Most who grew up under constant threats developed resistance to poisons,  

but for Reukis, a mana surge was deadlier than any toxin.  

 

“This time, I’ll kill you.”

  

Then Lady Helena will praise me.  

 

A chilling laugh escaped her lips. But first, she needed a way to get close to the Grand Duke.  

 

Under normal circumstances, she could’ve approached him as Merria and forced the potion down his throat.  

 

But Reukis, with his beast-like instincts, had seen through her disguise instantly.  

 

Having failed once, she wasn’t about to try the same trick again.  

 

Instead, she decided to use the noblewoman the Grand Duke cherished so dearly.  

 

No one else could get her alone with him.  

 

Still wearing Shannon’s face, she headed to the Etowas Forest. She was supposed to meet the noblewoman that evening anyway—this was just a little earlier than planned.  

 

Stepping out of the carriage at the forest’s edge, Shannon walked slowly. She pondered where to go to find the noblewoman.  

 

Since the hunt had already begun, she wouldn’t be with the Grand Duke.  

 

And since they weren’t close, guessing her whereabouts was difficult.  

 

In the end, she chose the main path.  

 

More witnesses were better, anyway. Though the sun hadn’t yet reached its peak, the area near the tents was crowded. 

 

‘Good. Remember this face well.’

 

Shannon walked at a measured pace—neither too slow nor too fast.  

 

A few people hesitated as if to approach her, but none did.  

 

Finally, she reached the Rackester tent. She spoke to the servant at the entrance.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

The person who turned around had a familiar face.