I Became The Wife Of The Cursed Grand Duke Chapter 78

“So even if it’s not a magi-poisoned wound, it can still be healed…?”

 

He watches her curiously, and then she nods, as if she’s ready.

 

Evelyn’s lips were frighteningly cold as she concentrated. Mrs. Riktor was inwardly surprised by the unfamiliarity of the look.

 

‘She’s changed in an instant, she’s like a completely different person…!’

 

As the emotion vanished from her warm face, the stubborn eyes and neatly falling eyebrows instantly reversed her mood.

 

Pot─!

 

The Grand Duchess’s eyebrows twitched once more.

 

The aura from her fingertips formed a round sphere and enveloped the butler’s lap.

 

Soon, strand by strand, broken veins began to mend beneath the tattered, cracked skin.

 

“Oh, God.”

 

Mrs. Riktor involuntarily squeezed her eyes shut and drew a holy symbol.

 

It was a natural reaction to the past.

 

The butler had been badly injured in the catastrophe that had befallen Johansen on the day of the Grand Duke’s death.

 

No healer had ever been able to repair his wounds. Even when skilled healers were summoned and brought to him, they often ran away when they saw his wounds.

 

‘So, if you could only heal the butler’s wound once and for all…’

 

At that moment, her heart was filled with vague expectations.

 

Paat─!

 

The transparent, amniotic fluid-like sphere grew a little larger.

 

At the same time, the Grand Duchess’s silver hair, which had been calmly submerged, began to scatter in the air like a snowstorm.

 

The crucifix draped like a backdrop behind her back culminated in a pious and reverent atmosphere.

 

For a moment, she was swept away in such extreme ecstasy that she forgot that this was a windless prayer hall.

 

Thud!

 

The butler groaned in pain as his twisted bones snapped back into place.

 

“Ouch…!”

 

At this, a thin line of blood began to appear on the Grand Duchess’s forehead, who had maintained her composure.

 

“Huh.”

 

The Grand Duchess frowned as if the sweat pouring down like rain was an annoyance, and she let out a ragged breath.

 

“This is no mere wound, ugh! Butler, what on earth has happened to you?”

 

As if she hadn’t asked the question expecting an answer, she forced her furrowed brow a little more.

 

“Oh…”

 

And Mrs. Rictor understood, in hindsight, the grand duchess’s words about the need to keep fit while watching such a mysterious and wondrous sight.

 

Even with her non-magical eyes, she could see the black smoke rising from the butler’s wound and being absorbed by the grand duchess’s hand as if it were metastasizing.

 

“I feel exhausted just looking at him.”

 

‘Is it even possible for such a frail body to endure this?’

 

Although she couldn’t fathom the extent of the Grand Duchess’s abilities, she knew for sure that it would be impossible for a normal person.

 

“Ugh…!”

 

At that moment, a trickle of red blood flowed from the Grand Duchess’s mouth.

 

“My lady!”

 

Mrs. Riktor cried out urgently.

 

But the grand duchess’s determined look stopped Mrs. Riktor’s hand from reaching for her.

 

No, she stopped herself.

 

Mrs. Riktor was momentarily mesmerized by the holy presence of the Goddess of Light.

 

In the swirl of that serene aura, the butler’s bones settled back into place and his tattered skin regenerated to perfection.

 

“Ma’am, Ma’am…?”

 

She had never seen such a powerful healing force before. By now, Mrs. Rictor was trembling with awe as she stared at the butler’s healed knees.

 

But this was not the time.

 

Through the dwindling aura of smoke, she could see the grand duchess crumbling like a sandcastle.

 

“Stop, stop!”

 

Mrs. Riktor, stunned for a moment, rushed to her side, knowing she had to stop the grand duchess.

 

“My lady, you must stop now!”

 

Mrs. Riktor’s panicked cry echoed through the prayer hall.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Evelyn lay back in the prayer chair, her breathing ragged.

 

She’d lost so much blood that her vision blurred for a moment, but after a while it became bearable.

 

“My lady, are you sure you’re alright? Wouldn’t it be better to send someone to tell the king even now…?”

 

Evelyn shook her head as she half-raised her upper body at the gaunt butler’s words.

 

“I’m perfectly fine, and I appreciate your concern, but I don’t wish to disturb a man who is so far away.”

 

It was true that Kalian had allowed her to use her healing powers freely.

 

But only in moderation, so as not to overwhelm her body.

 

In other words, she was to use her powers only to lightly circulate them.

 

But what if he realized she had overdone it here?

 

He’d likely forbid her from using her healing powers on anyone in the future.

 

Besides, judging by their reactions, there was a good chance the story would be blown out of proportion.

 

“But please also consider my position as the one who is supposed to protect you. If anything were to go wrong with you, I’d have to be the one to…!”

 

“No, I’ll tell the king right away and be punished accordingly. The offense of hurting your excellency’s jade body will be difficult to repay even with my life!”

 

Just like that.

 

Just imagining Kalian’s reaction to this sent a shiver down her spine.

 

His anger wasn’t as frightening or intimidating as it once was, but it was troubling to have her healing powers restricted. She didn’t want to argue with Kalian over something so trivial.

 

“So we have to make sure they never find out, at least for now…!”

 

To calm them down, she had to let them know she was alive and well.

 

Leaning back in her chair, Evelyn wiped the sweat from her brow and cleared her throat.

 

“You needn’t be so hard on yourself. I was born with the power to heal others, and I take great pride in that.”

 

The moment she opened her mouth.

 

The blood that had been pooling in her mouth flowed.

 

Evelyn casually wiped it away with the handkerchief the butler handed her, then spoke.

 

“If someone’s wound is healed by me, then nothing pleases me more than that.”

 

Another gurgle.

 

This time it was a nosebleed.

 

“Oh, no!”

 

Evelyn held her nose in frustration as she watched the two old men’s eyes shake like an earthquake.

 

She made a snorting noise and shrugged her shoulders as if to drive the final nail in the coffin.

 

“And the truth is, compared to what we’ve been through, this is nothing too serious…”

 

“Ma’am!”

 

She exclaimed, not realizing that her boldness had struck a chord with Mrs. Riktor and Benedict.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Evelyn wiped the sweat from her brow and stepped out of the covers.

 

But a hand reached out and grabbed her foot and pushed her back into the hot bedding.

 

“Helen, I’m so hot…”

 

Mrs. Riktor could not have been more adamant.

 

“You can’t. You’re not to come out of the covers for a while, and you’re not to go down to the dining room, and you’re not to go to the rehearsal hall.”

 

My goodness, just when she thought she had gotten out of her husband’s control, there was something worse waiting for her.

 

That’s not to say she don’t understand Mrs. Riktor’s feelings.

 

Whenever the lord has been away, it has been the butler and Mrs. Riktor who have looked after the affairs of this great castle.

 

Left to their own devices, Evelyn must be seen as something to be protected.

 

It must have come as a great shock to them that the Duke’s pet had collapsed while healing their employer.

 

So Evelyn decided to agree with her, even though it was hot and uncomfortable.

 

“Do you think I can take tomorrow off?”

 

A piercing gaze peered at her from behind her glasses. Dazed, Evelyn pulled the covers up to her nose.

 

“Two days, then?”

 

Mrs. Riktor resumed knitting wordlessly.

 

She was obviously trying to pretend she hadn’t heard her, but Evelyn didn’t mind the fact that someone was worried about her.

 

‘It can’t be that serious.’

 

Evelyn looked around, feeling her heart sink.

 

She was lying in the Grand Duchess’s bedchamber, which had been refurbished.

 

Her room was toasty warm from the roaring fireplace, even though the snowflakes that had begun to fall had long since turned into a blizzard.

 

‘How much firewood did you put in there?’

 

For a moment, she felt a little tight in the chest, like she was running out of oxygen.

 

Add to that the hot water bags at her sides, and she was soaked to the skin.

 

‘I want a duvet.’

 

If only she’d leave her alone for a moment.

 

“Hey, Helen. Aren’t you busy?”

 

Mrs. Riktor didn’t even glance at her, as if the question was obvious.

 

“It’s very kind of you to be concerned, but I have no more important business to attend to at the moment than your care.”

 

“What if you hurt yourself?”

 

She meant it.

 

She felt as uncomfortable as a needle in a haystack lying alone with her elderly handmaiden.

 

Evelyn looked at her sullenly, and Mrs. Riktor dropped the needles in her hand onto her lap.

 

“You say, my lady, that healing others makes you happy?”

 

She asked sweetly, and without waiting for Evelyn to answer, she added.

 

“It does for me, too.”

 

She took a deep breath and lowered her voice sternly, as if she were about to say something very important.

 

“Which means that it is also my pleasure to care for your honored body, which will soon be the next in line for the House of Orpheus.”

 

Silence fell between them.

 

Evelyn’s mind flashed back to something Kalian had once said.

 

“The family secret is enchanted with a seal of promise, so that no one who knows it may speak or write it down. Except me.’

 

The secret here is that only a saint can conceive the seed of a half-man-half-demon.

 

While it is widely known that awakening through a saint is possible, the secret of succession is known only to the direct descendants of the family.

 

And given Kalian’s personality, he would never have revealed it to anyone else, even while practicing the spell of the Gnome.

 

In other words.

 

‘Helen doesn’t know that I can’t bear Kalian’s child…’

 

The moment the realization hit her, a strange heaviness settled in her chest, followed by a stabbing pain.