I Just Wanted Revenge, But Everyone Loves Me - Chapter 41

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 41
‘The Duke is ill.’
Even for someone like Bankadium, if he’s resorted to taking medicine, it must be terribly serious, mustn’t it?
I hurried along beside the Adjutant, unable to shake my worry.
That Rodrigo Bankadium, seeking medicine of all things.
A man who’d been robust even in prison had suddenly complained of poor digestion—I couldn’t help but be concerned.
‘It shouldn’t be anything grave.’
Indigestion might seem trifling at first, but if it truly took hold, it could be excruciating.
I’d fallen ill myself more than once after eating the spoiled food the Count had given me.
Back then, I’d run a high fever and suffered such severe body aches that I thought I was dying.
‘If a dragon would seek medicine,’
how much pain could he be in?
Already worried by the way he’d left, I quickened my pace further.
“I’ve brought the medicine, my lord.”
The Adjutant knocked briskly and opened the door.
“Leave it there and—”
The Duke, who’d been gazing out the window, turned to face us just then.
“You—”
A rare expression of surprise crossed his face. In that instant, I scanned him quickly.
‘Something’s wrong.’
He seemed even paler than before, didn’t he?
Only about thirty minutes had passed since he’d left, and yet I couldn’t fathom how much pain he must be in.
“Are you all right, my lord?!”
“What—what?”
The flustered Duke retreated a step or two.
Was he trying to hide his illness?
I rushed forward toward him at once.
“I heard you’re in terrible pain. That your condition is so grave you’ve already taken medicine—”
“That’s not—”
“If it’s just indigestion, shouldn’t you be resting immediately? Rest is the best cure in these cases. Or shouldn’t you be going to bed right now?! Ahh?!”
My concern came tumbling out, and my eyes went wide.
The Duke, who’d scooped me up in both hands, gave me a sidelong glance.
“Get out. Now.”
“Me, me?”
“Not you.”
The Duke jerked his chin behind my back.
Then he seemed to mouth something—
“Y-yes! Right away, sir!”
The quick patter of retreating footsteps sounded.
Shortly after,
the door closed.
I turned awkwardly to look after the Adjutant, who’d vanished so quickly, and asked,
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing.”
“You said something. Your lips were moving.”
The Duke let out a dry cough at my words.
“You’re imagining things.”
* * *
Fortunately, the Duke wasn’t actually ill, or so he said.
Something he’d eaten earlier had simply settled poorly—or at least, that’s what he’d claimed. It wasn’t serious, which should have been a relief, yet I couldn’t entirely set my worry aside.
When your body aches, it’s truly dreadful.
‘Having experienced it myself.’
I didn’t want him to suffer that.
“Still, you really must take the medicine! And you need proper rest—keep your dinner light and easy. Go to bed early tonight.”
“Mm.”
“You absolutely must!”
“Very well.”
My nagging seemed to work, and the Duke finally gave a nod.
But unfamiliar as he was with medicine, it took me prodding him several times about the Digestive Medicine the Adjutant brought before he finally picked up the water cup.
“So why did you come here?”
“Oh!”
While the Duke swallowed the tablet, I quickly remembered my original purpose.
“Because I was worried about you, my lord.”
“Me?”
“Yes!”
Anyone would be concerned after seeing him leave like that.
The sight of him vanishing so abruptly was still fresh in my mind.
At my words, the Duke’s expression turned peculiar for a moment, then he let something slip.
“I thought only Veronika worried about me—”
He’d spoken partway when he suddenly stopped. Seizing the chance, I shook my head vigorously.
“You’re just as important to me as she is.”
“I’m important to you?”
“Yes.”
I added at once,
“Because we’re colleagues!”
“Colleagues, then.”
At my words, the Duke let out a soft laugh.
It was less a sign of displeasure than a somewhat deflated reaction.
For a moment I wondered why he’d responded that way, but there was so much else I wanted to say.
Judging by the way he’d left so abruptly,
there was only one possibility that came to mind.
“My lord.”
“What is it.”
“Is it… is it not all right for me to be near my sister?”
Before I could even finish the question, the Duke’s face hardened.
His gaze, turned sharp as a needle, pricked my cheek.
“It seemed like you didn’t like it much when she was holding me in her arms.”
Or perhaps,
“You still don’t trust me?”
“!”
Upon hearing the question, the Duke fell silent. As though I’d struck a nerve.
Feeling the silence stretch, I grew bitter inside.
‘I had a feeling.’
So I was still a source of suspicion in his eyes.
‘Of course—he doesn’t know much about me.’
I’d deliberately kept things hidden, and from his perspective, aside from our dealings, having some mysterious stranger with unclear origins constantly attached to his younger sister would understandably be uncomfortable.
So I wanted to confirm it.
What he really thought.
But now that I’d spoken, I was afraid.
Afraid he’d tell me to stop being close to her.
‘That would be… that would be difficult.’
I could accept eating less, or moving my room to a storage closet. Those things I could bear.
I was already receiving far more than I deserved.
But if he told me to stay away from her—
‘I don’t want that.’
If I were asked who was the only person I could lean on now, I’d say her without hesitation—she was the person who’d held me most often across both my lives.
‘Though she probably thinks differently of me.’
I already thought of her as family.
Different in meaning from the Duke, but precious in the same way.
“I can eat less food. I can survive on one meal a day.”
Nothing else mattered.
“I won’t eat snacks anymore. I don’t need different clothes. I can move to another room if you say so. I won’t use the library either.”
So please—
“Is it… is it really not all right to be with her…?”
“…”
“Everything else is truly fine—”
My words began tumbling out faster, almost of their own will. I wanted to convey even some small part of my feelings before he could refuse.
But if, after all this, he still said no—
‘There’s nothing I can do about it.’
Veronika would naturally accept it, but the head of Bankadium was the dragon sitting before me. I didn’t want conflict to arise in the midst of our dealings.
If that were the case, I would have to obey—
“Sigh.”
Just as my thoughts spiraled on, the Duke suddenly let out a long breath.
“What do you take me for?”
“I’m sorry?”
I asked in confusion, and the Duke crossed his long legs before speaking.
“Being with Veronika is fine.”
“But you just slammed the door shut—bang!—and left like that.”
“That was…”
The Duke’s brow furrowed as though sifting through that recent moment.
“I was annoyed. Simply annoyed.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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