I Thought You Were A Time-Limited Husband - Chapter 4

“I am your Master from this moment on.”

“… Yes?”

Seeing Helkin’s momentarily dumbfounded face, Alice smiled deeply, “Helkin, you need to be completely my person right now, from this moment on, if you want to live.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

“Little Madame, I heard that Little Madame yourself will administer the medicine of the Duke from today.”

Alice was escorted to the Duchess’ room after finishing her work with Helkin. Time passed and night came as she was thinking about the future here. And so, she came back to her husband’s room.

Alice looked at the butler who had already arrived at the bedroom. He was one of Kaillus’ vassals and was the only one left in the mansion. All the Duke’s vassals were expelled form the Duke’s family after its fall. They gathered around the female lead’s side later, but they never returned beside the Duke Diorat. Duke Diorat’s family also disappeared after Kaillus died.

“Little Madame?”

Alice came back to her senses at the butler’s call after thinking for a moment, “Oh, right. I will take care of the Duke’s medicine from now on. Old Madame commanded me to do it.”

Kaillus took one pill a day. That was of course an ineffective medicine, since it was Madame Quillian’s masterpieces as she had to show outside that she was doing her best efforts to treat the Duke. Kaillus’ vassal, the butler, was of course the one who fed him the drug. But now that his wife, Alice, came, she could naturally take over that role from the butler.

The reason Madame Quillian brought in Alice was so that she could get rid of the butler from Kaillus. It was difficult to quickly get rid of Kaillus if the butler was around.

“Then let me bring you some medicine…”

“No need, Doctor Helkin already sent me the medicine earlier.”

The butler’s eyes shook slightly when he saw the crystal bottle she was carrying. He must be suspicious of her, because the person that brought her in was none other that Madame Quillian herself. But a butler that lost his power wouldn’t impose any threat to her.

“Then, you can go now.”

“… Yes, then I will be on my way.”

After the butler, whose complexion had darkened, left the room, Alice took the crystal bottle and approached the bed. Removing the veil, Alice reached out to her beautiful husband Kaillus, who was sleeping soundly.

“There’s something here,” Alice took the small thread off Kaillus’ cheek.

“Hmm….”

She then looked down at Kaillus for a moment. His sleeping figure looked calm at first glance, but he must be wandering in an endless abyss that he hates – a sleep without waking up forever.

“I’m sorry… I also want to live in this place.”

The door suddenly opened just as Alice softly whispered. Alice took her hand back and turned to the door.

She thought it was the butler, but the person who came in was Maris.

“What’s the matter, Maris?”

“Old Madame told me to make sure that Little Madame does the job properly.” Maris said, looking down at her with a triumphant expression. It was as if she was Alice’s superior.

But it was only a clumsy abuse of power in Alice’s eyes.

“Please do it quickly,” Maris exclaimed.

Alice had an expression saying that she was absurd, but on the other hand, she thought that it was actually fine. Madame Quillian wouldn’t have any doubts about her if Maris saw it in person.

“Okay.”

Alice opened the lid of the crystal bottle and sat down at the bed at an angle. She reached out to Kaillus without hesitation. She put her hand behind Kaillus’ neck and lifted his head slightly. She then brought the crystal bottle to his pale lips.

The clear liquid in the bottle flowed between his slightly gaping lips. Only after the crystal bottle was emptied did Alice let go of Kaillus. She put his head back down to the pillow and waved the empty bottle at Maris.

“Now, alright now?”

“….”

Maris pursed her lips with a puzzled expression. Her expression was saying she wanted Alice to have trembling hands and shout that she couldn’t do it.

How can all of that show on her face? Resisting the desire to shake her head, Alice said, “ If there is nothing more, I want to take a rest, Maris.”

“… Then I will go back now.”

Maris took the empty crystal bottle and left the room. After Maris left, Alice looked down at Kaillus again.

“… Don’t worry, I didn’t poison you.”

Yes, it was not poison that Alice fed Kaillus.

[‘So, you mean that the Duke will never wake up?’

‘Yes, never. It was a poison that neither antidote nor divine power works. In fact, he will die in a year even if you don’t feed him poison and just leave him like that.’

‘It’s still death in the end….’

‘Yes, though this poison will quicken his death.’

‘Helkin.’

‘Yes?’

‘I have no intention of poisoning the duke.’

‘Yes? then…?’]

(T/N: Text inside [] and italicized is said/happened in the past.)

Seeing Helkin in dismay, Alice said calmly, [‘From today on, we’ll trick mother that we are poisoning the Duke.’]

Instead poison, Alice was given nutritional supplements by Helkin. In fact, she was planning at first that she would force Helkin to make an antidote by exploiting his weakness. It wasn’t because she had great affection for Kaillus but because she was sad that he had to die. It would be a pity to die when he’s this handsome.

In any case, Alice tried to persuade Helkin to make an antidote to save the Duke, but he said that it was impossible. She tried to threaten him as she thought that he was only making a fuss, but there was no sign of lies as he shook his head in contemplation. So in the end, he brought her useless nutritional supplements.

“I was really trying to save you, so don’t resent me too much for avoiding death alone.”

Was it because they were originally destined to die together? Alice softly whispered ‘I’m sorry’ to him – while even knowing that he won’t hear her.

“… This is bittersweet.”

No matter how much she think of it, Kaillus was too handsome to die. A face like this should live for a long time and publicize his good looks from generation to generation. He will die young. He can’t even open his eyes and was only waiting to die like this. Even if Alice escaped the Duke’s family, she will eventually die – either at the hands of Madame Quillian or by the new Duchess.

Feeling the her mood going down, Alice got up from her seat. There was nothing I can do. As long as she knew that there was no other way for him to live, it would be better to keep her distance from him so that she wouldn’t feel bad about him.

Just as she was  about to go back to her own room, perhaps because she suddenly got up, Kaillus’ arm suddenly fell under the bed.

“Ah.”

Alice raised his hand and put it back on the bed. But then, a scar on his arm that was covered with his sleeve caught her eye. The wound that looked like it was deliberately cut by someone, was swollen red and festering as no one was taking care of it.

“No matter how you couldn’t feel pain, but…” They should’ve treated your wounds. Did the butler didn’t see his wound? 

Alice looked at the reddened wound and narrowed her brow as if she was pained. She already made up her mind not to affection for him, but she was feeling bad that she was starting to feel attached to him.

“Who on earth did this to you…?” Whoever you are, I wish you tripped on a stone by the road and break your nose for cutting his skin as white as a jade. 

He couldn’t feel any pain, but does it really not hurt…? Though I couldn’t save your life, I want to heal your wound. 

Thinking about it while wiping his swollen wound, a white light suddenly flashed from Alice’s hand.

“Oh my God, this is insane! What is this!” Surprised, Alice took away her hand away from him. Then the light emanating form her palm also disappeared. It was like it was absorbed back to her palm.

Alice looked at her hand with wide eyes, “What just happened…?”

She stared at her white hands, but she could see  nothing. She wasn’t any hero in red suit from some movie, so why was a light coming from her hand?

(T/N: I can’t think of any hero in red with white light or something like that in their hands. I can only think of The Red Witch, though her power was red, or somewhat purple, who wears red. It can also be a reference to Spiderman since his web was white coming from his palm, and he wears red, though not as pure red than The Red Witch. )

Alice looked down at her hand with an incomprehensible expression, turned her gaze, and found something surprising. Kaillus’ long wound was half-healed. It was clean without any traces.

Alice’s golden eyes shook slightly as she looked at the part where the flesh had sprouted.

“Is this… divine power?”

Because of the fantasy novels Alice had read on her previous life and the memories of the original Alice, she knew about magic and divine powers. And the ability to heal wounds without having any special training wasn’t magic, but divine power.

“But Alice originally had no divine power…?”

Alice was originally an ordinary noble Young Lady – no, she was closer to being timid and shy than ordinary. In any case, she didn’t have special abilities, but she suddenly have divine power.

“… Is this transmigration buff? Something like that?”

There is no way to explain it other than that. It was as if she was suddenly served divine power in a plate of a ridiculous transmigration. Well, I’d be grateful that I was given a skill. She thought that God had dropped her here and let her f*** her life, but He seems to have a conscience to have given her an ability.

Alice nodded her head, calmed her heart and approached Kaillus. She glanced at Kaillus’ sleeping face for a moment and then placed her hand over his wound.

I hope your wounds are healed. A white light emanated from her hand as soon as she think like before. A new flesh sprouted on his remaining wounds. Seeing the cleanly healed wounds made Alice feel more at ease.

“So I can heal wounds with divine power….” Helkin said that even divine power wouldn’t work against the sleeping poison Kaillus drank, but this seemed to work. “Thank God, there is something I can do for you.”

Alice glanced at Kaillus’ skin where the scar had disappeared, and carefully set down his hand down on the bed. She then arranged his blanket and said goodbye to him, “See you tomorrow, Kaillus.”

She gently patted his chest and left the bedroom without any regrets.

That’s why Alice didn’t see it – Kaillus’ unmoving fingers, twitched and moved.

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