The Reason The Villain Covets Me - Chapter 6

As Theodore predicted, Annette did not die easily.

 

She tenaciously held on to the lifeline until Hans brought a nurse.

 

The nurse named Liza checked Annette’s condition as soon as she arrived and gave her fluids.

 

Her body was dangerously thin and a skin disease developed from living in a moldy hospital room.

 

The nurse was perplexed, but it was a serious situation that she    had to start with treatment without time to show such an attitude.

 

The medical treatment was lengthy. Theodore and Hans left Annette’s room and sat down on the sofa.

 

While waiting for the procedure to be finished, Hans had to endure Theodore’s frustrated gaze.

 

“I told you to bring a doctor to save the Grand Duchess. What’s with the nurse?”

 

“Do you think it’s easy to find a doctor who can come up here and stay locked in? I barely managed to find the nurse.”

 

“Is she even competent?”

 

Theodore had strong doubts.

 

Saving Annette was very important.

 

However, judging from Liza’s disheveled hair and frightened expression, she was largely untrustworthy. The nurse who had been brought in to keep Annette alive was the one who was to die.

 

“She’s more competent than most doctors.”

 

“I told you to bring a good doctor.”

 

“If we had sought a doctor, Miss Annette Scheringen would stop breathing before he arrived. I think you have to add a hidden part to the story. Shall we circulate the story that the first Grand Duchess died at the wedding hall and the second at the villa?”

 

Hans avoided eye contact, but Theodore’s questions became more insistent.

 

“Why did that nurse go along with something so dangerous that the doctors refused to do?”

 

“Because I said we would give her a lot of money.”

 

“If she had great competence, others in needs would give her a lot of money already. What was the real reason?”

 

“…… she said she had a medical accident and was unemployed.”

 

No matter how much money they were offered, normal people would not do anything to put themselves in danger. Liza, however, agreed to the job without knowing the destination or the object of care.

 

The fact that she willingly to do something risky, it meant she had a weakness she couldn’t reveal.

 

Theodore did not pass any loopholes.

 

“She had a medical accident, but she’s competent. How am I supposed to take these words?”

 

“That nurse was the best I could find to bring here before Miss Annette died.”

 

Hans sighed. He was annoyed by his difficult master, but he was loyal and competent at his job.

 

“Are you sure she’s keeping quiet?”

 

“It was easy to intimidate her because she had a lot of weaknesses.”

 

“Once Annette passed the hurdles, get someone else. A doctor.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness.”

 

Hand avoided reprimand for bringing in an under-qualified nurse, but the job was more complicated. Having bought more time, the next step would be to find someone had the qualifications Theodore required.

 

He was not one to give three chances.

 

Hans was a lawyer, but he was saddened by his own position, which was to be better at the other’s job than at legal matters.

 

He took on the role of Theodore’s aide, acting as his limb and taking care of the confidential work. Even to Hans, Theodore did not tell him who Annette was.

 

So from Hans’ standpoint, who knew nothing about it, his master’s actions were insane.

 

Theodore suddenly told him to go and draw up the legal documents that would make Annette the Grand Duchess, and brought it to an asylum.

 

The he made the crazy woman the Grand Duchess.

 

Annette was Theodore’s most loathsome category. The soul-sucking people like the Crown Prince.

 

Hans, of course, had heard a lot about Annette’s reputation.

 

She was the kind of woman whose slender arms could only do so much holding a fan. Her head was no more useful than that.

 

Annette was the human type that Theodore detested all rolled into one. What on earth was he trying to do by bringing her here?

 

Hans was the one who tolerated Theodore the most, but it still sent a shiver down his spine when he

met his cold eyes.

 

He didn’t know what Annette’s usefulness was, but can a woman dying in her room really withstand Theodore when Hans barely could?

 

‘No way it would be true love.’

 

Even when he thought of all the possibilities about Annette and Theodore’s relationship, including the secret of their birth, the one point he could never consider was love.

 

‘I don’t know what that crazy master is up to again.’

 

The attempt to make Annette the Grand Duchess would fail.

 

For there was no way that Annette would e able to withstand Theodore’s madness.

 

As Hans looked back at Theodore’s suspicious behavior, the door opened and Liza stepped out.

 

“First aid has been completed.”

 

Liza hurriedly bowed to Theodore. She didn’t know he was here.

 

She knew it was not an ordinary job, but she didn’t know it was something involving the Grand Duke, who appeared in the newspapers as a ruffian and in people’s mouths as a monster.

 

Hans felt sympathy for Liza, who was shaken after learning  Theodore’s true identity. He felt obligated to quickly find a doctor and get her out of here as soon as possible.

 

Even now, rather than accepting Liza’s greeting, Theodore did not respond a single word. Liza didn’t know what else to say, so she only wiggled her fingers.

 

Hans couldn’t bear to watch and spoke up instead.

 

“How is the patient doing?”

 

“She is not doing so well. We have to move her to the hospital as soon as possible to get a proper examination.”

 

Theodore, who was listening, interrupted.

 

“If that were possible, why do you think I called you here?”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Liza apologized without knowing why. Hans brought up the next question before Liza burst into tears.

 

“She had a high fever. What’s else is wrong?”

 

“I’m sorry, but I suspect poisoning, not an illness.”

 

“Poisoning?”

 

“Her body is shaking terribly and antipyretics are not helping much. Given the fact that this is not a common medical condition, it appears that the patient has taken a poison.”

 

Liza’s voice, which had been thin and trembling, grew stronger only when she was telling them about the patient’s condition. For a nurse who had been kicked out of the hospital after a medical accident, it was a decent medical professional’s demeanor.

 

“What poison?”

 

“I don’t know that much. It needs time to figure it out.”

 

“Can you decode it?”

 

“Until we know what the poison is,

we can’t rush to treat it. If we administer an antidote that is incompatible with the poison that has entered the body, something more serious could happen.”

 

“Then what?”

 

“There is no cure at the moment.”

 

It was the most confident sound Liza had made. Theodore’s expression hardened at her resoluteness.

 

For someone who didn’t show much emotion, even dislike, to make that expression meant that he didn’t quite like Liza’s reply.

 

Hans realized that his wish to have the nurse go as soon as possible had been granted. Theodore would now order Liza to be removed or killed.

 

“Hans.”

 

“Yes, Your Highness.”

 

“Did I tell you to bring in a fake nurse who tells me there’s no hope?”

 

 

“It’s not because I’m not good enough, it’s anyone…” (Liza)

 

“I never gave you permission to cut off my words.”

 

Theodore interrupted Liza’s excuses.

 

Liza gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

 

Hans touched his forehead. He would have sent her home alive if he could, but it became difficult.

 

As the situation became more complicated, the door was opened and someone appeared to solve Hans’s problem.

 

“If you know the poison I ingested, can you solve it?”

 

Annette, who had regained her consciousness, left the room with the help of the maid.

 

Liza rushed to Annette.

 

“You’re in a very bad condition. The lady must rest.”

 

These were the words of an extremely medical professional who cared about her patients. It was the last common-sense remark made at the villa.

 

“I heard glimpses of talk from inside. If you know what poison I had, can you find a way to decode it?”

 

“I pride myself that my knowledge of drugs is far better than that of a doctor.”

 

“You’re not a doctor?”

 

“I’m a nurse.”

 

Annette confirmed Liza’s reply and now asked Theodore.

 

“Is this the person you brought in to see if she is competent?”

 

Theodore replied, “I don’t believe it, but the lawyer I trust believe it.”

 

“You mean she’s not the worst.”

 

Liza’s face turned red as the words of her evaluation were exchanged in front of her. They interacted as if there were no other people in the same space.

 

“I can see that you’re the only medical professional I would trust in this situation.”

 

Annette put something in Liza’s hand.

 

“Here are the pills I took. I’ve been taking it for about a month. There is a possibility that I ingested another poison without knowing it. Do you know what medicine it is?”

 

“I guess, but I have to analyze the ingredients to be sure.”

 

Liza accepted the medicine with a bewildered face.

 

“Find a way to decipher it and help me. Otherwise, that man will kill you.”

 

When Annette spoke, pointing at Theodore, Liza was startled and dropped the medicine.

 

“I think your life depends on the poison.”

 

Hearing Annette’s blunt words, Liza hurriedly picked up the medicine. In no time at all, Liza was looking not only at Theodore but also at Annette’s face.

 

She felt no less intimidated than Theodore from a woman who was no doubt out of breath right now.

 

Hans thought that Annette was quite good at intimidation seeing Liza was scared in an instant.

 

The woman without a single thing in her possession quickly used it to compartmentalize what cards she could use in the current situation and what cards were most threatening to her opponent.

 

Annette was using Theodore.

 

Hans was surprised that she would be able to withstand Theodore, but she also could save her own life.

 

Hans was not alone in his thoughts. Theodore looked at Annette and said quietly.

 

“Can we talk alone for a moment, just the two of us?”

 

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