Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2. I got up from the bed where I had been wrapped tightly in the blanket.

Since it has come to this, I should at least go see the face of the male lead that was so praised in the novel.

It's a face I'll be seeing and living with for the next 5 years, and I'm curious too.

Before going to meet the male lead, I finally looked in the mirror and checked my appearance.

Still, I can't go see the male lead looking scruffy, right?

My appearance in the mirror was quite lovely even from an objective viewpoint.

If there was one satisfactory thing about possessing the body of a villain, it was this appearance.

Fluffy pink hair like cotton candy.

Large and round eyes of a pale water color.

The appearance of a girl who had just turned fifteen was as lovely as a baby rabbit.

Nothing was stuck on it, and with this level, it wouldn't be embarrassing to meet the male lead.

Having made up my mind, I asked Bella.

“Male lead, no, where is my husband?”

“Yes, yes? Madam. Why the Duke?”

“Still, he's my husband, so I should see his face, right?”

Seeing Bella's worried face, I added one more thing.

“At least I have no intention of divorcing before he grows up, so don't worry.”

“Ah! Yes! I'll guide you!”

It might feel a bit disappointing that she thinks more of the male lead than me, but I was satisfied with Bella's attitude.

Naturally, the young master she had been serving would be more precious than me, whom she met for the first time today.

To have that much loyalty in such a poor family.

After all, working in this ruined family isn't something that can be done with ordinary loyalty...

By the way, are they paying salaries to the employees here?

Surely it's not unpaid labor, right?

Thinking of the bosses in my previous life who withheld part-time wages, the back of my neck tensed again.

Separate from starting out boldly, we soon arrived at the male lead's room.

The male lead's room was not that far from mine.

Because it was the room right next to the next one.

“It's quite close?”

I thought the castle I saw when entering was so huge that I would have to walk for a long time.

“Ah, we intentionally assigned a close place. That way, it's easier to manage.”

Hmm. I understand.

With the current servants of the ducal house, they probably can't manage this entire wide castle.

Selection and concentration.

A good attitude.

I knocked on the door knock knock.

There was no answer.

I knocked on the door again.

Still no answer.

Feeling something strange, I turned to Bella.

“Uh, that, well. He should definitely be in the room around this time... I'll go check!”

After Bella left, I waited a bit and then opened the door.

I was going to wait outside if possible, but the hallway of this castle is colder.

When I entered the room, I saw a bundle of blankets huddled on the bed like a bagworm.

What, was he in the room?

But why didn't he answer?

“Hey...”

I carefully tried to speak, but no answer came back.

I took a step closer and looked.

In the original, the male lead who would emit killing intent just from someone approaching would have felt my presence, yet he was quiet.

I poked it with my finger, but the blanket bundle still had no reaction.

Is this actually not the male lead but a corpse that the male lead killed or something?

In an instant, the temperature in the room seemed to drop another 5 degrees.

To erase the horrible imagination that came to mind, I tightly closed my eyes and pulled back the blanket.

And I was startled.

What was inside was indeed the male lead, but his body was a ball of fire.

“Bella, Bella!”* * *“I never delayed the salary even once. But how can they run away without a word?”

Bella sniffled.

The maid in charge of the male lead had run away.

And that too, ditching the handover, secretly in the middle of the night.

“I thought she would be taking good care of him... These past few days, I couldn't pay attention because of holding the Duke's funeral...”

I swept my finger over the white dust piled on the bed head.

It seemed like it had been quite a while since cleaning was done.

“How long did you say it's been since the former Duke passed away?”

“About a week.”

“Then she must have taken that opportunity to run away.”

At my words, Bella burst into even louder sobs.

“Still, I should have taken better care. It was my job...”

“Stop crying. Go ask if there's no firewood and come back.”

I said while wiping the male lead's face with a cold wet towel.

Fortunately, since snow is piled up outside, water doesn't cost money.

As soon as Bella sniffled and left the room, I let out a deep sigh.

Really a mess.

When the cold wet towel touched, the male lead twitched around his eyes in a hazy consciousness.

When I brushed aside the black hair covering his eyes, his expression became a bit more comfortable.

Even though he's groaning in pain from being sick, he is really handsome.

Indeed an appearance worthy of attaching all sorts of flowery rhetoric in the novel.

If he hadn't been this sick, I might have applauded the moment I first saw the male lead.

It was an appearance where it would be understandable even if one knelt on the spot and shouted hallelujah.

Perhaps because he's young now, rather than being handsomely manly, it felt elegantly beautiful.

Even I, whose standards had risen as high as possible from seeing all sorts of handsome men on my phone, the male lead's beauty was on a different track.

I understand why the author put so much effort into describing the male lead's appearance.

A simple description couldn't express the male lead's face.

The utopia of the face world was here.

You have to be born like this to be the male lead.

My heart was complicated.

What I had seen in the novel was a male lead with a good build and strength, not such a small and young child.

“Huk... heu... Mom...”

The male lead nuzzled his cheek against my hand and sobbed.

A corner of my heart ached with a sting.

Thinking about it, this child also lost both parents at the mere age of ten.

Even before that, the situation wasn't good.

Both were busy saving the family so they couldn't even pay attention to the child.

There's a limit to how much the vassals can care.

There's no leader to take responsibility for the family, and they don't give much money either.

Just the fact that they haven't run away now and are working attached to the ducal house makes them worthy of being called loyal vassals.

“Really a mess...”

Sighs kept coming out heavily.

It's not only hitting and tormenting a child that is abuse.

Being indifferent to a child and not being able to give appropriate help to a child is also abuse.

The clothes worn by the young master of the ducal house, no, the child who has now become the Duke, were too old and small.

It overlapped with my appearance when I was young, making it even more pitiful.

No, is it worse than me?

Still, I only had to take care of my own body, but the male lead was shouldering the enormous duty of taking responsibility for the ducal house as well.

Because of the appearance in the original where he handled everything skillfully, I had forgotten that this child is only ten years old now.

I held the child's hand that was wandering in the air.

At the hot body temperature caught in my hand, I realized that this child was not just the ‘male lead’ in the letters but an actually living person.

The child gripped tightly until the fingertips turned white, as if afraid of letting go of my hand even in a dream.

“I'm not going anywhere.”

When I whispered while patting his chest, as if he understood my words even in his sleep, the child's expression became a bit more comfortable.

“I'm not going anywhere, so get better quickly.”

And show me what color your eyes are.* * *A day passed.

There was no improvement in the child's condition.

Bella lit a fire with the firewood she barely obtained to warm the room, and changed the wet towel on the forehead frequently, but the fever didn't go down easily.

“I think we need to call a doctor.”

At my words, Bella's face darkened.

Calling a doctor was something that cost a lot of money, and this castle had no money.

And I didn't have a single coin either.

Even knowing that he would survive if it went according to the flow of the original, seeing him groaning in pain right in front of me made my heart uneasy.

I stood up from my seat while firmly fastening my collar.

“Who is the person currently in charge of the castle's household?”

“Since the butler is not here now, Mr. Frug... Madam, are you going to get money?”

“We can't just leave it. We have to try something.”

“I'll escort you.”

Bella followed.

I briefly considered whether bringing Bella would be beneficial.

Would it hinder what I'm trying to do?

But there was no other excuse to stop her.

I opened the door first and went out, turning to Bella.

“It's okay if you follow, but if you want to call a doctor, you have to be quiet.”* * *The main area of Frug, who is said to be in charge of the castle's household, was the office.

The man who alone occupied the wide office where originally dozens of people would have worked remained seated with an arrogant attitude even though I, the mistress of the family, had come.

He must think an orphan commoner girl married out of necessity is ridiculous.

“I need money to call a doctor...”

Hearing my words, Frug stroked his mustache as if pondering.

“I'm sorry, but that would be difficult.”

“Why!”

Bella stamped her feet and shouted.

“How dangerous is the young master, no, the Duke right now! We need to call a doctor immediately!”

Unlike the urgent Bella, Frug was leisurely beyond measure.

“Oh, Bella. You know well, don't you. Our castle is in the mountains, and it's snowing outside. In this situation, calling a doctor costs about a commoner's one-month living expenses. The family currently doesn't have that much spare money.”

Bella, knowing the poor family's household well, couldn't say anything for a moment.

“Then, then what about the Duke! If the fever doesn't go down like this, wh-what... huek!”

Bella eventually burst into tears.

Frug spoke as if truly pitiful and comforted Bella.

But in my eyes, it looked like he was teasing Bella.

“Let's hope the young master overcomes it well. Since he's a strong person, he will be able to overcome it well.”

“Is there really not a single coin? Even what the former Duke left?”

At my informal speech, an unpleasant light appeared on Frug's face.

“If I had money, why would I deliberately hide it?”

I looked at the glossy mustache that was not fitting for a person working in a poor ducal house.