Chapter 131
Chapter 131
“Just show me the result.” (5)
“Cough! Gack!”
Rosalyn, her eyes glazed over, kept vomiting blood.
Even when Belinda and Wendy relaxed their grips, she didn’t struggle or try to escape anymore.
She merely squirmed and continued to spout blood from her mouth.
“Stop it… you lunatic…”
Muttering faintly, Rosalyn finally drooped her head.
Belinda called out urgently again.
“Young Master!”
“I know, it’s almost over.”
Ghislaine used a small amount of mana to wrap and protect the torn mana rod.
Leaving mana in someone else’s body risks a clash with their mana.
But there was no other option at present.
During his time as the Mercenary King, he occasionally treated injuries this way in urgent situations.
The situation shouldn’t get worse than it currently was.
“Ha…”
Ghislaine released the hand he had been holding. The treatment ended there. Even if he wanted to proceed further, he couldn’t.
“Miss! Miss!”
As soon as Ghislaine stepped back, the butler and servants swarmed to Rosalyn’s side.
The butler only shouted angrily after he drained and cleaned out all the blood that had pooled in his mouth.
“What kind of treatment is this! Are you trying to kill the lady!”
Vomiting blood meant something was wrong inside her. How on earth does fixing her face correlate to turning her insides upside down?
‘Stop this. At this rate, the lady’s life is in danger!’
“I’ll tell the Marquis! Stop this right now!”
“That’s not possible.”
“Stop it! I can’t allow this any longer!”
Despite the butler’s ruckus, Ghislaine didn’t bat an eye.
Instead, he coldly countered.
“Are you superior to the Marquis?”
“What, what did you say?”
“The Marquis permitted this. Who are you to decide when to stop?”
“N-no, but…”
“Regardless, if the lady stays like this, she won’t last long. If you don’t want to witness her dying young, don’t interfere.”
“What nonsense is that! Even if that’s true, what does it have to do with you!”
Ghislaine sneered as he replied.
“Why should it not matter? There’s something significant at stake here.”
“Eek!”
The butler had no authority to stop this. All he could do was vent his anger.
Ignoring the butler’s clamoring, Ghislaine applied cosmetics to Rosalyn’s face.
Even while putting the mask back on, she showed no reaction.
She merely lay there, breathing deeply in a daze.
Looking down at her, Ghislaine spoke in a somber tone.
“We can’t stop the treatment now.”
Her insides had been thoroughly messed with. If they halted now, her condition would worsen compared to when they started the treatment.
He had no choice but to see it through, whether it ended in success or failure.
*
Before the next treatment began, the butler fumed as he sought out the Knight Commander.
‘This guy is dangerous. He doesn’t look like the type to surrender quietly even if he fails. The rumors of him being a scoundrel aren’t unfounded. I need to prepare thoroughly before something bad happens.’
The butler decided to ensure they could subdue Ghislaine and his party immediately should an accident occur.
“Sir Toleo! Do you have a moment?”
“Oh, what is it?”
Toleo, the Knight Commander of the Marquis’s household, greeted the butler courteously.
Even though his official rank might have been higher, he couldn’t just ignore the Marquis Branford’s confidant.
The butler, his face as expressionless as usual, said,
“I have something to discuss regarding the person who came to treat the lady.”
“What do you wish to say?”
“It seems we need to strengthen our precautions a bit.”
Toleo gave him a puzzled look.
“Didn’t we already deploy soldiers in case things go awry?”
“That might be insufficient. Please strengthen the mansion’s defenses and lend us some knights.”
“Hm, wouldn’t that be excessive?”
The butler shook his head and explained the recent events.
Hearing that the lady had vomited blood, Toleo’s expression turned grave.
“Even if Baron Penris is a scoundrel, his subordinates have experienced battle and emerged victorious this time.”
“It was just a small skirmish in the borderlands.”
“Let’s trust the instincts of an old man. Some looked quite spirited, and appeared undeterred even by the Marquis’s presence.”
In a serious tone, the butler warned,
“Hm, the villagers from the North might not know much about this place, but… understood. I’ll ensure the mansion is surrounded securely so they can’t escape. We’ll also pick a few capable ones to stay close.”
“Thank you. I’ll return to the lady then.”
As the butler left, Toleo quietly signaled with his hand. Upon seeing that, four knights subtly followed the butler.
From that moment on, the mansion’s defenses were further strengthened.
No ant could escape.
*
As Ghislaine prepared to re-enter Rosalyn’s room, the butler returned with his knights in tow.
Seeing them, Ghislaine smirked and asked,
“Are you thinking of intervening?”
“If there’s danger, we’ll intervene immediately.”
“If you interrupt during treatment, the lady’s life will be in jeopardy, so think carefully.”
The butler ground his teeth.
You can’t touch someone while they’re being treated with mana.
In short, that meant during that time, the lady was practically a hostage.
Ghislaine entered the room regardless of how the butler reacted.
Rosalyn was sitting on the bed, leaning back, not acting out as usual.
Staring blankly into space, as if contemplating something, Ghislaine casually said to her,
“I’ll begin the treatment now. You need to endure well this time too.”
Belinda and Wendy approached Rosalyn with faces that looked like they were dying.
Just as they were about to grab her like before, Rosalyn finally spoke up.
“Wait.”
The two stopped and looked to Ghislaine, as if asking what to do.
Ghislaine slightly nodded, pushing them back.
“Do you have something to say?”
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“This treatment… it could kill me, right?”
Ghislaine paused for a moment before calmly nodding.
“Correct. If you can’t endure it, you might die. It won’t merely end in suffering.”
Speaking casually, the faces of the butler and knights turned red with rage.
How dare he hide the fact that she might die and begin treatment here!
‘Don’t think you can do whatever you want.’
The butler gulped, his lips twitching.
Meanwhile, Rosalyn nodded silently.
What a ridiculous situation. She refused treatment to avoid dying, yet here she was facing the chance of death.
Her father granted permission without even asking for her opinion.
And the doctor before her insisted on going through with it despite her objections.
“But… if I don’t undergo the treatment, I’ll die anyway?”
“That is also correct. Your condition will eventually weaken, and moving will become difficult later.”
She let out a small laugh at Ghislaine’s response.
“You’re such a fraud; I can’t trust you at all.”
“Whether you believe me or not, it is the truth.”
Ghislaine wasn’t bothered about convincing her.
No matter how much he said she would die in the future, people rarely believed it.
“I won’t ask why you’re putting your house and life on the line to do this. After all, you must have something you want from my father, using my illness.”
“I won’t deny that.”
“But… can I really endure that treatment? I almost died just earlier?”
“With willpower, you can endure.”
It didn’t mean just gut it out with mental fortitude.
She had endured this treatment in her past life. A far more crude, painful, and prolonged treatment.
There was definitely potential within her to endure. The problem was that it hadn’t shown yet.
Rosalyn gave a self-deprecating smile and asked,
“If I can’t endure, I die?”
“Very likely.”
“Why not just knock me out and then do it?”
“Then your chance of dying increases significantly.”
If they proceeded while she was unconscious, she might suddenly stop breathing.
She had to stay awake and endure it with her own will.
“…It’s easy to say. How long has it been?”
“Three days.”
“Three days, three days…”
Only three days had passed.
Does this mean she had to endure this for over ten more days?
Just the thought of it was horrifying.
“Well, check if my body is okay before we start. I still feel unwell; can we really do this?”
Ghislaine nodded and approached her.
He pulled a chair beside her and took her wrist in his hand.
Closing his eyes, he slowly sent mana through her, carefully inspecting her insides.
‘Not bad.’
Her condition seemed alright, likely due to the emergency treatment. With this much, she could grit her teeth and push through.
‘The atmosphere is a bit different than usual. Perhaps she’s changed her mind now that she can’t escape?’
It would be better if she gave up resisting and just trusted him instead.
Time was a bit tight, but as long as Rosalyn held on, a complete recovery was not impossible.
‘I hope today goes smoothly.’
Others might not know, but each time Ghislaine performed treatment, he was utterly drained.
That was how much concentration and mental energy this method of treatment consumed.
Just as Ghislaine was slowly retracting his mana and ready to pull back his hand—
Rosalyn slipped her freed right hand beneath the large pillow beside her.
“Hmm?”
Ghislaine, having been too absorbed to notice her movement, suddenly looked up.
Rosalyn thrust a beautiful dagger rapidly toward his temple.
“Young Master!”
“My Lord!”
“Gack!”
In that instant, Belinda, Gillian, and even the nearby butler yelled in shock.
Tap.
Ghislaine lightly caught the dagger between his fingers, looking at his followers.
“What? Why?”
“No… just be careful!”
“Eh, do you really think I’d fall for such an attack?”
Rosalyn gritted her teeth.
“You can make cosmetics, manage mana, and seem to know swordsmanship… You, a doctor, seem to have many skills.”
Ghislaine shrugged nonchalantly.
“I am quite versatile.”
“Here’s your last warning. Stop this absurd treatment. This is torture, not healing.”
“The lady’s illness must be treated this way.”
“Healing? If this continues, I’ll truly end up dead!”
The two stopped speaking and glared at each other.
The people around them were equally at a loss about what to do regarding the standoff.
‘…Hmm?’
Ghislaine observed Rosalyn’s eyes behind her mask and thought it might actually be a good thing.
Her eyes were filled with intent to kill and madness.
Ghislaine smiled intriguingly and spoke.
“Seems the one who doesn’t want to die always keeps a knife by her side.”
“…”
“To be honest, you don’t truly want to live, do you? You think it would be better to die than live like this.”
“…”
Rosalyn’s lips twisted oddly. Her eyes still gleamed with lethal intent.
