Chapter 13
Yes, that was the problem.
There was a condition that only those who were pure could become priestesses, but Alice was… already married.
Of course, due to Kylus’s condition, they hadn’t consummated their marriage, but legally she couldn’t claim to be pure.
So… it was an ambiguous situation whether she qualified to become a priestess or not.
“If I could go and ask directly, I’d know for sure.”
She wanted to go to the temple and inquire about the procedure for becoming a priestess, but the problem was that it wasn’t easy for her to go out.
To leave the Duke’s residence, she would need Madam Quillian’s permission.
Even now, Madam Quillian was checking on every little thing through Maris, so she wouldn’t allow Alice to go out freely.
Although Madam Quillian had started to like her a bit lately, her mood would be sour today because of Lady Meltain.
“Ah, Meltain Sienna… I wish she’d just leave me alone…”
But that seemed unlikely.
No matter how Alice thought about it, Lady Meltain would probably try to use her to get under Madam Quillian’s skin.
And Madam Quillian would naturally take out her anger on Alice.
Yet Alice couldn’t side with Lady Meltain either.
This was exactly…
“Like being a shrimp caught between fighting whales.”
How could she really go to the temple…
As she was pondering this, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
Alice exhaled deeply and got up from the sofa.
Even if Lady Meltain had held her up, she still had her duties for today.
But the person who opened the door and entered was an unexpected individual.
“Huh? Why are you here instead of the butler?”
It wasn’t time to give Kylus his medicine, but to attend to him.
Usually, she shared the task with the butler, dividing the upper and lower body, so the butler would bring water and cloth instead of Maris.
But the person standing there with the silver basin and cloth was none other than Helkin.
Alice tilted her head, looking at Helkin quizzically.
“Ah, the butler is very busy with the guests right now. So I came to substitute for him today since I had some free time.”
“…The doctor instead of another servant?”
Since when were the butler and Helkin so close that he’d ask Helkin for favors…?
Seeing Alice’s dubious look, Helkin rolled his eyes and said,
“Well, because of the guests, not just the butler but all the servants in the Duke’s household are busy. So I had no choice but to come… myself.”
“I see.”
“Yes. Haha… But I wasn’t told exactly what I should help with, so what kind of assistance can I provide?”
“Oh, you just need to wipe the Duke’s body.”
“Oh, wipe his body… What?!”
Helkin’s eyes widened as he looked back and forth between Alice and the Duke.
“What?! Why are you so surprised? This is what the other servants have been doing all along.”
“Of course, that’s true. Haha. It’s just that I’ve never done this kind of thing myself… so I was a bit taken aback. Haha.”
Helkin laughed awkwardly as he spoke.
It was a bit strange, but since Helkin wasn’t a servant, he might not be used to attending to someone.
“I’ll wipe his upper body, and you can do… the lower part. Give me the cloth.”
Alice explained briefly, feeling embarrassed, and took the cloth to wet it.
On the first day, she had been in a panic, but after doing this for three days, she had gotten used to it.
With practiced hands, Alice unbuttoned Kylus’s pajama top and began to gently wipe his body.
“…Young Madam.”
As she was concentrating on wiping his chest, Helkin called to her softly.
“What?”
“Have you been attending to the Duke like this for several days?”
“Yes. Mother ordered me to do it personally.”
“…”
At that, she heard him swallow hard.
“Is there a problem?”
When she turned her head, Helkin was scratching his chin with an awkward smile.
“There’s… no problem. I was just surprised that the Young Madam was doing work that servants… usually do.”
Hmm, he’s been overreacting since earlier…
Alice stared at Helkin, who was strangely irritating her.
As Alice’s eyes narrowed, Helkin cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“You must not be used to this kind of work… Shall I do it?”
As he reached out as if asking for the cloth, Alice turned her head towards Kylus.
“It’s fine. I’ve gotten used to it after doing it for a few days. Now it feels like I’m just wiping an expensive work of art rather than a person’s body.”
Alice added as she wiped Kylus’s hand:
“I don’t feel anything anymore.”
“Cough, hack…”
At Alice’s quiet words, Helkin suddenly choked and coughed roughly.
“…There’s water over there.”
“Hack, cough. Yes.”
While Helkin gulped down water, Alice finished her work.
Then she approached Helkin.
As Alice suddenly came close, Helkin’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.
“Wh-why are you doing this, Young Madam?”
“You’ve been acting very strange today… Are you hiding something from me?”
Helkin’s eyes wavered.
And at that moment, Helkin saw it.
The Duke, who had been lying still, opening his eyes.
“Aah!”
Helkin’s sudden scream startled Alice as well.
“Aah?! What?! Why?! What?!”
Helkin was looking behind her.
What could be behind her?
Alice felt a chill run down her spine and screamed as she whirled around.
But there was nothing behind her.
Except for Kylus, sleeping peacefully.
“Helkin! What’s wrong with you?”
“I-I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well today… I swear I’m not hiding anything. Please believe me, Young Madam.”
Helkin said with a pale face.
Is he really not feeling well?
Seeing the cold sweat on his forehead, he did look unwell.
“…You don’t seem to be feeling well at all. Shouldn’t we call another servant?”
“It’s alright. I can still attend to the Duke, so don’t worry. More importantly, Young Madam, you should go now. You’ve worked hard, haven’t you?”
“Alright. Then… finish up well.”
“Yes, yes.”
After handing over the cloth, Alice turned back just before leaving the room, feeling uneasy.
“Helkin.”
“Yes?”
“It would be better if you don’t forget that I know a lot.”
She might look unwell, but Helkin’s behavior today was strange, and that was strange.
“I’ll keep that in mind, and keep it in mind again.”
Alice looked at Helkin, who was nodding his head, with a sharp gaze.
“See you tomorrow, Duke.”
She turned her head to bid farewell to Kylus and then left the room without lingering.
* * *
“Haa, at this rate, I won’t die of natural causes.”
Helkin muttered softly as soon as the door closed.
Threats from one side, a knife at his throat from the other.
Helkin felt like his lifespan was shortening day by day lately.
“I hold your lifeline, yet you worry about useless things.”
A frosty baritone voice resonated through the room, as if even that small voice had been heard.
Helkin turned towards Kylus with an unnatural smile.
Kylus, who had gotten up at some point, was leaning against the bed’s headboard, tightly tying the strings of his top.
“Haha, so you were awake after all, Your Grace. Then earlier, when the Young Madam was wiping your body…”
Helkin trailed off, closing his mouth at the suddenly murderous look in Kylus’s eyes.
“Yes, I was awake then too. Thanks to that, I got to hear all about your stupidity. How clumsy all your actions were, practically screaming that you were hiding something and wanted it to be known.”
Kylus’s scathing criticism seemed to stab Helkin’s body mercilessly.
But he couldn’t really refute it.
Even Helkin thought his own acting skills were truly terrible.
Still, he had his own grievances.
Knowing that Kylus had regained consciousness, how could Helkin not be flustered when Alice casually stripped Kylus and wiped his body?
Especially when she scrubbed Kylus’s body as if wiping an old, dirty object, Helkin was so shocked he choked on his own saliva.
To see Kylus, known as the beast of the battlefield, being so helplessly handled by a mere young lady.
It was truly a shocking sight.
So how could he lie without any reaction?
But Kylus wouldn’t understand that.
“You asked me to watch over you, saying you’d be useful, but is this foolishness you showed today your usefulness? I have no need for such an idiot.”
Kylus said as he got off the bed and approached Helkin.
Helkin hastily prostrated himself on the floor.
“Your Grace, I will never make such a mistake again. Please give me one more chance. I absolutely won’t be discovered.”
Kylus looked down at Helkin with ice-cold eyes.
His anger wasn’t easily subsiding.
Because it wasn’t Helkin he was angry at.
He was irritated by Helkin’s stupidity, but that was the extent of it.
What had truly soured Kylus’s mood was not Helkin, but that woman Alice.
It had been three days since Alice started wiping his body.
His discomfort was building day by day, but what was even more unpleasant was how her touch was becoming more and more brazen as time passed.
Without even a hint of hesitation.
And just as he was feeling this way, he heard Alice’s words today.
‘I don’t feel anything anymore.’
No feeling, she says.
He could say with certainty that he wasn’t a narcissist.
But he also wasn’t lacking enough as a man to be told he elicited no feeling from someone.
To say his body elicited no feeling, in such an indifferent voice.
The moment he heard those words, Kylus’s lofty pride crumbled.
He was so dumbfounded he wanted to open his eyes and grab her hand.
Where was the woman who had obsessively examined his body to the point of perversion?
“Really, she’s irritating.”
Alice was getting on his nerves more and more as days passed.
Her occasional incomprehensible mutterings, her consistent greetings to him, her disobedience to Madam Quillian’s orders by changing the poison.
It all irritated him.
So whenever he planned for the future, she kept getting in the way.
He intended to eliminate everything related to Madam Quillian.
Of course, that included his half-siblings and all of Madam Quillian’s people in the Duke’s household.
But every time he organized his thoughts like this, one person always stuck in his throat like a fishbone.
