Dead-End Villainess Who Makes Medicine

 

“Good heavens. How on earth…”

I was sure he had fallen asleep, so why is he here? I froze for a moment at the unexpected situation.

I looked up at him in confusion, but Julion hadn’t taken his eyes off Roxis.

“Why did you come here alone?”

Swoosh, Julion’s arm wrapped around my waist from behind, pulling me into a hug.

The firm yet warm touch made my tense body involuntarily relax.

Julion tightened his grip on Roxis’ arm and spoke in a low voice.

“You’re covered in filth.”

Roxis, gritting his teeth, glared at Julion as if ready to devour him.

For a brief moment, a tense battle of nerves raged between the two, and then Julion shoved Roxis’ arm out from under him and into the grate.

Roxis staggered back a few steps, glanced at his arm, then at Julion…

Then, with a sly voice, he opened his mouth.

“It seems you’ve completely recovered.”

Hope and anger flickered simultaneously in Roxis’ eyes. Roxis knew there was only one antidote left, so despite demanding it from me, he also thought there wasn’t any left.

However, seeing Julion looking perfectly fine, he must have realized I succeeded in making the antidote.

With a wry smile, Roxis lifted the corners of his mouth and spoke to me.

“Hand over the antidote. Then I’ll be on your side.”

The same demand as before.

I, no longer feeling nervous, chuckled and replied, “What should I do? I only accept payment up front.”

Roxis’ silver eyes glinted ominously like a snake. Suddenly, my vision was blocked, and something warm touched my eyelids.

“…Julion?”

It was Julion’s hand.

He covered my eyes with his hand and muttered discontentedly,

“Seeing dirty things makes one feel dirty, Rohiriel.”

Roxis’s breathing became ragged, as if being treated like dirt had really pissed him off.

I tried to remove Julion’s hand, but it was so firm that it didn’t budge.

Giving up and lowering my hand, Julion embraced me and pulled me backward.

“Leave the trash disposal to the experts, and you should go to a clean place now.”

It seemed he didn’t like the idea of me questioning Roxis separately.

After distancing ourselves from Roxis, Julion finally removed his hand, covering my eyes.

I was about to say something, but words escaped me when I saw Julion’s chest in full view.

Through his open shirt, I could see part of the bandage I wrapped around him, stained red with blood.

“I’ll finish the interrogation, so please go up…”

“Julion. Are you out of your mind?”

It felt like the blood in my head was being swept away to the tips of my toes.

It felt like I was splashed with cold water, and my mind snapped into focus.

Julion blinked, unable to finish his sentence at the change in my voice and expression.

“Is there a problem…?”

“Of course there is. What’s going on right now…”

I stopped myself from saying more. Biting my lower lip and exhaling deeply, I heard Julion swallow audibly.

Without further delay, I grabbed his arm.

“It’s not urgent, so come upstairs with me.”

“What? But.”

“I have something to say. Something very important!”

Holding onto Julion’s arm, I ascended the stairs immediately. Fortunately, Julion followed without any resistance.

The sky had turned red as the sun had set, casting a crimson hue over everything. Taking in a deep breath of fresh air, I turned to Julion and spoke.

“Why did you come down with that body of yours?”

“My body… Thanks to you, I’m perfectly fine now. Fully recovered.”

“Fully recovered? What’s this then, paint?”

Following the direction my finger pointed, Julion lowered his head.

Only then did the bloodstained chest become visible, and he adjusted his shirt with a grim expression.

“I got this stain a while ago—”

“I replaced it with a new one this morning, you know?”

I had changed Julion’s bandages as soon as I woke up in the morning.

Pointing that out, Julion awkwardly smiled, seemingly at a loss for words.

“No matter how much you’ve recovered, to move like this immediately, what if something happens?”

I’m upset. Just because I was cautious of someone like Roxis, Julion had to bleed again.

“I’m sorry. When I woke up, my body felt so refreshed… I wanted to let you know as soon as possible.”

“Then you could have gotten someone to come and get me.”

“When I heard you had gone down to the basement to see Roxis Cassian, I couldn’t help myself. I’m truly sorry, Rohiriel, despite your efforts in treating me.”

“I’m not talking about that now. I was worried about you!”

Seeing Julion lower his gaze and glance at me apologetically, I swallowed what I was about to say.

“…First, we need to redo the treatment. Let’s go to the palace.”

So, holding onto Julion’s arm, I quickly returned to the Garnet Palace.

Responding briefly to the greetings from the maids who saw us, I immediately entered the bedroom.

“Lie down. You’re still a patient. Let me examine you and redo the treatment.”

“I think all the poison is gone except for this.”

Julion didn’t continue his sentence and fell silent.

He must have realized that my expression had grown grim.

He climbed meekly onto the bed and leaned back.

“I said lie down. Let me see the wounds.”

“By the way, do I need to remove the bandages?”

“Why would you even ask? Of course, you should.”

Upon hearing that, Julion began to visibly panic.

“Ah, no, um, seeing that it doesn’t hurt, I thought you might not need to spend time checking…”

I snorted in disbelief as Julion spewed out words like a rapid-fire cannon.

He had been following along well, so why refuse the examination?

“You’re talking nonsense. It’s impossible not to feel pain! If it really doesn’t hurt, that’s even more reason to check. Hurry up and lie down.”

“Well, I do feel a bit of pain.”

“That’s why I’m checking. Why have you been resisting since earlier?”

Frustrated, I exclaimed, and finally, Julion slid onto the bed like water flowing.

Observing him like that, I began to unbutton his shirt.

…Or at least I tried.

If Julion hadn’t intercepted my hand trying to unbutton the shirt, that is.

“I-I’ll do it myself.”

Julion sat up again, turning away from me to show his back.

Looking at his ears turning red, I realized why Julion had been so reluctant to examine his wounds.

“It’s a bit… embarrassing.”

I only wanted to examine the patient as a physician. Seeing him so embarrassed and awkward made me feel strangely uncomfortable too.

‘Well, I’ve already stitched you up in the carriage anyway,’

Even when he was unconscious, I continued to change the bandages. But I stayed silent, fearing it might make him more embarrassed.

Eventually, his shirt slid down, revealing the bandages I had wrapped around him.

Luckily, there wasn’t much blood on the back.

Trying to examine more closely, I noticed a long mark on Julion’s back beneath the bandage.

“Hmm? What’s this?”

A bandage wrapped horizontally, and a long scar running vertically.

It looked like a very old, sloppily treated, messily healed wound.

Unconsciously, my hand reached up to touch the mark. As I lightly ran my fingers over it, I could feel a rough texture.

This was indeed a scar—a real one.

At that moment, Julion shuddered and turned back to face me.

Our eyes met.

Julion blinks his eyelids twice in rapid succession.

“……It tickles.”

He uttered the words as if whispering, and I awkwardly chuckled while scratching my cheek.

“Is it, really? I’m sorry. But why is there such a large scar? It looks quite old.”

“I got this when I was young.”

“Who could have inflicted such a big wound on the crown prince’s body…”

As I continued the conversation, I removed the pin securing the bandage.

As the bandage loosened, a red wound was revealed.

“I’ve faced several assassination attempts outside the palace. One time, I thought I was really going to die, but luckily, I encountered a benefactor and survived.”

 

 

 

𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝑲𝒐-𝒇𝒊