I Healed my Husband, the Leader of the Underworld

“Choose,” my husband said, gesturing with his eyes to the beautiful treasures displayed on the shelf.

“Pick something that especially doesn’t appeal to you,” His voice whispered in my ear. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Is that so?” I spoke softly without looking back. “Then I’ll pick this one.”

My hand touched the red diamond.

“You picked the one I thought you would never choose.”

“It’s heavy.”

“…….”

“And I’m sick of red diamonds. I sold it because I didn’t want to see it anymore.”

My jaw trembled as words struggled to come out of my mouth.

After regaining a simulant of composure, I continued, “Really, you are too kind.”

“My wife gets tired of everything that easily, huh?” Siegfried chuckled softly in response, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Whether it’s jewelry.”

A languid voice scratched my ear.

“Or her husband.”

“…….”

“Where else would you find a man willing to put up with such a capricious temperament?”

His hard body pressed against mine through the taut dress, and my face instantly turned red.

“You truly are a dreadful villainess.”

He was referring to what people called Milena in the social world. I couldn’t bear to look at my face reflected in the red diamond anymore, so I turned my head, and he planted a kiss on my cheek.

“That’s why I like you even more.”

I couldn’t think of anything.

The scent of his cigar was so overwhelming, it made my nose tingle. It was fragrant, almost like tobacco, but strong enough to make my mind go numb.

“What’s wrong? He asked, looking at my pale face, then quickly whispered after guessing the answer, “Your body is so weak. Your arms are thin, and it looks like your lungs are in the same condition.”

“It’s cute.” Then, laughing in a low tone, he added, “Fine, I get it.”

I abruptly turned towards him, exclaiming, “Stop smoking that thing!”

And I immediately regretted it.

The scent of his cigar made my mind a bit unstable, causing my irritation to inadvertently pierce through my voice.

“Are you angry?” he asked, returning to a more soothing tone.

 But as I was trying to catch my breath, I didn’t answer.

“I won’t smoke in front of you anymore.”

A kiss landed on the back of my ear.

“Don’t be angry.”

His submissive tone was too much for me.

“…I’ll treat you preciously.”

“…….”

“So, please don’t be mad at me.”

The kisses, imbued with a mischievous air matching his voice, landed softly on my skin. I didn’t say anything till the end, and Siegfried decided to buy everything from Cornell Calvin, including the red diamond.

He shoved a check into the front pocket of Calvin’s suit, saying how pleased his wife was.

And even Calvin, who had maintained a professional demeanor until now, froze in place as if his system had short-circuited before thanking Siegfried several times.

“This,” Siegfried said, pointing at the Red Diamond. “Tear it to pieces and dispose of them. Make sure that no one else, other than my wife, ever possesses this jewel.”

“Understood, Your Excellency.”

With a final nod to his accompanying aide, Siegfried left the store with me. As we walked, he stopped for a moment to pick up the emerald ornament that got stuck to his shoe again and casually tossed it away as soon as we stepped outside.

He did it with the face of someone discarding something utterly worthless, with an indifferent gaze as if he merely tossed some trash on the side of the road.

Behind him, servants carrying the jewelry boxes hurriedly followed in line.

“It could be troublesome if someone else were to step on it,” he kindly explained to me as I stared at him, speechless.

“No need to ruin other people’s mood,” he added with an air of annoyance as if the emerald had obstructed his path.

* * *

“Milena.”

A small but firm hand knocked on the door, and when no answer came, Lancel tilted his head in confusion, and lightly tapped the floor with his foot. Then, after shoving his hands in his pockets, he said in a loud voice:

“I’m hurt.”

But still, there was no answer.

Clearing his throat, he spoke even louder the next time, “Hey, I’m serious. My arm hurts, and I have a cut on my cheek. I’m bleeding.”

His husky voice echoed through the corridor.

 After wiping his bloody cheek with his sleeve, Lancel glanced at his disheveled attire and quickly tucked his shirt, which was sticking out of his vest, into his suit pants. He then adjusted his loose tie, pulled down the sleeves of his shirt that were roughly rolled up, and tidied his hair.

“… All the other healers are incompetent, I’m telling you,” He muttered with a slightly wounded pride look on his face.

Still, no sound could be heard behind the door.

So, glaring menacingly at the firmly closed door, he shouted, “Fine! I don’t need you anyway!”

And with a thoroughly angered expression, he turned around and walked away without hesitation, thinking that if he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have let those pests from the training ground crawl all over him today.

As he walked, he looked down at his slashed wrist and spat, “How annoying….”

The boy then slipped his fingers into the neat cravat around his neck, loosening it roughly before rolling his sleeves back up again. Next, with his hands back into his pockets, he strode forward with surprisingly large steps for a ten-year-old boy.

It was the first time he had ever visited her. No one would know how much he had struggled with his pride to make this long walk.

And now that he was here, he was thinking that he would never do such a stupid thing again.

Never again.

At that moment, he saw someone approaching from afar. And after confirming who the person was, Lancel put a hand on his chest to politely greet the lady.

Jane, who had been casually chatting, and laughing with the maids, immediately stopped in her tracks.

“Oh, Lancel! Oh my God….” Jane exclaimed as her eyes quickly scanned Lancel. “Why are you bleeding? Have you seen a healer yet?”

“… Yes.”

On the other hand, Lancel had to make a big effort to erase any gruffness from his voice, but Jane quickly grasped the situation after looking at the body then the hall beyond.

“Oh, you went to see Milena?” she asked with a bright smile.

Everyone in the mansion was aware of Jane’s efforts to make Milena fully integrate into Roam.

“I see, but Milena isn’t in the mansion right now.”

“Not in… what do you mean?” Lancel quickly asked, finally lifting his head to look at Jane.

 Jane nodded and sweetly explained,

“She went out with my brother. Milena said she liked jewelry, so I guess brother wanted to buy her a gift before the ball. If I were you, I’d try visiting again around dinner time tonight or maybe tomorrow afternoon?”

Upon hearing Jane’s words, Lancel had to firmly deny to himself that he was unhappy that he had to wait for so long in order to see Milena.

So, having clarified the matter, he replied with his usual expressionless face, “Thank you, …. My Lady.”

“Jane.” The girl rectified, tilting her head and gently stroking Lancel’s hair. “Jane is enough, Lancel.”

Lancel nodded in acknowledgment before swiftly moving away.

She loves jewelry, huh; he said inwardly as his green eyes sparkled.

* * *

Back to Milena’s POV

‘Every herb has its own temperature and color.’

This was a line from the original protagonist of the novel, the pharmaceutical genius Diana kaiser.

Did all medicines really have their own temperature and color? I pondered as I opened the old wooden drawer. The small drawer creaked open, and my gaze fell upon the herbs inside.

It’s just grass….

I felt sorry for the owner of the apothecary, but herbs were just that, grass.

“… It’s Mayweed.  And they are of the finest quality,” a voice resonated right next to me.

“Indeed,” I replied as I slammed the drawer shut, took a step back, and looked up.

The small drawers I had just seen filled an entire wall. A wide wall that required lifting one’s head to fully behold.

This was ‘Michel Rochelle,’ the biggest apothecary in the region.

“Then this,” I held out a small piece of paper with medicines’ name written on it and said to the old man: “Just give me the usual, please.”

As you can see, I was a regular customer—just stopping by on my way back to the mansion with my husband.

“Understood. Please, have a seat and wait here.” The old man spoke as he glanced nervously at me in an overly cautious manner.

His gaze was shaky.

He seemed uneasy because I followed him inside today, and even opened the drawer to check on the herbs’ condition.

He must be wondering why I suddenly did something I’ve never done before.

Because the elderly person was just an ordinary citizen who was most likely afraid of the ‘Roam’ name, I deliberately never spoke to him for too long.

So, when I expressed my desire to follow him into the drugstore today, he quickly ushered me into the room with a face that seemed on the verge of collapsing.

If anyone sees this, they might think I’m here to express my gratitude.

Hesitating in my steps, I momentarily paused to recall why I had walked into this place today. Then turning my head to face the old man, I said,

“Oliver.”

“Yes… Yes, Madam.”

“In Oliver’s eyes….” I started hesitantly. “… Can you see every herb’s temperature and color?”

“Y-Yes, of course,” the old man stammered, adjusting his reading glasses. There was a dazzling brightness on his face that I had never seen before.

“Does Madam also see such things?”

It was the joy of seeing someone of the same kind as you.

I sullenly shook my head before turning my eyes in the other direction. And without bothering to respond further to his now puzzled expression, I changed the subject,

“Oh, and….”

Snatching the old fountain pen he had in his hand, and the paper I had handed him earlier, I proceeded to add another name on the back of the paper.

The pen evenly scattered blue ink over the paper I had put over the wooden furniture.

“Prepare this as well.”

The old man nodded with the puzzled look still on his face.

“My world!” he exclaimed, still pondering over what he had just heard.

.

.

.

“Milena!”

When I returned to the mansion, Jane was the first person to greet me. She ran up to me without hesitation and hugged me tightly.

“Jane,” I said happily.

Considering the usual atmosphere of this mansion, this kind of greeting was a very rare event.

 This was only possible because Jane had always been quite different from everyone else here. Even though she was a Roam, she was a girl who stood apart from this family.

“Milena, you don’t know how much I’ve missed you. If only that mean brother of mine didn’t leave me behind!”

Without hesitation, Jane poured out her resentment towards Siegfried.

“Next time, please take me with you. I was so bored without Milena!” she added.

“Is that so?” Siegfried said, gently stroking Jane’s head. “But my wife only thinks about leaving the mansion. What a pity.”

Although his words were accompanied by a smile, there was hidden bitterness in them as his persistent blue eyes swept over me.

Jane followed me inside the house, clinging to me and chattering about how much she missed me and what she had been doing all afternoon while I wasn’t there.

And I tried my best not to seem too dry when I finally answered, “I’m a little tired.”

Then, with a wistful smile on her curious face, as if she was dying for me to tell her more about my outing, I watched the door close between us.

.

.

A few moments later, I was putting a teacup down on my table and staring at the small puddle in it that resembled blood.

The bitter scent of this medicine was particularly strong. I had bought it during my stop at the herbalist earlier.

I can’t drink it yet.

Having made up my mind to wait a little, I started to practice my perfect smile for the upcoming dinner, but something suddenly caught my eye.

A note?

There was effectively a small slip of paper on the dressing table, and when I opened it, I saw a tangle of shiny gold threads.

After unraveling the threads, it turned out to be a bracelet, with a small heart-shaped ruby adorning it.

My eyes widened as I scanned the rough handwriting.

No way!

… Did the kitten put here?