♡ TL: Khadija SK
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As Theodore expected, Annette did not die easily.
She clung to life tenaciously until Hans brought medical help.
A nurse named Lisa examined Annette’s condition upon arrival and administered doses of medication.
Annette’s body was dangerously weak, and she had a fungal infection from living in a moldy hospital room.
Theodore was very surprised by the presence of a nurse instead of a doctor, but it was a critical situation that required prompt action without time for objection.
So, the treatment continued.
Theodore and Hans left Annette’s room to allow her to receive her treatment comfortably and sat on the couch in the living room.
While waiting for the treatment to finish, Hans endured Theodore’s displeased gaze.
“I asked you to bring a doctor to save the Grand Duchess. Why did you bring a nurse instead?”
“I had no other choice. Do you think it’s easy to find a doctor willing to come here and stay confined? You should be grateful I managed to find a nurse.”
“Are you sure she’s competent?”
Theodore had strong doubts.
Saving Annette was very important.
However, Lisa’s disheveled appearance and frightened expression didn’t convince him much.
The nurse brought in to save Annette was dying herself.
“She’s better than most doctors.”
“I told you to bring a doctor.”
“If I kept searching for a doctor, lady Cheringen might have stopped breathing before we got here. Shouldn’t her situation remain confidential for now? I wondered what would happen if rumors spread that the first Grand Duchess died in the wedding hall and the second Grand Duchess died in the first night.”
Hans avoided his gaze, but Theodore’s questions became more pressing.
“Why did that nurse accept a risky job that most ordinary doctors refuse to do?”
“Because I told her we would pay her a lot of money.”
“If she has such great skills as you claim, wouldn’t other people besides us say they would pay her a lot of money? What is the real reason she accepted this task?”
“She lost her job because of a medical mistake.”
Regardless of the amount of money offered, an ordinary person wouldn’t do anything risky.
However, Lisa accepted this job, even though Hans didn’t disclose their destination or the person she would be caring for.
Accepting a questionable job also means the person has a weakness they can’t speak about.
Theodore didn’t overlook this vulnerability.
“She made a medical mistake, but she’s competent and better than most doctors. How am I supposed to believe that?”
“This woman is the best I could bring to lady Annette before she dies.”
Hans sighed heavily.
It might seem that he lacked in many aspects when dealing with his strict master’s mood, but he was a valuable human talent saved by Theodore and placed by his side.
“Are you sure she’ll keep her mouth shut?”
“I easily intimidated her because she has a lot of weaknesses.”
“If that woman overcomes her illness, find someone else. A doctor this time.”
“Alright, I understand.”
Hans avoided the rebuke for bringing an unqualified nurse, but things became more complicated.
Now, with more time gained, next time, he would have to find someone who suited Theodore’s taste.
And Theodore wasn’t a generous person who would give three chances.
Hans was a legal lawyer, but his life became miserable because he was good at things other than legal matters.
He took on the role of Theodore’s assistant and took responsibility for all the illegal activities.
And since Theodore hadn’t even told Hans about Annette’s identity, from Hans’s point of view, who knew nothing, his master’s actions seemed extremely insane.
He was asked to create legal documents to make Annette the Grand Duchess, and he brought her from the mental asylum to the villa.
He even said he would make her the Grand Duchess.
Annette was one of the people Theodore despised the most; those mad women who loved Crown prince Hugo.
Of course, Hans also heard about Annette’s reputation in society.
She was a woman who always carried a fan because it was the only thing she could use with her hands, and her empty mind was less useful than her arms.
Annette was the kind of person Theodore hated the most, so what would he do with her being by his side?
Hans was the one who endured Theodore the most and spent a long time with him, but he still felt a shiver down his spine whenever he looked at those stern eyes.
Hans didn’t know Annette’s usefulness, but how could a dying woman help Theodore for god’s sake?
‘Certainly, this isn’t because of love.’
Even if Hans considered all possibilities of a relationship between Annette and Theodor, including the possibility of them being separated siblings at birth, the point he couldn’t imagine at all, considering it as something utterly impossible, was the existence of a romantic relationship between them.
‘I don’t know what this crazy man wants to do.’
Attempting to make Annette the Grand Duchess would fail because Annette wouldn’t be able to handle Theodor’s madness.
As Hans was immersed in pondering over Theodor’s peculiar actions, the door opened, and Lisa came out.
“First of all, the initial aid has been completed.”
Lisa was flustered and bowed her head before Theodor.
Essentially, Lisa didn’t know at all that Theodor was the Grand Duke.
She knew she wasn’t in an ordinary job, but she didn’t know she was connected to the Grand Duke who appeared as a fool in the newspapers and a monster in people’s mouths.
Hans felt sympathy for Lisa, who was trembling after knowing Theodor’s true identity.
He felt he had to quickly find a good doctor and send her away from here.
So far, Theodor hadn’t said anything, let alone accepting Lisa’s greeting.
Lisa fiddled with her fingers, not knowing what to say.
Hans, who was in a worse state, opened his mouth instead.
“How is the patient?”
“Her condition is very bad. She needs to go to the hospital as soon as possible and undergo the appropriate tests…”
Theodor interrupted her as he listened.
“If that were possible, why do you think we brought you here?”
“I’m sorry.”
Lisa apologized without knowing the reason, then Hans asked the next question before Lisa cried out of fear.
“She’s suffering from a high fever. But why?”
“I’m sorry, but I suspect poisoning, not illness.”
“Poisoning?”
“She’s shaking violently, and her body doesn’t respond well to fever reducers. It seems she may have ingested some kind of poison, because her condition is not common.”
Lisa’s voice trembled a little as she described the patient’s condition, but she stood erect.
This was not a suitable situation for a nurse who was dismissed from the hospital after causing a medical error.
“What caused the poisoning?”
“I don’t know to this extent. It takes time to find out.”
“Can you find an antidote?”
“Until we identify the type of poison, we can’t rush to treat it recklessly. If I give her an antidote that’s incompatible with the poison in her body, something worse might happen to her.”
“So?”
“There’s currently no treatment.”
Among all of Lisa’s words, these were the most confident.
The expression on Theodor’s face twisted due to Lisa’s firmness.
The fact that the person, who didn’t even show his hatred, clearly expressed his displeasure meant that he didn’t like Lisa’s answer at all.
Hans felt that his desire to send the nurse away had just been fulfilled.
Theodor will order to dismiss Lisa or kill her now.
“Hans.”
“Yes.”
“Did I tell you to bring a fake nurse who says there’s no hope of treating patients?”
“It’s not because I’m not good enough, but the poison…”
“I’ve never given you permission to interrupt me.”
Theodor objected to Lisa’s excuses.
Lisa covered her mouth with her hand, perhaps feeling afraid from him.
Then Hans touched his forehead.
If possible, he wanted to send this nurse away alive, but it became difficult now.
When the situation became twisted, someone came and seemed to alleviate Hans’ fears.
“If I know what poison I ingested, can you treat me?”
Annette, who regained consciousness, left the room with the help of the maid Emma.
Lisa rushed to Annette.
“You’re in a very bad condition. Even if you wake up, you need rest.”
Lisa was a medical professional who cares about patients.
This was the first logical observation Annette saw in this villa.
“Did you bring her here? Are you confident in her skills?”
“I don’t trust her at all, but the lawyer I believe in believes in her and says she’s competent.”
“Then she’s not the worst, is she?”
Lisa’s face turned red when they exchanged assessment words in front of her.
The two spoke as if there were no other people with them in the same place.
“I can see that you’re the only medically experienced person I can trust in this situation.”
Annette put something in Lisa’s hand.
“This is the medicine I took. They made me take it about a month ago. There’s a possibility that I may have ingested another poison without knowing it. Do you know what this medicine is?”
“I think I know, but I need to analyze the components to make sure.”
Lisa took the medicine with a puzzled face.
“Find a way to break down the formula of this medicine and save me. Otherwise, this man will kill you.”
When Annette pointed to Theodor and said this, Lisa was astonished and dropped the pills on the floor in shock.
“This is the poison upon which both our lives depend.”
After hearing what Annette said, Lisa hastily picked up the bottle of medicine.
In an instant, Lisa wasn’t just afraid of Theodor, but she also became afraid of Annette.
She felt a terrifying aura, equal to Theodor’s aura, from a woman who wouldn’t be surprised if her breath stopped immediately and she died.
Hans thought that Annette’s skills in intimidation, which terrified Lisa in an instant, were very useful.
The woman, who knew nothing, distinguished between the cards she could use in the current situation and the cards that threatened her opponent and used them immediately.
So, Annette used Theodor.
Hans thought she wouldn’t be able to survive Theodor, let alone stay alive, but her actions were very surprising.
Hans wasn’t alone in his thoughts.
Theodor looked at Annette and said calmly:
“Can we talk alone for a minute?”
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Thank you for the chapter!❤️🔥