**Chapter 2**
It made sense why Harold Beissen was cold to me.
‘Diana was blinded by love and openly rude.’
Even in front of Harold, she had mentioned that the male lead would soon inherit the title.
Even though she knew that Harold had to die for the male lead to become a duke.
“Yes, I’ve come to my senses. I deeply apologize for my past rudeness.”
Harold raised one corner of his mouth in a smirk and slowly clapped.
Clap, clap, clap. The sound echoed in the room.
“Well, I don’t know how long it’ll last, but congratulations on finally coming to your senses.”
“Thank you.”
“…Hmm. So, what do you want? Let me make it clear, if you’re here to use me to meet Kaiden, forget it.”
“I’m not here to meet Lord Kaiden.”
“Then? Is it money?”
Harold gave me another glance, scanning me from head to toe.
“If it’s money you want, I might be willing to spare some, considering all the bad blood between us.”
…Money!
‘Ugh, having almost starved to death on the streets, even just hearing about money makes me drool.’
I almost asked how much he could give me.
I took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure, and stated the real reason I had come.
“I’m here to make a deal with you, Duke.”
“You? With me?”
“Yes, with you, Duke.”
“Hah, didn’t you say you’ve come to your senses?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it sure doesn’t seem like it to me.”
Harold clasped his hands together, clearly exasperated and even a little irritated.
“I can help you regain your health, Your Grace.”
In that instant, Harold’s expression hardened.
“Do you not understand that there are things you shouldn’t say? My Lady?”
Ever since Harold had been diagnosed with a terminal illness at the age of thirteen, he had been endlessly pestered by doctors from all over the continent claiming they could cure him.
He was constantly harassed not just by frauds but also by fanatics with strange treatments.
By saying this, I hit a nerve—the delicate balance of hope and despair he’d been carrying for years. The heavy pressure coming off him felt like it was pressing down on my shoulders.
“I must’ve misjudged you. If you don’t want to be dragged out of here, I suggest you leave on your own two feet.”
“I came here because I can really do it.”
Instead of being frightened or cowed by his killing intent, I held my ground and extended my hand.
“Please, just give me one chance to prove it.”
“…”
Harold clenched his lips tightly. His sharp navy-blue eyes glared at me as if measuring me up.
I didn’t look away.
The pressure on my shoulders suddenly lifted.
“How do you plan to prove it?”
“All you have to do is hold my hand.”
“That dirty hand?”
“Oh.”
Right, of course.
I quickly wiped my dusty hands on my clothes.
“Do you think that’ll make them clean, Lady?”
“Uh. No.”
It was mentioned in the novel that because of his illness, Harold had developed a bit of a germophobia.
At this rate, I was worried that he would dismiss me without even giving me a chance because he thought I was too dirty.
So, I decided to change my method of proving myself.
“Could I borrow a knife, by any chance?”
Harold pulled a dagger from inside his jacket and handed it to me.
“Thank you.”
As I unsheathed the dagger, my reflection appeared on its sharp edge.
Taking a deep breath, I gripped the dagger tightly.
And then…
“Lady, are you out of your mind!? Why would you suddenly harm yourself…!”
Harold jumped up and snatched the dagger from me.
Blood gushed from the deep cut in my arm. His teeth ground together in anger.
“Call a doctor immediately…!”
“No. There’s no need, Duke.”
“I don’t plan on dealing with your corpse in my home!”
I grabbed his sleeve, preventing him from leaving.
Then, wiping away the blood roughly, I extended my arm to him.
“I’m all healed now.”
Though the wound had been deep due to the sharpness of the blade, but it didn’t hurt anymore, and I had fully healed.
“The wound… how is that possible?”
“Does this prove I was telling the truth?”
Harold furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief.
But he had seen it with his own eyes, so eventually, he returned to his seat on the sofa.
“Explain.”
“Yes!”
In this world, there was no such thing as divine power that could heal people, so I explained it in detail.
“You can heal both wounds and diseases… But it requires contact and the extent of the contact affects the quality of the healing?”
“Yes! You’ve understood perfectly.”
I clapped my hands just like Harold had earlier.
Clap, clap, clap.
“But I can’t touch bare skin, especially with women. What will you do about that?”
“You’ll be fine touching me. That’s part of my ability too.”
This is why the female lead’s power is also crucial to the R-19 novel. Her divine ability makes it easy to move forward… romantically.
“You healed your wound in front of me, but how will you prove you can cure diseases? And you must be aware that my illness isn’t something ordinary.”
“Yes, of course, I know.”
It was a rare, incurable disease that only affected a few swordsmen who could wield sword energy.
It caused heart pain, even though there was no actual issue with the heart, and the disease caused random episodes of pain, which increased dramatically when using sword energy.
Everyone who had this illness had died before reaching the age of thirty.
“But it won’t be a problem. My ability can cure it. And the only way to prove it is, again, by holding hands…”
I held out my hand, signaling with my eyes to ask how he planned to proceed.
Harold looked at my dirty hand like it was carrying any plague and leaned away.
“I’ll prepare a guest room for you. We’ll continue this tomorrow.”
“Sounds good!”
I stood up with a bright smile.
I had made it this far, so my deal was practically already a success.
* * *
The warm sunlight gently woke me from my deep sleep.
I smiled as I opened my eyes, basking in the sensation of a soft, clean bed.
‘I’m not on the streets!’
The cozy, clean room, with an actual ceiling, moved me to tears.
My days of curling up in alleyways for ten days, avoiding danger were finally over.
Wiping away the tears of joy, I pulled the bell cord.
The maid brought in a basin of water, and I washed up and changed into fresh clothes.
Oh, by the way, the clothes were spares from another maid who was about my size.
“The Duke has invited you to join him for breakfast.”
“Sure. I’ll be right there.”
“I’ll escort you to the dining room.”
I followed the maid down the hallway.
The sunlight streaming through the windows made me hum a little tune.
After scrubbing myself clean, changing into fresh clothes, and sleeping in a warm bed, I felt happy for the first time in a while.
Life finally felt good again. If I could seal the deal with Harold today, it seemed like my misfortunes would be over for good.
But then, I froze as I locked eyes with a man walking toward me from the other end of the hallway.
The man’s face also stiffened as he saw me.
“Diana, what are you doing here?”
Black hair and red eyes. Handsome like Harold, with a similar appearance.
It was the male lead, Kaiden.
‘Wait, wasn’t the male lead supposed to be staying at a different townhouse in the capital?’
But with Diana’s memories still vividly lingering in my mind like a black-and-white comic, there was no mistaking him.
This was bad.
Harold was already wary that I might try to approach his younger brother through him.
If this got back to the Duke the wrong way, it could lead to a serious misunderstanding.
‘Oh, right, I’m not alone, am I?’
No need to worry about misunderstandings!
“I’m not here to see you, my lord. I’m here as the Duke’s guest. Isn’t that right, Anna?”
“Yes, the young lady is indeed here as the Duke’s guest,” said Anna, the maid by my side. I was so relieved she was there.
“I heard you were thrown out without a penny to your name. I’m surprised you managed to bribe a maid so quickly.”
What? But this is true!
Of course, Diana had been obsessed with the male lead.
To her, Kaiden was her first love and the only lifeline that could help her escape her family.
If he didn’t choose her, Diana would be forced to become the fourth wife of an old marquis who’d already killed three wives through violent abuse.
After being accused of attempted poisoning, she was disgraced and all marriage prospects had been cut off.
Meanwhile, Kaiden had grown more and more irritated by Diana’s constant pestering.
He started disliking her once she began tormenting the female lead and eventually came to despise her.
“I don’t know how you knew I’d be here today, but get lost.”
Kaiden’s voice was cold as he roughly grabbed my arm.
He tugged me, clearly intending to drag me outside himself.
“Ugh, I didn’t bribe anyone! I was really on my way to have breakfast with the Duke, who invited me!”
“The young lady is indeed the Duke’s guest! You can ask him yourself!”
I raised my voice in frustration, and Anna chimed in to support me, but Kaiden didn’t listen.
At this rate, I was going to be dragged outside.
After waiting six hours to finally get in here!
Tears welled up in my eyes at how pitiful my situation had become.
Just then, Harold stepped forward and grabbed Kaiden’s wrist.
“What do you think you’re doing to my guest, Kaiden?”
