The reason why the villainess saved the male protagonist's terminally ill brother

Chapter 4

“Y-young master…?”

“Y-young master…?”

When I called out in surprise, I felt Harold flinch against me.

At the same time, he quickly took two steps back.

“What just happened…?”

Harold’s dark blue eyes were wide, trembling in disbelief.

He seemed unable to believe that he had actually hugged me.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Are you feeling okay?”

As I asked and carefully stepped forward, Harold took a step back.

“Uh… should I not come closer?”

“…No, it’s fine. Sorry for hugging you out of nowhere.”

“That’s okay.”

Harold brushed his hair back with his large hand and wiped the surprise from his expression.

“So, it seems like you can actually heal another person too, just like you said.”

In an instant, a spark of blue appeared in his dark eyes.

“What do you want from me, lady?”

“I’d like to receive 10,000 gold coins in exchange for healing you. I want half of it in advance.”

I confidently said this since I had already proven my abilities, so I figured it was reasonable to ask for this much.

“How long will the treatment take?”

“Well… as I mentioned before, it depends on the level of physical contact.”

“Hmm.”
Harold stepped closer in silence. I instinctively took a step back. His tall and large frame approaching me with a blank expression was a bit scary.

I bumped my backside against the table, and he spread his arms to place me in the center, leaning on the table.

His chest was close enough to almost touch my nose, so I instinctively leaned back. Then Harold tilted his head slightly.

“Why are you running away?”

“I’m the one who should be asking that?! Why are you coming closer with that scary look?!”

Like, seriously!

“You’ve become a coward while I wasn’t watching. Or do you feel guilty about something?”
“Don’t you think about your size?”

I protested, feeling unfairly accused, and then I quickly glanced at him.

His expression didn’t change much, but I worried he might get mad if I kept arguing, so I quickly changed the subject.

“So why did you come closer?”

Harold raised one eyebrow and looked at me for a moment before lowering his gaze. Following his eyes, I noticed my hand resting on the table.

“If I remember correctly from yesterday, you said the quality of healing varies based on hand-holding, hugging, kissing, and intercourse. How long would it take with just hand-holding?”

“Um… even at best, it would take at least 5 years.”

Since the protagonist of a mature novel has special powers, hand contact alone was pretty ineffective.

Plus, treating someone who was dying from illness was the toughest challenge.
“What about hugging like before?”

“Hmm. …If we both take off all our clothes and hug, it would take at least 3 and a half years. If it’s like how we did before, I’d say at least 4 years.”

I felt embarrassed saying this and rolled my eyes. But how long do I have to keep talking like this?

If I tilted my head slightly, his chest would probably touch my forehead. Given my ability, it felt so awkward to talk in this position.
“So how long would kissing take?”

“It probably depends on how often and how long we do it, but around 2 years?”
“What about intercourse…?”

Well, since this was a mature novel, you only need to do it once.

“…Nah, you don’t need to answer that. I’ll never do that with you anyway.”
I smiled brightly and nodded.

“I figured you’d say that, My Lord.”

Harold doesn’t like Diana. Ironically, that’s why I chose him as my trading partner.

Before I possessed this body, I had never had a relationship, and I didn’t even have any experience with guys.

‘Not to mention, I thought this guy would be safe after I revealed my ability.’

Harold thoroughly protects his own people. I could trust him during this deal.
If he gets cured, I’d quietly escape to another country just in case.

“I think we should hold hands as often as possible. Even if my body doesn’t react negatively to touching you, I feel very uncomfortable allowing any other kind of contact.”

“Okay, we’ll do physical contact for healing however you prefer, My Lord.”

Now that I’d proven I could heal him, I was glad that the discussion about the deal was moving quickly.

*Gulp.*

I swallowed, thinking about the money I was about to receive.

“But are you sure about this?”

“About what?”

“If I get cured, your beloved Kaiden won’t be able to become a duke.”
“Yeah. I don’t mind. The title of duke originally belongs to you anyway.”

Harold’s gaze deepened quietly. As I felt myself getting lost in the mesmerizing depth of his eyes, I turned my head away.

But then Harold grabbed my chin and made me face him. His grip wasn’t too rough, but it was strong enough that I could feel it.

Still, his handsome face being so close made my brain turn to mess. I felt like a butterfly caught in a web, completely frozen.

Harold stared at me for a while.

“Hm. I don’t think you’re lying.”

“I’m being serious. The experience of being kicked out onto the street was shocking, so I’ve sorted out my feelings for you, young master.”

“If I find out you want something else besides 10,000 gold coins, I’ll make you pay ten times the reward. you’ll have to pay me back, you know?”

“Sure! You can put that clause in the contract if you want.”

I enthusiastically agreed, and my stomach growled loudly like thunder.

“…”
“…”
‘Seriously, of all times for my stomach to growl.’

Harold released my chin and stepped back.

“We’ll continue the rest of this conversation and go over the contract after the meal.”

As he turned, it looked like the corner of Harold’s mouth twitched slightly.

I turned completely red like a tomato.

* * *

Harold finished eating first and got up, while I stayed behind to finish my meal with a bit of greed.

Afterward, I went to find him.

Since we had already discussed most things during dinner, writing up the contract was a breeze.

Harold handed me the contract and a pen.

“Go ahead and sign it.”

“Sure.”
Since I had watched the entire process of writing the contract, I didn’t hesitate and signed it.

Harold took the contract and pen from me.

“I’ll have 5,000 gold coins ready within a week.”

“Yes! Oh, but what status will I have while staying here from now on?”

It’s not like I could stay in the duke’s estate as a guest for years.

“My wife.”

“…Did I hear that wrong?”

Harold handed me a marriage registration form.

I thought I misheard, but apparently not.

“It’s more convenient, don’t you think? A grown man and woman walking around holding hands for years… marriage makes the most sense.”

“But don’t you hate me?”

Can he really be okay with marrying me?

Harold shrugged his shoulders lightly.

“It’s just a formal arrangement.”

He didn’t seem to place any special meaning on the idea of being a married couple.

After a moment’s thought, I signed the marriage form. It’s not like I’d be living as his wife forever—I planned to divorce him and live under a new identity in another country, so it didn’t really matter.

Harold handed both the marriage registration form and the contract to his aide who was standing nearby.

“The butler and my aide will take care of the wedding preparations, so don’t worry about it.”

“Alright.”
“There’s only one thing you need to worry about right now.”

I widened my eyes in surprise. Harold crossed his arms and pointed toward the door with his chin.

“Go buy some clothes. You can’t walk around in shabby outfits as the Duchess.”

“I’d love to, but I don’t have any money at the moment. I’ll get something later.”
“Ha, who said you had to use your own money?”

Harold frowned slightly, chuckling as if he couldn’t believe what I’d said.

“Charge it to the Visen estate.”

I love you, Your Grace.

A holy glow seemed to radiate from behind him.

* * *

I found myself at the most famous dress shop in the capital.

Apparently, the Duke had already instructed the driver to take me here.

The clerks told me that the private fitting room on the fourth floor wasn’t quite ready yet and asked if I’d mind waiting in the tea room for a bit.

I told them that was fine, and now here I was, sipping tea and enjoying myself.

‘Is shopping with someone else’s money always this fun?’

It felt strange to me, yet I couldn’t deny how happy I was to be shopping with the rich Duke’s money.

Just then, a familiar woman walked into the tea room.
It was the female lead, Ella Linomer.

“Diana? Oh my gosh, it really is you! I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Ella smiled innocently, like she was seeing an old friend after a long time.

“I’m here to pick up a dress Kaiden ordered for me, but I’m so glad to see you!”

Her golden hair and eyes, her pale skin, and her delicate frame that made you want to protect her—just as described, Ella Linomer was a beauty beyond compare.

Even though I usually got weak over visual beauty, I didn’t feel any admiration when I saw her.

“Don’t you think you don’t really belong here?”
I remembered her standing on the second floor, looking down and smiling as I got kicked out when I possessed as a villainess.

“If I didn’t belong here, I wouldn’t be here, Ella.”

“Are you sure you’re not selling yourself to some old marquis?”

Ella covered her mouth and looked at me with pity in her eyes.

It was like she had already decided the answer, and her golden eyes glistened with fake tears.

“Poor Diana. Should I share some of my money with you?”

Just as I was about to respond, the clerk from the dress shop entered the tea room.

“Excuse me. I’m so sorry for making the esteemed guest from Visen wait.”

The staff bowed to me.

“It’s no problem. I haven’t been waiting long.”

But it wasn’t me who answered. It was the female lead, Ella.