~Chapter 01~
The Sickly Duke Became Healthy
It was a blazing hot summer afternoon.
A young woman, her hands tied behind her back, was being led by a guard toward the gallows for execution.
With every step she took, the iron shackles around her ankles made an eerie clanking sound—but she didn’t care.
In just a few minutes, her body would be hanging there.
‘It’s all over now.’
Her gaze as she looked at the gallows was empty. Her lips were cracked like a desert, and her eyes—once a vibrant shade of grass—had lost all life.
Was it the heat of the sun? Or was it the fear of death?
The woman staggered like she could collapse at any moment.
“For worsening the illness of the former crown prince of the Croatea Empire and Duke of the Heidern family, Archduke Akia, and causing his death—pharmacist Leah is sentenced to death.”
Bang, bang, bang.
The sound of the judge’s gavel still rang loudly in her ears. She had cried out, insisting the medicine couldn’t be the cause—but no one listened.
Everyone was too busy blaming her for putting the empire’s duke in danger.
‘I never should’ve come here in the first place.’
At the very least, she should have run away the moment she was assigned as the duke’s personal pharmacist. But regrets were useless now.
She let out a hollow laugh. It had been 22 years since she was reincarnated into this world, completely alone.
The memories of her struggles to survive in this world flashed through her mind like a reel of film.
“We will now carry out the execution of pharmacist Leah. Prisoner, kneel.”
The guard shoved her roughly, and she collapsed to her knees. As the woman at the center of a major scandal was finally revealed, the crowd buzzed with voices.
- “They say the Duke of Heidern died after taking her medicine.”
- “Poor thing… she’s still so young.”
- “Poor? She’s a murderer!”
Some felt sorry for her. Others scolded her for being a reckless young pharmacist.
“Does the criminal, Leah, have any final words?”
She lowered her head at the judge’s question.
‘Final words? As if I have any.’
That man had died because of her. The crushing guilt and deep regret weighed on her entire body. Even breathing was hard.
‘If only I had done things differently… would it have changed anything?’
Exhausted and hopeless, Leah closed her eyes. She just wanted this pain to end quickly.
As she stayed silent, the judge assumed she had nothing to say and raised his hand.
The guard moved to tie the rope around her neck in response to the signal.
“Stop.”
A man’s voice rang calmly through the crowd.
“Who are you?! This is a court of law—!”
A man in a black robe stepped forward and slowly revealed his face, freezing the air around them.
‘What’s going on…?’
Sensing something strange, Leah slowly opened her eyes.
And what she saw was the faint outline of a man’s red eyes under the blazing sun.
“…Duke?”
She whispered in a trembling voice, like she was seeing a ghost.
He was supposed to be dead—buried in the cold earth.
But now, just moments before her execution, the Duke of Heidern had returned, alive.
And at that moment, the strength in her body finally gave out.
❀ ❀ ❀
‘It’s warm…’
How long had it been since she felt such comfort? Soft, fluffy bedding wrapped around her body.
‘Who…?’
A gentle hand brushed her ear, and a ticklish moan escaped her lips.
Annoyed by the sensation, she buried her face deeper into the pillow.
‘Must be a dream.’
A dream where someone was caressing her face with affection. A sweet dream.
A warm breath tickled her nose. Fingers ran through her hair.
‘Why does it feel so real…?’
The sensations were too vivid. Slowly, her mind began to wake up.
Something felt off. Leah opened her eyes—and what she saw was—
‘The Duke…?’
A face so perfectly shaped it looked sculpted. Golden hair that shone like sunlight. Eyes as red as blood.
‘No way.’
Was she still dreaming? Or had she died?
With a face as pale as if she’d seen a ghost, she touched her neck.
“I’m… alive.”
She pinched her skin. It hurt. So it wasn’t a dream.
But it still didn’t feel real. Her trembling hand reached out to touch his face.
“W-what is this…?”
Just then, the man grabbed her wrist.
“You’ll wear out my face.”
‘Ah.’
His deep voice echoed in her ear. A voice she knew so well. The one she had missed so desperately.
“Are you really… the Duke?”
Leah jolted upright in bed, staring at him. There was no mistaking it. No one else had a face like his.
“Oh my god…”
She had seen him die with her own eyes. But here he was.
She was still too stunned to speak, her mouth slightly open.
“What? Aren’t you happy that I’m alive?”
Was this really about happiness?
She was still frozen, trying to process everything.
Watching her, the Duke took her hand and pulled gently.
“That’s disappointing.”
Then, he took her hand and placed it on his cheek.
“When I died, you cried and made such a scene,” he said in a growling tone, resting his face against her hand for a while.
“Was that all just a lie?”
She could feel his breath on her palm where his lips now touched.
“That’s not it. You… you definitely… back then…”
“I did die.”
He smirked, clearly amused by her reaction.
“But just imagining you giggling with other men while I was gone…”
A cold gleam flashed in his red eyes.
“Made me sick.”
‘What?’
It was shocking enough that the duke—who was supposed to be dead—was now alive. But what he was saying was even more absurd.
She swallowed hard and began looking around the bed she was lying in.
A room she’d never seen before. It was too dark to make out clearly, but one thing was obvious—it was lavish to the point of being overwhelming.
At that moment, the man softly called her name.
“Leah.”
His fingers grasped her chin, as if warning her not to look away. His touch was hot.
‘Was he… always like this?’
Leah scanned him from head to toe with a puzzled gaze. His skin looked almost glowing, and through his open robe, she could see his firm chest muscles.
Her eyes, acting on their own, trailed slowly down across his solid abs… and lower.
— gulp.
She forced her gaze upward and looked away.
He chuckled lowly, clearly entertained by her flustered reaction, and gently tucked her hair behind her ear.
“I apologize for calling you a quack before,” he whispered in a low, cave-like voice against her ear.
“Thanks to you, I feel like I’ve been reborn.”
He caressed her cheek with long fingers, as if he still couldn’t believe what was happening.
“From now on, everything will change.”
In the room steeped in darkness, their gazes met and held in the air.
“…Huh? What do you mean—?”
It happened in an instant. The duke climbed on top of her. Leah found herself lying flat on the bed with him hovering above.
“D-Duke?”
“I thought you’d be a little happier to see me,” he said softly, gently brushing away the hair stuck to her cheek.
“Didn’t you want me to get better?”
Yes. She had hoped for that.
Probably no one in this estate—or the whole empire—had wanted the duke to recover more than she did.
‘But this is… too healthy!’
Just days ago, no—he had actually died. She had seen it with her own eyes.
And now, the same man was holding her down with such an overwhelming presence?
This wasn’t the same fragile duke she knew, the one who’d been given a death sentence.
She was starting to get uncomfortable with the unfamiliar weight pressing down on her stomach.
Surely… he didn’t mean that, right?
Before she could find an answer, she heard his breathy voice.
“Leah.”
She gulped again and tried pushing him off gently.
“Um, Duke… Can we talk about this calmly first—?”
“It’s strange.”
“…What is?”
“I feel this strange surge of energy through my whole body.”
His eyes darkened with a thick, heavy desire that pressed down on her.
“I can’t control it.”
His red eyes burned with such intensity that she felt like she might be swallowed whole.
— Thump.
— Thump.
— Thump.
Her heart pounded like a drum, so loud she wondered if it might stop from the sheer intensity.
“So, Leah.”
His breath brushed her lips—it felt like they could touch at any second.
“Take responsibility.”
Then, his hands slid up her thin wrists and gently intertwined his fingers with hers.
“Because you’re the one who made me like this.”
As if he would never let her escape again.
❀ ❀ ❀
The once sickly duke had recovered. A little too much.
