The Villain's Terminally Ill Wife

Chapter 27

Since the plant arrived, my daily routine has changed. In addition to my usual tasks, I’ve added checking on the Rosier plant whenever I have spare time.

Since it doesn’t need to be watered every day, it wasn’t much of an issue. Sunlight also wasn’t a problem, as I had placed it in the sunniest spot by the window.

As I observed the plant daily, my biggest curiosity was under what conditions the Rosier flowers bloom.

I couldn’t find the conditions in any books, and no one I knew had any information.

So, is it even true that the Rosier flowers bloom? Could it all be a lie?

The idea that there are some specific conditions beyond the usual care needed for the flowers to bloom didn’t make much sense.

However, in books, there were clear records of Rosier blooming.

The people back then must have met some conditions to make the flowers bloom. And they would have also discovered that the roots of the bloomed Rosier flowers were a cure for the Darnnella’s disease.

This means that someone must have figured out how to make it bloom and used the flowers to treat the disease.

Otherwise, how would anyone have known that the cure lies in the roots of a bloomed Rosier flower?

With that in mind, I asked Olivier to help gather as much information as possible on the Rosier flowers and Darnnella’s disease.

Among the collected materials, there were even books that documented extremely rare cases of people being cured of this disease. There were only two such cases, though.

One was about a commoner’s daughter who was cured, and the other was about the head of a merchant guild from a certain region who was also cured.

In the first case, the girl’s mother had accidentally found a Rosier flower and fed her the roots. In the second case, the merchant guild leader’s wife bought a Rosier plant, and it later bloomed.

The second case was similar to mine, but the documentation didn’t explain what conditions led to the blooming.

In the end, I was back to square one.

How exactly did that merchant guild leader make the flower bloom?

The plant was purchased just like mine. Did someone else have to obtain it for it to bloom? If that were the case, my plant should have bloomed by now, as my husband, Richard, technically bought mine.

Other than that, there didn’t seem to be any significant differences.

Could it be a matter of time? Or the way it was cared for?

I couldn’t simply abandon the methods the scholars had provided. I couldn’t afford to let this precious Rosier plant wither or rot.

So, what exactly is the problem?

As I flipped through the books, I started to feel a pang of envy for the commoner’s daughter in the first case.

She had obtained the roots of the bloomed Rosier without any material investment.

Knock, knock.

While I was lost in thought, I heard a knock on the door. I turned my head and looked toward it.

“Madam, it’s me.”

It was Olivier’s voice. This time, I opened the door myself.

Instead of simply allowing entry, I opened the door and peeked my head out. Olivier, who had been waiting outside, was startled but then smiled.

“Are you studying the Rosier plant again today?”

Olivier entered the room and placed the book she had brought on the table.

“Yes. But no matter how much I read, I still don’t understand.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at this. There are two cases of people with Danella disease being cured after consuming the roots of a Rosier flower. One is a commoner family’s daughter, and the other is the head of a famous merchant guild.”

Olivier slowly began reading the case records I handed over. After a moment, she let out a small groan.

“Madam, perhaps…”

Olivier, seemingly having noticed something, hesitated as she spoke. Curious if she had discovered something I had missed, I widened my eyes and waited for her to continue.

“What? Did you find something?”

“Well, this might be just because these are cases of terminally ill patients with an incurable disease, but… I noticed that both cases involved being with family.”

“Hmm. And?”

“Could the condition for blooming be related to being surrounded by family? I can’t be certain since the first case involved discovering the flower by chance, but if that’s the case, perhaps being with family played a role?”

Olivier’s suggestion made sense.

I carefully re-read the case records to check the details again.

In the first case, the commoner girl lived with her family and was cared for by them.

In the second case, the merchant guild leader received the love and concern of his wife.

If the condition for blooming was indeed family, my situation was rather grim.

I had been abandoned by my father and Cecilia, whom I once considered family, and had married Richard for the sake of money.

The idea that the Rosier plant would bloom just because my father or Cecilia were back in my life didn’t seem plausible.

And as for Richard…

The thought of Richard made me hesitate. Could he really continue to go along with my whims?

As I contemplated, I looked up to find Olivier watching me expectantly.

“What is it?”

“Madam, are you thinking of talking to the master?”

“Well, I guess so. The only ones I can consider family are the people from the Tristan duchy or Richard, at least in name.”

“Then, you should visit the training grounds today. That’s where he’ll be.”

“The training grounds?”

Normally, I wouldn’t mind visiting, but the training grounds were different.

Richard never showed me the training sessions with his knights.

The last time I went to the training grounds, it just caused a pointless argument. I generally avoided going there when Richard was present unless it was absolutely necessary.

I knew he disliked me visiting the training grounds.

I didn’t want to provoke him by going there, knowing how he felt about it.

“No, it’s fine. If he’s there, I’ll just wait until dinner. I’ll see him then anyway.”

“But I think now would be a good time for you to go…”

“I appreciate the thought, but I’d rather not. Richard has been considerate of me, and I won’t do something he dislikes on purpose.”

“Understood.”

Olivier nodded in resignation, looking a bit disappointed.

As I watched Olivier tidy up the books, I found myself lost in thought again. If the key to making the Rosier flower bloom was family, then what exactly was I supposed to do?

Was I supposed to say something like, “We are family”?

Various thoughts crossed my mind, but none of them seemed like the right answer.

* * *

I continued reading about the flower until dinner time. Because it was such a rare plant, there wasn’t much substantial information. Most of the books repeated the same content, and they all reached the same conclusion.

It felt like they had just been recycling the same book.

In the end, I gave up on finding any useful information from the books.

The only potential lead I had left was to see if the Rosier responded to the concept of family.

“Madam, dinner is ready.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Hearing Olivier’s voice, I grabbed the plant I had prepared.

“Oh my! Madam, it must be heavy. Let me carry it for you.”

Olivier hurried toward me as I was about to leave with the plant, trying to take it from my hands.

“No, I’ll carry it. It’s not heavy at all. It’s such a small pot, what’s there to be heavy about? Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

I turned my back to refuse Olivier’s help and walked straight out of the bedroom.

I passed through the hallway and went down the stairs to the dining room.

As usual, Richard had already arrived and was waiting for me.

“Diarna, you’re la—”

Richard started to speak but stopped when he noticed the plant in my hands.

I nonchalantly walked past him, sat down in my seat, and placed the plant next to me.

“Why did you bring the Rosier plant here?”

“I’m sorry. I know it’s improper, but I brought it just in case.”

Richard, sensing something unusual, raised an eyebrow.

“Is there a particular reason you brought it?”

“Yes, I was curious about something. Olivier and I were looking at the cases of people who were cured of Darnnella’s disease, and they were all with their families. The first case was with the parents, and the second case with the wife.”

“And?”

Richard asked, urging me to continue.

“So, I thought I’d bring it here just in case. Since you and I… are technically a couple.”

As I spoke, I couldn’t help but feel my face grow warm with embarrassment.

Both Richard and I knew well that we were a couple in name only, without any romantic feelings between us.

So talking about things like family or being a couple felt awkward and embarrassing.

“So, you brought the plant to our dinner?”

“Yes. I thought maybe if we showed that we are a family, the Rosier flower might bloom. If you’re upset, I can put the plant on the floor.”

“No, I’m not upset.”

“Then, Richard, could you… help me a little?”

He looked at me and then at the Rosier plant with a puzzled expression, as if he couldn’t quite understand what I was asking.

I knew how absurd my request sounded.

But if this was the only method worth trying, then it was better to try than to do nothing.

“Alright, Diarna, I’ll cooperate. But what exactly should I do?”

“Well, I’m not exactly sure either. Maybe we just need to show that we’re together?”

At first, I thought there might be some special method, but the more I thought about it, the only thing that made sense was to show that we were spending time together.

Though, of course, that was assuming the condition for the Rosier flower to bloom was related to family.