"Ugh! Cough!"

Rosalyn’s eyes were unfocused as she coughed up blood repeatedly.

Even though Belinda and Wendy had relaxed their grip, she no longer struggled or tried to escape.

She only trembled, spitting out blood from her mouth.

“Stop it… you madman…”

She muttered weakly, and in the end, her head drooped down.

Belinda called out urgently once more.

"Young Master!"

"I know. It's almost done."

Ghislain carefully enveloped the torn mana road with a small amount of his own mana to protect it.

Leaving mana inside someone else's body could cause a dangerous clash with their own mana. But right now, there were no other options.

Back in his days as the Mercenary King, he would sometimes use this method for emergency treatment.

Things wouldn't get worse than they already were.

"Hoo..."

Ghislain let go of her hand. The treatment had to stop here. Even if he wanted to do more, it wasn’t possible.

"Lady! Lady!"

As soon as Ghislain stepped back, the butler and servants rushed over to Rosalyn’s side.

The butler wiped the blood from her mouth and, with a look of fury, shouted at Ghislain.

"What kind of treatment is this? Are you really trying to kill the young lady?"

Coughing up blood meant something was terribly wrong inside her body. What on earth did he mess up for her to vomit blood when all he was doing was fixing her face?

'We have to stop this. At this rate, the young lady’s life is in danger!'

“I’ll report this to the Marquis! You must stop now!”

“I can’t do that.”

“Stop! I won’t allow this to continue any longer!”

Despite the butler’s outburst, Ghislain didn’t even blink.

Instead, he replied coldly.

"Are you above the Marquis?"

“What... What did you say?”

“The Marquis gave his permission. So who do you think you are to stop me?”

“No, but still…”

“The young lady won’t live long if we leave her in this state. If you don’t want to see her die young, don’t get in my way.”

“That’s nonsense! And even if that were true, what does it have to do with you?”

Ghislain snorted and answered.

“Why wouldn’t it? There’s a lot at stake here.”

"Y-you!"

The butler had no authority to stop this. All he could do was release his fury.

Ghislain ignored the butler’s shouting and continued applying the cosmetic to Rosalyn’s face.

Even as he replaced the mask, Rosalyn remained unresponsive.

She just lay there, breathing weakly.

As he gazed down at her, Ghislain spoke in a conflicted tone.

"There’s no turning back now."

Her body had already been tampered with too much. If they stopped here, her condition would be worse than before they started the treatment.

Whether they succeeded or failed, there was no choice but to see it through to the end.

Before the next treatment session began, the butler stormed off to meet the head of the knights.

‘This man is dangerous. He’s not the type to go quietly, even if he fails. The rumors of him being a madman weren’t baseless. We need to be prepared before he causes real trouble.’

The butler decided to prepare in advance to ensure that Ghislain and his group could be subdued as soon as any incident occurred.

“Sir Toleo, do you have a moment?”

“Oh, what brings you here?”

Toleo, the captain of the Marquis’s knight order, welcomed the butler respectfully.

Despite holding a higher official rank, he couldn’t treat the Marquis’s close aide with disrespect.

The butler, maintaining his usual stoic expression, said:

“I have something to discuss regarding the person treating the young lady.”

“What would that be?”

“I think we need to reinforce our precautions.”

Toleo frowned, puzzled.

“Haven’t we already stationed soldiers in case things go wrong?”

“I don’t think that’s enough. We need to strengthen security around the mansion and lend me a few more knights.”

“Hm, don’t you think that’s a bit excessive?”

The butler shook his head and explained the situation in detail.

Hearing that the young lady had coughed up blood, Toleo’s face turned serious.

“Even if Baron Fenris is a madman, his subordinates have just returned from a victorious war.”

“That was only a minor border skirmish.”

“To be fair, my gut tells me otherwise. Some of them seem quite confident and weren’t particularly intimidated by the Marquis’s authority.”

The butler cautioned in a grave tone.

“Hmph, it could be that those northern brutes don’t understand how things work here… Very well. I’ll reinforce the mansion's security to make sure they can’t escape. I’ll also assign a few skilled men to stay close.”

“Thank you. I’ll return to the young lady’s side now.”

As the butler left, Toleo gestured quietly. Four knights silently followed after him.

From that moment on, security around the mansion was tightened further.

Not even an ant could escape.

As Ghislain made his way back to Rosalyn’s room, the butler returned, bringing knights with him.

Seeing this, Ghislain sneered.

"Planning to interfere?"

"We’ll step in if it gets dangerous."

“If you interrupt the treatment, the young lady’s life will be in even more danger. Make sure you judge the situation carefully.”

The butler clenched his teeth.

As long as mana was involved in the treatment, they couldn’t touch her.

In other words, during that time, the young lady was essentially a hostage.

Ghislain entered the room, completely unfazed by the butler’s reaction.

Rosalyn was no longer throwing fits like before. She sat quietly, leaning against the bed, staring into the empty space as if lost in thought.

Without much emotion, Ghislain addressed her.

“The treatment will resume now. You’ll need to endure it again.”

Belinda and Wendy, looking utterly exhausted, approached Rosalyn.

Just as they were about to hold her down like usual, Rosalyn finally spoke up.

“Wait.”

Both women paused and looked at Ghislain for instructions.

Ghislain nodded slightly, signaling them to step back.

“Do you have something to say?”

“I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“This treatment… It could kill me, right?”

Ghislain remained silent for a moment before nodding honestly.

“Yes. If you can’t endure it, you could die. It won’t just end with pain.”

His indifferent tone caused the butler and the knights’ faces to flush with rage.

How dare he, in this place, admit that she might die during the treatment! And to start it without even revealing this risk!

‘Don’t think you’ll get away with this.’

The butler bit his lip, trying to control his temper.

On the other hand, Rosalyn simply nodded, saying nothing.

What an absurd situation. She had refused the treatment because she didn’t want to die, yet here she was, hearing that the treatment itself could kill her.

Her father had agreed to this without even asking her opinion.

And the doctor in front of her, despite her protests, was determined to continue.

“So… even if I don’t get the treatment, I’m going to die anyway?”

“That’s right. Your body will continue to weaken, and eventually, you won’t be able to move.”

She gave a dry laugh at his response.

“It sounds too unbelievable to trust.”

“You don’t have to believe me. It’s the truth regardless.”

Ghislain didn’t bother trying to convince her.

No matter how much you tell someone that they’ll die in the future, people don’t believe it.

“I won’t ask why you're risking everything, even your life, for this. You must want something from my father, so you’re using my illness for leverage, aren’t you?”

“I won’t deny it.”

“So… do you really think I can survive this treatment? I nearly died just a while ago.”

“If you have the will, you can endure it.”

It wasn’t a vague encouragement to “just push through.”

She had survived this treatment in her previous life. Back then, the treatment had been cruder, more painful, and had taken longer.

She certainly had the potential to withstand it now. The issue was that this potential wasn’t currently showing.

Rosalyn chuckled bitterly.

“And if I don’t make it, I’ll die?”

“There’s a high chance, yes.”

“What if you knock me out and do it while I’m unconscious?”

“Then you’d have an even higher chance of dying.”

If the treatment was carried out while she was unconscious, she could suddenly stop breathing.

She had to be awake, using her will to endure.

“…That’s easy for you to say. How long has it been?”

“Three days.”

“Three days… three days, huh…”

Only three days had passed.

So she still had to endure more than ten days of this.

The mere thought of it was horrifying.

“Then… before we start, check if my body’s even ready. I still feel terrible inside. Are you sure it’s okay to proceed?”

Ghislain nodded and approached her.

As usual, he pulled a chair closer, sat down, and took her wrist in his hand.

Closing his eyes, he sent his mana flowing into her body, carefully inspecting it.

‘Not bad.’

Thanks to the emergency measures, her condition had improved somewhat. With some grit, she could probably manage to pull through.

‘Something’s different about her attitude. Maybe she’s realized there’s no escaping this.’

It would be better if she gave up resisting and followed the process obediently.

Time was a bit tight, but if Rosalyn could endure, full recovery wasn’t out of the question.

‘Hopefully, today will go smoothly.’

Even though no one else knew, Ghislain was getting exhausted with each session.

This method of treatment required immense concentration and mental strength.

Just as Ghislain was about to withdraw his mana and release her wrist, Rosalyn’s free hand slipped under the large pillow beside her.

“Huh?”

Distracted, Ghislain hadn’t noticed her movement until it was too late.

A gleaming dagger flashed in Rosalyn’s hand as it shot towards his temple.

“Young Master!”

“Lord Ghislain!”

“Ugh!”

In that instant, Belinda, Gillian, and even the butler screamed in shock.

Thud.

With a flick of his fingers, Ghislain effortlessly caught the dagger between them and glanced at his subordinates.

“What? Why?”

“Um… Just, please be careful.”

“Come on, do you really think I’d be taken down by something like this?”

Rosalyn gritted her teeth and muttered.

“You make cosmetics, control mana, know swordsmanship… You sure know a lot for someone who’s supposed to be a doctor.”

Ghislain shrugged and grinned smugly.

“I’m quite the all-rounder.”

“This is your final warning. Stop this treatment. It’s not healing—it's torture.”

“Your illness can only be treated this way.”

“Treatment? If we keep this up, I really will die!”

The two of them fell silent, staring daggers at each other.

The others were at a loss, not knowing what to do.

‘…Hmm?’

Ghislain gazed at Rosalyn’s eyes, hidden beneath her mask, and realized something important.

A strange smile crept across his face.

“For someone who claims they don’t want to die, you sure keep a knife close by.”

“…”

“Perhaps… you don’t really want to live. You’re thinking it’d be better to die than to continue living like this, aren’t you?”

“…”

Rosalyn’s lips twisted strangely, her eyes still glinting with murderous intent.