Taking Care of My Husband in a Tragic Novel

Chapter 16

As I was thinking about this and that, Philia removed her hand from Bleon’s body, signaling that the treatment was over.

“Philia. you did well today.”

As soon as he felt Philia remove her hand from his body, Bleon immediately came to my side, even as he was still undressed. He hugged me from behind again, breathing in and out deeply.

‘It’s almost like a ritual.’

A ritual after his treatment. Bleon did not leave my side like that and continued to do the same thing. At first, I was taken aback by his actions, but now I just accepted it as something that happened naturally. I wasn’t particularly inconvenienced, and it kind of felt good that Bleon was looking for me, so I didn’t scold him in any way.

“Madam. I have something to tell you.”

As soon as it was over, as always, Philia went straight to clean up the area, but this time she wanted to talk to me. Philia approached me, expressionless, as if she was immune to seeing Bleon holding me now.

“What’s the matter?”

“The treatment is almost over.”

“What?”

How could the treatment end so soon? Not expecting these words to come out of Philia’s mouth, I was startled. When I flinched in surprise, I could feel that Bleon, who was holding me, also flinched.

“Now with just a few treatments, the detoxification will be complete.”

“I see…?”

It shouldn’t be like this…

It was good that the treatment was over and Bleon had become healthy. But even in the novel, I remember that it was almost impossible for him to be completely treated, even when it went on for several months.

But she did it in a week? Of course, I expected that the period would be shorter this time. I didn’t think the treatment would take that long as his addiction is so much lighter now. Even if that was the case, a week was still too short.

“So, is there almost none of the drug left in the Duke’s body now?”

“Yes. You can see that. From now on, the treatment will only be to remove residual substances, and the Duke probably does not feel the effects of the drug even now.”

“Alright. I understand…”

Bleon, who was holding me from behind, hugged me tighter. Somehow it felt like the gesture he liked very much.

“Then how many more times will he need to get treatment?”

“It will be only once or twice.”

“Alright. I get it. You worked hard today, so please go back and rest.”

“Yes. Then I will get going.”

As soon as Philia left, Bleon opened his mouth with a very happy voice.

“The treatment will be over soon. Wife.”

“I mean… It was over sooner than I thought.”

Unknowingly, the voice that slipped through my lips was a bit dismal.

“But it… seems like… my wife is not very happy…?”

And as if he had noticed that, Bleon’s voice became sullen.

“No…! It’s good. My husband is finally getting better, so why wouldn’t I be happy?”

I hastily made excuses.

“Really? I thought so.”

Then, Bleon’s voice became bright again.

“Then can we do it now?”

“What?”

“I don’t think I can control myself because I’ve been holding it for so long… I’ve just been trying to restrain myself by thinking of you, Wife… ”

What…

‘Ah…’

As soon as I understood what Bleon meant, I felt like someone had hit my head with a hammer. Originally I expected the treatment period to be at least three months.

In the original story, Bleon’s condition did not improve much even though Philia stayed with him for 24 hours a day during Astell’s absence from the ducal residence, providing him intensive care. At that time, Bleon’s condition was so serious that my brows were constantly furrowed as I read that part in the novel.

‘Since he had that drug for over 4 years…’

In the original story, Astell gave Bleon medicine and tamed him sexually for a grand total of four years immediately after he reached adulthood.

‘So it wouldn’t have been so easy to cure.’

But now, Bleon has only drank it for about half a year—to say the least, anyway. The amount of medicine increased to twice as much as the years went by, so compared to that, his dependence was quite weak now. That’s why it’s only natural that the treatment would be over soon, but…

‘No, but only a week…’

I didn’t know that the treatment would be over in a week, so my mind really went down a very complicated spiral as I processed what Bleon just said to me. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have used the treatment as an excuse and put it off until way after the treatment was over whenever Bleon kept pushing me.

‘I’m in trouble.’

Unaware of my feelings, Bleon continued to lean on me as if he was going to do something right now.

‘Dangerous…’

His secret part, which was completely pressed against me from behind, was growing in volume.

“The treatment hasn’t been completely finished yet…!”

First of all, I struggled to find what to say to him in order to avoid the current situation.

“Ha… Okay…”

I felt his hot breath on the back of my neck, giving me goosebumps for a moment. I quickly squirmed away to get out of his arms. But Bleon held me tighter and spoke in a hazy voice.

“Wife… Don’t move. If we can’t do it now… Wait… just a little while.”

When he told me not to move, I stiffened with tension. And to minimize movement, I held my breath and breathed out little by little. But for how long Bleon’s ‘a while’ moment was, he showed no sign of calming down at all.

‘How long do I have to be like this?’

“Not yet…?”

I carefully opened my mouth and asked him.

“Not… Not yet…”

He, too, let out a long sigh, feeling frustrated that his body wasn’t listening to his mind.

‘How long is that still…?!’

I was now at my limit. It was because my stiff body had been strained for too long and began to complain of pain little by little. Perhaps if I stayed like this for a little longer, I would definitely have muscle pain all over my body tomorrow.

“I’m having a hard time…”

In the end, I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I said it to Bleon.

“Is it difficult, Wife?!”

Then as soon as I said I was having a hard time as well, Bleon fell from me like a ghost. Then he came back in front of me and made eye contact with me.

“Sorry… I was only thinking of myself…”

“No. But…”

I shifted my eyes at first glance and was startled when I looked between his legs. So I hastily looked up with my gaze fixed upwards, thinking that I should never look at him.

I didn’t know when Bleon was holding me from behind, but the corners of his eyes were dyed red. It seemed that he was having a hard time putting up with his own desires.

‘What do we do.’

But no matter how earnestly he looked and how much he pleaded with me, I couldn’t give him what he wanted.

“Well, Bleon…”

I called him carefully again. There was only one way to end the current situation.

“I have something to say to Jace, so I think I should go out. I’ll be back soon.”

And I left the bedroom in a hurry before Bleon caught me.

‘Phew…’

It was a lie to say that I had something to say to the butler. There was no need for me to go there if I had business, I could just call him. Bleon would have known that. It was only an excuse to leave the room, so he probably won’t go after me either…

‘Maybe I should go around the garden for a moment to think?’

I gave Bleon some alone time, and thought I should organize my thoughts too, so I headed to the garden. It was summer, so it was hot, but it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t walk around. And as the sun had just set, the suffocating heat of the day gradually cooled.

‘Will it be a month soon?’

Two weeks have already passed since I woke up here. For the first week, I slept like a dead mouse, so in reality, only about ten days had passed. So many things happened in those ten days that it felt like several months had passed.

‘Once the treatment is over, what should I do?’

Bleon and Philia. Philia and Bleon.

In order to get the two of them together as quickly as possible, starting treatment yielded the opposite results. Whenever Bleon showed me sexual intentions, I put everything off until after treatment.

Of course I thought it would be like that. I thought that once the treatment is over, I will be nothing to him anymore. Because I had no doubt that the two main characters of the novel would fall in love through treatment.

But it was completely stupid. I realized now that it was a huge mistake to think that it was going according to the original story, and even though I was touching the basics, things related to it would go the same as the original story.

‘But I can’t just do nothing and wait for the day I die.’

But I had no choice but to do so. I couldn’t help it even if someone pointed a finger at me saying it was just self-preservation. I know that I will surely die, but how many people will go down that road willingly?

I just did my best to make a choice different from the fate that was given to me. However, while I was living here as Astell, I kept feeling one thing that was uniquely different from the contents of the novels I knew.

It was Bleon’s heart towards Astell.

No matter how much I thought about it over and over again, Bleon’s feelings for Astell were sincere. Even if I tried to deny it based on the contents of the novel, saying that it was not—that it was because he was tamed—it was rather inconsistent to deny his expressions and feelings. This thought had me at a loss since the first time I met him, so now I’m almost certain of it.

‘But is it really possible to love someone who abused you?’

How? Why?

I tried to deny Bleon’s feelings somehow, because my head was constantly saying that it shouldn’t be possible. However, his emotions were so transparent and clear that I had no choice but to admit it.

‘Then what do I remember wrong?’

I went back to the beginning and thought about it. And I noticed one great fact.

This novel was titled 〈 Can the Male Lead in a Tragic Novel Be Saved by the Female Lead? 〉 That’s why all the stories revolved around what Philia had heard from someone but not what she had seen in person.

So I knew and remembered the things in the novels entirely from her point of view. That’s why Philia and the readers didn’t even see firsthand how Astell abused Bleon. She only knew through Astell’s confession and Philia’s teacher’s words.

According to the confession and the words of those around her, Astell’s abuse was more severe than they could have imagined. Even looking at the description in the novel made me frown, so I decided that it was impossible for Bleon to have any affection for Astell.

However, I had Astell’s memory now, so I had more accurate information. As I carefully considered Astell’s memories from the past, it was right that she occasionally threw hurtful words at Bleon. I couldn’t say there was no abuse at all.

But the strange thing was that I had no memory of such severe abuse like the words in the novel.

I think I can decide what to do in the future, although I now need to accurately grasp the contents of the novel that I only thought of when I needed it rarely. This matter was so important that I tried to recall the details of the novel as much as I could.

The story began with Philia returning to her village after the long war.