Dirty Heart - Chapter 42

After Courtney collapsed, the image of Lionel completely losing his reason and even killing someone remained vividly etched in his mind.

“Courtney… don’t die, please.”

A face drained of all color. Trembling hands. A desperate voice calling out Courtney’s name as if he had lost his mind.

Alex had stood by his side his entire life, but he swore it was the first time he had ever seen Lionel rampage in such a state of complete loss of reason.

‘Does he really not have even the slightest bit of feeling for Miss Courtney?’

In that moment when Courtney collapsed, Lionel had worn an expression as if the world itself had fallen apart.

Of course, it made sense for him to be shaken since something had gone wrong with the heart meant to be transplanted into him, but… how should he put it? What Alex read in Lionel’s expression was a far more raw kind of fear. The kind of fear that comes from thinking you might lose someone you love forever.

“Alex Lanchester.”

“…?”

At the cold voice that followed, both Alex and Liam turned their heads. Two knights escorting the Duke of Erhardt were approaching them with stiff expressions.

“You are under the Duke’s orders to be confined to the underground prison for disobeying commands.”

Liam was so shocked he held his breath, while Alex rose calmly as if he had expected this.

He had stood against the Duke in front of the infirmary, so this outcome was only natural in a way.

Following Lionel’s order not to let anyone into the infirmary was one reason, but it was also because he could not step back under the weight of guilt for failing to protect Courtney. So it was only right that he paid the price.

Clink.

Cold chains wrapped around the hands he silently held out. With a faint, lonely smile, Alex spoke to Liam.

“Liam.”

“Y-Yes…?”

“When Miss Courtney wakes up, make sure you let me know. I’m asking you.”

With those words, Alex’s broad back slowly grew distant. Everything had happened so suddenly that Liam still stood there in a daze.

“Sister. Please wake up quickly….”

At that moment, the only thing the boy could do was desperately hope that Courtney would wake up as soon as possible.

***

With a loud noise, the office door swung open, and the Duke strode inside. His face was filled with indescribable fury.

“How much effort have I put in all this time just to save you…!”

The Duke swept the pile of documents stacked on the desk onto the floor and panted heavily.

Reports he had gathered over decades solely for his son’s survival scattered through the air like a blizzard, and the black ink spilled over them spread like blood.

“Damn it!”

With a curse, the Duke slammed the desk. The heavy oak desk shook as if it might break at any moment, but his anger showed no sign of subsiding.

“That idiot. To risk his life over a mere maid!”

Breathing roughly, the Duke paced back and forth across the office when something came under his foot.

『Case Report on a Pig Heart Transplant』.

It was one of the many reports he had carelessly swept aside, but for some reason, the Duke stared at it intently. Soon, a low sigh escaped his lips.

“I should have brought this up sooner….”

Picking up the crumpled report, he gave a bitter smile.

“I’ve been too complacent. Far too complacent.”

Hearing that Courtney Balkan’s life was in danger, he realized losing his reason had been a grave mistake. If he had thought a little more rationally, things would not have reached this point.

But what was done could not be undone. It seemed his son had already completely lost his heart to the maid. The journey he had joined simply to gain Courtney’s trust had instead drawn the two of them even closer, and that was a perfect mistake on the Duke’s part.

“What in the world did that lowly wench do to bewitch Lionel…. Tsk. He really takes after his useless mother in that regard.”

At this point, Lionel would clearly try to protect the maid even more thoroughly. Even if he told him now that a pig heart transplant was possible, it was obvious Lionel would take it as a lie.

“….”

After being lost in thought for a long time, the Duke’s eyes suddenly sharpened.

“…No, no. It’s not too late yet. Right.”

If Lionel would not believe it, then he could simply make that doubt into truth. Instead of the words written in some report, all he needed to do was present living, breathing proof.

A moment later, the chief specialist who would be in charge of Lionel’s heart transplant surgery entered the office. It was the very doctor who had previously presented the pig heart transplant report.

“You called for me, Your Grace?”

“I have something to ask.”

The Duke set the report down on the desk with a sharp thud and asked in a sinister voice.

“That pig heart transplant surgery. Theoretically, is there any chance a human could survive?”

After hesitating for a moment, the doctor answered cautiously, “…Medically, it is impossible, Your Grace. To begin with, the immune systems of pigs and humans are different, so there is no way to prevent rejection.”

“Medically? Then if other methods are used, it means it is possible, does it not?”

At the Duke’s sharp question, the doctor swallowed hard.

“…Yes. If we cooperate with a mage, the situation changes. If magic that suppresses rejection is used continuously, assuming the subject is a healthy adult man, he could last about a week. However, in the end….”

“He would die.”

The Duke cut off the doctor’s words. The doctor nodded.

“That is correct. Just as even the most capable mage cannot grant eternal life.”

“A week….”

The Duke repeated slowly. A cold smile spread across his lips.

“Good. A week is enough.”

The doctor felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the Duke’s expression.

“There seems to be a suitable test subject at the right time. That’s good.”

***

“Ugh.”

A faint groan slipped from Courtney’s lips. It had seemed like she was stabilizing recently, but for the past few days she had been suffering from a severe fever.

Thanks to the medical staff’s swift measures, she had overcome the worst of it, but after hearing that she must not be left unattended even for a moment, Lionel had been staying up through the night to care for her.

Noticing that she was uncomfortable, Lionel hurriedly picked up a towel from the basin. To bring down her fever, he had to keep cooling her body with cold water.

Squeeze.

His way of wringing out the towel was clumsy at best. Having lived his entire life under the care of servants, his nursing skills were not just poor, they were terrible.

He had been advised by the medical staff to bring in a professional caretaker since it was unclear when Courtney would regain consciousness, but Lionel refused.

He was afraid that if he left even for a moment, something might happen to her. The experience of losing his mother so meaninglessly made him all the more anxious.

The towel was still dripping water, but Lionel paid no mind and placed it straight onto Courtney’s forehead.

Because of that, not only her face but her hair and the nape of her neck were soaked through, and another low groan slipped from her lips.

“Ah, fuck….”

Anyone could tell she was spitting out a full-on curse, but Lionel only gave a faint smile at the sight.

“Courtney. Are you that comfortable because I’m taking care of you?”

“Um… pardon me, but the patient appears to be extremely uncomfortable.”

At that moment, Lionel’s attending physician, who had entered the infirmary, clicked his tongue.

“My goodness!”

Approaching the bedside, he couldn’t hide his shock. Her face drenched in water, the pillowcase, and even the bed sheets soaked through. It was impossible to tell whether he was trying to nurse her or assassinate her.