Dirty Heart - Chapter 49

“No matter what happens, Alex Lanchester’s life must be guaranteed until before Lionel’s birthday. Do you understand?”

Late at night. The expressions of the medical staff gathered in the Duke’s office were as dark as if they had been handed a death sentence.

“You must ensure that my son never doubts the safety of the pig heart transplant in the slightest.”

“Um… if I may speak.”

The attending physician, watching the Duke’s mood, spoke in a trembling voice.

“If this information were to leak outside even by chance… not only would there be backlash from the religious authorities, but the imperial family would not remain idle either. All of us could be branded heretics and burned at the stake.”

When they were first ordered to write the 『Case Report on a Pig Heart Transplant』, they had no idea things would escalate this far.

They thought it would simply be a confidential document circulated internally to reassure the Young Duke, but actually conducting human experimentation was beyond anything they had imagined.

“Well, then we simply make sure it doesn’t get discovered.”

Unlike the pale-faced medical staff, the Duke remained completely composed. At that, another member of the staff, trembling in fear, spoke in a strained voice.

“Your Grace. No matter how we think about it, this is far too dangerous. Rumors are already spreading among the servants. If someone happens to leak it, there may be no turning back.”

“Do you think anyone would believe the ramblings of such lowly trash, hm? As long as it doesn’t reach the Council of Elders, we just need to keep our mouths shut among ourselves.”

“But….”

Bang!

The Duke, having heard enough, slammed the desk harshly. The heavy impact echoed throughout the room. It meant he would tolerate no further objections.

“Enough! Instead of worrying, review the surgical data again!”

At the firm dismissal, the medical staff could offer no further protest and withdrew.

In the silence, left alone, the Duke picked up a document lying on the desk. It was a contract Lionel had sent as soon as dawn broke, containing the simple condition that Courtney Balkan must not be harmed.

“As expected of my son. What a meticulous brat.”

A faint smirk crossed the Duke’s face as he read through the contract.

The condition his son demanded was clear. Under no circumstances was Courtney’s safety to be compromised, and a written guarantee must be made that her heart would not be transplanted.

As if there was no need to examine it closely, the Duke picked up a pen and scribbled his signature. Then he took out the family seal from the drawer and pressed it firmly onto the contract. The red wax stamped itself vividly onto the paper.

“Send this to Lionel. Tell him this father guarantees the maid’s life.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

After calling the butler waiting outside and handing over the document, the Duke leisurely looked out the window. In any case, this kind of document could be torn up whenever he pleased.

“Just like his mother. Making things this big.”

Suddenly, a scene from the past flashed through the Duke’s mind.

After a long period of effort, when the heart transplant surgery was finally developed, all the medical staff said the same thing. The suitable donor whose heart could be transplanted into Lionel had to be Marianne, the Duchess herself.

At that, the Duke did not hesitate and rushed straight to Marianne. Embracing her gently for the first time as she was worn out from long abuse, he coaxed her in a sweet voice.

“Marianne. It’s good news. They say if we transplant your heart, we can save Lionel!”

“Save Lionel…? If, if you transplant my heart, then what… what happens to me?”

“To save our son, is there any reason you couldn’t offer up a mere life?”

Marianne trembled all over as she was held in her husband’s arms. Guilt over not being able to give up a single life for her son and the fear of having to end her own life were mixed on her face.

“Honey… I’m sorry to say this to Lionel, but… I, I really don’t want to die. I’m sorry. Please forgive me for being like this….”

“Oh, my. Aren’t you a wonderful mother? Did I misjudge you?”

But her trembling in fear lasted only a moment. After hesitating for a long time, Marianne finally nodded. At that, the Duke smiled in satisfaction. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. At least until Marianne attempted an escape that wasn’t part of the plan.

“What? My wife ran away?”

“M-My apologies, Your Grace. It seems she secretly took a carriage and fled during the night.”

“She couldn’t have gone far. Find her immediately, now!”

Some time later. The Duke realized that Lionel was behind this little stunt and was furious for a moment, but instead decided to use it as an opportunity.

It was a night when a storm was raging, perfect for staging a carriage accident. The Duke gave a secret order to the knights under his command. They were to deliberately cause a carriage accident and bring Marianne back in a half-dead state.

“If he’d received his mother’s heart back then, he wouldn’t even be looking at that mere maid.”

The Duke clicked his tongue. If Marianne hadn’t died so futilely just before the surgery, Lionel would have surely regained his health by now. He wouldn’t have had his heart stolen by some lowly maid either.

“My son. Then and now, you cannot change anything.”

***

Lionel stared endlessly down at Courtney’s innocent sleeping face.

Her soft curly hair, milk-white skin, long delicate eyelashes casting shadows, her small but straight nose, and her dried rose-colored lips.

For some reason, the appearance of the woman he once thought the most unsightly in the world now felt more precious than ever.

Suddenly, he recalled the moment his father first brought Courtney Balkan to him. Every time he was forced to embrace that emaciated woman, he had shuddered, and he thought it was utterly disgusting to show false affection to a woman he didn’t even love.

But at some point, every little expression of hers began to catch his eye. The habit of clenching her hands tightly when she was nervous, the way she blinked when she was flustered, even the expression of biting her lip when she was angry….

Of course, his meager pride had denied it countless times.

And finally, the moment she threw herself forward to protect him. Lionel realized it. The pawn he had thought utterly insignificant had overturned the entire chessboard.

“…Hmm.”

At the sight of her murmuring cutely in her sleep, a smile formed on his lips without him realizing it. Now, he could no longer deny it. He had fallen completely for Courtney, to the point that each fleeting moment felt too precious, that he couldn’t sleep through the night.

Carefully reaching out, he cupped Courtney’s cheeks. The warmth of her skin against his fingertips spread into his own heart.

“I should have lived like this from the start.”

His low murmur was full of regret. If only he had been a little healthier, would things have been a bit different. Or not? If he had been healthy from the start, perhaps there would have been no reason to meet Courtney at all.

He soon gave a lonely smile. It was ironic that the illness that had eaten away at him his entire life had ultimately led him to meet the person most precious to him, but even so, he didn’t think it was a bad outcome.

Knock, knock.

At that moment, with a soft knock, a single envelope was pushed through the gap in the door.

He got up from the bed and quietly picked it up. It was late, but he had asked for any documents from his father to be delivered immediately, so the butler had brought it at once.

At the bottom of the contract guaranteeing Courtney Balkan’s safety were his father’s signature and the ducal seal.

He stared silently at the document, then brought it close to a candle flame as if to burn it. As warmth spread, the existing contents disappeared completely, and new letters slowly appeared in their place. It had been written in double with special ink from the start.

After examining the document carefully, Lionel nodded. With this, all preparations were complete.

“Courtney. Don’t worry. No one will be able to harm you now.”

Lionel returned to Courtney and whispered gently by her ear.

“I love you.”

Although the future ahead should have been frightening, Lionel’s expression was strangely calm. It was a kind of relief, as if he had finally set down a burden he had carried for a long time.