The Sickly Villainess: No, I Wasn’t Poisoned! I'm Just Frail! - Chapter 4

When I opened my eyes, a familiar white ceiling came into view.
I quickly realized where I was—my room in the Marquess of Seldis’s estate.

“Oh, I see you’re awake.”

“You are… Dr. Marius.”

Sitting in the chair beside my bed was a familiar figure.
The man in the white coat and glasses was Dr. Marius Colrant, a brilliant physician who, despite coming from a ducal family, had pursued medicine abroad and earned his license at the age of eighteen. As my personal doctor, he had cared for me since I was ten. There was no one I trusted more.

“Dr. Marius, what happened to me?”

“Don’t worry about getting up. I’ll call a maid right away. Just rest for now.”

As I tried to sit up, Dr. Marius gently stopped me.

We were the only ones in the room, an unusual situation given that I was an unmarried woman. However, his presence was permitted due to the trust he had earned as my physician.
Following his advice, I stayed lying down, then voiced the question weighing on my mind.

“Doctor, please tell me—what happened after that?”

“That’s not something you need to worry about right now. Focus on your recovery. The best thing you can do is rest.”

“Please, I need to know.”

I pressed him, unwilling to let the matter drop.

I’d always had a frail constitution, with episodes of coughing up blood happening frequently. Recently, thanks to Dr. Marius’s treatment, my symptoms had eased, and I hadn’t experienced such an episode in public for quite some time. But it seemed the stress of my broken engagement had been too much for my body to bear.

Collapsing and bleeding in front of so many people—there was a high chance that rumors had already started circulating.
In the world of nobility, people are rarely sympathetic. Some might even spread gossip, suggesting I couldn’t manage my health or, worse, speculating that I suffered from a contagious disease.

“Don’t worry. No negative rumors have spread. In fact, you’ve gained sympathy as the innocent victim.”

Dr. Marius’s calm, reassuring tone eased me somewhat.

But… I couldn’t easily believe it. I knew all too well how harsh noble society could be.

“That’s hard to believe… I was a complete spectacle, collapsing and bleeding in front of everyone.”

“Most people think you were nearly poisoned. And the prime suspect? None other than Lord Crain Percy.”

“What…?”

I blinked in surprise at Dr. Marius’s statement.

I looked at him, wondering if I had misheard, but his amused eyes gazed back at me through his glasses.

“Don’t you remember? When you collapsed, you whispered the word ‘poison’ toward Lord Percy. The students nearby heard it and assumed he’d poisoned you, causing quite a scandal.”