The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations

Belinda swiftly pushed Rosalyn’s shoulders and pinned her down hard onto the bed.

“What are you doing?!”

Rosalyn screamed, struggling to free herself. Wendy then grabbed her legs and held them down firmly.

“Let go! I said, let go!”

Rosalyn flailed on the bed, but she couldn’t break free from the strength of the two.

“Butler! What are you doing?! Call the soldiers! Have them arrest these bastards! What are all of you doing?!”

Rosalyn screamed, her voice echoing throughout the mansion.

The butler, looking troubled, averted his gaze.

He thought this forced treatment was excessive, but since it was an order from the Marquis of Branford, he couldn’t refuse it.

‘If this fails, there will be bloodshed.’

If the treatment failed, it wouldn’t just be Ghislain and his companions who would face consequences.

The soldiers and servants who ignored the order wouldn’t be safe either.

The butler regretted recommending Ghislain to the Marquis. He had never imagined things would become such a mess.

As her struggling and shouting proved futile, Rosalyn soon lost her strength.

While she ground her teeth and panted heavily, Ghislain leisurely entered the room.

“This isn’t like capturing a wild beast… It would’ve been easier if you’d just agreed to the treatment.”

Rosalyn glared at Ghislain with eyes full of murderous intent and shouted.

“You! Do you think you’ll get away with this? Do you even know who I am?!”

“Well… I’m here to treat you, so of course I know who the patient is.”

“I’ll kill you!”

“If I can’t treat you, I’m dead anyway.”

“You… you crazy bastard…”

Rosalyn was so flabbergasted that she couldn’t even curse properly.

She had never encountered anyone who was so impossible to reason with.

“First, let’s check your condition. Hey, brighten up the room a bit.”

As soon as Ghislain spoke, the servants poured into the room, drawing back the curtains and lighting up the room from all directions.

The brighter the room became, the more her eyes, hidden beneath the mask, began to tremble.

“Wh-what are you trying to do…?”

“I’m going to check your face. Let’s take off the mask, shall we?”

“D-don’t…!”

As Ghislain approached, Rosalyn began to struggle again.

‘The sunlight is coming in! I can’t take off the mask right now!’

But despite her resistance, Ghislain spoke firmly, unmoved.

“Even if you’re embarrassed, there’s no other choice. To treat you, the mask has to come off.”

“I don’t need it!”

“Yes, yes, that’s right. You don’t need things like masks. I’ll make sure you’ll never have to wear something so hideous again. You must trust me completely. Blessings come to those who believe.”

Ghislain, while spouting nonsense, removed the mask, then frowned as he saw the exposed face.

Rosalyn’s face was red, as if scalded, with the skin peeling off.

He had heard that her condition had worsened during treatment, but he hadn’t expected it to be this severe.

Others around him were also startled, covering their mouths in shock.

“Aaah!”

Rosalyn screamed and thrashed as sunlight streamed in through the window.

In that brief moment, her skin condition had deteriorated even further than before.

Ghislain quickly shielded Rosalyn with his body and shouted at the servants.

“Close the curtains, now!”

Even after the curtains were drawn, Rosalyn took a long time to calm down, her eyes welling with tears.

“D-damn bastard…”

She could only manage a curse. How could someone who claimed to be there to treat her make her condition worse?

Seeing the murderous glare in Rosalyn’s eyes, Ghislain scratched his head and slightly turned his head away.

‘This is worse than I thought, huh?’

Not preventing the servants from opening the curtains was certainly a mistake on his part.

But the records he had seen in his past life hadn’t mentioned the condition being this severe.

Still, the disease itself hadn’t changed, so the treatment he had planned should work.

As long as Rosalyn could endure it.

“Hmm, the checkup is complete. Now, let’s proceed with the actual treatment.”

At Ghislain’s gesture, the waiting servants brought in the medicine.

“From now on, you’ll drink this medicine every morning and evening.”

Rosalyn grimaced.

A terrible stench wafted from the decoction. Whatever herbs had been mixed, the liquid was pitch black.

“You think… I’m going to drink that?”

“You will drink it.”

“…?”

Ghislain held the medicine bowl in one hand, while his other hand pressed on a few spots along her neck muscles.

Rosalyn’s mouth opened against her will.

No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t close it.

Nodding, Ghislain poured the medicine into her mouth.

Gulp, gulp!

Though some of it spilled, the liquid managed to go down her throat.

“Ugh!”

The moment the medicine was swallowed, she began to gag.

The taste was so shocking it left her tongue numb.

How on earth could anyone mix a medicine that tasted like it was dredged up from hell?

She wanted to throw it all up, but whatever spot he had pressed prevented her from doing so.

“You bastard… I drank it, so let me go! We’re done, aren’t we?!”

“Done? No way. This is just medicine to assist with the treatment. The real treatment hasn’t even started yet.”

“You think you’ll get away with treating me like this?”

“As I’ve said, if I can’t cure you, I’m dead anyway. You throwing a fit doesn’t matter.”

Rosalyn ground her teeth, frustrated by the lack of understanding.

“I’ll make sure to kill you.”

“Once the treatment is over, I’m sure you’ll change your mind.”

Realizing that resisting was futile, she just breathed heavily, though her eyes still glistened with a murderous intent, as if she truly meant to kill Ghislain.

Sensing that the situation had calmed, the butler cautiously asked.

“Is it really possible to treat her?”

“Well… I kind of know what the illness is.”

Everyone around was startled by his confident response.

The butler hastily sought further confirmation.

“Do you truly know what this illness is?”

“Yes, I do.”

They all looked puzzled, but for Ghislain, it was a matter of course.

‘I may not know the method, but I do have the answer. I did a lot of research after all.’

The Marquis of Branford was famous, and there was a lot of information about him. Rosalyn’s illness and its treatment were well-documented.

But he couldn’t just say, ‘I saw it all in the future.’

Avoiding the curious gazes, Ghislain was about to start the treatment right away.

The butler, however, wasn’t willing to miss the chance to understand the cause.

“What is the cause? Even famous doctors and priests haven’t been able to pinpoint it.”

Ghislain was inwardly flustered.

‘I don’t know… What is that…?’

In truth, he didn’t really know the cause. It was like knowing the problem and the solution but not understanding the process.

Naturally.

‘I just skimmed through and went straight to the answers.’

The scholars loved to document everything, leaving hundreds of pages on the experiments conducted to find the cause and treatment of the disease.

‘The text was way too long…’

Even with the superhuman memory he had developed, he couldn’t recall what he hadn’t read.

But now wasn’t the time to admit he didn’t know.

Ghislain decided to embellish what he knew and move on.

“Well, it’s because… her balance is off.”

“Balance?”

“That’s right. The young lady’s body is too cold, and that’s causing the problem.”

Rosalyn’s symptoms were due to the blockage of mana flow caused by cold energy.

Therefore, the treatment was simple. All he had to do was melt that energy using mana to clear the blockage.

‘I don’t know why that energy is there, though.’

Before people could start probing too deeply, Ghislain hurried to conclude his explanation.

“So, once that energy is removed…”

At that moment, Rosalyn scoffed, mocking Ghislain.

“I already have plenty of heat in my body, you quack.”

The butler interjected to add a remark.

“That’s true. The young lady’s body is always hot, and she’s sensitive to heat.”

Everyone turned to Ghislain, their eyes now full of doubt.

Sweat began to bead on Ghislain’s forehead.

Right, if her body is cold, why would she have a fever?

“Haha, young lady, you must be confused. You were surprised because your body is cold but feels hot.”

“You’re the one who’s confused.”

Ghislain responded brazenly, without even blinking.

“Because the inside of your body is too cold, the heat escapes outward. The heat accumulating on your skin, combined with the sunlight, makes it unbearable.”

He cobbled together everything he knew, packaging it in a way that sounded plausible.

Everyone nodded, looking as if it made sense.

‘D-did it work?’

Even Rosalyn, who had been silent, seemed to have accepted his explanation.

‘Phew… being a doctor isn’t something just anyone can do.’

Feeling relieved, Ghislain was about to resume the treatment.

Then, Claude, who had been quiet until now, spoke up.

“Then why does she have this condition?”

‘Oh, come on, not this guy…’

I don’t know. I really don’t. How should I know why she has this? Just let me treat her and be done with it!

…was what he wanted to snap back, but too many people were watching.

Smiling gently, Ghislain placed a hand on Claude’s shoulder.

“Our Chief Overseer is quite curious, huh? So, why does this happen, you ask…?”

“Ow! My lord, that hurts! My shoulder is going to pop out! Be gentle!”

“…It’s just something she was born with.”

When he said it was congenital, everyone’s expressions turned skeptical. But they had no rebuttal.

‘If I say it’s something she was born with, what can they do?’

With that single statement, Ghislain silenced everyone.

“There’s no time, so let’s leave the explanations at that. No more questions.”

Reluctantly, everyone stepped back, licking their lips.

‘Finally, now we can begin.’

He had managed to start the treatment, but that wasn’t the end of it.

If he were just leaving it as is, maybe it would be fine, but treating it in its current, worsened state was extremely risky.

On top of that, Rosalyn’s complete lack of trust in him was a problem.

This treatment was going to be excruciatingly painful, even if she was mentally prepared for it.

It would be a pain so severe, one might think death would be preferable. If she couldn’t endure it, she could really die.

‘She managed to get through it in her past life somehow… but I’m not sure about now. Back then, she probably endured it fueled by the constant anger from all the contempt she faced.’

Ironically, the one who discovered this treatment method in her past life was none other than Rosalyn herself.

After her arranged marriage, she lived in hiding, never showing her face in public.

As the daughter of a powerful family, she wasn’t openly mistreated, but there was no way she could have been oblivious to the contemptuous looks directed at her from all sides.

Going through such humiliation inevitably hardened her over time.

With her sharp mind and strong determination, she eventually managed to discover a treatment method.

‘But by then, it was far too late.’

Though she managed to cure the disease, the treatment at the time was only a partial success.

The blockage in her mana flow had left her body irreparably damaged.

Even after she cured the disease, she couldn’t step outside and lingered in illness, eventually passing away a few years later.

So, no matter how painful it might be, she would have to endure it.

‘Please, just hold on. If this fails, it’s not just the young lady who will die.’

Failure was not an option. If he failed, Rosalyn would die, and he would find himself in a very difficult situation as well.