I Stole The Duke - Chapter 118

“No… please, Michal!”

Tears streamed endlessly down Eliana’s pale cheeks. It had only been a few hours since he started using magic—maybe casting a top-tier spell had been too much, too soon.

I should’ve stopped him. I should’ve found a safer way…

They should’ve taken their time. Practiced more. Not rushed into it like this.

“……”

Ladis stared blankly at his fallen lord, then turned to Eliana, now drenched in tears. His body began to tremble.

“Sir Joel! Pull yourself together—check that bastard now!”

Under the revised military code, either the Blue Knight Commander or the Chief Aide had to take command in emergencies. Ladis forced his emotions down and barked the order—his usual formality gone in the panic.

“He’s breathing!”

Snapping back to reality at Ladis’s yell, Joel hurried over to check Olive’s body.

“Get the mana restraints on him. Now!”

“Yes, sir!”

If the Tower Master regained consciousness, they’d have a real catastrophe on their hands.

“My lady, please release His Grace’s body.”

“Hh-hngh…”

Now wasn’t the time to weep. Eliana, struggling to stay composed, gently laid Michalis’s body down.

“When I give you the signal, breathe into his mouth—twice.”

“Understood.”

Ladis laid Michalis flat and locked his fingers together before pressing hard and fast into his chest—just under the sternum.

One, two, three… Thirty.

“Now.”

In moments like this, rank and decorum meant nothing. This was originally a drowning rescue technique, but right now, anything was worth trying.

You can’t leave like this. Come back. If this is how it ends… I’ll never forgive you!

Michalis couldn’t die now. Not after dragging Ladis out of his promising career as a knight and turning him into a glorified clerk. He owed it to him to survive.

“Now! Again! Again!”

Ladis’s face was drenched in sweat. The longer the CPR went on, the deeper despair ate at him.

“Hh-hff…”

Eliana clenched her teeth, wiping tears from her eyes with her sleeve.

“I’ll take over from here.”

Joel, watching Ladis slowly fall apart, finally stepped in.

“Don’t interfere!”

Snapping, Ladis shouted furiously and kept pumping Michalis’s chest.

“Sir Concerto! Pull yourself together! You need to focus on what’s best right now!”

The best option…

Eliana’s mind cleared like a struck bell.

Think, Eliana. What can I do? What’s the most important thing right now…?

Olive was breathing. That meant the magic had at least partially succeeded.

What if Michalis’s soul made it into the body, but hasn’t fully anchored yet? What if he just… needs a push?

She knew what she had to do.

Unorthodox, perhaps. But she had just the thing for this moment.

“Step aside—both of you!”

Eliana quickly reached into her riding coat and pulled out her bundle of cards. Thankfully, the nearby magic lamp gave enough light to distinguish them.

“No! We can’t stop now—His Grace needs us!”

Ladis, half-crazed with panic, wouldn’t listen.

“Sir Joel—move him. Now!”

Eliana’s voice rang out, firm despite her shaking hands. She’d found the card.

“Yes, my lady!”

Episode 118: The Vineyard of Fear (Part 4)

“Are you insane?! Let go of me!”

Exhausted from performing CPR, Ladis was dragged off by Joel and sent tumbling back.

It’s okay… it’s going to be okay…

As soon as Ladis was out of the way, Eliana immediately placed a card face-down over Michalis’s chest.

“Lightning.”

Crack!

A pink spark shot out at her shout.

Please… please. If you don’t want to die, wake up, Michal.

“Lightning!”

Eliana’s eyes flared as she shouted again. She didn’t know how many joules it was—whatever that meant—but she was certain it wasn’t enough voltage to kill someone. Not even close.

“My lady! What in the world are you doing?!”

Ladis screamed, smelling the faint scent of burning cloth.

“Ladis. Shut up. Lightning!”

Crack!

A third jolt surged forth—and the tiny mana stone attached to the card shattered.

If she needed more charges, she could just take a mana stone from another card and slap it on. No big deal.

“Ah…”

Eliana reached for the card to swap out the stone—but froze.

She didn’t need to.

Ba-dump… Ba-dump…

She could feel it—his heartbeat.

“He’s alive…”

As soon as she whispered the words, her knees gave out and she collapsed.

“My lady!”

“Your Grace!”

Both men rushed to their respective priorities.

“Ladis, can you help me move him to the bedroom?”

Eliana, still weak in the legs, leaned on Joel to slowly stand.

“Of course, my lady…”

Ladis placed his hand against Michalis’s chest to double-check—and finally, finally came back to his senses.

“I’ll wait just outside the door. If you need anything, just call.”

“I’ll watch the Tower Master. When His Grace wakes, please pass the word through Sir Terius.”

“Thank you. Both of you.”

By the time Michalis was laid gently in the cottage’s bedroom, dawn was breaking. Nearly 5 a.m.

“Please rest, my lady.”

“Thank you…”

Once the men left, Eliana pulled a chair beside the bed and placed her hand over Michalis’s chest.

He just needs to wake up now.

His heartbeat was steady. Strong. At last, the last sliver of tension inside her melted away.

⋯⋯

The bright light stung his eyes as he awoke with a start.

Sleeping in? Impossible.

Hm?

As Michalis tried to rise, he felt a gentle pressure against his chest. He looked down.

“Eliana?”

She was fast asleep, her head resting gently over his chest, seated in a chair beside the bed. Carefully, he raised a hand and brushed her hair aside.

A large, tanned hand caught his eye in the morning light—his own hand. He had his body back.

With his other hand, he clenched his fist and stretched it open. No dizziness. No numbness in the limbs.

I suppose no adaptation is necessary when it’s my original body.

“Mmm… Michal! You’re awake? Are you okay?”

Eliana blinked up at him, just waking from her nap.

“I’m perfectly fine.”

To be fair, he still felt some soreness from the thrashing he’d given himself—but there was no need to mention that.

“Could you… step back just a moment so I can sit up?”

“Ah—!”

Eliana instantly pulled away, flustered now that she realized where she had been resting.

“They’ve started the harvest.”

Trying to break the awkwardness, she walked over to the window and stretched. Outside, farmhands were gathering grapes along neatly lined vines.

“Don’t look out the window—look at me.”

Suddenly, Michalis had stepped in front of the curtains, blocking her view.

“From now on, look only at me. And smile only for me.”

Michalis realized something undeniable through this ordeal — his small, beautiful wife wasn’t just dazzling in his eyes. She was breathtaking in everyone’s.

“You’re not seriously saying I should stop attending social events… are you?”

Eliana blinked, stunned by his sudden words.

“If possible, yes.”

“Mmph?!”

Before she could protest, Michalis captured her lips in a fierce kiss. It had only been a month, but their bodies remembered one another all too well.

“⋯⋯.”

He wrapped one arm firmly around her waist, pulling her close as their tongues tangled. The kiss, long overdue, tasted sweeter than any grape in the vineyard.

Thud.

Her riding jacket fell to the floor in haste, and a few buttons of her blouse were undone as his hand slipped beneath. His palm gently cupped her chest.

Hm?

Michalis raised a brow. The once-petite swell that used to barely fill his hand had grown noticeably — a quiet testament to how much healthier her body had become over the past month.

“If you keep getting prettier like this… it’s unfair.”

He whispered into her ear, finally breaking the kiss that had lasted an eternity.

“⋯⋯.”

Eliana, flustered, lowered her gaze with a shy nod.

“⋯⋯.”

He couldn’t wait any longer. Without hesitation, Michalis swept her up into his arms and turned toward the bed.

“Michal—wait! Joel is still standing right outside the door!”

Just as they neared the bed, Eliana suddenly remembered. Joel was guarding the door.

“Ahem!”

Michalis cleared his throat loudly, as if to ensure Joel heard.

Hm?

His Grace must be awake! Joel perked up immediately at the sound from inside.

“Ahem.”

This time, Michalis kicked the bedframe with just enough force to make it rattle. The worn-out frame groaned under the impact:

Creeaak… creeeak… creeeak!

That’s it. I can’t be here for this.

Joel’s face turned scarlet, and he quickly stomped off, his boots intentionally clattering against the floor to signal his retreat.

“Delay breakfast. Everyone outside—now!”

Given the strength of His Grace and the state of that old bed, it was bound to echo all the way to the first floor.

“Oh my stars!”

“No cleaning needed—just out!”

Joel didn’t stop at excusing himself. He stormed downstairs and practically herded the maids and kitchen staff out of the cottage.

“What?! But the fire in the oven was just lit—what do we do?!”

One flustered middle-aged cook protested, only to have Joel splash water into the hearth with a dramatic hiss:

Ssssssh—!

“There. That should do it.”

“He’s… really something else, huh.”

The startled staff, driven out like sheep, huddled outside in confusion.

“No one goes within ten meters of this place until His Grace emerges!”

“Is this really happening right now?!”

Even Joel’s voice boomed from the courtyard up to the second floor.

“Now, are we clear?”

Michalis smirked, satisfied.

“Y-yes…”

Eliana was honestly impressed by how efficiently he had ‘deployed his men.’

“Then, let’s continue where we left off.”

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