Chapter 127: I Need To Be Proactive

Elias walked back into the manor, where Sara and Lena were waiting with Monica’s meal and the antidote pill. He took both from them before ascending the staircase and making his way toward Monica’s room.

After unlocking the door, he found her asleep as usual.

He quietly walked over to the chair that had already been placed beside her bed and sat down.

Then, with the same patience he had developed over the past several days, he began feeding Monica slowly and carefully, giving her enough time to swallow each mouthful before proceeding with the next.

However, near the end of the meal, Monica’s body suddenly trembled.

Her body began shaking violently, and dark, shadowy smoke slowly seeped from her skin.

He immediately recognized the familiar sight, and without wasting another second, he retrieved the antidote pill from his Inventory and carefully placed it inside her mouth.

The moment the pill entered her body, the dark smoke twisted violently before retreating beneath her skin. Monica’s trembling gradually weakened, and within moments, her body became still once again.

He stared at her silently.

’What kind of poison is this?’

He knew it was called Shadow Ghost Poison because that was what the system named it, but what did that actually mean?

Most poisons Elias had heard about simply weakened the body, damaged organs, or slowly killed their victims. Monica’s poison, however, felt different.

It felt alive.

It did not attack her constantly, either. Instead, it seemed to wait until she became vulnerable or began recovering before suddenly striking.

It attacked when Elias fed her, as though it did not want her to regain energy, and it had also attacked while she was examining Stella’s Auracle, striking at the exact moment her concentration had reached its peak.

The poison continuously drained Monica’s mana, although it could never empty her reserves because her S-rank Mana Aptitude gave her enormous reserves of mana and absorption speed to begin with.

At the same time, it kept her isolated from others and slowly wore down her mental state. It continuously ravaged her body from within, gradually dulling her reactions and making her seem impassive toward almost everything around her.

Yet despite all of that, Elias could not shake the feeling that the poison was not actually trying to kill her.

If that were its purpose, it would have already done so.

’Then what is it trying to accomplish?’

Elias sighed deeply as helplessness settled over him.

"I have to learn what it is first..." he mumbled.

But how was he supposed to do that?

He had no knowledge of the poison beyond its name, and even Monica and the elders of the Mage Tower, despite possessing extraordinary magical understanding, had yet to discover its true nature.

At that very moment, he remembered something.

The final block in his wives’ status screens.

[Unknown — Requires Affection Rate: 40]

It was something that did not exist on his own status screen, and that alone made it suspicious.

Perhaps it contained knowledge about their current conditions.

Or perhaps...

It contained the cures.

Elias did not know for certain, but one thing had become increasingly clear.

He had to become proactive.

Until now, he simply let things happen on their own and had deliberately avoided using the system aggressively because the thought alone made him feel as though he were treating his wives as nothing more than tools for obtaining rewards.

That thought always left a bad taste in his mouth.

Yet if the system truly held the means to cure them, then perhaps he had to make the choice.

If it could allow Monica to move once again, if it could allow Stella to truly live again, and if it could allow Natasha to hear and speak once more...

He would use it.

Reluctantly, perhaps, but he would.

His eyes sharpened with determination as he reached forward and lifted Monica into his arms.

She was light, barely having any weight.

He began carrying her toward the bathroom.

Even after making that decision, however, he still had no idea how he was supposed to increase their affection.

He could not simply force them to like or trust him more; that was something beyond his control.

What if it made things worse instead?

An amused yet bitter smile appeared on his face as he entered the bathroom.

As usual, Elias removed Monica’s top and shorts before helping her sit down, then began washing her body with a wet cloth while his other hand kept her steady by her waist.

His movements were careful and familiar, but as his hands moved across her body, Monica’s eyelids suddenly trembled. Then they slowly opened.

She looked at Elias for a moment, and a strange happiness immediately appeared within her at finding him beside her the moment she woke.

She leaned slightly closer and blew softly into his ear.

"I am awake~" she whispered.

Elias’s hands stopped.

He turned his head toward her smiling face, and a smile soon appeared on his own.

"That is great," he said.

"What is?" Monica asked thoughtfully before her eyes suddenly widened with realization.

"Ah! Are you happy that you can finally see my expression while your hands roam my body like I am some doll you can play with?"

She clearly expected him to deny it immediately like usual. Instead, Elias chuckled.

"Well, you do look like a doll."

"Of course I do. My skin has turned pale white because of this stupid poison," Monica snorted.

He shook his head and mumbled in an amused tone, "That is not it."

She furrowed her brows and pressed while frowning, "Then?"

His smile widened, and he added, "It is because you match the size of one."

Her eyes widened, and for a moment, she simply stared at him before her face began turning red in fury.

"Y-You are calling me short, are you not?"

The shameless husband nodded whimsically.

"I am."

Her lips trembled at the utter shamelessness of this young nobleman, and she spewed, "Y-You bast—"

Before she could finish, however, Elias placed a finger against her lips. His fingertip slowly moved along the edge of them as he leaned closer and whispered into her ear.

"That is not how you talk to your husband, Lady Monica..."

The fury on Monica’s face quickly gave way to something else.

Her cheeks became even redder, and she swallowed nervously.

"S-Shut up," she stammered nervously, her heart beating loudly inside her chest.

Elias brought his face closer until their noses touched, and then he locked his crimson eyes directly with her blue ones.

"Make me," he mumbled softly.