The Return of the Shadow Villain: My Role Is My Wife's Furnace

"Why don't you accept Doctor DuPont's invitation to dinner? I'm sure having a relationship with someone from a family background like him is tempting."

Ernest asked Olivia.

Ignoring Ernest's question, Olivia walked to the chair behind her desk. She sat down, crossing her long legs, and stared at him with a face that was half-annoyed and half-nervous. You could tell by the arch of her brows and the way her fingers tapped on the desk.

But that didn't last long.

A few seconds after Olivia sat down facing him, there was no sign of nervousness or embarrassment from her, even the annoying stutter that always came out of her mouth was now gone. 

'It looks like she wants to discuss something serious.'

And sure enough.

"Do you know why you were in a vegetative state for two years?"

Ernest was a little confused when given a question that he himself wanted to get the answer to. 

Although not sure, he had a hypothesis that the vegetative state he was in was due to the pain curse. 

Unfortunately, he still didn't know the exact answer to his curiosity. 

Since he had no intention of telling Olivia about the pain curse, he could only give another answer, which was because he was hit by a truck.

"Isn't it obvious because two years ago I was hit by a truck?!"

"Unfortunately that's not the cause. There wasn't any fatal damage after you were hit by the truck. There was some damage, but not to the extent of causing you to go into a vegetative state, naturally."

"Hm. Well then, isn't this your job to find out?"

Ernest spoke so bluntly that there was blank eye contact between the two of them for a few seconds. 

Despite his attempts at provocation, Olivia still seemed patient.

"I admit this is a little confusing."

"Did the results of last week's examination yield no results?"

"Yes. Surprisingly we didn't notice any problems with your body. Even when you were in a vegetative state for these two years, we were never able to actually diagnose your illness. As for the clinically dead... There are no clues at all."

Olivia finished her sentence with a head shake as if she didn't know anything.

Ernest just nodded in understanding. At first, he was a little nervous because she had used some kind of device to detect Mana disorders in a person's body, but it seemed that they didn't find anything. 

Seeing Olivia's confused face, Ernest thought of teasing her a little.

"Maybe you just lack knowledge? Or maybe you're not trying hard enough?"

In response to Ernest's provocation, Olivia showed even more signs of anger.

"Don't get me wrong, we've given you various medicines, but there's no change in your body."

"If that's the case, then I'm really amazed that you guys dare to spend a lot of resources just to research my body."

Ernest wondered again if he really did not have to pay any hospital fees. 

Perhaps there were no other cases similar to Ernest's, but there were many patients suffering from common illnesses similar to Mana Poisoning. If they were included in the list of patients who met the criteria to be exempted from any hospital fees, then how much would this hospital spend?

Who in the world would dare to provide such great help to others without asking for anything in return? Ernest does not believe such people exist in this world. However, regardless of the intentions of the owner of this hospital, he still felt very grateful.

Ernest became curious about the person behind this Circle of Hope hospital. 

"Thank you."

Ernest tried to thank her sincerely, but instead of the cheerful response he got, it was an angry response to the provocative reply he had made earlier. 

"Please don't thank me while smiling. I'll be honest, but you look ugly when you try to force yourself to smile."

"I just wanted to thank you. At the very least, you've kept my body physically safe for two years. Can you appreciate my gratitude enough without adding insulting words?!"

"If you want to thank me, you can say it to the owner of this hospital. Or to the person who brought you to this hospital."

"You said you don't know who the owner of this hospital is?! Meanwhile, you won't reveal the name of the person who brought me to this hospital."

"Yes. That's right."

"..."

"..."

Ernest brought his hands together to support his chin. He looked into Olivia's eyes with a mysterious smile. 

Meanwhile, Olivia was just silently trying to stare back at Ernest.

They both stared at each other for a while, but Olivia let out a sigh of surrender in the end. 

"Fuu~ this is my first time dealing with a patient like you!"

"It's a pleasant experience, isn't it?!"

Twitch~ Twitch!

"Y-Yes, a rare experience indeed." 

Olivia's pink and seductive lips twitched as she held back irritation. 

"...I don't want to tell the name of the person who brought you here because it's that person's decision to keep it a secret. Meanwhile, the owner of this hospital is a mysterious figure, we don't know his identity as well. All we know is that he was someone we call Mr. Red Rose."

"Why?"

"Because of the rumors. If you are satisfied, please come out!"

After saying that, Olivia approached Ernest, forced him to stand up, then pushed his back to get him out of the room. 

Not only did she tell him to leave her consultation room, but she additionally told him to leave the hospital right away.

***

Ernest closed the door behind him after exiting Olivia's consulting room.

Ernest's face did not look confused like someone who had just been forcibly evicted. He clearly showed a resolution in his eyes. His back also felt light as if a burden had been slightly lifted. The reason was that he had just received valuable information about Olivia.

[Name: Olivia Thompson.

- General Status:

HP: 100%

MP: 100%

- Cultivation Status:

Venomous Orchid (Spiritual Connection)

- Skill Status:

Poisonous Kiss (A)

Martial Art (B)

Medical Knowledge (D)

- Condition Status:

Anxiety Disorder].

That was Olivia's status window.

Since he knew that Olivia was an Awakened, he felt the need to get some information. That's why he didn't immediately leave when he was kicked out earlier. Although he was pushed out by her, he refused and stayed in the room. 

However, he was forced to try hard to improve her mood first. Luckily, his effort to apologize while doing kowtow worked. Instead, Olivia went back into stuttering mode as if she felt completely at fault. 

Ernest managed to coax Olivia into revealing that, although Ernest had been given some medicines, they were actually just general medicines. There was no way a charity hospital could provide rare and precious magical herbs, which were difficult to find.

Then, when Ernest reasoned that he was suffering from intense pain all the time due to the side effects of the vegetative state, and was worried that he might fall into a vegetative state again, he asked about a medicine that might help him. 

"There is a rare magic item that is said to be able to treat all sorts of diseases related to Mana. That magic item is called Elixir."

Finally, he managed to lure Olivia into saying something about the Elixir.

Olivia did not say where she knew about it, but just knowing about the elixir alone proved that Olivia was not an ordinary awakened.

"If you get information about the elixir, I hope you can tell me."

In his previous life, Ernest had indeed obtained the elixir, but he obtained it after the world experienced another catastrophe. For now, he didn't know the whereabouts of the elixir. There was no way he could wait until another catastrophe happened to get the Elixir. So he hoped Olivia would tell him if she got any information about the whereabouts of the Elixir.

'For now, I can only rely on the cultivation of Divine Harmony, to suppress the effects of the pain curse.'

With his mind made up, Ernest walked out of Olivia's consultation room.