DLA Chapter 33

Chapter 33 

As soon as I heard those words, I pulled my hand away from the necklace in a panic.

What the heck—why would he tell me that now?

If people found out that I was given a necklace meant only for the future Duchess, they’d definitely start spreading rumors about the two of us.

“Ah, no! I mean, I wouldn’t really have a reason to wear such a fancy necklace anyway…”

I backed away quickly, awkwardly making up an excuse.

I had told myself I didn’t need wealth, but seeing all this treasure with my own eyes… it really did feel different.

Guess that saying was right: “Seeing something makes you want it.”
Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to pick just one thing from this place…

As I was happily looking around, something caught on my foot, and I lost my balance while turning around.

My steps got tangled, and I accidentally knocked over a nearby suit of armor.

Oh no, I’m falling!

Crash—!

I braced myself for a painful landing and shut my eyes tightly—but the pain never came.

Instead, Chade was suddenly holding me up with one arm around my waist and the other hand blocking the falling armor.

He smelled faintly of something sweet and fresh.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!”

“No need. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“N-No, I’m fine…”

As I straightened my clothes and stood up, I realized his face was extremely close—right in front of mine.

Up close, his skin looked flawless. Seriously, not even a visible pore.

How could someone look so unreal…?

I spaced out for a second, then quickly came to my senses.

“Sorry, I got distracted looking around and wasn’t paying attention…”

“There’s no need to apologize. As long as you’re not hurt.”

With a serious expression, he gently checked me for any injuries.

His concern made me blush.

“Ah, well, my waist is fine, so maybe you can let go of—wait… What’s that?”

I turned my gaze to avoid the awkward moment and suddenly noticed something odd at the bottom of a display case.

Chade followed my pointing finger slowly.

He let out a quiet groan and finally explained.

“It’s something that was found in the Atria Forest. It was too well-crafted to be considered trash, so a local presented it to the Ducal family as a potential artifact. Lady Adelia—?”

Without hesitation, I brushed past him and rushed to the display.

Two long rubber tubes, a circular metal disc…

No way…!

It was a stethoscope.

“What in the world is this doing here…?”

I completely forgot my manners and reached for the object with trembling hands.

A stethoscope.

A medical tool used to listen to internal organs—heart, lungs, stomach—it’s a basic item for any clinical diagnosis.

Of course! If I got transported into a book, then it’s possible other things came along too!

“This is amazing…”

“‘Amazing’…? What do you mean?”

“Oh—it’s a word we use when something’s really incredible. Like ‘Wow, that’s amazing!’”

I awkwardly looked away from him and stared at the stethoscope in my hands, still in awe.

I couldn’t believe it. A modern stethoscope—identical to the ones used in the real world.

It was even the same brand I used back home. The expensive kind—costs over 200,000 won.

There was even a small tear on the rubber tubing, just like mine had…

Wait a second. What?

I turned it over carefully—and then, inside the chestpiece, I saw it.

An initial engraved into the metal: D.

I nearly dropped it.

“Lady Adelia? What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t speak. I just stared into space in shock.

It was clearly D for Do Ha-min.

This was my stethoscope.

Before I could process this realization, Chade cautiously spoke.

“Do you… happen to know how to use that object?”

“How to use it…”

It was so simple, it didn’t even need explaining.

As long as your ears work, anyone could figure it out.

Could it be that the stethoscope had come with me when I came into this world?

No matter how hard I thought, that was the only logical answer.

Wait—if that’s true…

“Were there any other strange items found? Things like this, where you can’t tell what they’re for?”

“Huh?”

“Anything else that seems useless or mysterious, like this?”

The last time I saw my stethoscope was after I’d finished work and put my gown back in the cabinet in Room 406.
I remembered clearly—I had a penlight, notebook, pens… everything stuffed into my coat.

A penlight used to check pupil reflexes, too…

But Chade shook his head with a regretful expression.

“Unfortunately, that’s the only unknown object we’ve found. If the other items you’re thinking of were discovered in our territory, we haven’t seen them.”

“Oh…”

I tried not to expect much, but my face still fell in disappointment.

I stared quietly at the stethoscope in my hand.
After watching me in silence, Chade spoke again.

“Do you… want that object?”

When I looked up, our eyes met—his gold ones sparkling like they were dusted with sunlight.

It was a funny situation, really—having to ask someone else for my own thing.

But I couldn’t exactly tell him that the stethoscope came from my world, so I nodded eagerly.

He gave a faint smile.

“Honestly, it wouldn’t be a problem to give it to you. It’s just an old item with no clear use to us, even though it’s kept in the vault.”

“Really?! Then—”

But he interrupted me with a sigh, like he wasn’t finished.

“However… if word gets out that I gave a mysterious object like that to someone as a reward, it might harm the family’s reputation.”

That made my shoulders slump.

So… is that a yes or a no?

I stared at him hopefully, and suddenly he stepped closer with a small smile.

“Hm… how about this instead? If Lady Adelia does me a small favor, I’ll include the item as a bonus.”

My ears perked up.

“A small favor?”

“Yes. Something really simple.”

His lips curled into a smile—wider than I’d ever seen before—and it made me feel… uneasy.

“What kind of favor…?”

He chuckled softly, then leaned close to whisper in my ear.

And when I heard it—

“W-What?! Absolutely not!”

I jumped back, completely flustered.

He just blinked innocently, clearly not understanding what the big deal was.

“Why not?”

I nearly passed out from shock.

He wants me to speak casually to him? Like I do with Lily?!

Even if I had taken over someone else’s body in this world, I wasn’t rude enough to speak informally to the future Duke—who might also be the villain of this whole story.

And that wasn’t even the only reason I was so against it.

Sure, I was staying at the estate for Lily’s treatment—but I also had another purpose:

I needed to keep an eye on Chade and make sure he didn’t turn evil.

If I started speaking informally to him, that would mean we were getting too personally close.

As a doctor and a potential counselor, I needed to maintain a professional distance.

Lily was different. I had already crossed the line a little with her, but that was only because there were no proper facilities or guardians to protect her.

Maybe I’ve been too careless…

Honestly, I should’ve realized this was a trap from the moment the siblings kept calling me their “savior” and refusing to let me leave.

“Did I… ask for something too unreasonable?”

When I didn’t respond, Chade lowered his eyes sadly.

Startled, I quickly waved my hands.

“No, it’s not that your request is unreasonable…”

I started to explain—but then I paused.

Wait a second… maybe this isn’t such a bad thing. Couldn’t this be a good way to lower the villain’s guard?