Chapter 1

My husband, Dominic Lowe, was a legendary physician known throughout the land, while I was a medicine maiden immune to all poisons.

A princess who admired him came all the way to study under him, and he just let her try out her concoctions on me.

"You're immune to all poisons and won't die, so let the princess try her hand on you," Dominic said.

The princess mixed wolfsbane into my prenatal remedy, thinking it was just common herb, making me suffer a painful miscarriage.

But Dominic said, "The princess meant well. Didn't you notice the difference between common herb and wolfsbane when you drank it? Quit acting. You're not going to die anyway."

The princess complained that the medical tools were too thin to handle, so she used a rusty nail for acupuncture instead, leaving me with a high fever and permanent disability.

But Dominic just shrugged and said, "The princess is really something, thinking a rusty nail is just a bigger medical tool. Did it really hurt that much? You're not going to die anyway."

Then the princess came over with a bowl of pungent soup, its sharp smell stinging my nose.

Dominic said, "This is the princess's latest curative recipe. Can you try it for her?"

Suddenly, the System blared a warning, "Detected a large amount of arsenic in the curative recipe. Host, you're only immune to poisons in Dominic's hands. If he keeps letting the princess dose you with poison, you won't survive much longer in this body."

I forced a bitter smile, took the bowl, and said, "I'll drink it."

The curative recipe had a sharp, sour smell that made my nose sting.

For someone like Dominic, just by looking at the color and sniffing the aroma, he could spot the arsenic right away.

But he didn't say a word to stop me, not even when I tipped my head back and drank the whole bowl down.

Soon, I was doubled over in agony, my lips turning blue.

Princess Jessica Stevens suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth and shouted, "Oh no. I think I used arsenic powder instead of salt. Gosh, I'm such an idiot."

Dominic chided, "Princess, how could you be so careless?"

"They're both just white powders. I've never had to cook in the palace, so how would I know the difference?" Jessica protested.

Jessica hurried to my bedside, grabbed my shoulder, and started crying, looking guilty.

"Ms. Houghton, are you alright? I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean it. I was just so careless." Jessica cried.

Not on purpose?

Honestly, I'd lost track of how many times Jessica had pulled the same "careless" stunt.

A year ago, Jessica was stung by a poisonous bee and was at death's door.

My husband, Dominic, managed to save her life.

Jessica was so impressed that she became his apprentice and moved in with the Lowe family to learn medicine.

At that time, there was an outbreak of stubborn fevers in Prielrith, and patients just kept coming.

Jessica wanted to make a name for herself as a healer, so Dominic let her try her hand at treating them. But she was reckless and ended up killing several children with her treatments.

The authorities swept it under the rug, and in the end, Dominic stepped in. No one knew what remedy he used, but overnight, he cured the whole city and let Jessica take all the credit.

After that, Dominic started letting Jessica test her concoctions on me, coaxing me in that gentle voice of his.

"Rosie, your body is immune to all poisons. Just like you did for me before, let the princess practice on you too," Dominic said.

Dominic became a legendary physician at such a young age, all thanks to me, the medicine maiden who endured every poison for him.

He knew full well that being immune to all poisons only meant I wouldn't die, not that it didn't hurt.

At that time, I was three months pregnant.

But Dominic still pleaded with me on Jessica's behalf. "If you don't let her test her medicine on you, she'll just end up experimenting on other innocents. Those kids in Prielrith are poor. Could you really stand to see that happen to them?"

"Besides, with me, the legendary physician, personally overseeing everything, I won't let the princess hurt you or the baby," Dominic added.

The very first remedy Jessica tried on me was a prenatal recipe, but she mixed up wolfsbane with a common herb. That night, I suffered a painful miscarriage.

Before I could even mourn my lost child, Jessica was already crying her eyes out, louder than me.

"I didn't know that was wolfsbane. They're both red. How was I supposed to tell them apart?" Jessica sobbed.

She hit herself on the head, whining, "I'm such an idiot."

Dominic cut off her self-blame, brushing it aside. "The princess learned the prenatal recipe just to look after you. She was only trying to help."

Then, with a hint of reproach, he looked at me. "But you, Rosie, you're a medicine maiden. Seriously, you couldn't taste the difference between common herb and wolfsbane?"

That was right when my sense of taste was shot from testing all those toxic plants for Dominic.

But Dominic acted like he'd forgotten all about it, just kept laying all the blame on me.

"Honestly, if you hadn't just eaten whatever was put in front of you, our baby wouldn't have died." Dominic accused.

"Stop pretending to be weak. You survived wrenchgut without a scratch. Just a little wolfsbane, that's all. The kid's gone, but you're not dead," Dominic said, his voice icy.

The heavy dose of wolfsbane flooded my body with icy poison, and after the miscarriage, I could do nothing but lie in bed.