TLPIF 08

Chapter 8

“I don’t have that kind of hobby.”

……Who am I talking to?

Her lips were still pursed like a duck’s as she blew on his wounds.

Kassia quickly sat up and looked toward the voice.

The Grand Duke……

He was looking at her with his usual lazy expression.

“……!”

What…… never mind.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she bowed deeply.

It was an extremely polite bow, almost like she was trying to touch her belly with her forehead.

“I hope you slept well, Your Grace. By the way, when did you wake up?”

“Just now.”

“Ah, yes~. You just woke up.”

“Hmm. Was I kidnapped?”

……Kidnapped!

The Grand Duke had a talent for making her blood run cold with his expressionless face.

If she stayed still like this, she felt like she would end up taking the blame for everything.

Just as she was about to make an excuse, the Grand Duke’s pupils slowly moved.

“But how long do you intend to stay like that?”

Her head naturally followed his arrogant gesture.

The Grand Duke, covered in sweat.

And herself, sitting awkwardly between his legs.

The scene really did look strange.

‘……!’

Like a chicken flapping its wings, Kassia jumped up and quickly moved to the edge of the bed.

She was terribly embarrassed.

So she blinked rapidly and spoke whatever came to mind.

“You must have been surprised.”

“Not really.”

The Grand Duke’s tone was indifferent, but his dark blue eyes were ice-cold.

‘That was just a polite question, but your answer was so sharp.’

Kassia fidgeted with her fingers while watching his expression.

She had known this would happen.

She should have realized how suffocating it would be once the evil villain woke up.

‘It would have been better if I had hit the Grand Duke on the head and knocked him out again as soon as he woke up!’

Then she could have carried out her plan to dump him somewhere and leave.

Regretting her missed chance, she smacked her lips.

It was like a hungry rabbit daring to bite a tiger.

At the careless sound, the Grand Duke raised one eyebrow.

“Judging by how nervous you are around me, you must have committed quite a few sins.”

The Grand Duke used his elbow for support and raised his upper body.

‘Goodness! I should be hiding the sins I’ve already committed, and now I’m making things worse!’

Kassia hurriedly waved her hands and tried to explain herself.

“Come on~! As for the treatment earlier, too, you shouldn’t misunderstand my pure intentions!”

“Pure intentions? Wasn’t that part of your plan to ‘destroy the evidence before I wake up and then dump me somewhere’?”

……How did he know?

The surprise on Kassia’s face revealed everything she was thinking.

As if he had expected this, the Grand Duke raised one corner of his mouth and suddenly spoke without warning.

He always got straight to the point, leaving out the beginning and the end.

“You should take responsibility for me, Kassia.”

“……Me? For Your Grace?”

Kassia raised her eyes and asked in disbelief.

She pointed at herself with one index finger, then at the Grand Duke with the other, her hand trembling.

At her shrill question, the Grand Duke narrowed his eyes.

‘His gaze really is terrifying.’

She felt as if he might chop off her finger for pointing at him so rudely. She quickly folded the finger she had pointed at him with.

Then she forced a bright smile, pulling the corners of her mouth up to smooth things over.

‘Why did I point at him in the first place? It’s because you suddenly told me to take responsibility!’

He had suddenly brought up responsibility in such a strange tone.

Although Kassia grumbled inwardly, she quickly turned the matter over in her mind.

From the few times she had dealt with him, the Grand Duke was surprisingly straightforward.

What did that mean?

He only said what he needed to say.

So it would be foolish to take his words at face value.

‘That wasn’t anything close to a confession.’

It was entirely Kassia’s job to fill in the beginning and the end that the Grand Duke left out.

So instead of avoiding the question, she asked him directly.

“Um, Your Grace. Why do I have to take responsibility?”

“I heard you’re the best potion maker after the head of the Talpiot family. Looking at my condition, you still can’t figure it out?”

Perhaps it was because of the Grand Duke’s lazy tone.

Even his scolding sounded like sweet words whispered to a lover.

That only made Kassia even more confused.

Unable to understand his intentions, she openly looked him over.

“Your Grace’s condition…….”

Your face is still handsome, even covered in soot and dust.

Your well-defined muscles seem perfectly fine, too.

And now that I look, the wounds on your legs have healed completely.

Hmm, so……

Just as she was thinking, There’s nothing wrong with him. Do I really need to examine him more closely? an article suddenly came to mind.

An article written by that bastard Osram.

Despite the Grand Duke Penminid’s fierce presence, the young lady of the Clovis Count’s family did not back down.

It was as if she had gone mad.

The deranged woman wrapped both arms tightly around the Grand Duke’s legs.

Her eyes were so bloodshot and wild that they seemed to gleam with madness.

With the same fierce determination, she greedily gulped down the love potion in her wineglass.

Her movements, as if trying to make even a single extra drop touch the Grand Duke, were terrifying……

Wait.

Kassia frowned deeply, trying to catch the thought that was bothering her.

‘……Love potion.’

And on top of that……

The Grand Duke had turned into a child?

Two facts that had seemed unrelated.

Now that they finally came together and connected……

Kassia was so shocked that all the color drained from her face.

“……A potion side effect?”

She was so flustered that she accidentally said her thoughts aloud.

Before she even realized it, the Grand Duke’s low voice reached her ears, as if he had been waiting for her to say it.

“As you can see.”

“……That can’t be. It can’t be……”

Unable to believe it, Kassia kept repeating the same words.

The love potion.

Why else would it be called a potion maker’s greatest masterpiece?

Because it had no side effects despite being a special potion.

No, the only side effect was facial flushing.

There had never been a single case of anyone reporting another side effect.

Not a single case!

Still doubtful, Kassia carefully opened her mouth.

“Could you perhaps have taken another potion, or made someone hold a grudge against you and been cursed……?”

She stopped questioning him and pressed her lips shut.

Whatever else might be true, asking whether he had made someone hold a grudge was a foolish question to ask a man known as a war hero.

As if he easily understood why she had trailed off, the Grand Duke stated firmly,

“There is no other possibility.”

His expression was just as firm as his merciless declaration.

And, true to his nature, he immediately pressed her for an answer.

“So, what is the solution?”

“…….”

Was this the kind of problem that could be solved just by snapping one’s fingers?

“Let’s calmly think this through first……”

“So there is no solution for now.”

“Who said there was no solution?”

……There was no solution for now.

There wasn’t one, but admitting that felt like falling into the Grand Duke’s trap.

Kassia pouted and looked at him with an unhappy expression.

Somehow……

Why did the Grand Duke’s gaze seem so persistent?

He was like a snake waiting for the perfect moment to bite her.

She could almost feel the breath from that hungry snake’s damp, flickering tongue.

A chill ran down her spine, and she raised both hands to protect her neck.

“I’m thinking about it. I’m thinking, so stop looking at me like that. I’m not tasty.”

“……Tasty, you say.”

For some reason, she thought she heard the Grand Duke let out a small laugh.

But to her, it sounded no different from a wild beast’s roar.

Her heart nearly dropped, and she desperately tried to think of something.

“Umm……”

There were only two situations in which people experienced potion side effects.

First, when they were sensitive to magic power.

Potion makers possessed magic power.

Therefore, the potions they made by mixing various ingredients also contained magic power.

Because of this, about one person in every hundred experienced side effects.

However, they were not life-threatening, and there was also a treatment, so it was fine.

The other situation was when someone took a potion that had been distributed illegally.

That was troublesome.

Most illegally distributed potions were made without following standard methods, making it difficult to determine what ingredients had been used.

After all, she needed to know the ingredients before she could prescribe a treatment.

Kassia rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought, then glanced sideways at the Grand Duke.

‘It seems the Grand Duke falls into the second category…….’

After thinking for a long time, she finally began to see a possible solution.

If it was the second case, then the first step should be……

“First, I need to investigate the ingredients of the potion that Lady Clovis used on Your Grace.”

“Will it take a long time?”

“I can’t give you a definite answer right now.”

“So you’re avoiding responsibility……”

That word again! Responsibility!

As if she were trying to defeat her sworn enemy, Kassia shouted angrily.

“Avoiding responsibility? I’ll take responsibility and restore Your Grace to normal as quickly as possible. No. Matter. What!”

“Hmm. Well, if that’s the case.”

Unlike her desperate tone, the Grand Duke spoke slowly and lazily.

He seemed like a snake that had eaten its fill and was about to go into hibernation.

‘Why…… does this feel ominous?’

Something about it bothered her, but what could she do?

If the answer the Grand Duke had wanted all along was I’ll take responsibility, then it was already too late.

What choice did she have? She had to give him the answer he wanted.

Still, there was one good thing: she would not have to be irresponsible.

As someone who carried the name Talpiot, she had at least protected her family’s honor.

In truth, any potion maker could brew potions.

The quality might differ depending on the potion maker’s level.

However, only someone with Talpiot blood could treat potion side effects.

‘So I’ll definitely cure him.’

Her golden eyes sparkled with confidence.

As the Grand Duke gazed steadily into them, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Did he…… just smile?