DRRS 17

 Chapter 17

Alec Leshanin did not even turn his head as he demanded in a cold, cutting tone.

“Mosquis, what did that laugh just now mean?”

If Medeia were not suspicious, Mosquis could have lied, having heard all the stories before.

But to mock Medeia in front of the other servants standing behind her was an insult to me as well.

“Oh, it was just a fleeting thought that struck me as funny. It was by no means a ridicule aimed at the Miss. I am, after all, both the Duke’s loyal servant and the Miss’s loyal servant.”

Mosquis bowed with a laugh so exaggerated that it nearly blinded the eyes.

“By the way, since the Miss has come all this way to check the effect of the drug, why don’t you show her the effect directly, Your Grace?”

As soon as Mosquis confirmed that Alec Leshanin’s anger had subsided, his eyes sparkled as he looked at Medeia.

“Medeia, what will you do?”

“…I wish to check the effect of the drug.”

The only thing Medeia could rely on was the antidote I had just mixed into the drug.

Even if it did not fully neutralize the effect, it would still be better than drinking the drug as it was.

“Good. Very well. Now then… which one shall we experiment on?”

As Alec Leshanin’s gaze fell, the prisoners in the cell hurriedly averted their eyes.

“Hmmm…”

Even after circling the prison twice, Alec Leshanin had not yet found a suitable test subject.

Then, behind the trembling prisoners, Lucian—who had been by Medeia’s side the whole time—entered his line of sight.

With eyes as unfathomable as a bottomless abyss, Lucian stared at Medeia.

“Medeia, what about the boy beside you?”

“What do you mean by that all of a sudden…?”

“Since you see him every day, wouldn’t that make it easier to gauge the drug’s effect? Observe the boy and try to foresee whether my plan will succeed.”

Before Medeia could answer, Alec Leshanin, having already made up his mind, strode past her to stand before Lucian.

“It’s been a while, Your Grace.”

Though a man far taller than her appeared, completely blocking her view, Lucian remained unmoved.

Instead, he offered a faint smile as he greeted Alec Leshanin.

“Yes. I remember. You barged into my study wanting to take Medeia with you, didn’t you?”

Alec Leshanin recalled the defiant Lucian with a triumphant smile.

“Serving a noble Duke is an honor enough, but serving the Miss so she may grow into someone as exemplary as you is a greater joy to me. For the sake of serving the Miss, I will do anything.”

Once, this might have been naive. But in the face of his grand rebellion, the defiant boy was merely an obstacle.

Without hesitation, Alec Leshanin took a vial from one side of his jacket.

Inside, a transparent liquid sloshed gently.

‘That is…!’

Medeia’s heart raced at the sight.

It had been a grave miscalculation to think she only needed to mix the antidote into the vial in the underground prison.

The drug itself, without a single drop of antidote, sloshed around in her father’s hands.

“Boy, drink this right here, before my eyes.”

Alec Leshanin forcibly made Lucian grip the vial.

Lucian trembled, wanting to drop it but unable to.

“A very fine drug. If you drink this, you will serve your mistress, Medeia, even more loyally. Drink it now.”

Alec Leshanin stepped closer, urging the frozen Lucian.

“You said you would do anything, just to serve Medeia as your mistress, didn’t you?”

His commanding voice echoed through the underground prison.

“Father, he’s still a child. I’ll coax him and make him drink it…”

Medeia intervened, unable to watch.

Even if it were the drug mixed with the antidote, she could not allow Lucian to drink her father’s potion alone.

Knowing all too well the horrific result of a drug without antidote, Medeia tried to snatch the vial from Lucian.

She planned to pretend to make him drink it while letting some spill beside his lips.

Then, from behind Medeia, came the sound of liquid being swallowed.

“So your claim of doing anything was not entirely false, I see.”

Alec Leshanin looked at the empty vial in Lucian’s hands with a satisfied smile.

“Medeia, my daughter. Witness for yourself the effect of the drug I painstakingly created.”

He then stepped close to the stiff, tense Medeia.

“…And tell me. That I, this father, shall ascend to the golden throne.”

The whispered words were chilling, horrifying.

Since that nightmare day, the lively gaze that once looked at Medeia had lost its focus in an instant.

“Miss.”

“Yes. Lucian.”

His vacant eyes, devoid of joy or sorrow, stared up at Medeia.

“What… what should I do?”

He looked at the void and then at Medeia, repeating the motion.

Seeing this, guilt surged in Medeia once again.

Lucian had always been a child who reached out first.

“Drink this. Every last drop.”

It was Lyla’s antidote.

Even though the drug from her father had already been consumed and was ineffective, Medeia refused to let go of the thread of hope.

“Am I supposed to drink this to fulfill your wishes, Miss?”

“Yes.”

“Then I will follow.”

Unlike the hesitant Lucian of the days in the underground prison, he drank the potion all at once.

“Give it here.”

Medeia took the empty vial from Lucian with one hand and set it aside.

“Lucian, could you hand me that jewelry box beside you?”

Perhaps from the fatigue of traveling to Boot territory, Meril, exhausted, appeared from the dressing room.

“Meril.”

At Medeia’s call, Meril belatedly realized her mistake.

She had heard the rough outline but had inadvertently asked Lucian, who happened to be in her line of sight.

“Miss, should I follow Meril’s orders?”

Lucian had no power to decide for himself now.

Even a small request required the consent of the one he recognized as his master.

This was the tragedy brought about by the mind-controlling drug.

“What do you want to do?”

Though she had asked this question many times before, a faint hope resurfaced, thinking perhaps this time it might be different.

“…What I wish is what you wish, Miss.”

Yet the unfocused child could not give the answer she wanted.

Or rather, could not.

“What if what I wish is that I never want to see you again?”

Perhaps because the heavy despair pressed down on her again, Medeia spoke words she did not truly mean.

“If that is your wish for me, then of course.”

Before she could retract the words, Lucian abruptly rose and strode to the balcony door.

“No, no!”

Medeia rushed after him and grabbed his wrist.

Seeing him throw himself forward without hesitation, her chest ached.

“You don’t want to see me?”

“No, I don’t.”

Medeia held Lucian tightly.

As if he had forgotten all the smiles he had ever shown her, the expressionless Lucian stayed quietly in her arms.

Beneath the sunlight that bathed them, Medeia’s heart felt colder than ever.

Time passed, and the day of Medeia’s appointment with Lyla finally arrived.

It was also the day Alec Leshanin would sell those who had been used in his experiments to foreign nobles.

Always through the perilous Pribel Port.

“Sophia, Meril. Take care of this place, as well as Lucian and Sion.”

Mosquis had already departed for the Pribel Port during the night, but some of his group remained at the mansion.

To prepare for the possibility of them coming for Medeia, Sophia and Meril decided not to go.

Since Pribel’s security was dangerous, Robin and Luna, along with their ally I, had promised to assist.

“Lucian.”

Unlike Sion, who quietly stayed seated, Lucian stood up as Medeia rose.

“Yes, Miss.”

“Stay here.”

“Yes, I will.”

The Lucian who once clutched Medeia’s arm, asking her to take him along, was nowhere in sight.

His voice was rigid and emotionless, leaving Sion wide-eyed in surprise.

Though everyone noticed Lucian had changed, no one dared explain why. Alone with Medeia, Lucian never spoke a word to her, as always.

“Sion, Lucian. Once today’s work is done, I will give you freedom as well.”

Upon hearing this, Sion’s eyes widened even further.

From the moment Alec Leshanin had dragged them here, Sion had always dreamed of leaving this place.

Lucian, however, did not wish for that.

“Giving me freedom… is that what you wish, Miss?”