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Chapter 48
I frowned sharply.
“Are you serious?”
“I held back from saying a night together, but if you make that face, wouldn’t it make me want to ask for even more?”
Chase wove his fingers through my hair.
“Even if I go to the temple, we can still marry according to the contract. The only reason I seek your consent is just out of consideration.”
Chase laughed as if it were ridiculous.
“If you’re making a deal, why not be honest? You’re only doing this because you think I might stop you from going by quitting the medicine, aren’t you?”
As he continued to toy with my hair, Chase pressed his lips against it.
I felt like cutting all my hair off immediately.
“Are you trying to break the contract?”
“Of course not. I’m simply responding to the distrust you’ve hidden toward me, as you just expressed.”
His hand moved upward, cupping the back of my head.
“So, do you intend to enter the temple gracefully?”
I stared at Chase silently.
His lips traced a deep curve as he leaned closer.
“This was an opportunity to gain something.”
I raised my body just before our noses would collide.
Chase froze in that awkwardly tilted posture.
“If you want a kiss, recall the past properly.”
Chase’s eyes glinted sharply.
“What do you mean?”
“Just remember why I once kissed you and gave you my everything. You can do the same now, in the same way.”
With a sharp crack, I applied pressure to Chase’s jaw.
I barely held back the laughter that threatened to burst out.
“If you want anything, feel free to say so. Since we have a past, I’ll give you one more chance.”
Leaving Chase sitting there in a daze, I walked away.
Late at night, I sat at my desk with a small candle.
Preparations to enter the temple were nearly complete. Honestly, I didn’t have much to do; Seth had done most of the work.
The thought of leaving home for a while made me uneasy.
I took out the medicine Chase had given me, along with the bottle made from Lica leaves that Artif had provided.
Demonic herbs and tainted Lica leaves.
Both were highly potent for demons.
“They seem to have changed color.”
The demonic medicine was yellow, and the Lica medicine was green.
“If I mix them, it’ll be… light green?”
Lost in uneasy thoughts, my words trailed off.
Mixing Apezum and Pieri, both herbs, would create a powerful poison.
I had learned this from studying medicine when I was weak and my mother had fallen ill.
If the two were inherently incompatible…
I remembered what Caius had said at the exhibition:
“Lady, no matter how beneficial a medicine is, the way it’s consumed can turn it into poison.”
If a demon mistakenly ingested demonic medicine, it could be interpreted as medicine for humans.
I sprang up immediately. I had to tell Alfredo and test this hypothesis.
Grasping both bottles, I ran to his laboratory.
As expected, all other rooms were dark, but only Alfredo’s lab had the lights on.
“Alfredo, it’s me. May I come in?”
Alfredo had just taken off his white coat.
“I’m sorry for the late hour.”
“Not at all. What brings you here?”
Seeing the bottles in my hand, Alfredo listened as I explained my hypothesis.
He nodded.
“Makes sense. I’d only considered them as poisons before, not as herbs meant for demons.”
“Is it possible?”
“It’s worth trying. Tomorrow morning, I’ll request experimental creatures right away.”
A sense of relief washed over me, and my legs went weak. I collapsed into a nearby chair.
“You really have the mind for academia.”
Alfredo spoke with the expression of a professor admiring a promising assistant candidate.
“I’m not trying to become a recluse.”
“Ha, ha. Look at how excellent my former students have become. And you call yourself a recluse?”
Alfredo brought out the experimental tools he had prepared.
“Planning to continue?”
“My curiosity as a former professor has been piqued.”
“You’ll be busy starting tomorrow. Get some rest tonight, and you can join the researchers then.”
“I just want to run a few simple experiments. You should rest, miss.”
I sighed.
“I should’ve mentioned this in the morning.”
I regretted coming immediately without thinking things through.
“Ah, is it possible to get the ingredients for the medicine His Highness gives?”
Alfredo asked.
I had previously requested them from Chase, but he never agreed.
Maybe Kienan or Caius could help.
“I’ll see if I can get them.”
“Please. The limited amount of medicine may restrict the experiment.”
After watching Alfredo, I left the lab to draft a letter to Kienan about continuing the portrait project.
I wouldn’t be able to send it until tomorrow morning, but I felt I couldn’t sleep without doing something.
Back in my room, I sat at my desk when a knock sounded at the window. I looked toward the terrace.
“Oh, right.”
Artif, in his familiar robe, was waiting outside.
I hurried to unlock the window and let him in.
“Has the curse been lifted?”
“Probably.”
Artif smiled mischievously.
Tonight was the night when the moon that transformed him into a cat disappeared.
I had been waiting, thinking the curse would finally be broken after the fountain explosion incident, which had restored his divine power.
Artif came to my room as soon as the curse was lifted.
“That’s wonderful.”
I smiled brightly, feeling entirely happy.
I wanted to celebrate noisily with a party, but that wasn’t possible.
“Thanks. It’s all thanks to you, Sasha.”
“Shall we have a little celebration just the two of us?”
“Just us two?”
“Yes! There should be desserts in the kitchen. Let’s sneak them and enjoy them together.”
Artif didn’t answer but pulled his robe tighter.
“If you tell me where, I’ll go get them.”
“I can just go myself. I won’t get caught.”
“I won’t get caught if I go.”
“….”
Artif once again casually ignored our family’s security.
So I waited quietly as Artif ransacked our kitchen.
“Is this okay…?”
“Sasha.”
“You came quickly.”
Artif soon returned, carrying all the pilfered goodies and placed them on the table.
“Wine?”
“You said it’s a celebration. Can’t skip alcohol.”
He even knew the wine cellar’s location without me telling him.
I’d have to tell Dad to increase the knight training next time.
“Not bad.”
I looked over the table.
A large strawberry tart, a bottle of wine, and even glasses—all neatly arranged.
It was modest for a celebration marking the curse’s end, but not bad at all.
“Sasha, here.”
Artif poured the wine and offered it to me.
I raised my glass and clinked it against his with a sharp cling.
“Congratulations, Artif.”
He responded with a dazzling smile.
The sweet aroma of grapes and the well-balanced weight filled my mouth.
As I enjoyed the wine, I opened my eyes.
Lying on the soft bed in the wine-scented room, I felt a headache.
Trying to get up, I collapsed again.
A terrible hangover. My body sank, feeling grimy.
Last night, Artif and I had drunk in celebration of his curse being lifted.
He had been calmer than I expected, and I had been overwhelmed with joy.
Back in Elunai, I had left with the lingering regret of not fully lifting his curse.
That memory was the last thing I remembered.
I looked at the table from the night before—the half-eaten strawberry tart, a single fork, an empty wine bottle, and one glass.
I must have passed out drunk, and Artif had taken his own fork and glass with him.
Meticulous, or maybe not, but he even took a bottle of wine while he was at it.
If I had drunk both bottles, Leandro would surely scold me. He often acted more like a mother than expected.
But right now, my anxiety wasn’t about his scolding.
I wondered what on earth I had done to Artif.
