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CHAPTER~03
If Blaine Lindbergh is given the antidote, he will probably withdraw his proposal immediately.
He might wonder why he proposed in the first place, but if Elisha Lowell keeps denying it, Blaine will think he was temporarily out of his mind.
The Duke of Lindbergh’s family will surely make every effort to prevent rumors from spreading for the sake of their reputation.
“Yes, I just need the antidote. It must exist. It has to exist…”
Elisha, draped in a robe, took a deep, shaky breath.
At this moment, nothing was more desperately needed than the antidote.
* * *
“Pink♡Lady.
A general store for ladies who dream of love!
Cookies that invite a kiss, charms to capture someone’s heart, alluring perfumes, and more. Always in stock!”
The shop had a flashy sign and colorful notices.
At first glance, it seemed suspicious, but it was actually a small accessory store for young ladies thirsty for romance.
Women dreaming of magical love would buy cute items here, and word had spread that some of them had actual effects.
Elisha had initially come here in desperation, looking for a love potion as a last resort.
And now…
“You’re looking for an antidote?”
The shopkeeper, Rue, asked, leaning lazily on a chair.
Opposite him, Elisha was stamping her feet in impatience.
“Yes, I need an antidote for a love potion. Truly by accident! I gave it to someone completely by mistake!”
“And then?”
“No, that’s not the point! Because of the potion, that person actually… proposed to me!”
“Ah, are you worried that the use of the potion will be discovered and you’ll be in trouble?”
“Shh! Please speak quietly!”
But Rue was laughing quietly to himself.
“Well, a proposal is something you can just refuse, right?”
“It’s not that easy!”
“Why not? Unless the person is from the Duke of Lindbergh’s family.”
“…….”
Exactly… it was the Duke of Lindbergh’s family.
Elisha held back tears, unable to voice this unmentionable truth.
No matter how much of a potion dealer Rue was, this truth could not be revealed.
“Anyway! I absolutely need that antidote.”
“Ah, I really want to help, but…”
Rue sighed dramatically.
“There’s no antidote. The recipe for that potion is extremely difficult to make.”
“What?”
Elisha looked like she might faint at any moment.
Rue made a sympathetic face but couldn’t hide the mischief in his eyes.
“S-So… how long does it last? A week? A month?”
“I don’t know that either.”
Rue shrugged casually.
He was openly enjoying himself now, but despairing Elisha didn’t notice.
“It varies from person to person. It might even last a lifetime.”
“A… a lifetime?!”
Elisha grabbed her cheeks and cried out in despair.
It felt as though the last hope had flown away.
“Ugh… what should I do…!”
Rue chuckled at her reaction.
He pulled out a brown bottle from his robe and handed it to Elisha.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help. Here, take this as a freebie.”
“W-What is this…?”
“Wait! Don’t just leave like this―!”
Rue pushed Elisha gently by the cheek with one hand.
Startled, she struggled, but Rue pushed her out the door and slammed it shut.
“Nooo….”
Elisha’s voice, half-heartedly lamenting, echoed as she turned around.
Rue, pressing his ear to the door, shrugged.
“…She actually believes this?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, muttering.
He had thought Elisha would be angry when he handed her the potion, thinking it was a scam.
But it actually worked.
“Well, it wasn’t my scam anyway. Let’s see.”
His fingers drew a magic circle in the air.
Inside the circle, a bird flapped its wings.
It was a magic to send messages to someone far away.
“I told her there’s no antidote.”
As Rue finished speaking, the bird flew off immediately.
It flew out the window of the store without hesitation.
* * *
“…Rue, huh.”
The bird landed on the windowsill where a man was standing.
The man received it calmly, as if he had been waiting.
[I told her there’s no antidote.]
The bird opened its beak and Rue’s voice flowed out.
[And if possible, let love take its course. Stop these childish dramas… …Duke of Lindbergh.]
At the final grumbling postscript, Blaine Lindbergh snorted softly.
“Hmph, nagging…”
Blaine approached the window and gazed outside.
The magic-created bird circled around him, chirping.
The long day faded, leaving the sky bathed in crimson sunset.
He suddenly remembered Elisha’s face, flushed red from the proposal.
‘I thought maybe she’d remember our childhood promise… I had a little hope…’
It was the first time since childhood that they were so close face to face.
But Elisha did not recognize him at all.
‘We’ve been together less than an hour…’
She only seemed puzzled by his proposal.
Yet, she was still as innocent and dangerously lovely as he remembered.
‘Elisha actually came to Rue’s shop to get a love potion, hoping to accept Montis’ proposal.’
The memory of Elisha searching for a love potion at Rue’s store was still vivid.
She had no idea he had secretly been listening to everything from hiding in the shop.
In fact, Pink♡Lady was a secret base of the knights led by Blaine Lindbergh.
The store was set up to deceive outsiders, and he never expected Elisha to come.
‘Once this is over, I planned to pick her up…’
Blaine, the Sword Master, knew well how many eyes were on him.
So he watched from afar to keep Elisha safe.
He had intended to pick her up formally after this mission.
But Marquis Montis had gotten interested first, disrupting his plan.
‘What? A love potion? Elisha, or rather, the guest… why would they need that?’
That day, Rue panicked upon recognizing Elisha and responded urgently.
Eventually, he gave her a fake potion, colored with a few drops of rose water magic.
If she had failed to obtain the potion, who knows what she might have done next.
It was necessary to intervene as soon as possible.
‘I initially planned to approach slowly… but perhaps it turned out well.’
Even if he approached and she rejected him, it would have been troublesome.
But if she accused him of taking the potion because of her, guilt and responsibility would bind Elisha to him.
‘No reason to run, no reason to doubt.’
A cold smile spread across Blaine’s lips.
Either way, Elisha would now stay safely in his care.
‘Now that I’ve secured Elisha…’
It was time to prepare for the next step.
The magic bird perched on the window frame as if reading his thoughts.
Blaine gently stroked its beak and muttered quietly.
“Rue, keep watching the movements in the cathedral.”
* * *
Cathedral basement.
The secret chamber was protected by barriers so only authorized people could enter.
High Priest Havel sat in the darkness, draped in a robe.
Around him, others in the same attire were seated.
They were the secret order ‘Shadow of the Goddess,’ carrying out the cathedral’s dirty work from behind the scenes.
Havel tapped the table slowly with his fingers, listening to their reports.
“We discovered two gifted individuals in the Karlsburn area. One is a newborn, so we dealt with the parents and took them easily.”
“…Hmm.”
Havel nodded slowly with a blank expression.
But his eyes were far from satisfied.
“Only two this month?”
“…Yes…”
The team members looked at each other nervously under Havel’s scolding.
The Shadow of the Goddess placed utmost importance on bringing as many gifted individuals under the cathedral’s control as possible.
All this was in preparation for their “holy ritual.”
“The day of the black and red moon approaches. If we miss it, the power of Mohania cannot be obtained in this lifetime.”
There was only one goal.
To summon the sealed Goddess of Destruction, ‘Mohania,’ and obtain the power and authority to overturn the world.
It required immense mana, and gathering gifted individuals was essential.
They even ran orphanages to select children and used religion as a mask to control the masses.
Under the benevolent facade of the cathedral, everything was relatively easy to accomplish.
But not everything went as planned.
“They seem to have noticed from the Duke of Lindbergh’s family. Blaine’s movements are unusual.”
Recent reports indicated that Blaine Lindbergh had been secretly moving his knights while watching the cathedral.
Havel’s nerves were on edge.
It was due to a prophecy passed down in the cathedral long ago.
“Once every hundred years, a Sword Master will prevent Mohania’s night.”
The rebirth of the Goddess of Destruction was already destined.
But a Sword Master inheriting the power of the main god Danuah could stop it.
And that was Blaine Lindbergh.
He was the heir of the Duke of Lindbergh’s family, openly criticizing the cathedral’s actions of gathering gifted individuals.
“Damn Blaine Lindbergh…”
Havel bit his lips and muttered.
He wanted to eliminate Blaine immediately, but handling him quietly, without leaving traces, was not easy.
“Ah, I also have information regarding Blaine Lindbergh.”
At that moment, a subordinate cautiously stepped forward.
Havel’s eyes gleamed with menace upon hearing the report.
“…Really? Blaine Lindbergh proposed to a woman?”
