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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: A Drunken Diagnosis
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“My, *hic*. Our Little Marquess. Are you alright?”

The Black Elder, having downed three bottles of digestive medicine right where he sat, came up to my room and called out to me as I was huddled under the covers.

At his gentle voice, I peeked my head out and saw his nose, red from the alcohol.

“What about the other Elder?”

“Ah. My friend went to put the little one to sleep.”

“I'm sorry… That's something I should have done.”

Feeling guilty, I pulled the blanket up to my nose and mumbled quietly. A hearty laugh echoed through the room.

“Oh, not at all.”

Saying that putting Ariel to sleep has been his friend's greatest joy lately, the Black Elder waved his hand dismissively and forced open his heavy, drunken eyes.

“*Hmph*. Now, don't be like that. Come and sit here. I'll prick your finger for you.”

“You prick fingers for indigestion here, too?”

“Here, *hic*. Here, too? You speak as if you're from somewhere else. *Hol-hol*. Come now, over here.”

The Elder, who had somehow produced a needle from who knows where, swayed this way and that.

Worried he might hurt himself, I got out from under the covers, moved the needle to a safe place first, and then sat down across from him.

“Huh? Why'd you take that?”

“Elder.”

“Aigoo, why does our Little Marquess look so down? Is your stomach hurting that much?”

“I don't have indigestion.”

The Black Elder, who had been pressing firmly on my palm instead of using the needle, blinked.

Though very, very slowly.

Managing to lift his drooping eyelids, the Elder tilted his head.

“Not, *hic*, indigestion? But you drank all that digestive medicine earlier?”

*Hic. Hic.*

Listening to his continuous hiccups, I ducked my head low.

Feeling the heat rush to my ears.

“I don't think so. Elder, something's strange with me.”

“What? Where, how are you strange?”

Startled by my words, the Elder shook his head vigorously and straightened his posture.

“If you're not feeling well, you should have called a doctor! Quickly, quickly, tell this old man. What's wrong with you?”

“Well…”

My head sank even lower as I needlessly fiddled with the innocent lace on my clothes.

“Well, when I see His Majesty…”

“His Majesty? Did our Majesty make you sick? Hmph!”

“No, it's not that. When I see His Majesty, my heart starts pounding and—”

“Good heavens! Isn't that arrhythmia?”

“Ah! No! Please, just listen carefully.”

“I understand. I won't say another word and will listen intently, so please, go on.”

The Black Elder, who had been making a fuss, forced his heavy eyes wide open and straightened his back again.

“At first, I thought it was just indigestion, but whenever I see His Majesty, my stomach feels all fluttery and ticklish, like butterflies are flying around inside…”

Now that I was actually saying it, I felt so embarrassed my shoulders hunched.

“When I smell His Majesty's scent, my head gets dizzy, and if our hands so much as touch, my heart just pounds…”

Feeling my whole body turn red, I somehow managed to finish and peeked up at the Black Elder.

“So… what do you think? I'm strange, right?”

“Hmm. Yes, it's certainly strange. This is definitely…”

Seeing his eyes shine with a seriousness that seemed to have chased away the alcohol, I lowered my head again.

Just as I thought. To anyone else, it must be obvious what this is.

Since it had come to this, I figured I should just confess everything and ask what to do next, so I squeezed my eyes shut.

And just as I squeezed out my final conclusion, a diagnosis simultaneously burst from the Black Elder's lips.

“This must be love, right?”

“This is definitely a myung-hyun reaction!”

“…Huh…?”

What did I just hear?

Lifting the head I had been lowering as if to dig a hole in the ground, I fluttered my eyelashes rapidly.

“Myung-hyun, myung-hyun what?”

“A myung-hyun reaction!”

“You mean… the myung-hyun… reaction that His Majesty experiences?”

“Yes. That's the one!”

…Hm? Hmm?

At an answer I had never even considered, my thoughts screeched to a halt.

Thanks to that, I forgot what I was about to say and could only blink. The Black Elder then slammed his hand on the table with a very serious expression.

“Now. Look here, Little Marquess.”

“Yes. I'm looking.”

“What were the symptoms of His Majesty's myung-hyun reaction?”

“What? Well… his heart beats fast when we touch.”

“What else?”

“He also said his face gets hot when our eyes meet sometimes.”

“And?”

“He said he feels a ticklish sensation inside when he's with me.”

“See? They're similar, aren't they?”

“Yes. Well… they are similar, but…”

Now that I said it out loud, I realized Enoch's symptoms really were similar to mine. I answered dazedly and scratched my head.

“But that's because the ice in His Majesty's heart is melting. My heart has always been perfectly fine, hasn't it?”

“Aish. No, that's not it! Just as your power affects His Majesty, His Majesty's power also affects you.”

His eyes, which had been focused, started to glaze over again as his voice grew louder.

“Okay, okay, I get it, Elder. Could you please lower your voice? Everyone in the mansion is going to come see what's going on.”

When I brought a finger to my lips, the Elder mumbled a few times, and his voice quieted down a bit.

“So, what you're saying is, if His Majesty feels a myung-hyun reaction, I can feel it too?”

“Exactly!”

“So, even though I'm perfectly healthy and strong, I could have a myung-hyun reaction… *Hmph*…”

As I tried to process this, I took a breath and tilted my head.

“No, does that even make… sense? There's nothing to heal in the first place, so how could there be a reaction like that…”

“Little Marquess, are you telling me you don't believe this old man?”

“No, it's not that I don't believe you, I just don't quite understand.”

I don't know how he heard my quiet muttering while swaying back and forth.

The Black Elder, his eyes glazed over once more, fumbled inside his clothes and pulled out a small pouch.

“Stay right there, *hic*.”

“Yes. I'll stay right… wait, what is that?”

“This? It's a magic pouch—no, no. That's not what's important right now.”

Pulling a book of considerable thickness from the palm-sized pouch, the Elder put on his glasses and began searching for something.

“Let's see… it was around here… *Hic*, ah! Here it is!”

“Elder, what are you looking for?”

“Here! Have a read! Then you'll believe me!”

“What in the world is… ugh.”

My body instinctively recoiled from the dense text crammed onto the page spread before me.

Then, a particular word caught my eye, and I leaned back in to read the title of the open page.

“‘The Mutual Effects of Fire and Ice Special Ability Users’?”

“It's a bit different from your situation with His Majesty, but if you look at the research in there, the symptoms will be exactly what you're feeling now.”

“Oh… you're right.”

It seemed the Black Elder wasn't talking nonsense; the contents of the book matched perfectly.

“‘Fire and ice can influence each other, and the symptoms that manifest as a reaction are…’”

Increased heart rate, nausea, rising body temperature, dizziness, and so on…?

Seeing me trace the words with my finger to confirm the contents, his white beard puffed out triumphantly.

“See? It's the same, isn't it?”

“Yes… it is the same.”

“There you have it, I told you so. There's nothing to worry about. It's all perfectly natural!”

His Majesty has a myung-hyun reaction, and the Little Marquess has a myung-hyun reaction.

Having reached his conclusion by tapping his glasses on the table three times, the Black Elder staggered to his feet.

“Little Marquess, this is my most treasured research material, but I'll give it to you. Read it when you're bored, it's quite fascinating.”

“No, I couldn't—”

“Ahem. Don't refuse. Think of it as a gift from your old grandpa and take it.”

After firmly placing the heavy book in my arms, the Black Elder slung an arm around the White Elder, who had just entered the room.

“My friend, you're here!”

“What's this? Why are you in such a good mood?”

“Well, you see. The Little Marquess was—”

Looking like he was about to topple over at any moment, the Black Elder somehow kept his balance, finished his story, and stomped his foot in excitement.

“So I told her, 'Yes! The Little Marquess is having a myung-hyun reaction, too!' What do you think? Didn't I do well? *Hol-hol… hol… snore.*”

“*Heh… heh… honestly…*”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Black Elder's head snapped back and he fell asleep. The White Elder stared at him as if he were looking at his mortal enemy.

“I started this, so I have no one to blame but myself… *Heh…*”

***

*Knock, knock.*

As I was checking my reflection in the mirror, a knock sounded, and Dane appeared.

“If your preparations are complete, shall I have the carriage brought around?”

“Yes, please.”

Putting last night's little commotion behind me, I was getting ready to attend the charity event and lifted the corners of my mouth into a slight smile.

“Is your stomach feeling any better?”

“My stomach? Hmm…”

At his worried question, my fresh green eyes in the mirror moved slowly.

First to the necklace on my slender neck, then to Enoch's scented candle on the vanity.

And finally, to the book the drunken Black Elder had given me as a gift.

Bringing my gaze, which had moved from one thing to the next, back to the front, I gave a light shrug.

“I think it'll be fine. Probably?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes. That's a relief.”

Dane left the room with a question mark on his face at my ambiguous answer.

I stood up, straightened my dress, and glanced over the book again before shaking my head gently.

“Goodness. Strange things really do happen here. What kind of symptoms are these? Anyone would mistake them for feelings of love, wouldn't they?”

My fingers traced the passage that elaborately described the exact same symptoms I was feeling. I closed the book and left the room, my steps feeling much lighter.

“I almost made a terrible mistake.”