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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Love Potion
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It must be some herb for insomnia, I figured.
Without giving it much thought, I crouched down beside Eric.
Already quite drunk, Eric tried to take another sip from his glass. I snatched it away from him.
“Hey! You need to stop drinking…? You’re completely wasted!”
“Me? Impossible.”
I wonder if he knows that not realizing you’re drunk is the strongest evidence of being drunk.
‘Did he go through life not even realizing he can’t hold his liquor?’
That must be why he, a man who can’t handle his drink, downed half the bottle.
Of course, Eric only smelled of alcohol; he wasn’t causing a scene, just sitting there quietly.
Such a… pure being…
‘Isn’t he just so pure? I apologize for saying this, Madam, but I believe a beautiful creature like this should be shared. For the sake of mankind’s peace?’
I recalled what Margaret Beaufort had said when she bribed me with a picture of Eric.
How could world peace possibly be achieved through Eric’s good looks!
…That thought vanished the moment I saw the picture she gave me.
‘Ha… I feel a sense of peace settling in my heart…’
Indeed, if all of humanity saw this picture, it was plausible that peace would be achieved.
‘Looking at Eric’s face just makes my creative desires boil over… Really, you won’t tell Eric, will you?’
And now, the man from that picture, feeling stuffy, began to unbutton his shirt.
“Whoa, whoa!”
I quickly stopped his hands.
What, what are you doing! Dangerous! This is dangerous!
He looked up at me with a puzzled expression.
“…It’s stuffy… feels tight…”
“I-I can see that. But you still can’t take it off.”
“Why… not?”
Eric pointed at me, his pupils dilated. I shook my head vigorously.
“For your own good, of course. For the sake of Young Master Eric’s well-being, it’s best you remain clothed in front of me.”
Who knows what might happen if you strip in front of me!
“The world isn’t full of nice people like you, Young Lord. Tsk! You might get snatched up by a wicked person like me!”
If Eric knew just how dirty my thoughts were right now, he’d look at me with disgust.
Oblivious, Eric simply leaned his head wearily against the bed.
“Then… take me.”
He then opened his eyes into a lazy squint. I gulped without realizing it.
Take you? Does he have any idea what he’s saying right now!
‘Should I just… take him…?’
I shook my head, trying to dispel the strange thoughts swirling in my mind.
“You’re saying something that could get you in real trouble…! Let’s get you onto the bed first. Sleep in the bed.”
I could just sleep on the floor.
‘There is absolutely no way I can sleep in the same bed with him…’
His cheeks, flushed a lovely shade from the drink; his lips, moist and glistening, perhaps from the alcohol; his eyes, languidly unfocused…
Dangerous. This is dangerous…
For Eric, not for me, of course.
I cleared the bottle and glass from near Eric and took his hand.
“Heave-ho!”
I tried to pull him up by his hand, but…
As if this man, who was about twice my size, would be lifted by me.
After several grunts and strains, I collapsed, panting.
“…Phew…”
As I sat slumped beside him catching my breath, Eric asked.
“What are you doing? Tickling me?”
Eric’s voice was muffled, his face half-buried in the duvet.
The visible corner of his mouth was clearly turned up in a smile.
Does he find my struggle amusing?! A sudden surge of irritation washed over me, and I grabbed Eric’s arm and shoulder.
I strained to lift him. Naturally, Eric didn’t budge an inch. I finally slumped down like a broken machine.
“Whoa…!”
Thinking I was about to fall, Eric pulled me toward him. He cupped the back of my head with his large hand.
“…You really… ha… Can’t you please try not to get hurt?”
Eric asked, his face scrunched up as if he were angry.
Now finding myself looking down at him, I answered.
“…I’m trying… to be careful…”
“You don’t cherish yourself, so I have to…”
Because I don’t cherish myself, you have to…? You have to what?
But while I waited for Eric’s next words, my eyes had already drifted naturally to his Adam’s apple.
Eyes, get back in your sockets. Please…
I prayed.
Oh, Lord. Please don’t let me assault Young Lord Eric here and get arrested by the police instead of the psycho Duke, and please don’t let this mouth of mine spew any nonsense that gets me kicked out of the ducal estate…
“…Thinking strange thoughts again, aren’t you?”
Eric asked, as if he had read my mind.
“No?”
I quickly shook my head.
Shoo! Shoo! I wasn’t thinking anything… nothing at all…
But our proximity was far too close for me to tame my inner beast.
Eric’s breath, reeking of alcohol, brushed against the tip of my nose.
Eric didn’t lower the hand cupping the back of my head. Instead, he gently twirled my frizzy, dog-like hair, as if he liked it.
“…What… are you doing…”
I couldn’t even breathe properly.
But for a different reason than when I was trapped in a small, dark space.
I could only watch as Eric’s fingers twisted my hair.
And how his gaze slowly lingered on my hair, my cheek, my lips.
“…Your hair, it feels so fluffy.”
“Honestly…”
As if I were a dog…
You keep this up and I might really turn into a beast, you know.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“…Has anyone… besides Vivian, I mean. Has anyone else ever hurt you or made things difficult for you?”
Hurt me or made things difficult?
I furrowed my brow.
“Well… I suppose so?”
Eric’s eyes clouded over. He seemed to be deep in thought. What was he thinking about so seriously? A dry laugh escaped my lips.
“And if there was? Are you going to punish them or something?”
“…I’d have to punish them. We agreed. To protect each other. You said that’s what families do.”
*You said that’s what families do.*
At those words, I clenched my fists without realizing it.
Why would you punish them? Who are you to punish anyone? The words pooled in my mouth.
Why do you keep acting like you could be my home? My home is Philip and Helena. We were always a home to each other.
Where on earth did you just drop from? You fell from the sky, didn’t you? After I ate that damned apple wine, you suddenly just dropped on me.
“You’re too numb to your own pain. So anyone who caused you that pain must be a truly terrible person… so… so…”
“So?”
“I’ll have to kill them.”
A chilling light flashed in Eric’s eyes, as if he would truly kill that terrible person.
I looked down at Eric, a cold sensation washing over my entire body, about to ask why he was making such an expression.
But Eric’s expression had already softened back into a languid one. With that same lazy look, he continued to stroke my hair.
His eyes grew more and more peaceful, as if he were petting a dog’s fur.
“…”
I felt like I had truly become a dog that was helping its master find peace of mind. I quickly slapped his hand away.
Smack!
With a sharp sound, Eric clutched the back of his hand. Then, with a face that showed no pain at all, he muttered.
“…You know you have a surprisingly stinging slap?”
His voice was so relaxed; he was definitely drunk. Normally, he looks like he could lift a mountain…
Then again, even while drunk, his reflexes were incredible when I almost fell earlier.
“That’s what you get for touching a lady’s hair without permission. Just pass out and sleep there. I’m going to sleep on the bed.”
With that, I pushed Eric back. Once again, he slumped against the bed.
Damn it.
The way he buried his face, exposing his Adam’s apple, was just too sensual.
As I started to sit on the bed, the sight became unbearable, and I stood up. I walked over to the table and picked up the glass shimmering with red liquid.
He said it was good for insomnia, right? At this rate, I’m definitely not going to sleep, so I might as well drink it.
I drained the glass and leaned against the table, looking down at Eric.
His drinking habits were decadent and dangerous. If any other woman saw him mumbling while hugging a blanket, they wouldn’t be as gentlemanly as I was.
In front of other women, absolutely not…
‘Eric, why don’t you have a drink?’
In that moment, a vision of the princess offering Eric a drink with a seductive voice flashed through my mind.
‘No… No! That’s dangerous!’
I hurriedly crouched in front of Eric and poked the shoulder of the half-lidded man.
“…If you ever go to a party at the princess’s palace and she offers you a drink, you must never, ever drink it, you understand? It’s really dangerous… She’s on a whole other level of dangerous compared to me…”
“…Hot…”
“Pardon?”
Just then, Eric mumbled with his eyes closed. What did he say?
“Should I get you some water? What did you just…”
I leaned in to hear him better. It was then that Eric wrapped his arms around my waist.
His red eyes were suddenly right in front of my nose.
Eric’s eyes scanned me as if craving something.
“…Is this, really good for insomnia?”
Eric asked.
Feeling the heat radiating from his large body, I looked past his shoulder at the red bottle.
‘…?’
Come to think of it, that herbal scent from before…
“No way.”
‘Since we’ve met, I have something for you too. You don’t sleep well when you’re in a new place, right?’
‘This is a wine that’s good for insomnia…’
‘Oh… Mom, this isn’t it.’
I watched Eric’s hand, which was holding my wrist, slowly approach my cheek.
“…!”
This really isn’t it!
I was actually a little touched that Mom gave me a gift…!
I finally remembered where I had smelled that herb before.
That herb. I had definitely smelled it when I worked for the witch in the south. The witch used to sell strange potions and things. Among them, the best-selling herb was one that turned red when mixed with alcohol…
‘This is what they call a love potion…’
What they called a love potion…
A medicine said to aid the love between a man and a woman…
“Why is your face so red?”
Eric asked.
He brought his hand to my cheek. Our heartbeats seemed to thrum together.
Why is it so red…?
Without thinking, I cupped Eric’s face with both my hands.
“…?”
Because I drank that love potion, too?
