Chapter 90 : Chapter 90
Volume 2
Chapter 14 : So-Called Freebies Always Have a Way of Surprising People
The maid stepped back into the darkness once more.
There was, in fact, another figure in a maid uniform lurking in the shadows around the corner, crouched there and busily occupied with something unknown.
A faint light flickered around her, while dense, ancient runes surfaced and vanished over and over like bubbles rising on the surface of water.
“I did not expect you to know that girl’s preferences.”
Number Six, crouching on the ground, said, “Is she one of your targets as well?”
“No, she is not.”
Leaning against the wall, Number Eight rested with her eyes closed.
“But she is Number Nine’s target, and Number Nine used to be my partner, so I know some information about her.”
“Number Nine... if I remember correctly, that mission failed...”
“She was the one who got counter-killed by that girl despite being two major realms above her.”
“...”
Number Six said nothing more and focused on her work.
As time passed bit by bit, Number Eight finally lost some of her patience and opened her eyes.
“How much longer? We do not have much time.”
“Almost done.”
Number Six was drenched in sweat, her face pale, but her concentration did not waver in the slightest.
She kept deciphering those runes without pause.
“After all, this was set up by 【Lion King】 Lorne Campbell. Although it is an enormous construct covering the entire Duke’s estate, quietly opening a gap in it without alerting him was never going to be easy.”
“You need to move faster.”
Number Eight stared at the tightly shut door.
“If Muen Campbell or Princess Selicia suddenly comes out, then our mission will count as a failure.”
“I know. But I think we still have enough time.”
At that point, Number Six’s expression suddenly turned a little strange.
“The two of them are doing that sort of thing in the room right now.”
...
Muen stared at the door with a face full of hope, like a believer yearning for a miracle to descend.
Sadly, no miracle came.
Ariel, his one and only savior at this moment, still had not appeared.
“So hot...”
Instead, Selicia’s moans were growing more and more frequent, and it seemed she might wake up at any moment.
“It is over...”
Muen buried his face and nearly burst into tears.
It seemed that no miracle would happen today.
Without the protagonist appearing, the so-called ruin route would vanish like a bubble, while Muen’s own fate would plunge headfirst—like a truck barreling into the protagonist—straight into the death route he had tried every possible way to avoid.
In fact, there was no need to wait that long.
There was no need to wait for some still-unknown person to make a move.
The moment Selicia woke up, the first thing she would do would absolutely be to strike him dead.
“Hm? Come to think of it, Selicia has moaned this many times already, so why has she still not actually woken up?”
After calming down a little, Muen once again caught onto a crucial detail.
Everyone knew that when a person woke from deep sleep—especially from an unnatural state brought on by drugs or alcohol—they would usually let out an involuntary groan.
That was why Muen had assumed Selicia was about to wake.
But no one groaned over and over before waking unless they were having an erotic dream.
Selicia definitely would not be having an erotic dream, so if she was like this, then there had to be some other reason.
And besides...
“So hot...”
Muen looked toward the fireplace.
The flames in the fireplace were indeed still burning, but because Selicia had unleashed frost earlier, the room was still somewhat chilly.
At least, Muen, who had taken off his clothes, felt cold.
But Selicia was not wearing much more than he was now, so why was she hot?
Moaning.
Feeling hot.
Could it be...?
Gulp...
Muen swallowed hard, and a wildly absurd thought suddenly arose in his mind.
To prove that his immature suspicion was completely ridiculous, Muen cautiously began moving closer to Selicia.
A moment ago, because he had been afraid of being struck dead the instant she woke up, he had stayed rather far away.
Now, as he gradually approached, Selicia lying on the sofa came back into view.
“No way...”
The moment he saw her, Muen’s heart skipped a beat.
“Mm... so hot...”
Selicia’s eyes were still shut. She had not yet awakened from her slumber.
But her silver-white lashes fluttered, her skin glowed with an unnatural flush, her long, shapely legs twisted tightly together, and her hands clawed unconsciously at her already revealing gown, leaving it in even greater disarray.
“N-No, that cannot be it. It cannot be what I am thinking.”
“This must just be a side effect of the drug. Yes, a side effect!”
“As long as she takes a cold bath, the side effects will disappear. Yes, that is it! Is that not how it always works in novels?”
“Hold on, Selicia! I will take you to cold water!”
Now thoroughly flustered, Muen reached out in a panic, intending to scoop Selicia up by the waist and take her to find a bath so he could wash away the so-called “side effects” with cold water.
But he failed.
Because a slender, fair hand suddenly seized his wrist.
Selicia had somehow already awakened, and she was staring straight at him.
There was fury in her eyes, blazing like fire, but it quickly faded and turned into the bewilderment of a lost little rabbit.
“Y-Your Highness, please hear me out. Actually, you just got drunk from the tea, and I was about to take you to the bath so you could sober up.”
With his legs already starting to tremble, Muen made up nonsense on the spot.
“Since Your Highness is awake now, then I will not disturb you any longer. I shall take my leave.”
Muen wanted to run, because he had already realized that the situation was slipping beyond control.
No matter how unwilling he was to accept reality, once he had seen Selicia in this state, how could he possibly not understand what had happened?
It was an aphrodisiac!
That “little gift” from the mysterious shopkeeper was actually an aphrodisiac!
So that was what he meant by a miraculous effect?
A drug plus an aphrodisiac—what a vile swindler you are.
Damn you! Give me my money back!
No, he had to run.
If something beautiful, yet in truth not beautiful at all, really happened here between him and Selicia, Muen could not imagine any path by which he might survive!
At the very least, he would probably be sentenced to death by slow slicing!
But sadly...
He could not run even if he wanted to.
Because Selicia’s small hand had locked onto him in an iron grip.
That hand looked so soft and weak, yet in reality, Muen felt as though his wrist had been clamped in a pair of steel tongs.
This was the difference in raw strength.
At that moment, Muen was once again reminded that Selicia was a woman far stronger than he was.
Run?
No chance.
“Y-Your Highness... calm down. You must calm down! With your willpower, you can definitely endure this!”
At this point, Muen could only place his hopes on Selicia herself.
Selicia’s gaze flickered between lucidity and confusion.
But Muen could already see clearly that even when she was lucid, the fury in her eyes was beginning to turn into another kind of flame.
“Come on, Your Highness. Do not give in to a mere drug. You can definitely—”
Bang!
Muen’s encouragement was abruptly cut off.
The world suddenly spun around him.
By the time Muen came back to his senses, he realized with a jolt that he and Selicia had already exchanged positions.
Muen was now lying on the sofa.
And Selicia, her waist supple and graceful, was seated on top of him.