Chapter 188 One Pill Is Enough
"Umm, I’m sorry," Dave mumbled, his voice barely audible, resembling the faint buzz of a mosquito. Hera silently breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Dave’s apology. She realized how fortunate it was that she had managed to regain her composure in time to engage in banter with Dave. If his suspicions had taken root, it could have left an indelible stain on their interaction, severely marring his first impression of her.
She didn’t even want to imagine the consequences of missing even one male lead from her lineup. If she couldn’t enlist all of them under her banner, would they be drawn back to Alice’s side? Would they backstab her instead? The thought was unbearable. She recognized that her impatience had led her to play a trick on them, hoping to subtly warn them about the potential dangers of being drugged and falling into someone else’s scheme.
It’s not that she believed Alice would resort to such tactics, but there was always a chance that the villains in the novel would create schemes from which Alice would ultimately benefit. Inevitably, the first victim would likely be Dave.
It seemed that Dave was destined to always be the first victim, no matter what. Hera let out a sigh of defeat before reaching into the second drawer beside her. She threw the item she retrieved near Dave’s hips, watching it land with a soft thud.
He looked down and stared at the small bottle of pills, choking up again. ’Is she implying that if I wanted to, I should take the aphrodisiac myself?!’ Dave’s eyes widened in incredulity as he glanced at Hera. He didn’t know whether to start praying for his pitiful self when he got home or to laugh at how straightforward Hera was being. The situation was so absurd that it tickled his funny bone, even as he worried about his friends’ reactions. They might murder him if they found out he had cut in line and taken a taste test first.
After realizing his train of thought, Dave felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He was shocked by how easily he had accepted the idea. Without noticing, he had already grabbed the pill bottle, uncapped it, and taken out a pill. ’I guess one pill is enough to satisfy the lady?’ he mused. But as the realization hit him again, his hands froze. His face went from red to white, then back to red, and finally turned a shade of purple.
Hera watched from the side with amusement, not quite sure what Dave was up to. Before she could fully process the situation, her mouth acted faster than her brain. "What are you doing taking a pill now?"
Dave’s head whipped around, his expression one of confusion. "Didn’t you give me an aphrodisiac to take?" he responded as if the pill he was holding was just a harmless piece of candy he wanted to try.
Hera gave him a strange look, resisting the urge to facepalm. ’No wonder he was always treated as the group’s mascot,’ she thought, baffled by his actions. She couldn’t tell if he was testing her or genuinely serious. "If you think this is an aphrodisiac, why are you taking it? Are you planning to frame me, claiming I drugged you to sleep with me?" Hera smirked reproachfully, her expression sharp. Dave felt a pang of embarrassment under her gaze.
But he did not back down and retorted, "I was merely checking it. Why are you giving me this?!" His temper flared, making him forget they were still sitting in Hera’s bed in the middle of the night. If anyone saw them like this, they’d assume the worst, but at that moment, it was the least of their concerns. "You should be the one explaining yourself to me!" Dave demanded through gritted teeth.
"Mr. Minister, since you seem to be the type of person who could easily fall victim to a drugging incident, I was giving you an anaphrodisiac to counter the effects of any aphrodisiac. If you think this pill is questionable, you can always send it to a lab for testing. I always carry this kind with me," Hera explained nonchalantly, maintaining a teasing, sarcastic smile on her face.
Dave was left speechless, Hera’s words echoing in his head. Why would she always carry such a pill with her? Like Xavier, he hadn’t been present at the auction house when Luke, Rafael, and Zhane encountered Hera with the drugged Leo, so he was unaware of the backstory behind the anaphrodisiac. However, he couldn’t muster the courage to ask, feeling he’d already embarrassed himself more than enough.