Nodding in understanding, Yelena immediately asked about something else that had been bothering her.
“But how could you tell right away that the wine was drugged?”
Kaywhin had noticed that something about the wine was strange after only taking a single sip.
Kaywhin replied, “My tongue is on the sensitive side. Also… I’ve also taken this same drug before.”
“The same drug?”
Yelena almost jerked off the bed from surprise and disbelief.
But just as she was on the verge of trying to pull herself up, she demanded, “When? Where? How?”
“There was a time when I had to stay at another noble’s estate for work. During my stay, the lord of the estate had a shot of this drug delivered to my seat during dinner.”
“And so? What happened after that?”
Somehow the mood of the room seemed to have shifted into an interrogation of Kaywhin, but neither Yelena, who was asking the questions, nor Kaywhin noticed that anything was strange.
“That was it. It didn’t have much of an effect on me thanks to my constitution, so it took me a while to find out that I had even been given the drug.”
“…if the lord intentionally served you that drug, then he must have also sent a woman to your chambers as well, right?”
Yelena’s heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was about to explode.
Kaywhin replied, “Yes. But I asked her to leave immediately.”
“What is that lord’s name?”
“You want… his name?”
“Yes, please tell me.”
Kaywhin seemed to be puzzled by Yelena’s sudden desire to get the lord’s personal details, but he obediently spilled the information. Yelena took the name that Kaywhin offered and engraved it in her heart.
‘You’re the second one.’
With this, Yelena’s internal blacklist now had two names written on it.
The first was the masked man that they had met at the festival. The other was the lord whose name she had just recorded. Both of them would definitely get their just rewards one day.
Having reaffirmed her determination, Yelena gave a sigh. Although this exhalation released some heat, her body’s temperature kept rising. Even though the cold wind blowing into the room was caressing her brow, she was still feeling hot. How much more sweltering would it have been, if the window hadn’t been opened?
As Yelena had this sort of thought, she opened her mouth and said, “By the way, Kaywhin. About this drug. Are these all the symptoms? A fever, and some dizziness?”
“Yes, that should be all the symptoms that your body experiences.”
‘That’s not much,’ regarded Yelena casually.
Honestly speaking, with this fever and dizziness, it felt exactly the same as the last time she had caught the flu. Although she also had a slightly hazy feeling in her head, that was also similar to what happened when you caught a fever.
‘If that’s the case, then why on earth do they take these aphrodisiacs?’
Before she had been dosed with one herself, she had thought that they would have a greater effect, but instead, for some reason, it felt like she had instantly come down with a cold.
As Yelena was thinking these disparaging thoughts of the drug that she had been dosed with, she suddenly recalled what had happened a few moments earlier, when she and her husband had made contact with each other.
It was then she realized, ‘…ah.’
So that was… Ah, okay then. That was quite dangerous, for sure.
‘That’s right. It was so dangerous.’
Although it was hard to pinpoint what exactly had happened at that moment, it definitely gave her a dangerous feeling.
Recalling the sensation from that moment, Yelena started wriggling her prostrate body away from him.
Upon seeing this sight, Kaywhin was unable to hide his confusion and asked, “What exactly… are you doing?”
Yelena replied, “I’m just putting a safe distance between us.”
“Huh?”
“I’m just protecting you, Husband.”
Since it would be dangerous if they touched. Dangerous for her husband, that is.
Yelena felt proud of her acting.Did she seem a little more trustworthy with this?
Yelena had decided to change tactics. From now on, the ignorant her from the past, who had been in such a rush to see her husband’s naked body, was no longer. One of the rules of protracted warfare was that you needed to prepare the right sort of mindset and attitude.
So with this, it would be nice if her husband believed in this new, more reliable and trustworthy, version of herself.
“Haaah.”
After having put enough distance between her and Kaywhin, while remaining in a prone position, Yelena sighed. She had only now realized that it would have been easier if she had just rolled over instead of wriggling like she had, but it was already too late. Before her husband could notice her shame, Yelena quickly brought up a new topic.
“Oh, that’s right, Kaywhin?”
“…yes, Yelena.”
“About this drug, how long will it take before it loses its effect?”
After all, there were no drugs whose effects could last forever.
He soon replied, “Although it differs from person to person, all the symptoms should disappear in about half a day.”
‘Half a day.’
Yelena blinked in surprise. That was longer than she had expected. That meant she would be like this for around six hours.
Of course she would probably fall asleep before then, but that still meant that she had to stay in this state until she eventually fell asleep.
With a faint hope, Yelena asked, “Is there something like an antidote…?”
Kaywhin shook his head.
“Although it’s possible to create an antidote, it would take me half a day to do so.”
So he was saying that it was pointless. As this door was shut in her face, Yelena’s turned pale.
‘If we search carefully, then maybe we’ll find a previously prepared antidote hidden somewhere.’
Unable to let go of her last hope, she came up with this idea, but she soon gave up.
Her husband knew this drug far better than she did. So if he simply chose to watch over her instead of taking any other actions, like he was doing currently, then that meant that there was no way to reduce the effects of the drug, other than waiting for time to pass.
If there was any other possibility, whether it was by calling a doctor or finding an antidote, then her husband would have already made a move. He wasn’t the type of person to restrain himself if there was any obvious solution to the problems she was struggling with.
“…”
Having convinced herself of this, Yelena just now realized how much trust she had in her husband.
‘Just when did I start trusting him like this?’
Come to think of it, back when the lion had attacked them on the streets of the festival, she had also believed that he would protect her.
‘And right now as well.’
No matter what happened, Yelena’s faith in Kaywhin had never shaken. Did this faith come from thoroughly knowing what kind of person her husband was? Because she knew that he was both skillful and kind?
If it wasn’t that, then…
‘…if not that, then why?’
What other reason could there be?
Yelena closed her eyes. For some reason, the inside of her head was strangely blank. Somehow, she could feel that her thoughts didn’t seem to be forming properly. It was like a fog had risen inside her brain.
Suddenly, Yelena’s lips unconsciously parted, “Kaywhin, I’m so hot.”
Nodding in understanding, Yelena immediately asked about something else that had been bothering her.
“But how could you tell right away that the wine was drugged?”
Kaywhin had noticed that something about the wine was strange after only taking a single sip.
Kaywhin replied, “My tongue is on the sensitive side. Also… I’ve also taken this same drug before.”
“The same drug?”
Yelena almost jerked off the bed from surprise and disbelief.
But just as she was on the verge of trying to pull herself up, she demanded, “When? Where? How?”
“There was a time when I had to stay at another noble’s estate for work. During my stay, the lord of the estate had a shot of this drug delivered to my seat during dinner.”
“And so? What happened after that?”
Somehow the mood of the room seemed to have shifted into an interrogation of Kaywhin, but neither Yelena, who was asking the questions, nor Kaywhin noticed that anything was strange.
“That was it. It didn’t have much of an effect on me thanks to my constitution, so it took me a while to find out that I had even been given the drug.”
“…if the lord intentionally served you that drug, then he must have also sent a woman to your chambers as well, right?”
Yelena’s heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was about to explode.
Kaywhin replied, “Yes. But I asked her to leave immediately.”
“What is that lord’s name?”
“You want… his name?”
“Yes, please tell me.”
Kaywhin seemed to be puzzled by Yelena’s sudden desire to get the lord’s personal details, but he obediently spilled the information. Yelena took the name that Kaywhin offered and engraved it in her heart.
‘You’re the second one.’
With this, Yelena’s internal blacklist now had two names written on it.
The first was the masked man that they had met at the festival. The other was the lord whose name she had just recorded. Both of them would definitely get their just rewards one day.
Having reaffirmed her determination, Yelena gave a sigh. Although this exhalation released some heat, her body’s temperature kept rising. Even though the cold wind blowing into the room was caressing her brow, she was still feeling hot. How much more sweltering would it have been, if the window hadn’t been opened?
As Yelena had this sort of thought, she opened her mouth and said, “By the way, Kaywhin. About this drug. Are these all the symptoms? A fever, and some dizziness?”
“Yes, that should be all the symptoms that your body experiences.”
‘That’s not much,’ regarded Yelena casually.
Honestly speaking, with this fever and dizziness, it felt exactly the same as the last time she had caught the flu. Although she also had a slightly hazy feeling in her head, that was also similar to what happened when you caught a fever.
‘If that’s the case, then why on earth do they take these aphrodisiacs?’
Before she had been dosed with one herself, she had thought that they would have a greater effect, but instead, for some reason, it felt like she had instantly come down with a cold.
As Yelena was thinking these disparaging thoughts of the drug that she had been dosed with, she suddenly recalled what had happened a few moments earlier, when she and her husband had made contact with each other.
It was then she realized, ‘…ah.’
So that was… Ah, okay then. That was quite dangerous, for sure.
‘That’s right. It was so dangerous.’
Although it was hard to pinpoint what exactly had happened at that moment, it definitely gave her a dangerous feeling.
Recalling the sensation from that moment, Yelena started wriggling her prostrate body away from him.
Upon seeing this sight, Kaywhin was unable to hide his confusion and asked, “What exactly… are you doing?”
Yelena replied, “I’m just putting a safe distance between us.”
“Huh?”
“I’m just protecting you, Husband.”
Since it would be dangerous if they touched. Dangerous for her husband, that is.
Yelena felt proud of her acting.Did she seem a little more trustworthy with this?
Yelena had decided to change tactics. From now on, the ignorant her from the past, who had been in such a rush to see her husband’s naked body, was no longer. One of the rules of protracted warfare was that you needed to prepare the right sort of mindset and attitude.
So with this, it would be nice if her husband believed in this new, more reliable and trustworthy, version of herself.
“Haaah.”
After having put enough distance between her and Kaywhin, while remaining in a prone position, Yelena sighed. She had only now realized that it would have been easier if she had just rolled over instead of wriggling like she had, but it was already too late. Before her husband could notice her shame, Yelena quickly brought up a new topic.
“Oh, that’s right, Kaywhin?”
“…yes, Yelena.”
“About this drug, how long will it take before it loses its effect?”
After all, there were no drugs whose effects could last forever.
He soon replied, “Although it differs from person to person, all the symptoms should disappear in about half a day.”
‘Half a day.’
Yelena blinked in surprise. That was longer than she had expected. That meant she would be like this for around six hours.
Of course she would probably fall asleep before then, but that still meant that she had to stay in this state until she eventually fell asleep.
With a faint hope, Yelena asked, “Is there something like an antidote…?”
Kaywhin shook his head.
“Although it’s possible to create an antidote, it would take me half a day to do so.”
So he was saying that it was pointless. As this door was shut in her face, Yelena’s turned pale.
‘If we search carefully, then maybe we’ll find a previously prepared antidote hidden somewhere.’
Unable to let go of her last hope, she came up with this idea, but she soon gave up.
Her husband knew this drug far better than she did. So if he simply chose to watch over her instead of taking any other actions, like he was doing currently, then that meant that there was no way to reduce the effects of the drug, other than waiting for time to pass.
If there was any other possibility, whether it was by calling a doctor or finding an antidote, then her husband would have already made a move. He wasn’t the type of person to restrain himself if there was any obvious solution to the problems she was struggling with.
“…”
Having convinced herself of this, Yelena just now realized how much trust she had in her husband.
‘Just when did I start trusting him like this?’
Come to think of it, back when the lion had attacked them on the streets of the festival, she had also believed that he would protect her.
‘And right now as well.’
No matter what happened, Yelena’s faith in Kaywhin had never shaken. Did this faith come from thoroughly knowing what kind of person her husband was? Because she knew that he was both skillful and kind?
If it wasn’t that, then…
‘…if not that, then why?’
What other reason could there be?
Yelena closed her eyes. For some reason, the inside of her head was strangely blank. Somehow, she could feel that her thoughts didn’t seem to be forming properly. It was like a fog had risen inside her brain.
Suddenly, Yelena’s lips unconsciously parted, “Kaywhin, I’m so hot.”
