Chapter 76

Johann, holding onto his fading consciousness, began to circulate the mana within his body.  

In truth, with ordinary levels of mana, it was nearly impossible to resist even a little of the ‘love potion’.  

However, Johann possessed a quantity of mana so great it was said to appear only once in a hundred years, making it possible for him.  

Taking advantage of a brief return to clarity, he swiftly and efficiently struck down the Princess’s attendants using force.  

Aiming only for vital points, even the burliest attendants collapsed helplessly.  

“Hoo.”  

Quickly turning away, Johann escaped from the Princess’s palace and went straight to find Samuel.  

“Haa, Samuel.”  

“Your Grace! What’s happened?”  

“…Haa, haa. Let’s go, to the carriage, immediately.”  

He exhaled uncomfortably, staggering as he walked.  

Having used up mana while not in a normal state, his body felt even worse.  

“All of a sudden… In any case, I’ll escort you to the carriage at once.”  

Samuel, quick to catch on, didn’t ask further and supported Johann.  

“…D*mn it, we have to hurry before the Princess’s attendants come after us.”  

“Yes, Your Grace.”  

Samuel asked a nearby attendant to fetch the Blumhart carriage as quickly as possible.  

Fortunately, the carriage arrived before the Princess’s attendants could find Johann.  

“…Haa. Ugh, d*mn it.”  

With Samuel’s help, Johann climbed into the carriage, letting out a deep sigh and a groan.  

“Are you alright, Your Grace?”  

“…Damnably, I am not alright.”  

“What in the world happened in the Princess’s palace?”  

“Hoo, the Princess drugged me.”  

“What?”  

Samuel’s eyes widened.  

“Ack!”  

So startled that he jumped up and hit his head on the carriage ceiling.  

“…And it was the lowest-grade one, called a ‘love potion’ at that.”  

Samuel told the coachman to get out of the palace at full speed.  

“Is the Princess truly insane?”  

Now that she’d been caught secretly giving Johann an illegal drug, she’d try anything to drag him back to her palace.  

It was best to get out of the palace before that happened.  

What she needed wasn’t truly a night with him, but just for it to look as though something had happened between them.  

That way, she could force a wedding to happen immediately.  

“By your state, Your Grace, it seems you ingested quite a bit.”  

Samuel examined Johann’s condition with a troubled expression.  

“Your Grace, you have a much stronger resistance to poisons and drugs than most, thanks to your mana, but…”  

Johann was suffering, barely able to hold onto his reason.  

Had he been an ordinary person, he might have already lost consciousness or fainted.  

It was clear the Princess had staked everything on tonight.  

“I’ll summon a healing mage immediately upon arrival.”  

Samuel said, eyes full of anger and worry.  

Johann bit down so hard that his gums bled and nodded slightly.  

The carriage left the palace, heading for the Blumhart estate.  

The time it took to reach the mansion felt like an eternity for Johann.  

‘…This is insane.’  

Perhaps because of the drug, his senses were so heightened that even the soft feel of the sofa was irritating.  

He never imagined the Princess would stoop to something so low, and in the palace, no less.  

To think she could be this thoughtless and vile.  

He had no intention of letting this go.  

Having lost him, the Princess was likely having a hellish night herself.  

At last, the carriage arrived at the front gate of the mansion.  

“Hoo, I’ll be in the room on the first floor. Bring the mage there.”  

Johann shook off Samuel’s support and spoke.  

“Will you be alright alone? How about the coachman…?”  

“…Haa. It’s fine, I can go alone.”  

Even the touch of another person stung his skin painfully.  

So it was better to go alone, even if it was difficult.  

Samuel ran off toward the east annex, while Johann, breathing shallowly, entered the entrance hall.  

“Haa, haa.”  

It was late and most people were asleep, so only candlelight flickered along the corridor.  

Just as he was about to open the door to the nearest room—  

“…Duke?”  

D*mn it.  

It was the voice of the person he least wanted to meet at this moment.  

“Did you just get back?”  

It was Lia.  

Her voice was a little husky, perhaps because she had just woken up.  

Johann gritted his teeth and tried to circulate his mana again.  

“…Yes, don’t mind me.”  

He forced the words out, staggering.  

“Are you alright?”  

Alarmed, Lia hurried over and supported him.  

“Oh my, I have to get a healing mage right away!”  

“Samuel already went.”  

‘…I’m going crazy.’  

Wherever Lia’s hand touched, his skin burned.  

He wanted to push her away immediately, but just maintaining his consciousness was overwhelming.  

“Your body’s burning up. We need to cool you down first.”  

Not knowing what was really going on, Lia held him tighter and opened the door.  

“…Stop, go.”  

The moment they entered the room, he managed to speak.  

“What nonsense is that? Your whole body is burning up.”  

Ignoring him, Lia laid him diagonally on the bed and rushed to the bathroom.  

She returned with a towel soaked in cold water.  

“…Ugh.”  

Johann swallowed a groan and clenched his fist.  

‘If I do something I’ll regret, please just leave.’  

Unaware of his inner turmoil, Lia tried to place the towel on his face.  

Tap.  

“Haa, ha. I’ll do it.”  

“How can you do it yourself when you’re struggling to breathe?”  

Her scent, so close, was intoxicating in a way completely different from the Princess.  

‘D*mn love potion.’  

Once he recovered, he would scour every back alley and wipe them all out.  

Johann ground his teeth and swore to himself.  

“I’ll stay only until Sir Samuel comes.”  

Lia ignored Johann’s words and tried again to place the towel on his forehead.  

Tap!  

Since meeting Lia, Johann had held on by drawing on his mana, but now he had reached his absolute limit.  

Unable to control his strength, he slapped Lia’s hand away.  

The towel she’d been holding dropped to the floor with a soft thud.  

“…Sorry.”  

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you disliked it that much.”  

Lia said as she picked up the fallen towel.  

Seeing her so dejected made Johann feel even worse.  

“Hoo. It’s not that I dislike you, …the Princess drugged me.”  

“What?”  

Lia’s eyes widened in shock.  

“…So please, just go.”  

“……”  

But Lia hesitated, unable to leave.  

He looked too unwell to be left alone.  

Sweat was pouring down his whole body, his eyes were bloodshot, and his lips were bleeding and ragged from biting them so hard.  

‘If I stay, he’ll only suffer more. I should just go.’  

“Then, I’ll just put the towel on your head and go.”  

Lia re-soaked the towel and approached Johann again.  

“Please cool down until the healing mage arrives.”  

“…Then, hurry and do it.”  

“Yes.”  

Lia quickly placed the towel on his head.  

Before leaving, she checked his face one more time—and their eyes met.  

“……”  

Strangely, she couldn’t look away from his red eyes.  

“……”  

Johann, too, couldn’t take his gaze off Lia.  

A subtle silence hung in the air for a moment, and just as Lia unconsciously reached out toward his face—  

“Your Grace, I’ve brought….”  

Samuel opened the door.  

Startled, Lia quickly looked away from Johann.  

“…Then, I’ll be going.”  

And she fled the room as if running away.  

Her face was flushed red as she left.  

“…Haa, you got here quickly.”  

Johann let out a deep sigh.  

“We didn’t interrupt anything, did we?”  

The mage who had come with Samuel whispered, oblivious.  

“Ahem, I don’t think so.”  

Samuel replied, glancing at Johann’s exhausted face.  

“…What are you waiting for? Start the detox.”  

At his cold tone, the mage hurried over and began the healing.  

For Johann, it was an excruciating night.

* * *

“Nowhere to be found?”  

Patrizia shouted sharply.  

“What about the Blumhart carriage?”  

She asked urgently.  

“I just checked, and the carriage is gone as well.”  

The attendants bowed their heads.  

“You can’t even catch one person in a bad state after being drugged?”  

What to do, what to do now.  

If he managed to get away and made an issue out of tonight!  

‘If word got out that I used a drug from the back alleys, what would happen to my reputation throughout the Empire!’  

Patrizia bit her nails and paced in place.  

Then she suddenly lifted her head and left the palace.  

Her ladies-in-waiting and attendants followed with anxious faces.  

“…Florian, Florian!”  

She arrived at Florian’s palace.  

“What? Why are you here, Sister?”  

“What do I do now? What am I going to do!”  

“The drug didn’t work?”  

Florian tilted his head.  

“The Duke of Blumhart escaped.”  

Patrizia spoke with eyes full of fear.  

“…What do I do! He’ll never let this go!”  

“No way, after I set it all up, you let him get away?”  

“Mother and Father will find out about this too—I shouldn’t have listened to you!”  

Patrizia pointed at Florian.  

“You’re the one who said to use any means necessary, Sister.”  

Florian smirked, hands in his trouser pockets.  

“If you hadn’t given me that cheap drug…!”  

She grabbed her brother’s sleeve.  

“You’re blaming me? The choice was yours.”  

Florian pried her hands off.  

“Never mind the engagement breaking—what about society, what about society from now on!”  

She wailed, almost in tears.  

“…Florian, will Mother forgive me?”  

Patrizia feared Narcissa’s anger even more than her ruined reputation.  

‘She could avoid society for a while, but Mother….’  

She shuddered.  

“Well, judging by Mother’s temperament…”  

“…What if she doesn’t forgive me!”  

Just as Patrizia was about to collapse in despair—  

“What is it that I won’t forgive?”  

Their mother, Narcissa, appeared.  

Patrizia’s eyes filled with terror.