Chapter 6 (Part 3)

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a paired curse. The opponent is more strongly cursed than you.”  

Watching Delia laugh as if she found it amusing, Leonardo furrowed his brow.  

“Can you break it?”  

“Without compensation?”  

Seeing Delia tilt her head and ask, Leonardo scowled.  

Then she laughed heartily and said,  

“A simple method won’t work. Not only is it paired, but there’s more than just that on you, so I can’t solve it right now.”  

Saying so, Delia took out two items from her pocket and infused them with divine power.  

Then she tossed them to Leonardo.  

Catching the two flying bottles, Leonardo spoke with a fierce expression.  

“Don’t just throw things like this!”  

“You can catch them, can’t you?”  

As if asking if he couldn’t even do that, Leonardo gritted his teeth.  

Even with his fierce expression, Delia nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders.  

Her shamelessness made Leonardo grind his teeth.  

“If you couldn’t catch that, you shouldn’t call yourself my brother.”  

One of the few high-ranking priests and a battle healer in the empire smiled charmingly, lifting the corners of her red lips.  

Ha, Leonardo let out a hollow laugh and said,  

“So, what am I supposed to do with this?”  

At Leonardo’s question, Delia blinked as if hearing something unexpected.  

Then, realizing he was asking because of the ‘pair,’ she narrowed her eyes and gave a meaningful smile.  

Leonardo, who could tell what his sister was thinking just by looking at her face, immediately realized Delia’s plan and said,  

“Don’t even think about spouting nonsense.”  

Watching her brother firmly deny it, Delia shrugged her shoulders.  

Well, it’s not something she should worry about anyway.  

“I have a dispatch schedule starting now. It’ll take at least half a month. I hope it’s resolved by then―.”  

Whispering that it wouldn’t be, Delia continued speaking.  

“First, take that in a ‘normal’ state. Then the curse and magic on you and the pair will weaken.”  

“…And?”  

“You seem to be quite affected by the curse and magic now, but that will weaken too.”  

Saying so, Delia looked at Leonardo with a serious face, different from before.  

Then she pointed to the heart area with her finger.  

“The contamination will worsen over time. Then, it can’t be solved by ordinary means.”  

“…Are you talking about ‘soul contamination’?”  

At Leonardo’s words, she smiled.  

Without giving a definite answer, Delia turned her body and said,  

“I’ll return as soon as possible, so come to my tower with the pair.”  

Then, I’ll do something about it.  

Saying so, Delia slowly walked away. Watching her for a long time, Leonardo began to move.  

‘Was it really because of the curse?’  

If the emotions he had were merely because of the curse, the story would become simpler.  

On the other hand, thinking that made him feel somewhat complicated, and Leonardo stood holding the doorknob of his room for a long time.  

He felt a bit tired.  

***  

When Grace woke up in the morning, she realized that she hadn’t had any dreams the previous night.  

Realizing that, she became aware of the unfamiliar ceiling and unfamiliar smell. Only then did she realize she had woken up in Leonardo’s body, not at the Marquis’ residence but at the Ducal  residence.  

‘…This is Sir Leonardo’s room.’  

Raising her body and looking around, she saw neat furniture and monotonous-colored walls reflecting the owner’s personality.  

Come to think of it, there was a familiar yet unfamiliar smell from the bed.  

‘Sir Leonardo’s scent.’  

A smell she could only detect when moaning in his arms.  

Realizing that, she felt the already tight morning er*ction become even more pronounced.  

Grace flicked the er*ect organ with her hand and muttered,  

“Really, it’s excessive.”  

Just thinking about it briefly, why did it react so quickly?  

It seemed like this organ wasn’t governed by the brain.  

‘Ah, so that’s why they say the lower body is the main body.’  

She had heard others call a colleague who dated any woman like that, but she didn’t know what it meant. Now she realized it meant someone who only thought in that direction.  

Grace, having gained unwanted trivia, let out a hollow laugh.  

“Second Young Master, are you awake?”  

At the sound from outside, Grace checked the clock.  

There was still some time left until the appointed time.  

“Yes.”  

She replied in a nonchalant voice, and a servant cautiously pushed a tray inside.  

On it were a sandwich and a cup of coffee.  

Seeing the meager meal, Grace almost furrowed her brow but cleared her throat and said,  

“Leave it there and go.”  

“Yes, Second Young Master.”  

Without further words, the servant neatly withdrew, and Grace could guess what kind of master he usually was.  

‘He must be quite a strict master to his subordinates.’  

Unlike her, who had been close friends with her maid for a long time.  

Recalling that fact, Grace accidentally dropped the sandwich she was habitually eating. By now, Leonardo would also have woken up and…  

“…Oh no.”  

…be receiving Becky’s full-body massage.  

It was something she did every morning, but she couldn’t remember if she had written it down in a memo. She thought she probably forgot and didn’t write it down.  

Grace picked up the fallen sandwich, continued eating it, and then took out the communication device.  

“…I should probably contact him early, right?”  

But since it was too early, she hesitated for a while, then put down the communication device and sipped her coffee.  

The particularly strong coffee was bitter.  

“Hot! Oh, it’s poison, poison!”  

Just one sip made her tongue tingle, and Grace grimaced.  

Quickly shoving the remaining piece of sandwich into her mouth, she rubbed her empty-feeling stomach with her hand and muttered,  

“I should suggest switching bodies before breakfast.”  

The thought of having to eat such a meager meal every morning made her stomach ache.  

Grace smacked her lips a few times and looked around. Just in case there was some other food.  

“Wow, there’s really nothing here.”  

But Leonardo had mentioned it before.  

He just needed to eat enough to get by. Just enough to not die.  

‘Though I don’t think he put it that way.’  

In any case, it meant he had no interest in eating. So he would probably eat just as carelessly with her body.  

However, Grace had a physically demanding job.  

‘There’s no way, no way, no way, no way I can train on just bird food!’  

She barely restrained herself from asking for more sandwiches.  

No matter how hungry she was, she couldn’t bring herself to drink the bitter coffee. Leaving the coffee, Grace got up and headed to the bathroom.  

Or she tried to.  

‘Where’s the bathroom, anyway?’  

She knew it was somewhere around here, but the room’s layout was so different from her own that she couldn’t be sure.  

Calling a servant and suddenly asking where the bathroom was would be strange, wouldn’t it?  

‘They’d just think their Young Master has gone mad.’  

Even though she found Leonardo annoying, she didn’t want to ruin his reputation at a time like this, so Grace scratched her head.  

“Ah, really!”  

If she had known, she would have asked for a map of the mansion!  

As she lamented, Grace’s eyes caught sight of a paper on the desk.  

Approaching it as if possessed, she picked it up and saw neatly written letters. On the back, a simple guide to the mansion was drawn.  

[Sorry for the unnecessarily complicated Ducal residence, Sir Lowell. The servant attending me is discreet and doesn’t take excessive interest in the master, so they should be suitable for tasks.]  

She recalled the servant she had seen in the morning. The small child who quietly pushed the tray in and then left carefully.  

[There’s no one else serving me except that child, so you’ll have to handle everything alone, even if it’s a bit inconvenient.]  

Only then did Grace understand why it was still quiet despite the master being awake.  

Since the master didn’t want to be attended to, no one came near this place.  

‘It’s rather fortunate for me now.’  

Nodding, she continued reading the letter.  

[I’ve instructed the servant, so you can have as much breakfast as you want. I’ll take care of it.]  

Though it said she could eat as much as she wanted, Grace didn’t feel particularly pleased.  

“Ha, saying eating too much upsets the stomach. Really, what a joke.”  

[When you enter the bathroom, the servant will prepare clothes for you to change into outside the door. Then, I’ll see you at the lab.]

For some reason, Grace chuckled at the note that seemed to reflect Leonardo’s personality.  

“Really, what a funny person.”  

When Leonardo opened his eyes in Grace’s body, he held his breath at the scent wafting from all around.  

Though not familiar, it was a scent he had smelled before, making him recall that day’s events.  

He remembered Grace moaning and arching her back in his arms, and Leonardo felt like he might get an er*ction even though he currently didn’t have one.  

“Ugh, damn it.”  

Thinking such thoughts made his lower body tighten.  

Unconsciously, Leonardo clutched his lower abdomen and groaned, not daring to lower his hand any further.  

‘This is crazy.’  

Leonardo curled up, realizing that a woman’s body also gets aroused when thinking of something s*xual.  

He tightly closed his eyes at the unfamiliar sensation of his lower region tingling.  

But the more he tried not to think about it, the more Grace’s body, which had tasted him so deliciously, came to mind, making his toes curl involuntarily.  

‘Stop thinking about it, Leonardo Fernandez!’  

Even though it was his first experience, he didn’t expect to be tormented by the memories so frequently.  

Moreover, since it wasn’t even his body, he couldn’t comfort himself and had to curl up, thinking of spellbooks.