“Is she feeling unwell somewhere?”

His voice grew sharp. The hostess involuntarily shrank back as she explained.

“Yes. We tried brewing a new tea, but Lady Piert started coughing just from smelling it…”

Helix’s grey eyes coldly swept around the room.

Clatter.

He opened the lid of the teapot near the empty seat. Steam was rising from the recently brewed tea.

“Did Leah drink this?”

“N-no. She didn’t drink it, it was just poured into the cup…”

Without hesitation, Helix poured and tasted the tea. Anger frosted over his handsome face.

“…There’s a trace amount of paralyzing agent in this.”

“P-paralyzing agent?”

“Leah was poisoned while recovering in the north, so she always has to be careful about what she drinks.”

At Helix’s stern words, the young ladies turned pale with shock.

‘We were just trying to play a little prank!’

Thank goodness she didn’t drink the tea and spilled it instead. The thought that they could have been accused of attempting to assassinate Lady Leah Piert made them tremble.

“I need to see Leah.”

The tea party hostess snapped to attention at Helix’s words and hurriedly led the way.

“T-the lounge is this way!”

***

While being guided by Lady Jerinne, Leah thought something felt strange.

‘Was the lounge always this far inside?’

When nobles hosted tea parties, cocktail parties, or balls, they set up lounges closer to the outer rooms rather than the inner ones. It protected the family’s privacy and was more convenient for guests.

But Lady Jerinne kept leading her deeper into the inner rooms.

‘My arm hurts.’

Like someone making an arrest, Lady Jerinne had her arm tightly linked with Leah’s as she led her. Her steps were hurried, unable to hide her anxiety, and her profile glimpsed from the side was tense with nervousness.

“Lady Jerinne, this is uncomfortable. Please let go of my arm.”

“No.”

Huh?

Leah looked at Lady Jerinne in bewilderment. Lady Jerinne turned her head. A grotesque smile bloomed on her flower-like radiant face.

“You’ll just slip away claiming to be sick again.”

“What?”

“And then you’ll return to society as if nothing happened, right? Must be nice to have it so convenient. You can escape by being sick whenever you want, and come back whenever your family pulls strings.”

Malice overflowed from her tone. Leah twisted her body trying to free her arm from Lady Jerinne’s grip.

“Don’t try to slip away alone.”

Lady Jerinne gripped Leah’s arm tightly. It was like the grip of a water ghost.

“Why should only those of us with nothing keep smiling and bowing around?”

“Lady Jerinne.”

“Yes, Lady Piert. Life must be all easy for you, right? Nothing ever goes against your wishes, right? Whatever you do, your parents and brothers support you, so you can even carelessly spill tea at other people’s parties! Do you know what kind of tea that was!”

When malice suddenly poured out from someone she thought irrelevant, Leah momentarily felt suffocated.

She knew there would be people who envied her. However, receiving such thick, genuine malice from the person before her was much, much worse than she had imagined.

Clenching her trembling hands, Leah gritted her teeth.

“…Don’t judge other people’s lives as you please.”

“Did I say anything wrong? You need to know what hardship is too.”

Lady Jerinne roughly dragged Leah.

“Let’s go. Do you know who’s waiting over there?”

She felt as angry as when the assassin had grabbed her by the hair. Leah thought to herself. This is the capital. I can’t use magic. If I use magic…

“A fat old groom who’s perfect for you is waiting!”

The rationality in Leah’s mind snapped.

“Ahhh!”

As sudden flames rose up on Lady Jerinne’s left cheek, her body was thrown to the floor.

“Leah!”

“Helix?”

Leah blinked. The silver-haired man who had subdued Lady Jerinne rolling on the floor and was now looking at Leah was definitely Helix.

“H-how are you here?”

“Is that what’s important right now?”

Helix ran to Leah right after binding Lady Jerinne’s arms behind her back. He grabbed her shoulders, held her hands, and examined her face.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

It’s Helix. It’s really Helix.

His gentle voice made her feel at ease. Leah hugged him while crying.

The complaints she usually made so easily wouldn’t come out of her mouth. She just felt sad and wronged…

‘I’m not okay. Please take me away.’

As if understanding the feelings she couldn’t express, Helix lifted her up in his arms.

“My lady, if you keep that lady detained, someone from the Piert Ducal Family will come to get her.”

The hostess who had followed turned pale and nodded. Helix looked around as he continued speaking.

“And there’s likely a man who was in league with that lady, so please check if there are any men trying to escape. I would also like the visitor list.”

“A-alright.”

“And regarding this incident…”

Ice-cold mana that even he wasn’t aware of flowed from Helix. Overwhelmed by it, the hostess promised to keep her mouth shut, saying she hadn’t heard anything.

Helix wrapped Leah tightly in his cloak and carried her all the way to the carriage. Once in the carriage, Leah cried for a long while.

“Leah, it’s not your fault.”

“…”

“Really. I guarantee it on my name as guardian…”

He was at a loss for what to do.

Though she sometimes showed weakness, she always tried to stay strong, so this was the first time he had seen her cry so helplessly.

Her face crying like a child tugged at his heart. It felt like he could do anything if only he could stop those sobs that continued even through hiccups. If only he could embrace those shaking shoulders and stop that trembling…

But when he actually saw Leah’s tears, his mind went blank and he couldn’t even move his hands properly. She lifted her tear-stained face toward him as he fidgeted anxiously and asked.

“Can I recharge?”

Recharge? Does she mean when she would bury her face in his hands without mana exchange? Helix quickly nodded.

“Of course you can.”

“Can I do rapid charging right now?”

“Whatever you want, whatever you want to do, Leah.”

As soon as he gave permission, she hugged him tightly. Then, startled by her own action, she mumbled.

“You’re really solid…”

“…You can let go if I’m too hard.”

“No. I feel at ease.”

Leah sighed as she pressed her cheek against his chest.

Helix stiffened and was about to shift his body but stopped. Her eyelashes trembled as she closed her eyes while leaning against him.

“…”

Helix quietly raised his hand and stroked Leah’s hair. Her crying gradually subsided with his gentle touch and his loudly beating heart.

“…I’m going to cry a bit more. After that, I won’t let Lady Jerinne and that man who was in league with her get away with this.”

“You can cry more.”

Helix said.

“Don’t worry about what to do with that lady and the man who was in league with her. We’ll take care of it. You can cry more, be angry more, do whatever you want. While you do that, Leah…”

He hesitated for a moment.

“…I’ll stay by your side.”

Leah burrowed into Helix’s embrace as if reassured. Helix had to stay stiff like a log, unable to relax his body until they arrived at the Piert ducal residence.

***

Who Lady Jerinne’s accomplice was and whether there was someone behind it all was never revealed.

This was because she took poison while at the mansion where the tea party was held.

Though the Piert Ducal Family brought her back and tried to treat her, when Lady Jerinne woke up, she was unable to speak and remained in a dull state.

“It seems there must have been someone behind this. Would she have taken such poison by herself?”

Leah, who had regained her composure by then, said. Rikeil nodded.

“Since she had been receiving support from Count Trow’s family until now, there must be a connection there.”

“I hear Count Trow has even cut off the support he was giving to Lady Jerinne, probably to avoid suspicion.”

Duke Piert stroked his beard with a displeased expression.

The tea party hostess kept her promise and stayed silent, and the unsavory attempt was buried below the surface. The Piert Ducal Family sent Lady Jerinne back to her family without further treatment. With burns on her face and unable to speak, her life ahead would not be easy.

“She brought it all upon herself.”

Helix said coldly.

“It was her own choice to join hands with someone like Count Trow.”

“Is that why you didn’t treat her? Helix is really merciless to villains.”

“After what she tried to do to you, Leah, treating her would be absurd.”

Helix said firmly.

Those rigid words made her feel incredibly reassured. Leah looked up at him with a broad smile.

“Right. Helix is busy enough treating me.”

“…Why are you casually hugging my arm while saying that?”

“It’s recharging.”

“…That recharging seems to be happening more and more frequently lately.”

“No. Must be your imagination? Maybe you feel that way because you like me?”

Leah beamed brightly at Helix. He sighed and patted her hand as if giving up.

“I’ll endure it since I have to keep watching over you.”

“Yes. You have to keep enduring hard, okay? You can do it, Helix.”

“…”

Leah and Helix soon forgot about Lady Jerinne’s incident. The Piert Ducal Family kept watching Count Trow’s family, and other things happened too.

The rescue team returned with Ruyan and the employees.

***

When Ruyan returned, he had dark circles under his eyes.

“Damn sleep magic…”

Always on edge thinking he might fall asleep at any moment, he had actually accumulated fatigue from not being able to sleep properly due to constantly being on guard.

Though not as severe, it was the same for Janet and Karai. Karai had planned to return to magic school after buying only necessary supplies, but with things turning out this way, he seemed anxious.

“The head physician must be having a hard time taking care of the children alone.”

“That’s true. We should at least send supplies first. Send some trusted employees who have worked long at the ducal family…”

Leah sighed as she spoke.

“It’s fortunate that I asked Louise to take care of things before I left.”

Janet flinched beside her when her sister was mentioned. She hung her head low and spoke in a tiny voice.