I Unintentionally Cured The Grand Duke’s Insomnia - Chapter 32

16. — Eli’s Drug (2)

Translated by Nabi

Seeing him opening the tea leaf canister and smelling the scent, I literally went crazy and jumped. Even now, Cain just smiled playfully while I was expressing my anxiety.

I uttered, puffing up my cheeks.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Are you that anxious?”

“Of course! Although he pretends not to be a bad guy—no, even though he says he doesn’t know, his face says he’s a bad guy…!”

“The survival kit?”

“…Yes?”

“It’ll finally be time for the kit to show its ability.”

“Oh, no! This isn’t something to defeat a villain, it’s just my psychological safety valorization…”

An uneasy feeling ran through my head while I continued to speak out of absurdity.

…Ah. No way, I do not think so…

“I’m just asking just in case, but Your Highness doesn’t believe in this backpack, do you…?”

In response to the careful question, he shrugged his shoulders with a calm face. The uneasy feeling foreboding on my face became a reality. No, they say he is a smart guy? That he was a schemer? Why does he believe a joke so straightforwardly…!

My throat was parched as though burning. At the same time, the fragrant smell of flowers emanated from the teacup in front of me.

…Was it like flower tea? I have drank quite a few kinds of tea while living as Adelia, though I was curious about a scent I had never smelled before. Thinking that, I reached out for the teacup.

However, Cain’s hand stopped me as if to restrain me. 

“I think you’d better not drink the tea.”

“…I’m thirsty.”

“Wouldn’t it be better than being blind?”

My mouth, which had been pouting, understood what he was saying later, and it grew larger and rounder. Shutting my mouth in surprise, I leaned close to him and asked.

“You also thought something was strange, didn’t you?”

“….”

“Aren’t these tea leaves lying in Lord Winder’s room a while ago as well? So, did this tea cause his eyes to look like that?”

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“It’s like a poisonous weed called Ritul. If you overdose, you’ll lose your sight.”

“Then, Lord Winder’s eyes were really because of Jo Malone! Really crazy… No, please pretend you didn’t hear this.”

I quickly stopped the swear words that were about to come out, although Cain seemed to have already noticed what I was trying to say. He smiled at me and gave me a short warning.

“Anyway, for that reason, it would be best not to eat anything that comes from this mansion.”

That was what human psychology was all about.

When I was told not to eat, my mouth suddenly became dry and I could feel a burning thirst more than before. As I searched through the backpack I was carrying to see if Eli had anything, I found a bottle in the deepest part of the bag.

“There is…!”

I narrowed my eyebrows and smiled brightly as I looked at Cain’s face, asking what I was doing. The next moment, I took out a small bottle about the length of my finger, and without hesitation, I pulled out the cork and held out the bottle.

“I found this because I was very thirsty. Would you like to drink it first, Your Grace? It doesn’t seem strange, and it’s a drug  that makes you feel better.”

“….”

“I don’t know how effective it’ll be, though seeing that Eli had even posted a note saying it was a masterpiece of his conversion, he must have been quite confident.”

“….”

“Honestly, I’m thirsty and cramped. However, I think Your Highness must’ve felt the same way.”

When I held out the bottle a little more towards him, Cain waved his hand like he did not want it.

“Why won’t you drink it?”

“It’s okay.”

“You told me not to eat any of the food served here, did that include anything in my bag as well?”

Nevertheless, he turned his head away as if he had no thought, even as I asked him with my cheeks inflated. Even though I gave it to him because I was being thoughtful, he did not even know my sincerity. Upset, I pouted my lips as Cain steadfastly refused my goodwill, even after being offered several times.

I was fed up with the potion that smelled somehow savory.

Yeah, whatever. Do not drink it if you do not want to. I thought it was acceptable to share the bean*, so I was going to share. Though he was not going to quench his thirst because he did not want to drink this?

[ T/N: It’s an old saying which means ‘sharing even a small thing like a bean.’ It means helping each other and being able to help each other in times of need. ]

There were not a lot of potions anyway, so I am more grateful to eat alone.

The savory smell, which seemed to neither be coffee nor soy milk, was not unfamiliar, as though I had smelled it somewhere. I frowned at the smell that I could not remember, no matter how much I thought about it, and then emptied a bottle cleanly.

Having drunk the very last drop on my lips neatly, I raised my head to the gaze I could feel. Cain’s eyebrows twitched as he watched me silently.

“…Why?”

I wiped my face, confused, and asked a question.

The figure of him looking at me with irritated eyes with a shallow sigh gradually rose from my view. It was only when the eye level, which had been gradually descending with each blink, lowered to the table that I realized that something was wrong. 

“Wha, what is this now…?”

In embarrassment, a puffy fist came into my frozen vision. These fluffy and cute paws…

…And, the pink paw pads.

“You’re all over the place.”

Despite his harsh words, I could not open my frozen mouth in bewilderment.

…A dog?

I am a dog…?!

Tuk, tuk—

The moment I saw a picture of a puppy clearly drawn on a medicine bottle rolling on the table, I was filled with absurdity and anger.

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Eli, you son of a…!