Chapter 1
The atmosphere of the long awaited party was bustling.
The imperial party, held to commemorate the successful subjugation of the Western monsters, gathered all sorts of dazzling people.
Among them were the main figures who led the monster subjugation knights, the empire’s only three spirit mages, and Grand Duke Havel Precia, the commander of the Royal First Knights.
The person who stood out most at the party was undoubtedly Grand Duke Precia.
He possessed features that harmonized fantastically with his short silver hair and deep violet eyes.
When people spoke of him, they first praised his inhuman abilities, but in truth, those who saw Grand Duke Precia were left speechless by his appearance.
As I was briefly watching him, admiring his beauty, I suddenly met the Grand Duke’s eyes as he turned his head.
Even though I wasn’t thinking anything improper, I was startled and quickly averted my gaze.
There was nothing I did wrong, but something about that gaze was hard to meet.
His aura was extraordinary.
I completely turned away from the man who could overpower people with just his gaze and began to sample the party food.
Thanks to Hilda, who had only given me birdseed for breakfast and lunch because I had to wear a dress, I was very hungry.
As I sat at the table and was about to take a bite of steak, a scene I inadvertently saw made me stop the movement of my knife.
“Rayon, long time no see.”
“…Long time no see, Mary.”
Oh, for goodness sake. I couldn’t help but clutch my head at my male friend, Rayon, looking at his ex-girlfriend, who was the worst of the worst, with a foolish expression.
No, Mary went to study abroad in the Eastern Continent, so what, she’s already back? I thought she had run off with a man from the Eastern Continent, but has she already grown tired of him and returned?
The woman currently smiling faintly in front of Rayon was Mary Stephan, the only daughter of Marquess Stephan, known for having the most notoriously flirtatious relationships with men in the empire.
To be honest, objectively, I didn’t dislike her. Rather, she was interesting.
In an empire with old-fashioned views on women, seeing her meet every man she wanted to meet honestly gave me a sense of vicarious satisfaction.
If Mary broke up with someone, I’d be so curious about who the next one would be that I’d listen to society gossip, which I normally had no interest in.
But the problem was that, of all people, the next man happened to be my only male friend, Rayon.
Rayon Orleans. The eldest son of the Orleans ducal family, one of the three great ducal families in the empire, and my childhood friend.
He was a foolishly kind man.
He was such a pushover that if a passerby stole something from him, he wouldn’t even report it. Instead, he’d feel sorry for their circumstances and hand them a gold coin.
Such a man fell in love with the least pushover-like woman in the empire.
Seriously, during their not-so-long relationship, I felt like I was seeing a different person, not my friend Rayon.
One day he’d laugh like a madman, another day he’d cry as if the world had ended, and yet another day he’d appear completely spaced out.
After six months of that, Rayon was finally dumped by Mary. And quite spectacularly.
How exhausted I was cleaning up after that pushover, who drank heavily every day and only called out “Mary, Mary.”
… How dare this guy forget my kindness and be so easily swayed?
Rayon was not a man who could handle Mary.
So, while I didn’t dislike Mary Stephan herself, I disliked Mary when she was next to Rayon.
I clenched my teeth and then chugged a glass of wine displayed on the table.
“How do I make that damn idiot come to his senses?”
I was grinding my teeth, watching Rayon, who was half-dazed after seeing Mary, when something suddenly flashed in my mind.
“Oh, right. There was that thing Hilda confused with hangover medicine.”
Before the party began, I opened my clutch to drink hangover medicine, but inside were two small crystal bottles instead.
Love potion.
It was a mysterious potion I had obtained after doing a good deed for a very mysterious old woman some time ago.
The old woman had clearly said this:
“The person who drinks this potion will fall in love with the first person they see after drinking it.”
It was a love potion she had given me, hoping I would succeed in love if I had a crush on someone.
“Hehe, that’s right, I had this.”
I smiled, looking at the two small bottles carefully placed inside my golden clutch.
The old woman had given me not only the love potion but also the antidote to break the spell.
She told me to use it if I no longer loved that man.
“But since I don’t have a man I love, I’ll use this for my only male friend.”
If I send Mary away for a bit, make Rayon drink this, and then have him see me, he’ll fall in love with me, right?
Anyway, Mary has never clung to a man who didn’t want her, so she won’t come looking for him.
Once Mary completely loses interest in Rayon, I’ll give him the antidote to make him come to his senses.
Yes, it’s perfect. A truly perfect plan, Serira.
Praising my clever self, I took out the crystal bottle filled with a shimmering red liquid and poured it into a wine glass so no one would see.
The wine, originally red, still held its sweet red hue, making it impossible to tell that the potion had been added.
With a triumphant smile, I picked up the glass and approached Rayon, who was still looking at Mary with a foolish expression.
“Rayon, Lady Mary.”
“Oh my, Lady Serira. Long time no see.”
“Sera.”
Mary folded her fan and smiled at me.
It was a beautiful smile that, along with her red hair, made her appearance even more alluring.
I gave Mary a soft smile, then lowered the corners of my eyes as if in a difficult situation.
“Lady Mary, I apologize for interrupting your conversation with Rayon, but I have something urgent to discuss with Rayon regarding work. Could you please excuse us for a moment?”
“Work? What kind of work?”
Ignoring Rayon, who foolishly asked again, I smiled and motioned for Mary to leave.
Mary smiled back at me with her eyes.
“Yes, I understand. I’ll step aside for a moment then. Rayon, see you later.”
See you later? No, you won’t. This is the last time.
I thought, hiding my true feelings as I nodded briefly to her as a sign of respect.
I watched Rayon, who couldn’t take his eyes off her as she left, so I firmly stepped on his foot.
“Ow! Sera, that hurts.”
“Good. It was supposed to. You seriously can’t take your eyes off her? Did the monster subjugation reset your memory or something? Did you forget the mess you made when she dumped you?”
“…I know, but… sigh. I don’t want to be like this either, but what can I do when my heart won’t listen.”
Rayon sighed and ran a hand over his face.
My heart softened a bit seeing him look so distressed, but recalling him coming to me drunk quickly extinguished any last shred of sympathy.
Without a word, I held out the wine glass to him.
“Drink. Drink it and get a grip.”
Once you drink it, you won’t even think of Mary.
Of course, you’ll think of me instead of Mary, but I’ll fix that as quickly as possible, my friend.
I watched Rayon take the wine with a deep smile.
As if in slow motion, the wine glass approached his lips, and just as I swallowed.
“Rayon, you’re here.”
“Ah, Commander.”
Rayon’s lips paused with the glass still touching them.
“Ah! What the— I mean… Your Royal Highness…!”
I unintentionally yelled at the unwelcome guest who appeared at the perfect moment, but realizing it was the Grand Duke, I quickly composed myself and bowed.
The silver-haired man who had cut in between us quietly scrutinized me.
Was he mad?
The moment I tensed under the Grand Duke’s gaze, his red lips moved towards me.
“Hmm… Lady Ventus, today.”
Crash!
The Grand Duke’s words were cut off by the sound of breaking glass.
“Oh dear, are you alright? Lady Mary?”
“Mary!”
“Rayon, where are you going?!”
I watched Rayon running towards Mary, who had dropped the wine glass, in disbelief, but he had already reached Mary.
Damn it! We were so close!
I seethed internally, then paused as I watched Rayon helping Mary.
…But… Rayon doesn’t have the glass in his hand…?
I turned my head stiffly, with a strange sense of unease.
And there stood Grand Duke Havel, swallowing the red wine.
At the scene that shouldn’t have happened, I instinctively reached out to him, but the glass had already fallen from the Grand Duke’s lips.
Incredulous at the situation, only a foolish sound escaped my agape mouth.
“Uh, uh…”
“Hmm, it’s too sweet. Lady Ventus?”
Lick. The Grand Duke, who had licked clean all the red liquid from the corner of his mouth, looked at my hand, which was close to his lips, and met my gaze.
Only then, looking directly into his deep violet eyes, did I finally scream.
“Kyaa! No! Why did YOU drink it?! No, I’m not angry at you, Your Highness… Please don’t look at me. Wait, you already did… Ugh…”
“Lady Serira? Are you alright?”
I covered my face and babbled incoherently, then suddenly grabbed the Grand Duke’s hand, who was still looking at me.
For a moment, his violet eyes wavered. It seems the potion is taking effect.
“Your Highness, I have something urgent to discuss with you, so would you mind coming to the lounge with me?”
Perhaps the potion was working very effectively, as the Grand Duke nodded obediently to my words.
Seeing a hint of redness on his usually cold face, I instinctively knew I needed to hurry.
Leading the Grand Duke, who followed silently, to the lounge, I released his hand and pulled out the one remaining crystal bottle from my clutch, extending it to the Grand Duke.
“Your Highness, please drink this quickly.”
“What is this?”
The Grand Duke took the bottle and looked at me with an unreadable expression.
“Your Highness, do I look pretty and lovely to you right now?”
“What? Ahem, that is, that… no…”
Clearly flustered, the Grand Duke stammered and then covered his mouth with his hand, as if his words were getting ahead of him.
Oh no, to make the idol of all, the empire’s greatest magic swordsman, make that face, it’s all my fault. If the Emperor knew the whole truth, he might not leave me alone…
“Your Highness, I know all the feelings you are experiencing towards me right now. You must be very confused, thinking if this is reality. Fortunately, it is not reality. It’s all a deliberately created deception.”
“…What?”
“Before you hear the whole truth, please know just one thing, I absolutely, absolutely did not intend to use this potion on Your Highness.”
The Grand Duke, who had been covering his mouth, lowered his hand.
He looked at me with a slightly hardened expression than before.
“A potion, what are you talking about, Lady.”
“A love potion. I put it in that wine earlier. And by an accidental mishap, Your Highness ended up drinking it.”
“Love potion?”
“Yes, a mysterious potion that makes the person who drinks it fall in love with the first person they see. I also obtained it quite by chance from an old sorceress. And I was going to use it on Rayon, but things went wrong… I’m truly sorry, Your Highness. But fortunately, I have an antidote, so don’t worry too much. If you drink this, the confusing feelings you have for me right now will disappear instantly. Please just consider it a very unpleasant dream you briefly had.”
Wrinkles appeared on the Grand Duke’s perfect face, which society often described as sculpted by the gods. He listened to my words, looked at the crystal bottle he held, and let out a short, cynical laugh.
“So, I drank a love potion, and if I drink this, all my feelings for you will disappear?”
No, how strong is the potion that he’s looking at me with such pitiful eyes?
His gaze, as if he had just been dumped, made my heart ache for a moment.
“…Yes. They will all disappear, Your Highness. So please drink it quickly.”
“Lady, you are truly… how should I put it… naive? Fine, I’ll drink it as you say. I hope it turns out as you wish.”
The Grand Duke stared at me with an unreadable gaze, then opened the bottle cap.
A short pop echoed in the lounge, and soon all the shimmering liquid disappeared into the Grand Duke’s mouth.
1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds….
The Grand Duke, who had closed his eyes and remained silent, opened them and looked directly at me. Strangely, his deep violet eyes seemed to glow even more intensely than before.
He chuckled, looking at the empty bottle, then took a step closer to me.
“Your Highness…?”
“What should I do, Lady? Even after drinking the antidote, I still feel like I’m going crazy from how lovely you are.”
“What?”
What did he just say…?
For a moment, I couldn’t understand his words.
The Grand Duke took my hand and pulled me towards him.
Only about a finger’s length apart. My eyes widened as his face suddenly came close, and then the Grand Duke placed my hand on the center of his firm chest.
Thump thump thump.
A pounding heartbeat, as if it would burst, was fully transmitted through my palm.
“The antidote isn’t working. I feel like I’ll die like this, so it seems you’ll have to take responsibility for me, Lady.”
His low voice pierced my ears, making my mind dizzy.
I wanted to escape his persistent, deep voice, but my body wouldn’t budge.
The Grand Duke looked at me with intense eyes and slowly curled the corners of his lips. As he looked down at me with an irresistibly captivating smile, I muttered to myself.
‘I’m screwed.’
