Bon Appétit

She needed an antidote, but there was something more important before that. It’s about the powder’s effect.

‘He said the powder moves one’s heart?’

She needed to know more about his answer, and Luana asked tremblingly.

“What happens when people inhale this powder? Please explain.”

“It literally moves one’s heart.”

“What?”

“It’s kind of a mind-controlling drug.”

“Controlling…”

Luana looked at Gerald with a pale face.  It also means that if Legion, who is now asleep, wakes up, he can become a completely different person. Luana began anxious.

‘Who is the biggest suspect for doing this?’

An answer popped out in her mind.

‘It’s Gerald!’

She could have suspected the Rusti family who threw the powder, but Luana was also thinking about the possibility of Gerald being the culprit, remembering what he said the last time Luana met him. Luana tried to remain calm because she couldn’t make it obvious that she suspected Gerald, and she proceeded to ask Gerald more questions.

“It can control to what extent?”

“It’s a little hard to force tht person to do something they hate. For example, it will become hard to love a person they hate. The greatest ambition or greed that the person usually has. It’s used to inflate that. Isn’t that, in a way, a category that manipulates people?”

Gerald said a proper lie mixed with the truth. Even if you say so, Luana, who can’t handle magical drugs, wouldn’t know much about it and his answer was close to the truth.

After hearing that, Luana was a little relieved. The Legion she knew was stronger than anyone else. He has some weak parts in the novel, but now the story is different from then. She thought she would be fine. Luana began to ask the second most important thing.

“Then can’t we make the antidote now?”

“I can make it, but it’ll take a long time.”

“How long?”

“About half a year? There are some ingredients that are hard to get.”

At those words, Luana’s expression distorted. All indescribable negative emotions are displayed, from sorrow and hatred to suffering.

Looking at her, Gerald thought this was why he couldn’t leave her alone in the human world. Just as Elanya did, Luana will be unhappy alone.

Therefore, Gerald hid the truth and displayed a sad expression. He reached out and stroked Luana’s head. She would’ve avoided him if she had recently become wary of Gerald, but now she just stood still because she had no energy left.

“If you’re having a hard time, I’m always here to help.”

“……Thank you.”

Luana took a deep breath and bit her lips to hold back the tears that were about to burst out.

‘I can’t cry.’

Now was the time for her to come to her senses. Luana, who was firmly determined, raised her head again and took a step back. Gerald moved his hand away.

‘Is he really the culprit? Or not?’

Luana was confused. She felt like she needed a moment to go and come back again later.

‘Should I get in touch with Sarah?’

Although she could get the answers on her own, she couldn’t stop Gerald. Luana needed another help. Luana thought about Sarah, and she said to Gerald,

“I’m going back. If you could, please give me the antidote.”

“Understood.”

“If you need anything to make the antidote, please contact the duke’s mansion.”

“I will.”

“Then, see you later.”

***

Luana rushed out of Gerald’s house.

‘He was not a suspicious person before.’

Gerald’s strange behavior that she remembered from last week made her heart shake. He doesn’t seem like the person she used to know. She shuddered at the feeling of Gerald projecting her mother onto herself.

‘Let’s go back.’

She thought she intended to stay by Legion’s side; at least she could take care of him. Luana got into the carriage parked outside the alley. She couldn’t hide her nervousness while she was in the carriage. As soon as she arrived at the duke’s mansion, she rushed to change her clothes and headed straight to Legion.

“How is he?”

As she entered, she asked the doctor, and he shook his head.

“He hasn’t wake up.”

Then he pushed the chair next to the bed to Luana. Accepting the favor, she sat there and looked at Legion. Before leaving the mansion, he had an uneasy expression, but now he looked calm. If only this were a good sign.

Luana held his hand tightly and sighed a little.

A day has passed, and two days have passed.

Luana got more anxious. But she could suffer any kind of pain as she only wanted Legion to wake up.

On the third day, Legion finally opened her eyes.

***

His eyelids trembled, and his red eyes looked at Luana. He blinked a few times, looking at Luana’s face to his hand that she held tightly. He then closed his eyes again as if thinking about something.

“Luana?”

After hearing Legion’s voice, Luana felt like she was about to cry.

“Legion.”

Luana burst into tears and tightened her hands, holding Legions’ hand. Luana couldn’t rest properly while Legion was unconscious. Her head was a little dizzy since she couldn’t eat, but she was happy nonetheless because the person she loved had woken up.

“This is a little strange.”

Legion, who said so, naturally pulled his hand out of Luana’s grasp. Gerald’s words came to her mind at that moment, and her heart sank.

“Where is it strange? I’ll call the doctor right now!”

“No, I don’t think it’s a matter that the doctor can solve.”

‘Is it just my feeling? Legion’s voice sounded cold.’

Luana was not mistaken.

“What?”

“It’s strange. You don’t look like you used to.”

Luana couldn’t understand his words, so she looked at Legion with a blank expression.

‘What do you mean, I don’t look like I used to?’

Gerald said it would only inflate one’s greed; it shouldn’t be turned out this way. Although she seemed too confident, Legion’s love for Luana was unmistakably true.

“This is really strange.”

Legion raised his hand and placed it on his chest. His heart was still beating, but he felt like he had lost something important. The person he loved the most was right in front of him, and he wasn’t feeling excited.

“Legion?”

He reached out and touched Luana. He touched her blushing cheeks, round but pretty nose, and lips, but his heart didn’t pound like it used to. His heart remained the same even when he tapped his chest with his fist.

‘My heart is broken.’

Legion felt that way.

“Ha… such thing happen….”

He still remembers everything in his head, but his heart rejects it. His heart told him to leave, and forgot Luana.

It was a phenomenon that didn’t make sense.

‘What nonsense!’

A sudden rise of heart, sank in an instant.

“Legion, what are you talking about?”

Luana looked at Legion with a wavering gaze.

‘What did I just hear? And what does he mean?’

An ominous feeling made her heart cold. She tried to hide her feelings and asked again; Legion looked at Luana with an indescribable gaze.

“It means that my heart is no longer beating when I see you.”

Legion felt uncomfortable saying that.

He knew he would never want to say that, but those words just blurted out of his mouth. Watching Luana’s anxious expression, he thought he should comfort her, but his hand couldn’t move. Certainly, he seemed to have changed. He clenched his teeth and thought he had to deal with the urgent matter first. The matter about Luana came second.

‘What’s next?’

At first, he thought of that, but it was quickly erased from his mind. Luana followed Legion’s gaze with anxious eyes.

“Raven!”

A man in a black cape appeared when he called the raven in a nervous voice.

“Have you questioned Madam Safia?”

“Yes.”

“What is the powder?”

“We still don’t know.”

Even if Madam Safia was a noble lady, It was Legion, the lord, who had priority for the Raven. With his life at stake, it would not have ended with a mere question. She has probably gone through the most terrible pain of her life, but what does she know?

“Call the butler.”

It was not long before the butler arrived. He was delighted to see Legion wake up, but his expression turned serious.

The atmosphere in the room turned bad.

“What did the Rusti family say?”

“They said they don’t know.”

“Impossible!”

“Exactly my thought.”

The butler nodded quickly. With Legion unconscious, he couldn’t question her further, but she acted strangely. So he looked into it in many ways, but now he’s awake. It meant that more methods could be used.

“Ask the head of the Rusti family to come here right now.”

“I’ll call him right now.”

As soon as Legion got up, he went to work. Luana looked at him anxiously, but she waited for him. She desperately resisted, wanting to ask the meaning of the words she had just said before.

‘I don’t want to understand.’

No, she actually knew.

---

TL/N: Thank you, Maryin for the support on ko-fi!!! <3