Ch. 85
The Young Master I Carefully Raised Became ObsessiveThis chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Notes
Translator's Note: Thank you for reading this chapter, leave us a comment what you think~
This chapter is broken. Please report this on discord.
Translator's Note: Thank you for reading this chapter, leave us a comment what you think~
In this situation, it would be difficult to sneak out without Ardion taking action. I sighed and lay down on the bed. I raised my hands and looked at them, but they weren’t trembling. My mana is definitely stable now…
Now, the problem was Rowell's magical drug. If I could pinpoint where it was, I could kill him without dying myself. It was really time for him to die. Otherwise, Ardion would die first. The fact that Rowell had implanted the drug in me meant that he was already a lost cause.
How in the world could I find the drug?
Since I couldn’t die now, this was what I needed to resolve immediately.
❋ ❋ ❋
Derol arrived exactly one hour later. Ardion had brought him personally, and after checking on me, he released Derol.
“Master!” Derol rushed to me. “Master, are you alright?”
Fortunately, Derol seemed unharmed, and his fur was intact.
“I’m fine.”
Even as I said that, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about Ardion, who was standing beside me. I recalled I still needed to give the red-eyed rat almonds and mealworms, and I hadn’t asked about how the people who had come with me were doing.
I glanced at Ardion cautiously. At that moment, our eyes met. It seemed he had been watching me the whole time.
“Is there anything else you need?” Ardion asked casually.
I hesitated for a moment before replying, “I’d like you to leave a lot of almonds and mealworms behind the entryway to the prison.”
“Almonds?”
“The red-eyed rat showed me the way out of the prison, and in return, I promised it almonds and mealworms.”
Ardion nodded. “Anything else?”
“And… thank you for bringing me here,” I said without lifting my head.
Ardion suddenly approached me. “Anything else?”
Surprised, I stepped back, but Ardion followed me.
“What happened to the people who came with me?”
“They’re currently at my estate. It’s not far from here, but since their charges haven’t been cleared yet, it’ll be difficult for them to leave for a while.”
“…”
“Is there anything else you need?” Ardion’s voice was overly kind, to the point that it made my heart tighten.
I shook my head.
“Laila, are you not going to look at me?”
His voice was soft, and I couldn’t help but lift my head. Then his lips lightly brushed my cheek with a soft sound before pulling away.
“Laila, I hope you’ll consider staying here for a while.”
“Then can’t you at least release my ankle?”
“No, please endure it until we find Rowell’s magical drug.”
“But…”
“And if you need anything, just ring the bell on the nightstand. A servant or a healer will come.”
Without saying anything further, Ardion turned and left the room. The moment he exited, the surroundings fell silent.
At that moment, Derol gently pushed my hand. I lowered my head.
He tilted his head upwards. “Master, does that mean we can’t leave?”
I nodded, and Derol took my hand.
“If Rowell dies, I’ll die too. It’s the same either way.”
“But that can’t happen.” Derol clutched my small hand tightly.
After all, I had Derol by my side. If I died, it would break his heart too. I gently patted Derol’s small hand. “Right, that won’t do, so we’ll have to find another way.”
“So, what do we do?”
“First, we need to get the magical drug out of my body. That way, I can kill Rowell without dying.”
“Then, shouldn’t we just do that?”
“The problem is, it seems difficult to even find this magical drug. I don’t know where it is.”
“Does it smell, maybe?”
“Smell?”
“Yes, if there’s a distinct smell, we might be able to find it that way.”
“But how can I smell it if it’s inside my body?”
“I’m a mouse who can recognize the scent of cookie powder. Also, since the inside of your body has processes such as digestion, maybe it’s been implanted on the outside of your body?”
Derol’s suggestion made sense.
“That seems plausible.”
I thought quietly for a moment, then began to feel my head.
“Is your head itchy?”
“No, it’s just that I’ve been having headaches recently. It’s a different kind of pain from when I had no mana and rather strange…”
I continued to touch my head, but there was nothing special about it. Suddenly, I looked over my body. After going through all sorts of filth… did I wash up?
As soon as I thought that, I shot up from the bed.
“Master, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.” I awkwardly smiled and looked around.
I saw a slightly ajar door. It should be the bathroom inside. I hurriedly ran towards it and looked at the mirror inside. There was no dirt on my face, arms, or neck. I raised my arm and smelled it. There was no smell.
Derol scurried over to me.
I looked at him and said, “Derol, I’m going to wash up.”
He nodded and exited the room. I stared at the mirror again. There was no smell, but I still felt unclean. Besides, while I washed, I wanted to see if there was any trace of the magical drug in my body.
When I finished washing and returned, Derol was curled up on the bed, asleep. I approached him quietly.
He opened his eyes and looked at me. “Master.”
“Derol, I couldn’t find any traces of the magical drug on my body. It might have been hidden with magic or implanted deep inside.”
Derol raised his head and sniffed.
“Do you smell something?”
I raised my arm and sniffed, but there was no scent. Still, Derol kept sniffing my arm. I lowered it, and he pressed his nose against my arm to sniff.
“Derol…” I called out.
Only then did he look up at me. “Master, there’s a strange smell here.”
“A strange smell?”
“Yes, it’s a smell you didn’t have before.” Derol pointed to my wrist.
But there were no markings on my wrist. The tracking magic Ardion had left behind was also invisible.
“I can’t see anything.”
“Maybe a mage hid it?”
“Is there any way to confirm that? I don’t even know what the magical drug is or what it looks like.”
“Why not ask a healer?”
“That’s a good idea.”
I rang the bell on the nightstand.
A moment later, a servant rushed in. “You called for me?”
“Could you bring a healer? I’d like to check if there’s a magical drug on my wrist.”
“Yes, of course.”
A little while later, several healers arrived. Ventu stood solemnly, and when our eyes met, she smiled at me. I acknowledged her with a nod.
The older healer looked at me seriously. “You’ve found the location of the magical drug?”
“Yes, but it’s not certain. Derol said there’s a strange smell on my wrist.”
“I see. I’ll begin the inspection immediately.”
The older healer gestured to Ventu. Ventu took out a metal rod and placed it on my wrist. I instinctively closed my eyes at the sensation.
“Please hold still. There may be several types of mana in the drug, so they might clash and cause some discomfort.”
I grimaced and gritted my teeth. It wasn’t just discomfort. It felt like several needles were poking into my arm.
“How much longer do I have to endure this? It hurts too much.”
“Just a little longer. It’s almost done.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the pain in my wrist intensified. I grabbed my arm and groaned.
Ventu spoke again. “Just a little longer. We’re almost done.”
“That’s what you said earlier.” I felt a little wronged.
Ventu apologized. “I’m sorry. It’s almost done now.”
A little while later, the pain in my wrist completely disappeared. I exhaled deeply as a bead of sweat rolled down my face. Wiping it off, I looked at Ventu.
She tilted her head, looking confused. “That’s strange. We can sense a substance, but it doesn’t seem to be a magical drug.”
“Then what substance is on my wrist?”
“Well, since you’re a mage, it might just be your mana that’s being detected. We’ll need to analyze it further. Also, before you woke up, we checked everything, but this new development is certainly unusual.”
“You checked everything?”
“Yes.” Ventu nodded.
The old healer next to her continued, “We finished all the tests before Your Highness woke up. But if something suddenly appears like this, it is possible that your mana is unstable or it is a magical drug. However…”
The healer hesitated to speak.
I looked at him closely.
He frowned for a moment and continued, “The most likely reason is probably Your Highness’s mana. After all, you used a lot of mana before.”
When I heard that, I felt like my whole body was drained of strength.
While I was feeling depressed, Ventu grabbed my hand. “Don’t lose hope. It could be a magical potion.”
I nodded. Then a question suddenly occurred to me. “By the way, who replenished my mana?”
Strangely, I felt like my body was full of mana. It was oddly refreshing.
“His Highness made mana-infused water and fed it to you.”
As expected, it was Ardion. I nodded. I always received help from him. Was I too harsh earlier?
Ardion had looked shocked after he heard what I said. And after I said those things, he had put some kind of spell on my ankle.