9
“Well, I suppose it’s like a mouse worrying about a cat?”
Feeling a bit awkward, I scratched my cheek.
Alferen meticulously checked me over for any other injuries.
His tender care left me a little embarrassed, so I mumbled playfully,
“A scratch like this would probably heal on its own without a potion.”
“Still, it could leave a scar.”
“Honestly, don’t you need it more than I do?”
I pointed at his wrist, and he shrugged.
“In battle, injuries like this are routine. Relying too much on potions isn’t the way to go.”
“Lucky you, having a mage friend. Next time I get hurt, I’ll just ask you.”
“You planning to get hurt again?”
Alferen shot back softly, locking eyes with me.
His clear blue eyes felt especially serene today.
His serious response to my joking remark made me feel sheepish.
“No, I just meant…”
“Healing potions aren’t a cure-all, Deli. Not getting hurt in the first place is what matters most.”
His scolding tone made me shrink a little.
Even I had to admit yesterday’s incident was due to my carelessness.
“Ugh, sorry.”
Unable to argue back, I quietly let him finish checking me.
A moment later, he returned to his seat and handed me another potion.
“What’s this?”
“It’s good for hangovers. You drank too much yesterday.”
“Oh!”
I quickly grabbed the potion and drank it down.
My stomach had been churning so much I couldn’t even eat.
The potion from Alferen worked wonders—naturally, it was from Ainluk stock.
As my stomach settled, I sank into the sofa, exclaiming like a satisfied child,
“Wow, I feel alive again!”
Yesterday’s fiasco? I’d let it slide thanks to this!
Honestly, I was still a bit upset, but considering he was nursing me back to health like this, I couldn’t hold a grudge.
Just then, Alferen looked at me intently and said,
“Deli, there’s something I want to ask.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Why are you so set on getting me to break off my engagement?”
The sudden, direct question made me sit up straight and stare at him.
“Why bring that up out of nowhere?”
“Just… I got curious all of a sudden.”
Alferen replied slowly, his gaze softly fixed on me.
‘Did my plan actually work?’
If he’d noticed that Nanael had deliberately pushed me, his reaction wouldn’t be surprising.
All this time, no matter how much I urged him to end the engagement, he never listened. This was the first time he’d brought it up himself.
I couldn’t let this opportunity slip, so I launched into my usual spiel.
“Well, it’s because Princess Nanael has a bad reputation. I just want you to meet someone good. Especially, you know, be careful with redheads…”
“Is that really the only reason?”
Alferen cut me off, leaning in closer.
The already small distance between us shrank further, and I tensed up instinctively.
“You’ve been wary of the princess since the first time we met. You specifically warned me about redheads—don’t you remember?”
“D-Did I?”
“It was too specific to just be superstition. Is there really no other reason?”
His probing made my mind race.
If I gave a vague answer now, I’d lose the chance I’d finally grabbed.
But no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t come up with a convincing response.
As I hesitated, Alferen spoke again.
“Honestly, you were a bit reckless yesterday. You didn’t have to drink everything the princess gave you. And then you fell down the stairs.”
“Y-Yeah…”
“Why are you putting yourself in danger like this?”
“Putting myself in danger? What’s that supposed to mean? If you’re talking about yesterday…”
“The princess told me. She said you kept snatching up every item she was going to buy.”
Was *that* what she whispered to him back then?
Cold sweat trickled down my back as my scheme was suddenly exposed.
If he realized I’d been deliberately provoking Nanael, my whole plan would fall apart!
The more this conversation dragged on, the worse it got for me.
Vague lies would never work on Alferen.
But I couldn’t just say it was because of the original story, which made the situation even more difficult.
“I…”
At that moment, Alferen gently grasped my hand, urging me to respond.
“Tell me, Deli. If you speak honestly, I’ll give it serious thought.”
His gaze, as if fully prepared to listen, seemed to sparkle in an oddly captivating way.
Yet, once he had laid out the opportunity for me to speak, my mind went completely blank.
On top of that, he was far too close, making it impossible to concentrate.
“Uh, how about we talk after you step back a little?”
“Is that important right now?”
Alferen pressed on without moving even a single step away from me.
His soft voice dismantled my defenses while simultaneously heightening the tension.
Why was he coming so close to ask this?
And why was his voice so disarmingly gentle?
Of all things, he was demanding honesty about the one matter I couldn’t possibly be honest about, which left me even more tongue-tied.
“So I…”
It was right around then, as I floundered, completely encircled by Alferen.
Adrian appeared like a savior.
“Deli! Oppa brought hangover potions…! Huh?”
Adrian, who had entered carrying an armful of hangover potions, spotted me and Alferen and tilted his head in confusion.
“What? What are you doing here?”
Alferen, who had somehow already stepped back from my side, greeted Adrian with his usual impeccable smile.
“Just because. I was worried about Deli.”
When I’d asked him to back off, he’d only gotten closer.
Seizing the chance, I welcomed Adrian with fervent enthusiasm.
“Oh, oppa! Welcome back!”
Had there ever been a time when Adrian felt this welcome as he did today?
At my intense reaction, Adrian scurried over and set down the basket filled with hangover potions.
“Ta-da. I figured our Deli must be suffering from yesterday’s overdrinking, so I bought these. …But it looks like you’ve already had some?”
Adrian stared at the empty bottle on the table for a long moment before turning his gaze to Alferen.
“What? You made this yourself, didn’t you?”
“Ah, really? How did you know right away?”
I’d thought he’d just grabbed something from home, but apparently not?
When I wore a surprised expression, Adrian added an explanation.
“Magic potions contain the mage’s unique mana, you see. The stronger the power, the more transparent and luminous they become. Only this guy can make a potion as clear as water like this one. It’s incredibly difficult to produce, too.”
Come to think of it, the potions Adrian had brought came in a variety of colors.
In contrast, the one Alferen had given me was transparent and sparkling, so much so that it even felt refreshing to drink.
“Wow, so I drank something incredibly valuable?”
No wonder the effects kicked in so much faster than the market versions.
It made sense—it was specially crafted by Alferen, the one hailed as the strongest mage!
When I looked at Alferen with a touched expression, he shyly scratched his cheek.
Just then, Adrian spotted the half-remaining recovery potion and widened his eyes in alarm.
“Deli, are you hurt?!”
“Ah, no…”
“Where? How badly are you injured that this guy went out of his way to bring a recovery potion?”
Adrian made a huge fuss, beginning to inspect every inch of my body.
“When I saw you yesterday, there definitely weren’t any injuries. The doctor said it was just a light scratch on the back of your hand…”
Adrian trailed off mid-sentence and stared intently at the fair skin on the back of my hand.
His expression hardened as he confirmed that the long scratch, which had been there until yesterday, had vanished.
“Oppa?”
After standing frozen like a statue for what felt like ages, Adrian spat out a single word in an unusually dark voice, nothing like his usual self.
“Hey.”
“…What.”
“Didn’t you say making potions is a hassle?”
“Not particularly.”
“Before, when I broke my arm and begged you to make one, you ignored me.”
“That time, you had the standard recovery potions from your supplies.”
“Anyway, you always say recovery potions are tricky to make, so you buy them yourself.”
“…”
“No matter how I look at it, this seems like a recovery potion you made. What’s with you?”
