Lea stood in a daze, mulling over Count Heidern’s words. He emphasized it three times, as if confirming a kill.

‘At least it wasn’t me… What he just said means…’

Lea drew a breath, as if to confirm the fact she was trying to deny. The man’s words, saying it wasn’t due to the drug’s side effects that they had slept together.

That meant Count Heidern saw her as a woman, enough to engage in a physical relationship.

‘Sigh…’

Lea clenched her fist as she sighed inwardly. She felt as if she were facing a thorny issue.

‘Why me…? Could he be mistaken?’

Lea considered various possibilities. Count Heidern had been silent and feigned illness since a young age after losing the empress.

He must have spent long, lonely hours alone. No one ever stood by his side.

To such a count, she might look special.

‘Confusing kindness for affection…’

Lea glanced at Akkia, who still stood firm before her. He looked different from his hostile past.

‘Or maybe he’s confusing physical instincts and emotions.’

That attitude could also be an extension of the drug’s side effects.

‘It’s all because of the medicine I made.’

Regardless, Lea felt a lukewarm sense of responsibility about the side effects.

‘Then, it’s also my…’

Lea locked eyes with Akkia, as if making a decision.

“Understood.”

Lea’s reply, breaking the long silence, was merely ‘Understood.’ Akkia furrowed his brows deeply at this.

“What do you mean by ‘understood’?”

Lea drew a deep breath.

‘Yes, I can do it.’

“I will take responsibility for Count Heidern.”

Lea’s bombshell statement left Count Heidern speechless. The firm look in her eyes suggested she had something to say.

A brief silence flowed between the two. It was Count Heidern who first broke that awkward stillness.

“Take responsibility? You, for me?”

At first, Akkia gave Lea a fleeting glance, thinking she might be joking. But Lea’s serious expression told him otherwise.

‘Who’s taking responsibility for whom now?’

In this awkward situation where roles seemed reversed, Akkia looked at Lea with nervous eyes.

“Yes, I’ll take responsibility.”

Yet, despite her audacious words, Akkia noticed that Lea was deep in thought.

‘Being responsible…’

And he didn’t dislike Lea’s response. No, rather he found it interesting.

Akkia’s narrowed eyes met with Lea’s.

“So, how do you plan on taking responsibility?”

Because he was curious about how Lea would handle the responsibility for one night. Akkia’s lips unconsciously curved.

“Um… I think I need to think about that. I will let you know after sorting out my thoughts by the evening.”

Seeing her genuinely pondering, a part of Akkia’s heart itched. Even the sight of her biting her lower lip looked rather cute.

Lea, as he had seen before, had a habit of biting her lip when facing a difficult problem.

‘I thought she could only speak ill, but she can be rather cute.’

He almost reached out to touch her lips unconsciously. Pulling back his impulsively outreached hand, Akkia replied to Lea.

“Then, come to my room once you’ve sorted out your thoughts.”

Saying so, Akkia turned to go to his room. His face was full of pleasant anticipation.

()

That night, Lea was heading towards Count Heidern’s bedroom with small pieces of paper. He had told her to come after finishing her thoughts by tonight.

As Lea walked down the desolate hallway, she murmured to herself.

“When are they going to hire servants?”

She had been living here for several days, yet the mansion lacked anyone that could be called a servant.
Sometimes there were people who came to clean or prepare meals. Even then, it was difficult to see their faces, and the personnel seemed to keep changing.

“What am I thinking now!”

As if she had an odd thought, she violently shook her head.

As if expecting her, a voice of permission was heard without even asking who it was.

Until just a little while ago, when she knocked, only the sound of something dropping could be heard.

Upon entering the bedroom, Akkia, who had been sitting in a chair at the table, looked at Lea with a slanted gaze.

His pupils shimmered as if he was very much looking forward to the answer she had prepared. Lea, who had approached closely, offered the documents she had prepared to the Count.

“What’s this?”

“Read it first.”

With a puzzled face, Count Heidern picked up the paper she had placed on the desk. His pupils moved swiftly as if confirming the contents of the paper.

“Guidelines for the side effects of the new drug…?”

Lea nodded slightly towards Count Heidern. At first, she had struggled a lot to name this document.

It seemed most appropriate to name it a guideline for when side effects appeared.

“Because it seems that the side effects of the new drug will continue to appear. I’ve actually experienced it twice… ahem.”

Suddenly, Lea remembered what had happened in the bathroom and coughed.

“Anyway, before I make an antidote for the side effects, please follow what is written on that paper.”