“What on earth have I done…?”

Lea wanted nothing more than to erase everything that happened last night. The room she stumbled upon while searching for Akhia happened to be Edward’s bedroom.

“Sigh…”

In the face of the dizzying memories that resurfaced once again, she let out a heavy sigh.

Lea, feeling awkward to encounter Edward since morning, finished her meal earlier than usual and came out to the garden. The stuffy feeling improved as the cool breeze touched her. Although it had been quite a while since the beginning of early winter, Lea had no room to notice the change in seasons.

After receiving the emperor’s proposal, each day felt like being caught in a storm as the Empress and the Emperor.

Even though this place was the Belarussian Duchy, she couldn’t let her guard down.

“I understand why the Duke is so sensitive.”

Living a life constantly pursued by such people, how unbearable it must have been. While pondering momentarily on such thoughts, Lea sighed deeply once again.

“But I can’t keep avoiding Lord Edward…”

She also needed to seek forgiveness for the rudeness of visiting his room in the middle of the night.

With a troubled heart, Lea lowered her head. It was a moment when she stood in the middle of the garden, looking up at the sky with a calm fragrance of grass tickling her nose.

The sound of shuffling footsteps came from behind. Thinking that Akhia might have come to find her, Lea turned around with a gentle smile.

However, to her dismay, it was Edward who was facing her.

Now was the last person she wanted to encounter. Seeing Edward, the hot memories from last night began to emerge slowly.

The moment Lea was frozen in place, unable to move. Recognizing her bewildered state, Edward widened his lips with a smile.

Then, almost simultaneously, the two spoke.

“Lord Edward, last night…”

“About last night…”

Edward, also unaware that they would start speaking at the same time, opened his eyes wide.

“…Let Lady Yeong-ae speak first.”

He responded to Lea with a gesture of concession.

“I’m sorry. Due to my confusion, I mistook the room last night. I ended up showing disgrace to Lord Edward.”

Recalling yesterday’s events still made Lea break into a cold sweat.

However, as Edward, who knew nothing about the ‘side effects of the medicine,’ it must have been quite bewildering.

Although they had worked together in Edward’s laboratory in the capital, it was only for research on poison.

In fact, Edward still didn’t know exactly about the side effects Lea was experiencing.

She couldn’t just complain to him, “I’m worried about the side effects of the medicine, as it enhances virility.”

So, they had discussed the side effects of the medicine in his laboratory.

‘If it’s going to be like this, I should have been honest and asked him.’

While spending time in the laboratory, although she examined the fever-reducing medicine he had made, there were no special ingredients in it.

Due to the mixture of various herbs, it was difficult to identify which ingredient was effective for the side effects.

‘Ah… Of course. Maybe I need to get a Reparatio tree from the palace.’

With a thoughtful expression, Lea cautiously looked at him. Edward, who seemed to be deep in thought, spoke after a while.

“Yeong-ae, have you ever been poisoned by the venom of a lone spider?”

“How do you know about that?”

Lea almost lost strength in her legs.

‘Could it be… Does he know about the side effects?’

Lea’s sharp gaze reached Edward.

“In my laboratory, your main interest was the venom of a lone spider. As expected. What I saw yesterday was indeed a side effect.”

“Do you know about the side effects?”

“Of course. The venom that caused the poisoning is from the Priapos spider, right?”
Lea widened her eyes as she watched him accurately identify the type of poison.

“Yeong-ae, haven’t you forgotten my thesis topic? Virility, well. The poisons causing such side effects are limited. You should have asked sooner.”

“…….”

“I didn’t research the Priapos spider, but I’ve made an antidote for a similar poison. And you’ve taken that medicine.”

Lea couldn’t close her gaping mouth.

“I took an antidote? When?”

While continuing her thoughts to quickly recall that memory, she heard him say, “Surely…”

“That’s right. The fever-reducing medicine Yeong-ae drank.”

“But the composition I researched in the capital wasn’t much different?”

“Oh, right. The ingredient list you saw was a combination of available herbs that produce similar effects. It’s not much different.”

Edward smiled kindly at Lea.

“The original blend is a bit different. It includes medicinal herbs that have been preserved in our house like a treasure. The antidote Yeong-ae drank contains those herbs.”

Lea couldn’t contain her excitement at Edward’s following words. It was practically a clue to solving the side effects of the new medicine.

“Can I know what those herbs are?”

Lea approached Edward closely. Her leaf-colored eyes, sparkling like the sunlight, were directed at him.