Chapter 3 [Part 2] - What Curse

Chapter 3 [Part 2] – What Curse?

There was a brief silence between the two who was sitting opposite each other.

It wasn’t long before the employees of the Grand Duke’s residence came in. Once tea and cookies were served on the table, the spacious office was filled with the scent of fragrant tea and sweet cookies.

Ashia carefully observed Kaligo who sat cross-legged across the table whilst starting at the teacup placed on the table.

‘Oh my, he sits cross-legged?’

It was not a strange sight to see.

He sat that way when I was Renna.

The hero of the novel, ‘Kaligo Etous’. Her ex-husband, ‘Kaligo Edmund’.

They only had the same name. Their words, deeds, and personality were diametrically contrary to one another.

‘Kaligo’, her ex-husband, was abstemious and always restrained. On the other hand, ‘Kaligo’, the male lead, suffered from lack of support and emotional ups and downs.

-A mix of both would’ve been preferred.

TL/N – How smart of you.

There was a time where she compared the two polar opposites whilst reading the novel in her past life.

‘Wait…….’

As she was observing Kaligo, Ashia’s vision became hazy.

‘If that man is really my ex-husband, Kaligo Edmund……’

In the novel, the male lead, who was a straight man, lived his entire life in sexual abstinence.

Ashia’s eyebrow crept up.

Somehow, it was more interesting that the man was living in the body of a person who is the complete opposite of him than the fact that his ex-husband had entered the same novel she did.

“Isn’t it uncomfortable for you to keep wearing a hood inside a room?”

Kaligo, who had been gently gazing at her for a while, asked as he lifted a teacup on the table. Even when he asked, his gaze was still focused on the teacup.

At Kaligo’s question, Ashia, who was about to grab a cup of tea, hesitated.

I expected for him to ask the question, so I didn’t panic much.

As if it was insignificant, she answered as she wrapped her finger around the handle of the teacup.

“Though I know it may not be polite of me to do so, I have an ugly scar on my face I don’t wish to show.”

“…………”

“Please excuse me.”

Of course, it was a lie. Why would I have a scar?

“I see.”

Fortunately, he seemed to believe what Ashia said. Despite his well-known personality, there was nothing strange about him even if he insisted on taking it off immediately.

‘I am certain that……the atmosphere isn’t coercive.’

His response was closer to that of her ex-husband’s, ‘Kaligo Edmund’, than to ‘Kaligo Etous’, in terms of the atmosphere and his words and actions.

There was no need for her to think about it deeply.

As long as she finishes the request as soon as possible and receives the promised gold, she’ll be able to go back to her serene routine.

“Are you finished looking?”

“Ah, yes…..Pardon?!”

“I can feel your eyes observing me, and it’s quite unpleasant.”

Kaligo’s gaze, which remained on the table, moved slowly.

He would not be able to see her face clearly as it was covered with her hood, but Ashia felt his eyes look exactly into her’s.

As the red-eyed man stared at her quietly, Ashia’s throat began to dry up. Was it too obvious? Ashia cleared her throat and continued her words.

“Think of it as a part of the process.”

“………….”

“Looking at the client’s complexion and observing his behavior helps me in creating potions.”

Upon hearing her explanation, Kaligo leaned his head towards the side and folded his arms.

Then, as if he had outgrown his white shirt, it seemed like it was about to burst anytime soon.

‘Huh.’

Ashia’s eyes widened as she watched the man sitting in front of her act in pursuit of his instincts even in this serious situation.

‘How come your body seems to have grown in mere seconds?’

As she was swallowing dry saliva, Kaligo suddenly asked her a question.

“Like those who make laws?”

At his question, Ashia put the teacup down.

“Oh, yes. It is.”

Of course, her words were not false.

Though there are subtle differences between the two, that doesn’t mean they are completely different from each other. In terms of context, there isn’t much of a difference between healing wounds and reinforcing laws to overcome areas of weakness.

“I understand. If you’ve observed enough, I’d like you to make the medicine already.”

“Yes, I will. That’s why I’m here in the first place.”

Kaligo nodded in agreement.

“I heard you can create medicines that don’t have any side effects.”

“Yes, that’s the reason why it’s called a special potion.”

“That is also the reason why I specifically requested you to be the one to make my medicine.”

That’s right. Ashia’s potion was famous for having no side effects.

That was the reason why high-ranking aristocrats sought her, even though the price she asked for was not low.

Her red lips that raised a smile under the hood allured me.

“I’ll do my best, Your Highness.”

“That’s the answer I’ve been expecting. My expectations of you, Miss Ashia Bliss, are high.”

Following her subtle smile, Kaligo laughed, too. His low voice tickled Ashia’s ears.

‘I didn’t know he knew how to laugh like that…….’

His expression, which people had never seen him make in the past, left Ashia’s mouth bitter. Although she believes that he’s just a client of hers, it seems inevitable for him to be her ex-husband, Kaligo.

“First of all, can you tell me about the symptoms you are experiencing? I can’t get the exact information I need just by looking at it.”

“…………..”

“Your Highness?”

Somehow, his mouth, which had been smiling just now, hardened. He didn’t seem to want to tell her about its symptoms.

“You don’t have to know the symptoms in detail.”

The person who asked me to make the medicine for him said that he won’t tell me the symptoms.

One of Ashia’s eyebrows wriggled as she felt her anger rise.

“I don’t know the symptoms, so how would you like me to make the potion?”

She said every word with her jaw clenched.

At her question, he replied in a sharp tone.

“Just because.”

“…….Just because?”

Kaligo, who was organizing his thoughts in his head again, buried his back deeply on the sofa, sighed, and said.

“I want you to make a potion that will make my desire disappear.”

A brief silence filled the room.

Ashia’s eyes widened before asking again.

“……..D-Desire?”

Kaligo replied as he rubbed his temple with an expression of aggravation.

“…….Sexual……desire.”

He said it in such a low voice that she could hardly hear what he was saying.

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