The Unreliable Remedy

“…Is this it?”

The medicine smelled as if it came from hell.

Lucian’s complexion turned pale in an instant after he checked the unidentified black liquid in the beaker.

Lucian stared blankly at the liquid in the beaker that Shana had offered.

Boil, boil, the unknown bubbles wriggled like living creatures.

‘The medicine must be referring to the mana rejection syndrome treatment.’

Lucian thought of the ingredients he had prepared at Shana’s request.

Orc sap, scorpion venom… He had prepared a generous amount of slime goo in particular.

“Shasha. I want to drink anything you give me.”

Lucian said with an awkward smile. Shana tilted her head.

“Want to?”

“You shouldn’t drink it very much, looking at your condition.”

Lucian looked at the wriggling medicine and then slightly pushed the beaker away.

Shana brought the beaker that Lucian had pushed back to him.

“No, Lu-shan, you have to drink this.

You don’t have to make the mana rejection treatment? Wasn’t it for the empire?”

“I do. Of course.”

Lucian nodded. Shana, without realizing it, chattered.

“I think of money as soon as I open my eyes, right? What kind of medicine would earn a lot of money…
but I don’t think about it at all now.

It’s just like a cloud, a feather. The feeling is….”

“Like you’re floating in the clouds and flying?”

“Uhm. So, the effect is definitely good, and you have to drink it, too.”

Shana nodded her head.

She could feel her cheeks burning hot and flushed from how good she felt.

Looking at her with her eyes wide and unfocused, Lucian seemed to stop as if he was about to move.

Lucian took out a cleanly ironed handkerchief from his pocket and… rubbed Shana’s mouth.

Shana struggled with the sudden stimulation.

But when Lucian pressed her wet lips with his thumb, Shana stopped with a small flinch.

Lucian said in a low voice.

“Shasha, you’re acting strange right now. It seems like you’re drunk.”

“What? Strange?

Am I drunk right now? Listen carefully, Luciano. I’m not drunk at all.”

“Who is Luciano?”

Lucian let out a small sigh.

Shana, as if she were a child, pouted her lips with a tone that treated her as a drunkard.

“I’m serious!
The fact that I feel so good means that my brain is being stimulated properly.
Then, there is a high probability that your mana rejection syndrome will be cured, too.”

“…Shasha, cute.”

Lucian examined Shana.

Shana blinked her eyes slowly to meet his gaze, but her body swayed slightly like a willow tree.

Strangely, she hadn’t been able to keep her balance since earlier.

‘Ah, then Lucian will misunderstand that I’m not in my right mind!’

Then, Lucian approached and placed his forehead against hers.

It was a cold touch that couldn’t compare to her forehead.

“What are you doing?”

Lucian looked at Shana’s red lips, then at her hazy eyes again.

“Shasha. Experiments are important.

But right now… it seems like it’s empty here. So, let’s think about it tomorrow.”

Lucian tapped Shana’s forehead lightly with his fingertips.

As soon as she saw that, Shana’s face completely hardened.

“Are you saying my brain is empty? Who are you to say that?”

“No, I didn’t mean it that way.”

“That’s what you meant. I know you’re subtly making fun of me.

Is coming here your trick? Is it fun to play with people?”

The resentment that Shana had not spoken to Lucian until now began to burst out.

Lucian, who had been expected to retort nimbly, said nothing.

He spoke in a more serious voice than before.

“No, Shasha. I’m definitely not here to play tricks.”

“Then why do you come here?

Of course, it’s a trick. Or are you using me?”

Shana grabbed Lucian’s shoulder and shook him.

The neatly tailored uniform was crushed without mercy. She could see Lucian biting his lower lip red.

Acha, Shana, who was so excited, let go of the uniform.

What did she do now? She shook the hero of the empire and the heir to the Grand Duke at will.

Lucian was surely angry this time.

The moment Shana closed her eyes, anticipating a reprimand.

“I’m sorry, Shasha.”

Huh?

Shana slowly opened her eyes at the unexpected answer.

Then, Lucian, with a tormented expression, was looking down at her.

It was as if he wanted to explain something but couldn’t, and he opened and closed his mouth several times as if he was frustrated.

But, at last, the words Lucian uttered didn’t explain his strange behavior.

“What should I do? How can I get you to believe my sincerity?”

‘That’s what I expected.’

Shana, as if she hadn’t expected it in the first place, raised the medicine bottle.

“Drink this.”

Lucian’s gaze turned to the medicine bottle.

Was it Shana’s delusion that the great knight commander’s eyes were wavering?

Shana said as if to drive the final nail in the coffin.

“Drink this medicine. Or admit that you’re a trash who plays with me.”

He pressed his temples and took the beaker.

“I will drink it.”

Lucian, who had to accept the beaker, frowned again, smelling the bitter smell.

Shana blinked her eyes slowly.

“Does the medicine smell awful?”

“Yes.”

‘He doesn’t lie.’

At that, Shana fiddled with her fingers and continued.

“The ingredients are kinda nasty…The taste is not very good…

But it will not harm your body much. Probably.”

“Shasha, shouldn’t you give me more trust to feed me the medicine?”

“Quickly, drink it.”

“…Alright.”

Lucian, with a troubled expression, suddenly asked Shana in a sincere voice.

“If I drink this, will we go back to normal? Will you and I be able to smile again like before?”

Shana, who understood only half of the question, nodded her head like a child.

“Of course.”

Lucian, who had been looking at Shana’s face, closed his eyes and chuckled.

Then, holding his breath, he put the beaker to his mouth and began to drink it at once.

Even though he was drinking the bad-tasting medicine, Lucian was full of elegance as if he was savoring wine.

Glug, Shana smiled as she watched the medicine pass along the solid Adam’s apple.

“That’s right.”

“Now you even give me praise…. I’m already feeling the reward of having taken the medicine.”

Shana grabbed the hand of Lucian, who was smiling vacantly, and pulled.

Of course, she couldn’t pull him due to the difference in body size, so she was trying to take Lucian, who wasn’t moving, while groaning.

“Now… lie down on the bed.”

“Lie down?”

“Yes, because you’ll fall asleep.”

“Does… it even have that effect?”

Lucian seemed to have doubts, but he followed Shana’s touch.

Shana held Lucian and laid him on the bed.

Then, Shana patted his shoulder as if to put a baby to sleep.

“…Shasha?”

Lucian was about to lift his upper body as if he was uncomfortable with the situation, but suddenly, his head fell on the pillow.

He was lying on his side, and he seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Just like Shana had.

Shana, forgetting that she was going to leave the room, looked down at Lucian sleeping.

In fact, Shana’s eyes had been seeing Lucian differently since earlier.

His black hair, which looked as if a craftsman had painstakingly drawn each strand.

Shana gently lifted the front of Lucian’s hair.

“Strange.”

Although she always saw that face, it looked somehow more magnificent than usual.

His neat forehead was exposed.

Shana moved her finger along Lucian’s eyes and nose.

She tapped the tear trough under his eyes.

Lucian slightly wrinkled his nose, and it seemed quite cute.

‘Is it because of the medicine?’

Come to think of it, Lucian’s body, wrapped in a uniform, looked stuffy today.

He was already a large person, but how hard would it be to have the coat buttons all buttoned up?

She couldn’t understand why he always buttoned up his uniform to the end, even when he came to the pharmacy.

Shouldn’t he take off his shirt at least?

‘Maybe he can’t breathe.’

This was pure academic curiosity and consideration for the patient.

There was definitely no other thought.

Lucian had been sleeping without hardly making a sound after he had fallen.

Shana carefully began to unbutton his uniform.

Then, only his white shirt remained.

However, Lucian’s breathing was still shallow.

He might die from respiratory failure.

An irrational warning echoed in Shana’s head.

She boldly took off his white shirt as well.

The clear abdominal muscles were revealed, sharply defined like a well-honed blade.

‘Oh, dear.’

She was going to check his heartbeat.

Let’s see, the heart was on the left.

Shana climbed on Lucian’s body and put her ear to the left side of his chest, where his heart was.

Thump, thump, thump.

The heart was beating well near his chest, which was slightly warm, unlike the shallow breathing.

“Um, it’s alright.”

Shana gave a satisfied smile.

The heart had to move well in order for it to function properly.

Um? What had to function?

Come to think of it, since earlier, her train of thought hadn’t been going well.

It was as if it was similar to normal, but it was strange.

“…I’ll ask Lucian when he wakes up.”

About whether the flow of consciousness was strange in a similar way.

Lucian would have to wait three more hours to wake up.

Just like Shana had.

Shana, in a daze, thought.

Since Shana hadn’t lifted her clothes and covered them again, Lucian’s upper body was still fully exposed.

‘It’s a body that’s good to draw.’

She thought as she sketched with her eyes. It couldn’t be helped for the progress report.

If she wanted to check his condition, she had to draw some pictures in the report, didn’t she?

Since the clinical records were better the more detailed they were.

Although she believed herself to be normal, she continued the experiment, still intoxicated by the effects of the medicine.

Shana brought the diary where she had been recording her experimental journal.

There was the effect of the treatment that Shana had intended.

“…Um, 1. Impaired cognitive ability, 2. Awakening effect on the brain, 3. Confusion of reality and dreams, and 4. Sleep action.
It’s working.”

Now, she just had to record the physical changes of the test subject.

‘Wait, draw Lucian?’

Something was wrong.

She looked back and found that she had never drawn a picture of a person in the experimental journal.

At best, she only drew herbs.

Shana, looking at her journal, decided that this wouldn’t work.

Shana, with all her might, suppressed her desire to draw Lucian and instead wrote his condition in the notebook.

[Observation subject (Lucian)’s abdominal muscles are very good. Impulse to leave in a picture? Is felt.
(Important: This is part of the academic record. Probably.)]

“It’s done.”

She’s writing the journal perfectly.

Shana was proud that the side effects weren’t that severe.

She could continue the experiment when Lucian woke up.

‘I’ll check his reaction when Lucian wakes up, ask if I can draw a picture, and also have to check if there is a mana rejection reaction.’

“Then, until Lucian wakes up, should I observe…”

It was a strange thing.

It felt like she wouldn’t get tired of seeing it no matter how much she saw it.

She had other strange feelings, too.

Separate from Lucian’s firm chest, it felt soft, and she wanted to touch it for some reason, or she wanted to lie down on the bed with him.

However, Shana endured it with a firm sense of professionalism.

The problem was that Lucian didn’t wake up.

Although it had only been 15 minutes, Shana was about to fall asleep again.

In the end, Shana had the thought that she should lie down on the bed with him.

The moment she was rustling and entering the covers.

A sound suddenly came from Lucian’s side.

His blue eyes were looking at her.

Shana was embarrassed for unknown reasons and said without realizing it.

“Huh? Why are you waking up so soon!”

Lucian, who should have woken up three hours later, blinked his eyes.

Shana, thinking that his eyes were pretty, also observed them carefully.

His eyes were red, and he had no reaction in a daze, unlike usual.

“Lucian. Your eyes look stupid.”

Shana kindly pointed that out. However, Lucian just grinned foolishly.

Then, he embraced Shana’s cheek with a hot hand like he was drunk.

“Shasha?”

“Yes, it’s me…”

“Another dream?”

Lucian’s face brightened.