Chapter 94

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: A Foul Smell
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Cesare said, pinching her cheek mischievously. Aileen quickly explained that she had been a bit nervous since it had been so long since they’d last seen each other. After a lengthy explanation, she finally cleared up the misunderstanding, and they were able to have tea time.
Aileen sipped tea and chatted with Cesare at her favorite outdoor table in the prince’s palace garden.

While she was talking with him, she could briefly forget about her debt and her parents. At the end of that happy time, Cesare remarked in passing.

“It might be a good idea to try making and selling medicine.”

For Aileen, who had been at a loss as to how to make money, his advice was golden. When she expressed her uncertainty, wondering if it was alright for someone who hadn't even finished her university studies, Cesare praised her, saying he had never met a girl as smart as her.

Before they parted that day, Cesare gave Aileen a bouquet of lilies. Aileen returned home with an armful of the pure white flowers and arranged them beautifully in a vase.

The bouquet of white lilies brought a burst of brightness to the gloomy house. It was just a bouquet, but it dispelled the dreariness that had blanketed the brick house. The dark clouds that had shadowed Aileen's heart also lightened a little.

After staring at the bouquet by herself for a long while, she mustered her courage. She decided to follow Cesare's advice and try making medicine.

‘It's all thanks to you, Cesare.’

Aileen, who had been retracing the past, returned to the present and looked at the Cesare before her. At the man who had made her everything she was.

Feeling her heart tighten, Aileen took a deep breath. Inexpressible emotions swirled within her. She disciplined herself over and over not to let her feelings of love slip out, not to act presumptuously and cross the line.

*I will become a useful person for Cesare, no matter what.* Repeating this vow internally, she opened her lips.

“Watching you today, senior, I thought I wanted to be like you. I decided I have to work as hard as you do, Lucio, mmph.”

She was trying to finish her interrupted sentence when Cesare kissed her again. She was pulled into the kiss for a long time, breathing in short, shallow gasps. Only after being kissed until her lips were plump did Aileen finally catch on.

‘Don't tell me he doesn't want to hear about Lucio?’

He had been the one to ask, but it seemed he was displeased with the topic for some reason. She didn't know why, but since Cesare didn't want it, Aileen dropped the subject of Lucio. Only then did Cesare finally stop kissing her.

‘I think I’m getting a little quicker on the uptake.’

Pleased that things had gone as she’d thought, Aileen couldn't hide her pride and puffed her chest out slightly. Cesare, guessing her thoughts, let a faint smile touch his lips, but Aileen didn't see it.

He gently licked Aileen’s noticeably swollen lips and told her to have dinner with the professors. It seemed he had unfinished work and wouldn't have time to dine with them.

And so, Aileen had dinner with the professors and Lucio. Glenda and Elio, who had secretly hoped to see Cesare again, seemed very disappointed but also relieved.

‘I suppose eating with His Excellency the Grand Duke is a tense and difficult affair.’

Aileen understood their feelings all too well. After dinner, she took them on a tour of the grand duke’s residence.

Naturally, they passed by the laboratory, but she didn't show them the inside, making the excuse that it was still being organized as they walked past.

She discussed the commercialization of the headache medicine with the professors before heading to bed early. Falling asleep alone in the bedroom without Cesare, Aileen felt a little lonely as she closed her eyes.

She thought the day had ended peacefully. Until the sun rose the next morning.

***

In the dead of night, when all were asleep. The laboratory door, which should have been firmly shut, was open. A man who had slipped in as quietly as a shadow surveyed the lab’s interior.

He first found Aileen's research journal. The man's breath grew ragged as he quickly flipped through the pages, examining the journal, which was meticulously organized in a neat hand.

The man, who had been stroking the letters with his finger, clutched the journal and scanned the lab with glistening eyes. His gaze fell upon the experimental tools. He touched each instrument that his master’s hand would have touched, then discovered a neatly folded handkerchief on the desk.

The man snatched the handkerchief. He buried his nose in it and rubbed it all over his face. His chest rose and fell rapidly as rough breaths burst from his lips.

“Hah, hah… Fuck…”

Muttering a curse, the man rubbing his face with the handkerchief hastily fumbled with his belt with his other hand. The clanking of the belt buckle echoed as a stiffly erect member sprang free. The man made a beast-like sound as he frantically stroked himself.

Pre-ejaculate gushed from the head, and a wet, slapping sound echoed in the quiet lab. Just before reaching a thrilling climax, the man called out a name with a rough moan.

“Aileen…!”

Sticky semen drenched his palm. Panting as he caught his breath, Lucio turned on a faucet in the corner of the lab and washed the semen from his hand.

If he had his way, he would have left his mark on everything—the chair Aileen used, her gloves, her experimental tools. But he couldn't act rashly. Unlike in the past, she was now a being not to be trifled with.

Lucio clenched his jaw tight. A short tremor ran through his lower jaw. Not even the afterglow of his release could stop the twisting in his gut.

He had changed. His appearance, his personality, and everything else. It was no exaggeration to say his life had been turned completely upside down. It was all for Aileen.

After being expelled from the university, he had strived to return to Aileen's side. He resolved to become a man she wouldn't be ashamed of and tried to become a partner that even the Grand Duke of Erzet would find satisfactory.

When he heard the Grand Duke was going to war, he had prayed for his death. Without someone to protect her, it would be easier to claim Aileen. But such a lucky break never came.

Though inwardly disappointed, he congratulated himself on having changed enough that the Grand Duke would surely accept him as a suitor.

Aileen was nothing more than the daughter of a humble baronial family. This much should be enough to satisfy the Grand Duke.

He had been waiting for the chance to contact Aileen again. Then, unbelievably, the news of Aileen and the Grand Duke of Erzet's marriage was announced.

For Lucio, the news was a bolt from the blue. The man had called her his child, but in the end, that bastard was just another man who got his cock up for Aileen.

Even though he had changed so much, Aileen had become even further out of his reach.

His inferiority complex toward someone he couldn't dare approach became even more twisted after meeting Aileen. It was because Aileen had achieved precedence in academics, the only area where he could boast of his achievements.

To think that the pharmacist who created that headache medicine was Aileen…

Lucio, too, had personally experienced the efficacy of the headache medicine that Glenda and Elio praised to no end. It was also effective for fever and inflammation, a medicine that could be used in many ways.

If this medicine were commercialized, Aileen would gain the honor of a scholar as well.

He didn't want to see that happen. If he couldn't have her, he at least wanted her to fall to a level lower than himself.

‘With this…’

Thinking of the noble who had given him his orders, Lucio once again gripped Aileen's research journal, which he had tossed aside. To research opium, what an audacious thing to do.

He tucked the research journal and the handkerchief into his coat and returned to the guest room Aileen had provided. Careful not to make a sound, he opened the door and slipped quietly inside.

He closed the door and let out a sigh of relief at having arrived safely, then turned around.

“...!”

*Thud.* A loud noise rang out. Belying all his caution, Lucio had slammed his body into the door.

But he had no time to worry about the noise he had made. He pressed his back flat against the door, his eyes bulging as if they would pop out.

The guest room, which should have been empty, already had a visitor. In front of the moonlit window, sitting leisurely in a pulled-out armchair, was the master of the residence, the Grand Duke of Erzet.

Red eyes stared directly at Lucio. The man, a pistol resting on his thigh, opened his lips with a languid expression. A slow, low voice flowed out.

“Lucio Gietani.”

The moment his name was called, Lucio fell to his knees before he could even think. Cold sweat poured down like rain, soaking his clothes in an instant.

“Your… Your Excellency the Grand Duke…”

As a strangled sound escaped Lucio's throat, Cesare casually touched the pistol. *Click.* The sound of the gun being cocked was followed by a refined voice spitting out a curse.

“What a fucking foul smell.”