That single answer almost made her cry out of anger. But she chose to hold it inside.
Peter stepped forward and lowered his head.
"Young Master, I cannot take this potion while you are in that state."
Lucard’s eyes became sharp.
"Peter."
Peter went silent.
Lucard continued, "Your duty is not to look loyal. Your duty is to be useful. If I fall asleep and Ravencroft sends assassins, can you fight with your current wound?"
Peter clenched his fist.
"No."
"Then drink."
Peter looked at Jenny.
Jenny looked at Lucard.
Lucard’s face was pale, but his eyes were firm. He would not change his mind.
Jenny slowly lowered the potion.
"Half now," she said quietly. "Celia said half now and half after two hours."
Peter still hesitated.
Lucard said, "If you make me repeat myself, I will pour it down your throat and count it as training."
Peter took the bottle.
"Yes, Young Master."
Jake whispered, "He means it."
Peter looked at Jake. "I know."
Orven and Malik stood near the door. The two Marovain guards had not spoken since they entered the inn. They were still processing what they had seen. They had been ordered to protect House Vardros, but now they felt like they had been assigned to guard a sealed monster box. The problem was that the box walked, spoke, insulted duke families, and occasionally removed hearts.
Orven cleared his throat carefully.
"Young Master Lucard, should we call a healer?"
Lucard glanced at him.
"No."
Malik said, "Lady Celia may send one."
"Then keep him outside unless I ask."
The guards looked at each other.
"Yes."
Jenny looked at Lucard. "Why refuse a healer?"
Lucard said, "Too many eyes."
Jenny understood some of it. His power was strange. His wound was strange. If a healer looked too closely, they might notice something wrong with his blood, his recovery, or whatever he had done to Dorian’s heart.
Still, she did not like it.
"You need rest," she said.
"I need silence."
Jake immediately closed his mouth with both hands.
Lucard looked at him. "You can breathe."
Jake breathed through his nose very loudly.
Jenny almost laughed and cried at the same time.
Lucard looked toward the other room.
"Go there. All of you."
Jenny shook her head. "I am not leaving you alone."
"You are."
"No."
Lucard’s eyes narrowed.
Jenny met his gaze. Her face was pale, her hair messy, and her eyes still wet from fear and vomiting, but she did not step back.
"You can order Peter. You can scare guards. You can make Jake quiet for three breaths if lucky. But I am your older sister."
Lucard stared at her.
Jake whispered, "Three breaths is hard."
Peter whispered, "Not now."
Lucard closed his eyes for a moment.
The heart curse inside the body moved again. It did not like Jenny’s fear. It did not like her tears. It made his chest hurt in a different way than Dorian’s fire. He disliked that feeling. He disliked being pushed by a dead boy’s attachment. Yet he also understood that arguing would waste energy.
"Fine," Lucard said. "You can stay until Peter drinks."
Jenny accepted that small victory.
Peter lifted the potion and drank half of it carefully.
The liquid glowed as it entered his mouth. A soft golden light spread from his throat to his chest and then through his injured body. Peter’s face twisted from the sudden warmth. The potion worked quickly. His torn muscles tightened. His old wounds began closing. The pain in his side changed from sharp stabbing to deep heat.
He sat down heavily.
Jenny quickly took the bottle back before he drank too much.
"Enough. The rest after two hours."
Peter breathed out.
"I can already feel it working."
Jake looked amazed. "Can it grow back lost arms?"
Peter shook his head. "No."
Jake looked disappointed. "Then it is not that high rank."
Peter stared at him. "Young lord, most potions cannot do that."
Jake nodded seriously. "Then most potions are lazy."
Lucard sat in the chair, eyes half closed.
"Take him to the other room before he starts grading potions."
Jenny looked at Lucard again. She wanted to say more. She wanted to force him to drink the rest. She wanted to ask what he was, what he had done, why he could stand after being hit in the heart, and why he could pull out Dorian’s heart like a nightmare from an old battlefield.
But Lucard’s face was pale.
He needed rest more than questions.
Jenny placed the remaining potion on the table beside Peter, then looked at Orven and Malik.
"You two stay outside the door."
Orven nodded quickly. "Yes, Lady Jenny."
Malik opened the door and checked the hall.
Peter stood slowly. He looked far better than before, though not fully healed.
"I will guard the inner door," he said.
Lucard did not open his eyes.
"Good."
Jenny guided Jake toward the other room.
Jake looked back at Lucard.
"Brother."
Lucard opened one eye.
"What?"
"Do not die while we are in the next room."
Lucard looked at him for a moment.
"I will try to control myself."
Jake nodded, accepting that as a serious promise.
Jenny closed the door softly behind them.
Peter drank the potion’s first half completely into his body’s recovery, then sat near the inner doorway with his sword across his knees. On the outside of the main door, Orven and Malik took their positions. In the main room, Lucard remained alone at last.
Only then did his hand press against his chest.
Blood moved under his burned skin. His breathing became slow. The pain finally showed on his face.
Outside the window, Gravehold’s busy sounds slowly returned, but they felt far away. Lucard lowered his head and stared at the blood on his palm. Dorian’s fire still burned inside his chest like a small angry coal. He smiled faintly through the pain.
"Rank Four mana," he whispered to himself. "I will make it useful."
Then he closed his eyes.