“Please… Help me, Luca… Vi, help me.”
“His Highness will be back soon. Stay with me.”
Theodor returned to the room. He carried a stack of towels, dragged a chair to the bedside, and piled the towels on top of it.
“Lord Lucas, I left some water in the parlor. Please bring it to me.”
“All right.”
When Lucas returned to the parlor, he found a washbasin, hot water, and a pitcher of drinking water with a glass. Just as he decided to bring the drinking water first, a pained scream came from the bedroom. Lucas rushed back into the room with the pitcher and glass in hand.
“What’s wrong?”
Gasping for breath, Leorino heaved heart-wrenching sobs. Theodor was sitting at his bedside, observing the young man with a severe expression.
“The water, please.”
Lucas handed him the pitcher, and Theodor poured a few drops of some liquid into the water. It turned a pale blue color.
“What is it? What did you add?”
“It’s a medicine that will dull his sensation. Using it once won’t hurt him. He has become too sensitive, so we must suppress it. Can you get behind him and help him sit up? I’ll give it to him then.”
Lucas did as instructed and lifted Leorino into a sitting position.
“No…no!”
Lucas touched him very carefully, but Leorino still shed tears of agony.
“It’s all right, Leorino. You’ll feel better soon.”
“No… No… Stop…”
Theodor brought the glass to his sobbing mouth. Leorino turned his face away in refusal.
“I’m so hot… Stop… Help me, Vi.”
“…Lord Leorino, please drink this. It will make you feel better!”
Theodor was at a complete loss when a hand snatched the glass from behind him.
“You want him to drink this?”
“Your Highness!”
Theodor rushed to make room, and Gravis took his place.
“Is it safe?”
“Yes.”
Gravis nodded. He then looked at Lucas, supporting Leorino from behind.
“Hold him down.”
“…Yes, sir.”
Lucas held Leorino’s jaw open, and Leorino let out a fleeting scream at the contact. He twisted desperately to escape Lucas’s grasp, but all he could do was strain his shoulders like a little bird in Lucas’s arms.
Gravis took a mouthful of the pale blue liquid and slowly pressed his lips to Leorino’s.
“Mnf, mmm.”
When Gravis had fed Leorino the entire glass, Theodor offered him another.
“This is just water. Please give him two more glasses. He’ll get dehydrated otherwise.”
Theodor was warning him of the torment Leorino was about to experience.
Gravis nodded with a rigid expression, covered Leorino’s tearful lips with his own, and fed him more water. Leorino struggled against him, but slowly, he drank the water he was given.
Then, perhaps running out of strength, Leorino fell unconscious again, his back falling limp against Lucas’s chest.
The men’s gazes met above Leorino.
“…Was it Julian Munster?”
“Yes. I suspect he was attempting to force himself on Leorino. He drugged him, though I wasn’t there to see it myself.”
Gravis heaved a deep sigh. He must have been holding back his fury. He clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white.
“I’m glad you were there… Thank you.”
“I’ll say this for the sake of Leorino’s honor: I found him with his clothes undisturbed. For what it’s worth, Leorino didn’t go down without a fight.”
Gravis simply nodded, his expression unchanged, the fire of wrath lit up in the depths of his eyes.
“…Theodor, what do we do now?”
“Simply put, we combat the effects. Most drugs wear off in a day or so.”
“Have someone find out what drug Julian Munster used. Tomorrow afternoon, summon the Duke of Leben to the Palace of Defense.”
“Not here?”
“The duke is not a government official, so the Dritereich does not affect him. Inform Dirk as well.”
“Yes, sir,” said Theodor, and stepped away.
Lucas slowly relaxed the hand that had been supporting Leorino and laid his body on the bed once more. He stood from the bed and turned to Gravis.
“Do you plan to punish Julian Munster?”
“Quite frankly, I would chop his head off this very moment if I could. But considering Leorino’s honor, we can’t risk people asking questions. Not to mention his eldest brother is married to the daughter of the Duke of Leben. We can’t punish them publicly…but we can do whatever we want off the record.”
Hearing Gravis’s nonchalant confession, Lucas felt a chill run down his spine.
Despite his cold appearance, Gravis was a deeply compassionate man. However, perhaps due to his royal lineage, he could be unfathomably ruthless as well. He would achieve his goals by any means necessary, and it was this coolheadedness that existed at the root of his thinking.
Lucas recalled the despair-filled look he saw on Julian’s face as he left. He did not sympathize with Julian, but Lucas was all too familiar with a passion so violent it could bring a man to do anything to get his hands on the person he loved—whether they wanted it or not.
“He…he realized Leorino would never be his. Can there be any greater punishment than that?”
“That’s awfully soft of you. The world would not mourn the loss of Julian Munster,” Gravis said bluntly, his expression blank.
He was incensed. Gravis had acted the very same way after Ionia was killed.
“Destroy Zwelf,” the beast had roared.
“I understand your indignation…but show him your mercy just this once, for Leorino’s sake as well as your own. Leorino attended the soiree—if Julian is punished, Leorino will suffer as well.”
Gravis’s eyes widened. He clearly hadn’t considered that.
“…I see what you mean, and I will give it some thought. In any case, Lucas, I’m in your debt.”
Lucas glanced at Leorino. He changed the subject, sensing they still had time.
“How was the Marquis of Lagarea during the deliberations?”
“He approved without a word of protest. Still, he did imply that Leorino had been eyeing Julian as well. This caught people’s attention. Perhaps I’m paranoid, but I suspect he knew what Julian was planning to do at the soiree.”
“I see. If Julian had succeeded in his scheme, Leorino would be seen as unworthy of you. At worst, your engagement would be rendered invalid… That was far too close for comfort.”
Lucas pondered this. He remembered the way Julian had behaved when they left.
“What’s wrong?”
“…No, I must be imagining it.”
“Tell me.”
Lucas answered, his brow furrowed. “Julian Munster was acting strangely. He insisted that he was going to ‘save’ Leorino from Your Highness. Where could that thought have come from?”
“…What?”
“According to the Duke of Leben, Julian had been left alone to speak with the Marquis of Lagarea after he was informed of your engagement.”
Gravis’s face suddenly turned rigid.
“…You mean that Lagarea tampered with his memory?”
“I don’t know. But I’ve spoken to Julian on one occasion. He treasured Leorino in his own way. For a young nobleman of such integrity, this act of violence and his incoherent assertions stand out as highly uncharacteristic.”
His words forced Gravis to consider it.
Indeed, his impression of Julian Munster was that of a cunning, careful planner, not a man who let his emotions control him in the spur of the moment.
“Would that man really go to such lengths, with no regard for his own fate?”
“Hm…”
“Not to mention Julian is a bloodline purist through and through. However deep his love for Leorino may be, knowing a royal like you will marry him, I highly doubt he would go against your decision.”
“…So Lagarea did this to prevent me and Leorino from marrying…but I don’t see why.”
“I think you may be right about his resentment toward the royal family.”
At that moment, a quiet moan escaped Leorino’s lips. He had awoken.
“…Lucas. Leave us.”
Lucas nodded, looked at the agonized Leorino with pity, and left the room.