Escaping the Archduke of the North's Obsession

“Okay, I’ll take responsibility for it. I’ll make sure to make the perfect antidote for you.”

He smiled and nodded in response.

“I’m relieved to hear that.”

Anyway, Duke Kyar’s words made her doubt.

She had a lot of things to say that she couldn’t, so she opted for a smile instead.

“Don’t be too anxious, Your Highness. I’ll do my best in creating the antidote.”

He stared at her and slowly nodded in agreement.

She was scheduled to make the cure immediately when the last herb she needed arrived.

Of course, the work wouldn’t be easy either.

The amount of each medicinal herb was different, and mixing those exact amounts required such complex work.

The antidote had no choice but to drink the love potion herself and experiment. That was the surest way.

**

Finally, the last herb had arrived.

Marc handed Isabella a box of herbs.

She swore she saw the butler’s countenance turned emotional upon receiving it.

This time, she measured the number of herbs needed for the antidote compared to the herbal ingredients required for the love potion.

Isabella created ten variations of the antidote by slowly adjusting its dosage.

Isabella locked her bedroom door so that no one could enter and see her making several love potions as an experiment.

“Ignis”

Ignis, who was sitting by the window to bask in the sunlight, flew onto her desk at the sound of her call.

“Why? Isabella?”

“I think you should help me out.”

“What? What do you want me to do?”

Ignis asked ominously as he flapped his tiny wings.

“From now on, I will be drinking the love potion. Maybe I’ll fall in love with you if you are the first thing I see.”

“Love”?

“Yes. If the antidote I made isn’t effective, I might bother you a little. But it’s just that. It won’t cause you any harm.”

“Are you sure?”

“I have to leave this place after creating the antidote. I planned to stop at Arpeon for a while before going to the capital.”

“Arpeon?”

Ignis’ voice calmed down a little.

Perhaps, he had missed the place a lot.

“Alright.”

With Ignis’ consent, Isabella took a deep breath and picked the love potion.

She was a little afraid to drink it.

There’s nothing that she can’t decipher, right?

Isabella shook her head while staring at the antidote she had made.

Hopefully, the worse wouldn’t happen.

Even if these potions didn’t meet her standards, taking so many antidotes couldn’t guarantee that she would be cured.

After drinking the love potion solemnly, Isabella looked at Ignis.

She expected it to make her heartbeat like crazy as soon as she drank it, but on the contrary, her mind was too calm.

Did the potion fail to work for non-human creatures like birds?”

She agonized about it for a while, but later, her heart began to pound at the sight of Ignis.

When he tilted his head while looking at her, she found Ignis so lovely that she thought she would go mad.

Ignis was so adorable every time he fluttered his wings that her heart felt like it was about to explode.

“Wow, this love potion is no joke.”

“What’s wrong with you? The way you look at me is strange.”

“I know. You’re so lovely that I can’t get myself together.”

She wasn’t satisfied just by looking at him.

Isabella couldn’t control her urge to embrace Ignis in her arms, so she reached out to him with her trembling hands.

However, Ignis found her behavior burdensome, so he quickly dodged her hand.

“Don’t avoid me, Ignis. I’ll do better. I’m sorry for leaving you here every day. It’s my fault.”

Isabella felt like crying when she saw Ignis trying to avoid her.

“You are scary, Isabella! I’m scared!”

Ignis freaked out when she approached him, and he went behind the curtain to hide from her gaze.

“Hurry up and take the antidote, Isabella!” Ignis shouted urgently, and that made Isabella return to her senses.

“Okay.”

Isabella hurriedly drank the antidote with a label that said, ‘Number 1’.

Drinking the antidote made her head a little clearer, but it didn’t wholly detoxify the love potion.

In her eyes, Ignis still appeared lovely and cute.

It was the same with the second antidote.

Fortunately, after drinking the No. 3, her mind cleared.

“Isabella! Are you okay now?” Ignis asked as he crept up to her side.

Isabella’s eyes had returned to normal at that point.

“Yeah. It’s okay. I don’t think I was fully cured with just drinking the number three.”

She felt like she was detoxified after drinking these three antidotes in a row.

Next, she compared the number of herbs in each of the three antidotes.

Since each antidote had a different percentage of herbal ingredients,  she calculated them again.

The results finally came.

She concluded that antidote No. 8 had the most similar quantity of herbs if antidote No. 1, 2, and 3 were combined.