It wasn't an apple that hit Newton.

Dedeline leaned closer and sniffed suspiciously. Instantly, a strong, foul stench, sealed within the alcohol, wafted into her nostrils from the small bowl, rushing up her nasal cavity and straight to her brain, then engulfing her entire central nervous system.

"vomit!"

Dideli's body instinctively emitted a dry heave.

"how?"

Li Cheng asked, completely oblivious to the situation.

Dedeline's gaze towards the small wrist now held a hint of terror: "Shit!"

Li Cheng insisted, "This is medicine."

Dideri shouted, "But this looks like shit!"

“This is medicine, a special medicine extracted from five pounds of garlic, effective for catching a cold.” Li Cheng paused and continued to explain, “Although its color and smell are somewhat similar to the end products of human gastrointestinal discomfort, it really is medicine.”

"..."

Dideri paused for two seconds, then narrowed her eyes and said, "If something looks like poop and smells like poop, then it..."

“Your statement is incorrect,” Li Cheng interrupted, shaking his head. “According to your logic, if there’s a pile of poop that smells like chocolate and tastes like chocolate, then it…”

"vomit!"

Faced with the two's extremely graphic topic, Lurenjia, who was standing next to them, finally couldn't take it anymore and let out a dry heave.

“Perfect timing, you can try to persuade Miss Didelli.” Li Cheng glanced at the housekeeper, whose annual salary was 100 pounds and who was truly cheap and of poor quality. “She’s sick and needs medicine to get better, otherwise it will be difficult to handle if it gets serious.”

"Forehead......"

The housekeeper was caught in a deep dilemma.

In fact, Lu Renjia also felt that what Li Cheng brought in was just a bowl of shit, and a runny one at that. How could it be medicine for people? But Li Cheng's gaze didn't seem very friendly, and it contained a strong sense of threat.

So, faced with the choice between her job and her newly made close friend, she chose the former without hesitation.

Lu Renjia earnestly advised, "Mr. Li Cheng is right. As the saying goes, good medicine often doesn't taste good. Miss Dideri, you can't refuse to take medicine just because it smells bad. That's not right."

The saying "good medicine tastes bitter" has similar local proverbs almost all over the world, with roughly the same meaning, just expressed differently.

Li Cheng also chimed in, "That's right, Dalang, how will you get better if you don't take your medicine? Your uncle will be worried if he finds out."

"I've already said my name isn't Dalang, so is this a question of whether it's bitter or not?"

Dideri said, somewhat annoyed.

"Ugh."

Li Cheng sighed deeply, as if facing a naughty child who refused to take his medicine: "If I told you that this definitely doesn't taste like poop, would you take your medicine?"

Have you eaten?

Dideri exclaimed in shock.

Li Cheng shook his head: "No, I'm not sick, why would I need to take medicine?"

Dideli was speechless: "How do you know what it tastes like if you haven't tried it?"

Li Chengcheng said earnestly, "I've let others try it."

"..."

Although Dideli genuinely felt there might be a tiny problem with the medicine, after Li Cheng's repeated persuasion, she finally reluctantly accepted the explanation and guessed that it might be some kind of folk remedy, just that it smelled a little like poop, and maybe it didn't actually taste bad... probably.

In short, under the combined persuasion of Li Cheng and Lu Renjia, Dideli hesitantly accepted the small bowl.

"Then... I drank it?"

She hesitated for a moment.

"Drink up, drink up," Li Cheng comforted him. "There was a servant named Lauba who wasn't satisfied with just one bowl; he downed three bowls in one go."

Hearing about how brave Laubar was, Dideri felt she couldn't be too cowardly. So, with a death wish, she gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, held her breath, tilted her head back, and gulped it down, chewing it as she went.

The pungent, fishy liquid slowly flowed down my throat, and a familiar yet utterly unfamiliar taste traveled from my taste buds to my brain.

My tongue is roaring, my stomach is groaning, and memories of my life are flashing before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

At that moment, a final thought flashed through Dideri's mind.

—Although it doesn’t really smell like poop, it’s still too strong. Does that mean Lauba’s taste is a bit too heavy?

Chapter 203 Who writes erotic novels if they're a decent person?

In a villa in Lincoln.

The stove, filled with firewood, roared and dispelled the chill that permeated the entire room.

Veronica leaned back on the soft cushions of the sofa, seemingly gazing out the window, or perhaps staring into the distance.

At the tender age of twenty-one, the most beautiful age for a woman, she had long, flowing black hair, crystal-clear brown eyes, and skin as white and delicate as silk. As a princess of a nation, she had countless suitors and was truly a beautiful flower in England.

But this beautiful flower was picked by someone due to an accident.

To be fair, Veronica only admired Li Cheng. Because of his abilities and unique attitude towards life, she was willing to befriend him and treat him as an equal. She had no romantic feelings for him.

But this unexpected event happened, and for a moment, Veronica was in a state of confusion.

I initially intended to pretend nothing had happened and let it all pass, but every time I inadvertently glimpsed that familiar book title, it would remind me of...

"Hiccup... To be honest, the female lead is based on you."

"Which man doesn't dream of sleeping with a princess? In chivalric novels, the one who woos the princess is also... hiccup, but I was afraid it would be too obvious, so I changed it to a countess."

The male and female protagonists are created based on their images, and an entire book is used to create fantasy—from a certain perspective, this behavior is somewhat romantic like a love letter confession, but it also seems... a bit perverted.

Sometimes, the line between romance and perversion is very thin.

As for Li Cheng's mention of steelmaking and gun manufacturing, Veronica didn't pay much attention, after all, her perspective was limited.

"Your Highness."

Seeing Veronica lost in thought, nodding and shaking her head, and occasionally muttering to herself, Holly couldn't help but call out to her with concern.

Veronica's gaze quickly cleared from her dazed state. She turned her head and looked at Holly with a somewhat puzzled expression, seemingly not understanding why Holly had interrupted her thoughts: "Um, is there something you need?"

Holly wanted to say, "Your Highness, don't be sad," but ultimately changed her mind and said, "I'm sorry, Your Highness, it's all my fault."

However, comfort offered without firsthand experience and empathy, and without substantial content, may backfire and cause resentment in the person involved.

It's basically a complaint like, "Easier said than done. You've never been drunk and assaulted before. Someone, drag her away, get her drunk, and find another man to assault her."

Although it will never actually happen, that's roughly the feeling.

What did you do wrong?

Veronica roughly understood Holly's meaning, and she gently shook her head: "Asking for a room with excellent soundproofing is not wrong; preventing unauthorized people from entering is not wrong; not trying to eavesdrop on the conversation inside is not wrong either."

"You even handled the aftermath very well, keeping it from being exposed to unrelated people and minimizing the impact. I have to thank you for that."

"Thank you, Holly."

She was supposed to be apologizing, but instead she was thanked, and in such a bizarre way at that. Holly felt so embarrassed she wanted to dig a hole in the villa with her toes.

She tried to explain, "I..."

"I know you want to comfort me and tell me not to be sad, but I am not sad."

Veronica calmly interrupted, "For an ordinary woman, chastity is not only a matter of honor, but also a symbol of her own value. But I don't need that; my very existence is a value."

"The man who will marry me in the future will definitely value my status and my own power, and it will have nothing to do with my chastity."

"Even the most beautiful face will grow old. If you like pretty faces, just find a mistress in private. Why bother looking for me?"

"Moreover, based on my observation over such a long period of time, Li Cheng seems to value emotions a lot. After something like this happens, he will most likely side with me."

If it were anyone else, after listening to Veronica's seemingly reasonable long speech, they would most likely be convinced and think that although the princess cared about her chastity, she did not value it too much.

Holly, however, had been serving Veronica all along and had already figured out her personality and some of her thoughts.

If he really didn't care, why would he say such a long thing? This whole series of thoughts from various angles, rather than being an explanation to her, was more of a way to convince himself to pretend nothing happened.

Holly looked worried and felt deeply guilty.

She was guarding the door, just a wall away, never expecting her home to be raided...

If I had been more curious and listened closely through the cracks, I might have noticed something was wrong in the room sooner... Although it might still have been too late, at least I would have done my part...

Just then, Holly caught sight of the clock by the window, and startled, quickly said, "Your Highness, I..."

Before she could finish speaking, Veronica immediately interrupted, "You don't need to say anything more. This matter is no longer your concern."

Holly said somewhat anxiously, "No, I..."

Veronica sighed, "I know you feel guilty, but it's all in the past, and I don't want to bring it up again."

"No, Your Highness."

Holly finally couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out, "Actually, what I wanted to say was that it's time for dinner. The butler has prepared a very small banquet to entertain you, so you should change into something suitable as soon as possible."

"..."

Veronica also glanced at the wall clock and realized that the time had reached a very dangerous point. She silently gave Holly a reproachful look—why didn't you just say it directly? You made me waste so much breath.

Holly looked aggrieved, thinking to herself, "You're just not letting me."

They still had to eat, and besides, this wasn't Veronica's own home where she could eat whenever she wanted; they had to give the host some face.

It's okay if you don't give it to me.

In short, Veronica slowly stood up from the sofa, preparing to walk to the center of the room so Holly could help her change. But this movement aggravated one of her injuries, causing Veronica to frown and show a hint of pain.

Li Cheng, who had drunk too much that day, showed no mercy to the woman. On the contrary, he was unusually fierce, charging forward recklessly, causing Veronica to feel unwell for the past two days.

I can still walk today, but there's a constant tearing pain in my wound when I move around, and I have to keep from showing any signs of pain.

Because of the persistent pain, Veronique's face finally showed anger.

Ouch... Damn it!

------

The next day.

The castle in Newton's territory.

With the meticulous care of the cheap (referring to her annual salary) housekeeper and the help of Li Cheng's excellent medicine, the female knight Dideri finally recovered from the state of 'being sick, but not completely sick' and successfully... completely fell ill.