10. A Clever Girl Always Notices the Details
“My way of inviting people? That leaves me rather confused.”
As a quickly fallen villain who only appeared for twenty chapters, Mu’en had no idea what his previous invitation style had been like.
The original owner’s memories were too jumbled, and he couldn’t recall at all.
“I believe it was during the last academy ball,” Celisia reminisced, paying no mind to Mu’en’s forgetfulness.
“You also wanted to invite someone to dance. The other person was a viscount’s daughter. I remember, this is what you said.”
Celisia tilted her head back, her beautiful eyebrows slightly furrowed.
Although her face remained expressionless as usual, it was evident that she was trying hard to imitate an arrogant and domineering look.
“Woman, rejoice and celebrate! The young master has mercifully granted you the qualification to dance with me!”
“…”
“How was it? Did I imitate it well?”
“…”
It wasn’t just well—my toes are curling so hard I could dig out a three-bedroom apartment!
Mu’en Campbell, you’re not just a scumbag, but a cringeworthy one at that!
The worst part is being that cringeworthy in front of so many people. You just up and ran, but what about me? I’m dying of embarrassment!
“Those are just shameful memories of the past. Please forget them, Your Highness.”
Mu’en smiled awkwardly, then quickened his dance steps to ease the embarrassment.
But Celisia remained graceful and composed. Even though Mu’en deliberately sped up the steps, ignoring the rhythm of the music, she never lost the lead. If anything, Mu’en found himself following her.
Celisia Leopold truly was the eternally noble and proud white swan.
No wonder she was the most difficult woman to win over in the original novel.
Mu’en sighed inwardly.
…
As the music ended, so did their dance.
Warm applause erupted around them.
Mu’en ignored a certain protagonist’s jealous glare that looked ready to kill, and smiled as he bowed to the crowd.
Mu’en’s forehead now glistened with beads of sweat, but Celisia’s expression remained unchanged.
“Your Highness seems tired as well. How about we find a quiet place for a drink?”
Building on the decent atmosphere, Mu’en extended another invitation.
“Very well.”
This time, Celisia nodded in agreement without even hesitating.
Great!
Though he maintained his neutral expression, the little figure in Mu’en’s heart was jumping with joy.
The beginning is always the hardest part. As long as the invitation for a private conversation succeeds, then half the mission is accomplished!
…
“I’m sorry, I don’t drink alcohol.”
“Huh? It’s just red wine, a little bit…”
“Red wine is also not acceptable.”
Celisia tucked a strand of silver-white hair behind her ear. “My constitution doesn’t allow for alcohol, not even a drop.”
“…”
In the specially prepared room, Mu’en, holding the bottle of wine he had already drugged, stared with widened eyes.
Can’t drink alcohol?
Not even red wine?
Then how was he supposed to drug her?
Thinking carefully, the original novel indeed didn’t describe Celisia drinking alcohol, so her inability to drink wasn’t too unexpected.
In the original story, Mu’en Campbell had successfully drugged Celisia by putting it in her tea.
Mu’en could have done the same.
But there was one problem—the drug he bought was red!
As red as fresh blood!
Putting it in tea—would she really not notice?
“Is there a problem?”
“No… none at all. It’s just that since Your Highness doesn’t drink alcohol, what would you like?”
“Coff—”
“Only red tea is available.”
“?”
“I said only red tea is available.”
Looking directly into Celisia’s eyes, Mu’en said seriously:
“Due to certain uncontrollable factors, tonight we only offer red wine and red tea, nothing else.”
“Only… red tea?”
Celisia, whose expression was usually as unchanging as a thousand-year-old iceberg, couldn’t help but show a hint of confusion. However, she didn’t immediately think the worst, assuming instead that Mu’en simply hadn’t prepared properly.
“Then red tea it is.”
“Thank you.”
Mu’en wiped away cold sweat and quickly got up to prepare.
“Wait.”
Celisia suddenly called out to him, her cold eyes flashing with suspicion:
“You’re going to prepare it yourself?”
“Yes, is there a problem?”
“…No.”
Celisia shook her head. “I’m just surprised that Young Master Mu’en would do something that only servants usually do.”
Damn, she’s getting suspicious!
Mu’en’s heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained calm as he smiled and said:
“There’s no help for it. The Duke’s maids are all very busy tonight, and even my personal maid can’t get away at the moment. So I’ll have to take care of this small matter myself.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Celisia nodded slightly, seemingly agreeing.
“Then I look forward to it—tea personally made by Young Master Mu’en.”
…
“As expected of Celisia, she can’t be underestimated.”
Outside the room, facing the red tea he had hastily prepared, Mu’en wiped cold sweat from his brow, still feeling a sense of danger.
If his psychological resilience had been just a bit weaker earlier, he might have given himself away.
“Who said this step would be easy? The parts not depicted in the book are actually the hardest!”
Mu’en couldn’t help but feel irritated. How could he have known that the so-called world line correction had no effect on a supporting character like him, and he had nearly ruined everything because of Celisia’s sudden unexpected trait!
“But now that things have come this far, I can only go forward!”
Mu’en took out the two medicine bottles from his pocket.
“Red tea is also red, so it shouldn’t be noticeable. As for this so-called little gift…”
Mu’en opened the “bonus” bottle the unscrupulous shopkeeper had given him, which contained white powder that seemed to be water-soluble.
“Although I don’t know what it does, since the shopkeeper said using them together produces magical effects, it probably enhances the potency.”
“No choice now—I’ll add them both!”
“I can only hope Celisia drinks it before realizing something’s wrong.”
“Kekeke, it’s your own fault for being so clever, Your Highness. Don’t blame me for going all out!”
Picking up the drugged red tea, Mu’en revealed an evil smile that even he himself didn’t notice—a smile befitting a villain.
…
“Your Highness, your tea.”
Mu’en, like a professional servant, elegantly presented Celisia with the red tea he had carefully prepared.
“Thank you.”
Celisia politely accepted the tea, but didn’t rush to drink it. Instead, she carefully examined the liquid.
“Young Master Mu’en, this red tea… is very red.”
“Isn’t red tea supposed to be red?” Mu’en smiled.
“Is that so? The red tea I usually drink is light red.”
“That might be because the tea leaves come from different regions. Like how oranges from the Northern Dunor region compared to those from the Southern Hope region are smaller but sweeter, teas from different regions might also have subtle differences in color.”
“That makes sense.”
Celisia still didn’t drink but raised her ice-blue eyes to stare directly at Mu’en.
“Then—why don’t you drink first, Young Master Mu’en?”