Chapter 94: All the Antidote Ingredients Have Arrived!
Chapter 94: All the Antidote Ingredients Have Arrived!
"These are..."
Leon's heart skipped a beat as he peered into the contents of the black box in his hand.
Yet, despite the surge of emotion, he swiftly composed himself and shut the lid.
Taking a shallow breath to steady his still-racing heartbeat, Leon shifted his gaze to Celine standing before him, offering a gentle smile.
"Thank you for bringing this to me, Celine," Leon expressed with gratitude.
"Um! You're welcome, Your Majesty. But I must apologize for momentarily forgetting about it," Celine replied, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"That's quite alright. What matters is that the box is now in my hand, correct?" Leon responded nonchalantly, offering reassurance.
"Um..." Celine nodded happily, then lowered her head in a respectful bow towards Leon. "In that case, Your Majesty Leon, may I request permission to take my leave?"
"Of course," Leon replied lightly, no longer detaining her.
After receiving Leon's permission, Celine swiftly approached the food trolley by the table.
She bowed once more towards Leon before exiting his room, pushing the empty trolley ahead of her.
Watching her departure, Leon shifted his gaze back to the black box in his hand, a lopsided smile forming on his lips.
"I didn't expect Liliana to prepare it so quickly..." Leon muttered, still basking in the lingering happiness.
The black box held the ingredients for the antidote to the devouring poison he had requested from Lyra the previous day.
Additionally, inside were two small bottles of Liliana's Demon Emperor blood essence, also meticulously prepared.
Given the unexpected efficiency, how could he not have been surprised earlier?
"Alright, I want to inspect it first," Leon whispered, taking deliberate steps towards the reading desk.
He positioned the rather large black box on the desk and lifted the lid.
Instantly, his eyes fell upon ingredients such as fire seeds, tricolor flowers, and frozen leaves.
The three ingredients were stored in smaller boxes, and Leon retrieved them one by one, carefully placing them on his desk.
Once the three boxes were arranged, Leon selected a red one and lifted its lid.
"These are fire seeds from the volcanoes," Leon whispered, gazing at the fiery red seeds as if they were forged from molten lava.
However, the fire seeds did not radiate heat, suggesting they had likely been enchanted by Liliana or Lyra to prevent any harmful effects.
"Wait... Why are there so many?" Leon exclaimed as he inspected the contents, realizing there were approximately 1000 fire seeds in the box!
No, it was probably even more than that!
In fact, the antidote for the devouring poison required only two fire seeds.
"Is Liliana afraid that I'll fail and prepare more than necessary?" Leon wondered to himself, finding the idea plausible.
Even though the antidote only required two fire seeds, there was no certainty of success.
After all, concocting this poison demanded advanced alchemy skills, and his current proficiency could be considered average at best.
"Liliana is truly considerate. Just as expected of my moist and caring partner!" Leon praised inwardly, a chuckle escaping his lips.
After inspecting the box of fire seeds, Leon closed it and turned his attention to the ice-blue-colored box.
He opened it to reveal frozen leaves, numbering around 500 to 1000, filling him with joy and deepening his love for Liliana even more.
Afterwards, he closed the blue box and reached for the green one, opening it to reveal tricolor flowers, and yep, the count exceeded 500 to 1000 as well.
Having inspected everything, Leon took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.
"Sure enough, having a wealthy partner is incredible!" Leon smiled, shaking his head in amazement.
It wasn't that he hadn't experienced this kind of treatment from Arshley or Luna before, but as a sword hero in his prime, would he allow himself to become spoiled and depend on women to fulfill his needs?
Certainly not, and there was no way his former self would become dependent like this.
Yet, his current circumstances left him no choice but to rely on Liliana's support, and he found her soft rice quite satisfying.
Nevertheless, no matter how enjoyable it was to eat her soft rice, it didn't make him complacent.
After all, he remained the world's most handsome and strongest sword hero!
How could he resign himself to dependency for the rest of his life?
Leon snapped out of his reverie and focused on the final ingredient in the black box: two small bottles containing a dark red liquid.
"Liliana's Demon Emperor blood essence..." he murmured, excitement coursing through him as he carefully lifted one of the bottles.
His golden eyes scrutinized the contents within, nodding in amazement.
"What an extraordinarily potent blood essence! Even with my current power sealed away, I can still sense its formidable power," Leon murmured in admiration.
The blood essence held a fraction of Liliana's power, enabling Leon to gauge its considerable threat level with just a glance.
Satisfied with his scrutiny of the dark red bottle, Leon carefully returned it to its original position.
"All the ingredients are in order, and the last thing, of course, is the furnace to make the antidote," Leon mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
The furnace was a crucial tool for concocting potions, poisons, or antidotes.
Fortunately, he had already made arrangements with Liliana earlier, and it was likely to be delivered either this afternoon or tonight.
"Yosh! Everything is ready, and I'll be able to—" Before Leon could finish his clichéd sentence of encouragement, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a black piece of paper nestled within the black box.
Intrigued, he picked it up and unfolded its contents.
[Leon, if you're reading this letter, it signifies that all the ingredients I prepared are now in your possession. I apologize for not being able to deliver them to you personally due to the multitude of matters related to the impending warthat require my attention and completion.]
[By the way, right now, I'm punishing Lyra, and the responsibility of attending to all your needs will now be transferred to a new maid named Celine. Don't worry; I understand that Lyra is not at fault, so I won't impose severe punishment on her. After all, it was also my fault to instruct Lyra to fulfill and obey all your orders without requiring her to report them to me.
However, I must confess feeling quite uneasy and annoyed that such important matters are being conducted behind my back, humph! (????;?)]
Upon reading the contents of the letter, Leon was momentarily taken aback, a twitch appearing at the corners of his mouth.
"This woman..."