Nearby, two mischievous maids watch everything unfold. They whisper about how that pretty girl just went off with that mentally unstable young master. You know exactly what they are thinking. They agree they have to act fast, because that is Lionheart territory right now.
Back inside the room, he offers her a nice drink. She politely declines, saying she cannot have even a single drop of it.
Now Moon is in serious trouble. He has absolutely no idea how the original protagonist managed to win this girl over. On top of all that, he still needs to give her the potion. But if she refuses to drink anything, he has no clue how he is supposed to pull this off.
He asks what she usually drinks. She says coffee, but then she quickly changes her mind and offers to have black tea instead. Turns out black tea or sweet wine are the only options available in this place. She looks a bit puzzled by the setup.
He just waves her off, saying he will go fetch it.
Meanwhile she sits there quite confused. He seems weirdly enthusiastic about making that tea.
Obviously, he is back there slipping the special potion right in. And here is the thing. It was easy to assume this was a sleeping potion, but out of nowhere he reveals that one single drop makes someone fall in love. Plus there is another sketchy vial he decides not to use. He is not too sure about its side effects.
Just then she calls for him, which completely startles him. He quickly turns around, yelling that it is almost ready. But in that quick spin, some of the potion spills all over the place. And that other mysterious vial, well, it turns out it was an aphrodisiac.
He is so relieved that none of the potions leave behind any magical trace, at least until he looks down. He realizes a massive chunk of the potion just hit the floor. His original plan was to sell a little bit of it for quick cash, but that idea is totally out the window.
As he brings the hot tea over, someone is peeking right through the window.
Celia comments that the Campbell family black tea is strangely red and shiny. He lies, saying it is an extremely rare herb from the east, a real luxury delicacy.
She plays along, telling him to drink it first.
Moon acts offended, asking if she really does not trust him. Moon Campbell, the most honest young noble in the empire. But she just smiles and replies that those who serve should always taste the drink first. That is basic noble etiquette.
But the second he lifts the cup to take a sip, she snatches it right out of his hand and says his looks much better. They should switch.
Oh boy.
One tiny sip later and she is already looking pretty woozy. It would be easy to assume that was the aphrodisiac, but no. She wobbles, drops the teacup, and passes out entirely, right onto the sofa.
Moon just stands there thinking that dosing both cups was honestly a pretty smart move on his part.
According to the original storyline, the main protagonist is supposed to burst right into this room and try to kill him any second now. Needing to look super suspicious, he lowers her skirt, unbuttons part of her outfit, rips his own shirt off, and decides the whole setup looks absolutely perfect. Anyone walking in would instantly assume exactly the worst. A total trap. He is seriously aiming to get condemned this time.
But get this. One tiny problem.
Nothing happens. Just silence. Half an hour rolls by and absolutely nobody shows up.
Super weird. In the original plot, she storms in to deal with the messy situation right away. So what the heck changed?
Originally, the protagonist is just walking down the halls, gets bumped into, has a drink spilled all over her dress, and ends up stumbling right into this exact mess.
Then it finally clicks for him. The one who originally spilled that tea was probably Noel. But earlier he specifically told Anne to let Noel rest up, completely throwing the entire chain of events off track.
Oh, but look who is waking up while he is still deep in his little master plan.
The girl sits up. It turns out that aphrodisiac totally landed in the exact cup she snatched right from him.
He stands there totally confused, wondering why the room suddenly feels so freezing. Then, bam, a hand grabs his face, and a massive blast of ice magic slams him straight into the floor.
He desperately begs Celia to calm down, yelling that he can explain everything.
She instantly shuts that down. No need for explanations.
Well, then. That is exactly when he realizes something is very wrong with this girl. He promises to go grab a doctor. Way too late. His wrists are firmly pinned down. She murmurs how her body feels so cold, yet his feels incredibly warm.
He begs her to chill out, but nope. She dives right in for a wild kiss. The guy starts praying that Ariel shows up to save his life, because otherwise this fake little act is about to get way too real.
Speaking of our tough protagonist, there she is, walking down the halls completely annoyed about her badly stained dress. Then she catches some really strange sounds nearby.
Anne suddenly pops up, telling her this whole area is highly restricted.
Ariel finds that pretty suspicious. So Anne quickly offers to clean the dress, since that is the main issue. One quick spell later, the outfit is completely spotless. Ariel feels pretty impressed that even the regular maids around here can use magic.
Another maid then casually drops a little hint about some fancy pastry cake being served at the upcoming party. Instantly our protagonist lights up with pure joy, thanking them all super cheerfully.
Anne gives a polite little smile, but turns away wearing that absolute classic, dead-giveaway evil smirk.
Of course, Ariel is not actually that dumb. Or wait, maybe she totally is. She clearly senses something weird, like blood in the air, but brushes it off anyway. Figuring this is the Duke's mansion, she refuses to get involved. Besides, she is completely confident that Celia can easily handle that spoiled brat by herself. Honestly, nothing beats free cake, so she completely stops worrying.
Meanwhile, nearby, those same shady maids start wondering if Ariel was their actual target.
The grey-haired one says nope. She was marked by a guy literally named Number Nine, yet she somehow managed to kill him despite him being a way higher rank.
The dark-haired maid warns her to seriously hurry up, warning that if Campbell shows up now, this whole mission could fail.
But her partner just laughs it off. She already checked the room, and the action in there was in full swing.