Chapter 381
Michael looked at Cecilia and let out a silent sigh of relief.
Strictly speaking, it was more that he relaxed a bit upon seeing her calm and proper attire.
It was a strange thing.
This woman, too, was someone who did not exist in his memories.
âI do remember the name Princess Cecilia.â
But she was someone he had never met. So why did he feel so wary of her?
Michael watched as Cecilia set the tray down on the table. Then, as if he had just remembered something, he asked,
âHas Miss Irene not come to find me yet?â
At the mention of Ireneâs name, Cecilia flinched briefly.
She bit her lip where Michael couldnât see and turned her body, a perfectly beautiful smile appearing on her face as if nothing had happened.
âWho knows. She hasnât come yet. Donât worry too much. Maybe sheâll come tomorrow while taking her time. Just because she read the letter doesnât mean she had to rush out immediately, does it?â
Letter. As she said that, Ceciliaâs smile deepened.
Before leaving the log cabin, Michael had asked her to wait for a moment and then suddenly started writing a letterâan extremely long one at that.
With great care, he sealed it in an envelope and placed it on the table before leaving.
It was as if he were leaving behind a love letter.
Of course, Cecilia didnât leave it alone.
She had Wilhelmina open all the doors of the house on purpose and told her to bring back the letter he had written.
Naturally, the letter ended up in Ceciliaâs hands.
And without even looking at it, she burned it.
At first, she considered ordering someone to capture Irene as well. But there werenât many people left who could discreetly take care of such things like before.
And more importantly, there was something more urgent on her side.
Cecilia glanced at the teapot.
âI havenât lost all my artifacts yet.â
Most of the artifacts had vanished overnight, but not every last one on the continent had disappeared.
And among those, some had remained dormant but later regained their power.
The small stone currently submerged in the water inside the teapot was one such artifact.
Long ago, it was found in a reward chest in a high-level dungeon.
It could have been thrown away as useless, but the person who found it suspected that a stone from such a high-grade chest was not ordinary and had it appraised.
As expected, the small stone was indeed an artifact.
Its name: [One Nightâs Enchantment].
Its ability was that if you left it soaking in water for a day and gave that water to your target, the target would develop an uncontrollable love for the first person they saw, under the artifactâs power.
In other words, it was an artifact capable of producing what is commonly called a love potion.
The problem was, the artifact was dormant.
Its power hadnât disappeared, but no matter how long it was soaked in water, its effect wouldnât manifest, so the first owner died without ever seeing it work.
Even after that, the artifact remained just a stone, and decades passed like that.
Eventually, their descendants sold it off cheaply along with the appraisal certificate.
The buyer, of course, was Cecilia.
âI liked the name right away.â
She liked the ability even more.
And at the time, to Cecilia, it was a trivial purchase. So she bought it and stuck it in her artifact storage, eventually forgetting about it for a while.
She only came across it again after many of her artifacts disappeared.
In the empty storage, all that was left were useless artifacts with no power.
Among those, this one started to manifest its power in the most absurd way.
It was pure chance that she realized it.
A lady-in-waiting, bored, put it in water after Cecilia had thrown it out in a fit of anger, and discovered the effect.
Naturally, Cecilia accused the lady-in-waiting of theft and kicked her out, reclaiming the artifact for herself.
She took it with her when she left the kingdom.
Afterwards, as she traveled to other kingdoms, Cecilia made use of it. But there was a problem.
âWho knew it would really only last one night?â
She thought its name came from soaking it for a day, but the real reason was because the effect lasted just one day.
What was the point of seducing someone for a single night? The next day, those sheâd spent the night with would act as if nothing had happened, saying only that theyâd had a good time.
âBut Michael is different.â
Even though he had lost his memories with Irene, his entire attitude would change at the mere mention of her name.
If she could use the artifactâs power to spend even a single night with himâ
âThen Michael would never be able to leave me.â
Because of guilt and a sense of responsibility, he would remain by her side.
âHeâs still the continentâs strongest Knight, after all.â
