obsession chapter 8

Shariette had inherited her mother’s striking features and emerald green eyes, features Blanche abhorred and constantly concealed with magical tools. “Now, wake up, customer.” 

Shariette spritzed Noxian with a different spray bottle than before. His eyelids twitched. 

“Customer, the sleeping draugh-” Before Shariette could finish her prepared line, the world turned upside down. 

“…!” 

Squawk! In the blink of an eye, Noxian had flipped her onto her back, pinning her down, his arm tight around her throat. 

“Five seconds.” He whispered, his voice gentle, incongruous with his actions. “Explain yourself.” The pressure on her throat eased slightly, just enough for her to speak. 

Just like before.

Shariette, completely immobilized with her wrists pinned, rolled her eyes. The man’s smooth lips curved into a warning smile. “Three.” 

“Customer, did you check the effects of the sleeping draught?” 

“.…” 

Shariette belatedly added the benign smile she’d practiced. Disbelief warred with bewilderment in Noxian’s eyes. “I’d heard rumors you weren’t right in the head. They were true.” 

No. Perfectly sane. But between suspicious and strange, Shariette chose strange. “They said you weren’t an apothecary?” 

“Mr. Duhmer isn’t a veterinarian, but he heals animals.” She recycled her neighbor anecdote for the hundredth time. Noxian, observing her strangely calm demeanor with a curious expression, released her. 

Did I get away with it? While Shariette gauged his reaction, he flexed his hand, seemingly lost in thought. Then, glancing at her neck, he sighed briefly. “The situation was suspicious, but I apologize for using excessive force. I’m sorry.” 

“…?” 

Shariette was momentarily taken aback. An apology. She’d never heard one before in her life. Why was he apologizing? ‘I’m the one who knocked him out?’ She was the one who’d thrown the first punch and cheated. Unable to find a suitable response, she decided to offer a discount and some freebies as compensation. 

However, her resolve didn’t last long. Noxian, back at the counter, casually crossed his legs as he sat on an unoffered chair and said, “The White Raven, was it? How about working as my personal physician? I can offer satisfactory compensation.” Work for him and risk getting my identity exposed and killed?! Shariette shook her head without hesitation. 

“No-” “You must have heard the rumors. About Rubelot’s heir being cursed. Unfortunately, they’re true.” His eyes, the color of garnets, curved languidly, belying his words, and gleamed ominously. 

“The curse Latium inflicted is insomnia. No physician or medicine has been able to make me sleep. Except you.” 

…This feels like something I shouldn’t be hearing. Shariette was flustered by the casual reveal of his identity and personal information. This made it harder to back out! But Noxian didn’t give her time to think, pressing on smoothly. “Unlicensed manufacture and sale of pharmaceuticals for profit.” 

…Huh? 

“A fine of 3,000 Luca. Selling this apothecary wouldn’t even cover it.” Shariette was stunned by the amount, a sum she’d never even seen, let alone touched. Noxian’s lips curled into a smile. 

“Or you could spend five years toiling in a labor camp.” 

Shariette’s jaw dropped in shock. Now, a brief explanation of how Shariette became a criminal: Making medicine was all she’d ever done, and she had no other skills to make a living. She tried working as a maid, but was fired after a week. 

Thank you for your hard work, but I don’t think you’re suited for this kind of work.

Her kind former employer gently phrased her dismissal as ‘You’re too weird to employ,’ despite Shariette being the shortest-tenured maid in history. Shariette was obedient, diligent, and performed her tasks well. However, Blanche Argen, who had been something of a master to her for the past ten years, was a bit different from a typical employer. 

What she learned under Blanche wasn’t exactly standard maid training. 

‘W-What are you doing?!’ 

‘I’m sorry, I scorched the tablecloth by mistake, so I’m atoning.’ 

‘Kyaaa! Stop! Someone take the fire away from her!’ 

No one wanted a maid who would set her own hand on fire without blinking, no matter how good she was at her job. Fortunately, her former employer, despite losing a live-in maid, showed Shariette kindness. She offered her this house, located past the haunted Willow Hill at the edge of the Shadow Forest, a property that had been sitting vacant. A remarkably generous acquaintance discount: no deposit and half the usual rent.