Chapter 32:You can’t escape

(Even if you tell me to run away…!?)

Leefe’s right wrist was firmly grasped by Oliver, with no sign of him letting go. She tried shaking her hand up and down, but it barely moved, only responding to half the strength she put into it.

“Oliver-sama, please let go of my hand—”

The moment she said that, a low, sweet voice echoed in her ear.

“Leefe, I love you.”

(Kyaaaaaa!?)

Leefe let out a silent scream in her mind. It took her a moment to understand that Oliver had whispered those words above her head.

Somehow, the distance between them had closed, and if he reached out, he could easily pull her into his arms.

However, despite having just carried Leefe with ease and gentleness, his arm didn’t move any closer. Although Oliver’s eyes were burning with passionate intensity, he only tightened his grip on her wrist slightly.

Surprised, she looked up and met his gaze, seeing him biting his lip as if trying to hold something back.

“Why… are you looking at me now?”

“!?! I’m not staring!”

“That’s why I told you to run away.”

“!?!”

Just as she was about to say, “Then let go of my hand,” her heart skipped a beat. Oliver kissed the hand he was holding.

(Wait, wait…!? This is too seductive…!)

She wanted to shake free, but she was paralyzed by his heated gaze. In that moment, Oliver kissed her hand again, tenderly, the warmth of his lips lingering on her fingertips.

Oliver looked like he was in agony and told Leefe, who could only stand there and blush brightly.

“…I love you.”

It almost felt like a real love confession, but this was all because of the love potion. She needed to detoxify him as soon as possible.

No, perhaps it would be quicker to immobilize Oliver first, but Leefe herself was also completely at the mercy of the love potion, unable to move.

“O-Oliver-sama, p-please calm down! That feeling is because of the love potion—”

“But your love potion doesn’t work on someone with zero affection. Can’t you see that my desire to be with you is genuine?”

“…’Desire to be with me’?”

She inadvertently repeated it out loud, and a few seconds later, when she understood the meaning, she felt a surge of regret at what she had just said.

“N-No! That’s not it! Um, this is because of the love potion, um, kya!?”

Thinking she couldn’t let him get any closer, Leefe hastily stepped back, only to bump into the sofa behind her. Her knees buckled, and she fell onto them.

Oliver leaned over her, placing his hands on the backrest. Despite telling her to run, she had nowhere to escape.

“I love everything about you, Leefe. Your bravado in hiding your insecurities, your clumsy yet charming attempts to behave properly, your kindness so profound it’s almost foolish, your scent, your tiny nails, the warmth of your lips—everything.”

His words of love, spoken from such a close distance, made Leefe, who had no experience in romance, feel like crying.

(Who is he talking about…? Oliver and I don’t know each other that well. Could he be confusing me with someone he loves!?)

(But…)

—How happy would it be to be thought of like this by someone?

Leefe blinks rapidly, overwhelmed by a brief, wistful thought. In that moment, Oliver’s words grew even more fervent.

“It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember me. Just stay by my side.”

“!?”

Leefe had intended to escape using magic, but his earnest gaze paralyzed her.

As she remained frozen, Oliver’s hand, which had been touching her cheek, slid to caress her chin. He leaned in, and just as their lips were about to meet—

“Could you save this for when you’re not under the influence of a love potion?”

A cool hand, not Oliver’s, appeared before her eyes. It pushed Oliver away and separated him from Leefe.

It was Rene, his forehead glistening with sweat.

◇

After the ball, Leefe returned to her room, threw the small bottles containing the two potions onto her bed, and collapsed on top of it.

Rene, perched on the windowsill, laughed heartily at her. The serious expression he had shown earlier in front of Leefe and Oliver, who were both at the mercy of the love potion, was now gone.

“You really are something, my lady. Making such an unbelievable mistake at such a crucial moment. How did you manage to be the greatest villainess in your past life?”

“I’m wondering that myself!”

As she flailed around, Leefe recalled the recent events.

Thanks to Rene’s intervention, Leefe had managed to cool her head somewhat. Though not entirely, she had managed to use magic to put Oliver to sleep and neutralize the love potion’s effects, all while blushing furiously.

She then left Oliver in the care of the maid and Lala, who had returned by then, and fled back to her room.

“Oliver-sama was highly affected by the love potion, wasn’t he?”

“Highly affected is an understatement… Just thinking about it makes it hard to breathe!”

Rene laughed heartily, clearly enjoying himself, but Leefe was genuinely struggling. She wished he would stop joking.

“Maybe I mixed the potion wrong. There’s no way it should have affected him like that.”

“Isn’t it more natural to think that Master Oliver really likes you a lot?”

“There’s no way! The way he acted… Those weren’t the words of someone who has only known me for a short time as a temporary fiancée. He must have someone he really loves. All those words were meant for her.”

“Are you seriously going with that explanation? Can’t you reconsider?”

“Rene, stop teasing me! There’s no way I’m the one he truly loves.”

After convincing herself, Leefe buried her face in the pillow.

“Rene, do you think I’m too easy? It’s unbelievable, but I didn’t dislike what Oliver-sama did to me at all…”

“Well, you are pretty easy. After all, he’s the first real potential boyfriend you’ve had in your second life.”

“Rene! That’s exactly it!”

With her blunt contract spirit hitting the nail on the head, Leefe could only flail around even more.

(But,Oliver-sama did say something a bit strange. ‘It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember me’… What does that mean?)