Chapter 232
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 232
The teacup was empty in an instant. Benjamin froze like a plaster statue, unable to even draw a breath.
What...
What just happened...
But his shock was shattered in a different sense the very next moment.
Before him sat a teacup identical to the one he had offered Tulia.
It was the cup he had just nearly drained, and Tulia Frezier was picking it up, bringing it to her lips.
It would have been one thing if the cup were clean, but a few drops of tea still remained. It could be dangerous.
"You...!"
Driven by urgency, Benjamin’s hand shot out.
In the scramble, the cup lost its balance and shattered. The remaining tea splashed directly onto his thigh.
But he didn't have the luxury to care about such trivialities.
Just now, she had almost crossed a point of no return.
Benjamin grit his teeth hard.
"Tulia Frezier! What on earth...!"
Did this woman even realize what she had been about to do?
"Are you truly afraid of nothing? Or have you simply gone mad?"
"I haven't gone mad, Benjamin."
Benjamin let out a slow, dry breath.
"..."
Perhaps because his own reaction had been so violent, Tulia appeared relatively calm.
In truth, she looked the same as always. As ever, she was moderately vibrant, seemingly measuring the distance between people, and excessively elegant.
She was just her usual self.
"..."
Benjamin exhaled slowly. He felt a strange sense of helplessness.
It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. It was an emotion he had felt countless times before Tulia Frezier.
"Then why."
Benjamin clenched his fists tight.
"Why on earth did you do that?"
Why would she bring that cup to her lips?
Knowing full well what was inside.
"Why are you angry?"
For a moment, Benjamin was at a loss for words.
"I was merely trying to drink from the cup sitting in front of you."
At her cold retort, Benjamin suddenly realized the truth. The strength slowly drained from his hands.
"Benjamin," Tulia asked. "Was it you who drank the elixir?"
Benjamin gazed blankly at Tulia. The myriad of emotions swirling in his golden eyes soon vanished beneath his blonde lashes.
After a moment of silence, Benjamin finally opened his dry lips.
"How did you possibly..."
How did you realize the truth? How did you notice the whereabouts of the real elixir, which no one but me knew, and try to drink from that cup...
Benjamin didn't ask.
"Lady Tulia Frezier."
However, there was one thing he couldn't keep buried in his heart.
"Why on earth do you look at me with those eyes?"
Resentment and affection were so deeply intertwined that Benjamin could no longer easily define his own feelings.
"As if you are someone who has shared hundreds, thousands of lifetimes with me..."
But.
Looking back, that woman had been observing him with those eyes from the very beginning.
It felt as though it had been that way since their first meeting.
Perhaps that was why he had felt a sense of comfort and safety for the first time.
He knew his words would sound absurd. He let out a hollow laugh, yet strangely, his eyes grew misty.
"That is why I keep making the mistake of thinking... that you might actually harbor feelings for me too..."
Wiping his damp eyes, Benjamin gave a faint smirk.
"Forget it. It seems the effects of the elixir are already manifesting, seeing as I'm saying such things."
He continued in a low, heavy voice.
"The place kidnapping the children is the Grand Temple."
Tulia’s mouth hung open in a daze. For the first time since entering this guest parlor, Benjamin felt his heart lighten slightly.
"If you wish to hear more, I will make a deal with you, Tulia."
He slowly turned over a sheet of paper that had numbers written on it.
On the back were the very details Tulia Frezier had been seeking.
Seeing her lime-green eyes freeze, Benjamin couldn't help but smile.
He felt that the time he had spent struggling to raise this enormous sum hadn't been entirely in vain.
After a brief but highly confidential conversation passed between them.
"Benjamin," Tulia asked. "Were there children among the things you sold?"
"Children do fetch a high price. I did contemplate it after hearing the offers from various places."
Benjamin let out a self-mocking laugh.
"But I couldn't bring myself to sell the children. The image of you saving me kept flickering before my eyes."
"..."
"Does it feel worthwhile now, having raised a wretch like me? Lady Tulia Frezier."
He had given her all the information he had to give, and he had presented everything he said he wanted to provide.
Benjamin didn't want to see Tulia anymore.
He didn't, and yet...
"...Why did you take that elixir?"
Tulia asked slowly. She was, in fact, quite startled.
Until just a moment ago, he had been radiating an aura that suggested he never wanted to see her again.
But then, Benjamin had suddenly pulled her into an embrace.
"..."
It wasn't a hug like a wolf cub's, driven by pure possessiveness like Klaus. Nor was it like Ferdinand, clinging to fill a void.
He pulled her into his arms with a sudden force, but he didn't touch her beyond that.
Like a pilgrim worshipping a sacrosanct temple he dared not touch. As if he had reached out instinctively in a moment of uncontrollable awe.
And seeing him now, fretting as if he had committed a sacrilege...
"...Is this the power of the elixir? Benjamin."
"..."
Anyone would think so, seeing how he had hugged her without warning, yet couldn't even bring himself to rest his cheek against her shoulder.
Benjamin muttered in a low voice.
"...I suppose becoming this honest is the power of the elixir."
His voice was faint and laced with moisture, as if even this was a struggle for him.
"The truth is, I've always... wanted to do this to you. Tulia."
"..."
Only then did Tulia feel she truly understood Benjamin’s deficiency.
Though one should not dare to measure the depth of another, the thought kept occurring to her.
"...Why did you drink that elixir yourself?"
Benjamin’s breath hovered over her shoulder. He murmured in a low tone.
"Because if I hadn't disposed of it that way, I knew that one day, I would have inevitably tried to make you drink it."
"..."
The elixir was a powerful temptation. He hadn't even wanted to bring it to this meeting today.
He had wanted to break it several times, but in the end, Benjamin couldn't bring himself to destroy it.
So he had brought it to the place where he would see her, and he had even drunk it while looking at her.
It felt as if the drug, rather than blood, was circulating through his veins.
"...Benjamin."
The reason Tulia couldn't reject his embrace was because of a certain desperation she felt within it.
No, in truth, she couldn't find any other emotion besides that.
And so, Tulia realized.
Benjamin Fluers.
He had not grown a single bit from those young, pitiful days.
He had been staying in that place all along.
Thus, there was nothing Tulia could do but offer a handful of apologies.
"I'm sorry, Benjamin."
"..."
Whether it was an apology for hurting him that day, or an apology for being unable to accept him, Benjamin didn't bother to ask.
Benjamin spoke a few more honest words, led by the elixir.
"I hope you will be happy forever, Tulia."
From now on, he would consider even this feeling a delusion.
A delusion that began with the elixir. Therefore, it was only natural that it was this painful.
Tears traced down Benjamin’s cheeks. It was a downpour that persisted as stubbornly as a midsummer monsoon.
He held Tulia in his arms for a very long time.