Ch 17 : Neuvillette! Duck!
"Hmm? Su Yuan, what brings you here?"
Wriothesley was reading a newspaper when he noticed Su Yuan standing at the doorway of his office with a puzzled expression.
"It's only a little past five, not even six o'clock yet. Do you always wake up this early?"
He also noticed the broom in Su Yuan's hand and teased, "Are you here to help me clean up as a way to repay my kindness? I appreciate the gesture, but I'd rather you focus on recovering first."
"Su Yuan, you're already able to get out of bed and walk? Looks like you're recovering well!"
From beneath Wriothesley's desk, Sigewinne poked her head out and chimed in, "Since Meropide Fortress is underwater, there's no direct sunlight. A lot of newcomers struggle with their biological clocks getting out of sync. Looks like you're experiencing that too..."
"Alright, alright. Since you're already up, how about joining me for a cup of warm morning tea?" Wriothesley gestured toward the steaming teacup on his desk.
"A good day starts with a good first cup of tea."
"I'll pass, but thanks for the offer, Your Grace. I'm not here for tea," Su Yuan shook his head.
"Suit yourself." Wriothesley shrugged and reached for his teacup, but just then, Sigewinne made a swift move—she subtly slid his teacup aside and placed a cup of her homemade milkshake in its place.
However, Wriothesley caught the entire maneuver in the corner of his eye.
Feigning nonchalance, he pretended to reach for the milkshake, but just as his fingers neared the cup handle, he deftly adjusted his hand's position and smoothly picked up his original cup of tea instead, taking a light sip.
In just a few short seconds, Sigewinne's expression shifted from joy and anticipation to disappointment and sadness, growing increasingly strange…
"Your Grace, even Su Yuan couldn't stop praising this milkshake. Why won't you drink it…?"
Su Yuan immediately felt a sense of impending doom—he hadn't even had the chance to explain yet!
The key to preventing Sigewinne's aberration wasn't just "don't spit it out," but rather "eat it all"!
At that moment, Su Yuan didn't know where he got the strength from—he dropped the broom without hesitation and quickly strode up to Wriothesley's desk.
"Su Yuan, looks like you really are recovering well. You're even walking this fast—"
Before Wriothesley could finish his sentence, Su Yuan grabbed the milkshake from the table and forcibly shoved it toward his mouth.
"Wriothesley! Drink it! Dammit, why won't you drink it?!"
Su Yuan exclaimed, both anxious and frantic, because he could already see strange changes happening to Sigewinne…
Seeing Su Yuan's serious and tense expression, Wriothesley realized that something serious was probably about to happen again.
He stopped resisting and allowed Su Yuan to feed him, gulping down the entire milkshake…
"Phew…" Wriothesley finally finished the drink and let out a long sigh.
"Whether it's tea or anything else, I like to savor it slowly. Chugging something all at once like this… I'm really not used to it."
"So, Su Yuan, what exactly is going on? What just happened?"
Wriothesley asked, glancing at Sigewinne, who was sitting there with her eyes closed, completely still—almost as if she had fallen asleep.
"Didn't you notice that Sigewinne's expression looked a little strange just now?" Su Yuan said.
"I did, but this kind of thing has happened many times before. If I don't eat or drink what she prepares, she tends to get a little moody…"
Wriothesley mused, then suddenly had a look of realization.
"Wait, could it be…"
"Huh…? What just happened? I feel like I blacked out for a moment…"
Sigewinne rubbed her eyes as she slowly woke up.
"Head Nurse Sigewinne, you're probably overworking yourself. You should take a proper rest,"
Wriothesley said with a gentle smile.
He reached out and lightly patted her head.
"You've been taking care of others all this time, but you need to take care of yourself too."
"Mm." Sigewinne nodded, then noticed the empty milkshake cup on the table.
Suddenly, her face lit up with excitement.
"Duke, you drank all of the milkshake I made?"
"Of course." Wriothesley smiled and nodded.
"Alright then, Duke, I'll be heading back now!"
Sigewinne then turned to Su Yuan.
"Su Yuan, it's good that you can get out of bed and move around, but later, you still need to return to your ward so I can do a check-up on you."
"Alright, Head Nurse Sigewinne." Su Yuan nodded.
With that, Sigewinne happily hopped out of Wriothesley's office, clearly in an excellent mood.
"Phew… that was really too close…" Su Yuan finally let out a sigh of relief.
"So, Su Yuan, what exactly was that all about?"
"My guess from yesterday wasn't entirely accurate…" Su Yuan slowly explained.
"If the key was just 'not spitting it out,' then simply refusing to eat should have been enough to avoid any problems."
"But now I'm certain—the condition to prevent Sigewinne from becoming Eerie is that everything she prepares must be eaten completely."
"I see… No wonder you were so determined to make me drink that milkshake…"
Wriothesley spread his hands with a chuckle, then teased, "You looked pretty bold back there. This is the first time I've ever been forced into something like that."
"And then, there's another new piece of information—it's about Chevreuse…" Su Yuan continued.
"If we see Chevreuse carrying her rifle, but with the barrel pointing downward, then that likely means she has already been controlled by the Eerie…"
Wriothesley nodded.
"That's an important piece of intel. When they arrive later today, we'll discuss it with them."
Just then, a knock came from outside the door.
"Your Grace, Lord Neuvillette and Captain Chevreuse have arrived. They wish to see you."
"Oh? Why are they here so early as well? Is everyone suddenly giving up on sleeping in?"
Wriothesley remarked with a puzzled expression.
Then, he instructed the person outside, "Let them in. Tell them Su Yuan and I are waiting in my office."
"You see, Neuvillette really is an old-fashioned man. He follows every procedure to the letter! With the relationship we have, he could just come right in, yet he still insists on formal notifications and appointments. Sometimes, I find him a bit dull."
Wriothesley chuckled helplessly as he spoke to Su Yuan.
"Su Yuan, Wriothesley, we're here."
Not long after, two knocks sounded on the door, followed by Neuvillette's voice.
The door then opened, and Neuvillette stepped in first, with Chevreuse following behind.
Upon entering the office, Neuvillette walked toward Wriothesley and Su Yuan, while Chevreuse turned around to close the door…
In that instant, Su Yuan keenly noticed that the rifle on Chevreuse's back—its barrel was pointing downward…
In the next moment, Chevreuse's body did not turn around.
Instead, only her head and hands twisted 180 degrees.
Crimson liquid seeped from her eye sockets and the corners of her mouth as she raised her rifle in an eerie posture, aiming directly at the back of Neuvillette's head with a chilling smile…
"Neuvillette! Watch out! Duck!" Su Yuan shouted!
But at the same time, with a resounding bang, the rifle had already fired!
A bullet shrouded in pitch-black aura shot toward the back of Neuvillette's head at terrifying speed!
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