Law of Space and Time

Chapter 20-1: I Like Both (1)

By the time Erwin woke up, it was already nighttime. He looked around to find that he was in the same tent as last time, and he heaved a forlorn internal sigh. It was truly rather embarrassing to faint in front of so many people twice in the span of just a few days.

He tried to support himself into an upright position, but even the slightest movement sent so much pain spearing through his internal organs that cold sweat began to pour down his forehead.

Right at this moment, a female voice rang out. "Don't move. Your internal organs are damaged, and they still haven't completely healed yet. If you move around now, you could risk opening up those injuries again, and I'm not going to look after you if you end up throwing up a few more buckets of blood."

Erwin could tell that this was Onean's voice, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he said, "Sorry to trouble you again, Your Highness."

"Hmph, I don't think you're sorry at all. In fact, I think you really do have a death wish! Just this morning, I was telling you to be careful when you use that spell, and you end up almost killing yourself again just a few hours later!" Onean was reading a book while seated on the sofa, and she didn't approach Erwin or even look at him.

"You didn't use the Springlay Fox bone marrow potion on me again, did you? I'm becoming more and more indebted to you," Erwin sighed as he looked up at the roof of the tent with a forlorn expression.

"You think the Springlay Fox bone marrow potion is a soup that you can make in large batches?" Princess Onean scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "That small vial from last time alone took my teacher several years to brew! Even if you wanted me to use it on you, I don't have any more left!"

"Er, so what did you use on me this time?" Erwin asked with a curious expression.

"I asked my teacher to come and inspect your injuries, and he says that you've only sustained damage to your internal organs. All that's needed is a magic potion specifically for treating internal injuries, and you'll be fine after a night of rest," Onean said.

"I see," Erwin replied with a nod. "In that case, why does it still hurt so much?"

"I was the one who brewed the potion, so the effect may not be that good," Onean explained as she took a glance at Erwin. "Teacher told me to brew the magic potion according to the instructions on the book as a homework assignment."

"What?!" Erwin was stunned to hear this.

He wanted to spring out of his bed in protest, but he didn't dare to move in fear of opening up his injuries, and Onean was rather amused to see this. "Teacher said that for no-good rascals like you, there's no need to waste his magic potion, so he tossed me the magic potion book and left."

"So you're saying this is your first time brewing this magic potion?!" Erwin was so frightened by this realization that he almost fell off his bed.

"Well, that's not the case, but what's true is that this is my first time brewing this magic potion for a human. Isn't that exciting?" Onean made her way over to Erwin, who was staring up at her with a horrified expression on his bed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Erwin asked in a fearful voice.

"Back when I was studying under Teacher at Fort Glans, all of the magic potions that I brewed were used on other magical creatures, so I've never actually used magic potions on a human before," Onean replied with a pleased expression.

Erwin looked up at Onean with a stunned expression. He had survived his match against his opponent, but he couldn't help but wonder if he was going to die from potion poisoning anyway.

"What kind of expression is that? Do you think I would poison you?" Onean asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Erwin looked up at her with a defiant expression as he said, "I'm sure dying from being poisoned by a magic potion brewed by the princess will be an extremely pleasant death anyway."

Onean pretended not to see the mockery in his eyes as she said, "Alright, seeing as you're so afraid that I'm going to poison you, I won't administer the next dose of potion to you."

"No, please! Your Highness, I was wrong! Please save me out of the kindness of your heart!" Erwin pleaded in an earnest manner.

Onean heaved a resigned sigh as she looked at Erwin. "I really should just poison you to death. Even if I save you this time, you're just going to try and kill yourself again, so I may as well just grant you a swift death!"

With that in mind, Onean couldn't help but recall what her teacher had said to her as he gave her the magic potion book.

"I feel like you're developing a habit out of saving that little rascal! So be it, take this book and study it carefully. Once you learn how to brew the magic potions in the book, you won't have to trouble me every time."

A forlorn look appeared on Erwin's face upon hearing this, and he looked up at the roof of the tent again as he heaved a long sigh. "I can't help it, I just can't accept losing."

Onean pondered his words for a moment, then suddenly smiled as she said, "I think I finally know why Miss Lana has taken a liking to you."

"Huh? Why?" Erwin had no clue what she was referring to.

Onean merely shook her head with a smile and offered no reply.

"Why did you suddenly mention her?" Erwin asked with a curious expression.

"It's because even while you were unconscious, you kept on mumbling 'I can't decide! I like both of them!'," Onean replied as she looked at Erwin with a displeased expression. "Can you tell me what you were talking about when you say you like both of them?"

Erwin was so horrified to hear this that cold sweat began to bead up on his forehead. He didn't dare to look at Onean, and he was seriously considering burying his head under his blankets like a turtle retreating into its shell.

"For someone as morally corrupt as yourself, wouldn't it be quite understandable if I poisoned you to death?" Onean looked at him with a devious gleam in her narrowed eyes. "After that, I'll just say that you succumbed to your injuries and passed away in your sleep. Everyone at the venue saw that you sustained extremely severe injuries anyway, so no one's going to bat an eyelid."

Indeed, if the princess wanted to kill someone, there really was nothing that anyone could do!

With that in mind, Erwin was cursing himself 100 times over internally. In his unconscious state, he had revealed everything to the princess! Considering what he had done, he really wouldn't be surprised if the princess decided to poison him to death!

"Hmph, you think you can save yourself just by not saying anything?" Onean scoffed with a cold smile.

"Oh, I remember what I was talking about now!" Erwin's eyes suddenly lit up. "Now that I think about it, of course I like both of them! There's no way I could only like one and not the other!"

"So what was it you were talking about?" Onean was very intrigued to see how he was going to dig his way out of this hole.

"Think about it, Your Highness. At the time, I was lying in your arms. What do you think I saw? Of course I liked both of the things that I saw! How can I prefer one over the other?" Erwin explained with a resigned expression.

Onean immediately understood what he was referring to, and a deep blush appeared on her face alongside an indignant expression. "You're quite the skilled little liar, aren't you?"

Erwin couldn't help but shudder at the sight of the sinister smile that had appeared on Onean's face. "Y, Your Highness, what are you going to do?"

Onean simply ignored him as she made her way into the outer room of the tent, then began getting to work on something. Judging from the movement of her shadow, Erwin could tell that she seemed to be brewing a magic potion.

Is she really going to poison me to death? Erwin was beginning to grow a little fearful at this point.

By the time Onean returned, she was holding a small test tube of some type of liquid, and there was a devious smile on her face as she said, "It's time for your medicine."

Erwin looked at Onean's sinister expression, then directed his gaze toward the blue liquid in the test tube, which was bubbling vigorously, and he immediately tried to get off the bed so that he could run away. However, his body was still too feeble, and Onean instantly rushed over to him before forcing him back down onto the bed.

"Your Highness, don't... don't do this! We can talk about this! Please..." Erwin was trying to beg for his life, but Onean had heard enough from him. She squeezed his cheeks between her fingers to force his mouth open, then poured the test tube of blue liquid into his mouth with her other hand.

Erwin was unable to speak as his face was being squeezed between Onean's fingers, so he could only look up at her with an alarmed and horrified expression.

"Stop moving unless you want to choke to death! This is medicine for your injuries. If you spill any of it, there won't be enough to last you through the night, and you'll wake up in excruciating pain! Don't blame me if that happens!" Onean warned as she glared at him with a cold expression.

Erwin didn't dare to struggle any further after that warning from Onean, and he waited obediently until he had drunk all of the medicine.

"Alright, that's all." Onean set the test tube in her hand aside, then turned back to look at Erwin with an expectant expression.

Erwin was rather suspicious of her behavior and demeanor, yet just as he was about to ask exactly what the medicine was, he discovered that he was unable to move his own mouth. Not only that, but he was unable to control his own mouth at all, and it gaped open against his will, making him look like a spluttering idiot.

Onean was greatly amused by his embarrassing display, and she couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Erwin knew that he had been deceived by her, and he glared at her with a vicious expression as his hands clawed through the air frantically as if he were trying to grab at Onean.

Onean quickly took a step back so that she was out of reach, following which a pleased smile appeared on her face. "Aren't you really proud of that loud mouth of yours? You can't even talk now!"

Erwin naturally didn't want to resign himself to his fate, but the effect of the medicine was growing more and more pronounced, and as a result, he was overcome by a sense of feebleness.

"Stop struggling! I didn't actually poison you. I just brewed you some bitterweed potion, which has a calming and sedating effect," Onean explained with a smile.

At this point, the only part of his body that Erwin was able to move was his eyes, so he could only glare at her with a resentful expression.

Onean paid no heed to him and picked up the magic potion book from before, then sat down by his bedside to continue her reading.

Erwin's mouth had been gaped open this entire time, and his saliva was beginning to flow uncontrollably down from the corners of his mouth.

A look of vindictive joy appeared on Onean's face at the sight of Erwin's helpless display. "This is what you get for constantly spouting nonsense out of that loud mouth of yours!"

Erwin averted his gaze away from her as he gave a cold harrumph, and he thought to himself, You better not let me get my hands on you! Otherwise, I'm going to make you regret ever messing with me!