Alter-Drug

Chapter 11 - You’re Sick

Carl spun around in surprise to look at the smiling, humble, and harmless–looking Gerald. The man took a few steps forward and bowed politely at Melissa. “The poplar trees by the river are the most beautiful, and the pine trees on the mountain are the most majestic. But neither the poplar nor the pine can compare to the moon above.”

“As for the beautiful and elegant Countess Melissa, even the moon’s beauty is merely one thousandth of yours. It’s too bad that I’m no poet, or I’d have written a thousand poems to better describe your beauty.”

All the guests stared at Gerald with widened eyes. This young man was a lot more unabashed than they had expected.

It was bad enough to plagiarize someone else’s work, but plagiarizing it right in front of the poet himself was a pretty shameless thing to do.

The guests’ first reaction was to turn and look at Henry’s reaction, only to find that his expression was calm and was obviously not bothered by this. They looked away with a sigh, disappointed that there would be no drama to watch.

Melissa merely smiled at these flattering words. “Mr. Gerald, please send my regards to the elders at the Dicarga Chamber of Commerce.”

The crowd immediately started whispering among themselves.

Carl listened to their comments and realized that they were all surprised by who Gerald really was. If Melissa had not singled him out like this, nobody would have known that Gerald was actually a member of the Dicarga Chamber of Commerce.

It was one of the largest chambers of commerce on the Red Moon Continent.

Some smaller countries, governors, and even powerful families would borrow money from this organization when they were strapped for cash.

Carl felt that this Dicarga Chamber of Commerce was like a business trust back on Earth. In short, it was a wealthy international organization, so it was little wonder that Melissa would be so courteous to Gerald.

“I will do just that,” said Gerald politely. “I hope the Karolins continue to be on good terms with the Dicarga Chamber of Commerce.”

Melissa nodded slightly and that marked the end of her greetings before the actual banquet. She took a glass of wine from one of her maids and began the banquet proper by proposing a toast. “To the prosperity of Eisen Castle!”

“Cheers!” Everyone raised their glasses.

After that, the little music ensemble in the corner began to play some lively music.

Some aristocratic young men approached the ladies and bowed courteously to ask for a dance. Most of them agreed to one and couples quickly filled the middle of the hall.

There were also a few who looked at Melissa because they wanted to ask her for a dance. At the same time, they knew that she would never agree to have her first dance of the night with them. They started speculating if the first dance would go to Raymond or Henry.

To their surprise, they watched as Melissa walked to a corner and started chatting with a young man.

She smiled faintly and her eyes lit up as she asked, “Carl, why are you hiding here by yourself? Don’t you want to dance?”

“I don’t know how to,” replied Carl honestly.

“I can teach you.” Melissa held her fair and slim hand out to him.

Carl was surprised and hesitated for two seconds before he decided to take the woman’s hand. It was so soft and so smooth. When she placed his hand gently on her slim waist, he could smell a fragrance that nearly intoxicated him.

He looked down slightly to see her exquisite collarbones and that deep cleavage of hers. The sweet fragrance seemed to be coming from here and it made him feel warm all over. The sudden rush of blood to his head made him feel a little dizzy.

In that moment, his body stiffened and he moved like a wooden puppet.

Melissa was very amused and there was a twinkle in her light blue eyes as she said, “Just relax, don’t be so nervous. Follow my footsteps.”

Carl’s body could not seem to register her words and no matter how hard he tried, his arms and legs refused to cooperate. His clumsy efforts started angering some of those who were watching this couple intently.

Even Henry could not stand it. He rejected the invitation to dance from a young aristocratic lady, picked up a glass of red wine and walked over to where Gerald was. “Is he also a member of the Dicarga Chamber of Commerce?”

Henry had noticed Gerald talking to Carl earlier, so he thought that they were acquaintances.

“No,” said Gerald with a smile as he shook his head. “I did not find him familiar at all, so I thought I’d approach him to find out who he was. Unfortunately, my attempt was interrupted by your little teasing of the countess’s maid.”

“That’s even worse. An ordinary man whom nobody has seen before actually got Melissa to put down her noble airs and teach him how to dance?” Henry looked puzzled initially, then his lips curled into a naughty smile. “Oh, how I wish Viscount Heath was here to see this. His fiancée is dancing and chatting so happily with another man. I wonder what he would think if he found out about this.”

Gerald continued to sip his drink with a faint smile and did not respond in any way. He was a merchant and did not want to be involved in any spats between the aristocrats if he did not have to.

Henry did not expect him to respond either. He swallowed another mouthful of wine, left his glass randomly on one of the tables, then headed toward the dance floor like he had found a very interesting prey.

Many eyes were on Henry, so every move he made drew a lot of attention.

When the other guests saw the young man walk toward the dance floor, they quickly guessed who his target was. Some of them immediately started getting excited because they were hoping for a good show to watch.

Meanwhile, Carl had finally gotten used to the dance steps as Melissa taught him patiently and was able to somewhat follow the beat of the music. His forehead was covered with perspiration and he felt that learning how to dance was even more work than concocting medicine.

Just then, a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned back with a start to see Henry smiling brightly at him. “Hello there! I’d like to invite the countess to a dance, so would you mind going over there to take a rest?”

Melissa had a displeased expression and her gaze was threatening as she said, “Henry, that’s not courteous of you.”

“Oh, Melissa! How sad you make me. We’re childhood friends after all. I’ve not seen you in such a long time, so I really wanted to dance with you so that we could catch up on each other’s lives and, of course, talk about your engagement to Heath.”

Henry had a lovely smile on his face, but the look in his eyes was cheeky. “Are you really going to turn down this tiny request of mine?”

Melissa narrowed her eyes slightly and her chest heaved from anger. She knew that Henry was doing this on purpose. He had always been such an awful character who loved making things difficult for others and putting others on the spot.

At the same time, he was a very intelligent fellow who never went around offending anyone he knew he could not afford to offend. Also, because of who his father was, those he offended could not do anything about him and could only seethe in private. That only served to make Henry more and more arrogant as the years went by.

Melissa too, had to worry about this. All the government officials in this city reported to Rick, after all. Eisen Castle was her fief, so even if she could not get Rick on her side, she had to make sure that he did not end up in the opposing camp.

And, as Henry was Rick’s one and only son, she had to get along with him too. She could not count on Henry to do something constructive, but she knew how much havoc he could wreak if he wanted to.

Henry noticed the hesitation in Melissa’s eyes and beamed even more brightly. His victory was certain, so there was a tinge of smugness in his smile.

Carl stared icily at him and suddenly said, “You’re sick.”

“What?” Henry was caught off guard and thought he had heard wrong. He frowned and said, “Say that again?”

Carl repeated himself, “You’re sick.”

Henry realized he had not misheard the first time after all. His gaze flickered and his expression darkened. “Melissa, tell him what punishment awaits him for insulting an aristocrat.”

“Carl…” Melissa wanted to stop Carl from saying such things but Carl shook his head and went on. “He’s really sick. He’s used a lot of cologne on himself but I can still make out the smell of blood on him.”

Blood? Melissa was surprised and stared hard at Henry.

Henry’s first reaction was to take half a step back, which told Melissa that Carl had been right.

This time, Henry’s expression became wary and even murderous. “Who on earth are you?”

His injury was top-secret information and the few who knew about it were all people he trusted. He knew that these people would never betray him, so the only way Carl would know about his injury could be because he was a spy planted by their enemy, or at the very least a local working with them.

Melissa knew Henry misunderstood Carl from the way Henry reacted.

To avoid further conflict, she explained, “Henry, Carl is my head apothecary. He’s an expert in medicine, so I’m not surprised that he’s noticed something like that about you.”

“An apothecary?” Henry was shocked and he stared at Carl suspiciously. “Melissa, are you sure this isn’t a joke?”

Why would a lofty countess become so friendly with an apothecary? There was no way Henry was believing that.

Melissa rolled her eyes and stopped dancing. She ignored all the guests who had been secretly watching the three of them so far, hooked her arm around Carl’s and said to Henry, “Come with me. We’ll talk in another room.”

Carl’s body stiffened again as he felt the delightful softness pressing against his arm. The fragrance from her body smelled even sweeter now. He could not think straight at all and walked out with Melissa, his mind a blank space.

Henry had no idea what to think of these two, but he followed after them in the end.