Chapter 269: Pink Faced Flower

After Arthur left, Duke Blacktomb's expression changed, and his smile dropped slightly. He looked at the wavy-haired girl beside him and asked,

"What do you think of him, Naya?"

"He's wonderful." Naya smiled beautifully, holding her cheek as if trying to keep it from melting. "He's just so wonderful."

"Hoo? You like him?" Duke Blacktomb smirked, "Would I finally see my daughter marry someone before my natural lifespan ended? Hahaha."

"Esteemed Father, you still have 16 years left before leaving this world! Besides, I never said I would marry him. We are from the Sin Kingdom and believers of Goddess Tera while he's Goddess Teri's Paladin. There is no way he will be willing to marry me even if I ask him!"

"But you do want to marry him." The Duke teased, making his daughter blush slightly. "Don't deny it, my daughter. You always said no when I introduced you to other gentlemen, but you didn't seem to deny that you like the Paladin. You become more honest like the teaching of Goddess Tera."

"Ugh..." Naya lowered her gaze, and her face turned slightly red. "I-I do admit that he's charming and kind, different from the perverts in the Sin Kingdom. Maybe my type is an innocent one from the Virtue Kingdom?"

"Is that so?" He hummed, looking at his daughter with a judging gaze. "Well, you dress more reservedly compared to other girls, so maybe that's the case. How could my first daughter be so innocent when her mother was a beast? Haa... It's troubling me."

"It's not your business!"

Having had enough of being teased by her father, Naya stood up and ran out of the room in embarrassment. The Duke laughed merrily and looked at the destroyed barrier.

"Indeed, the Paladin is wonderful. He broke my barrier just by walking past it. I might want it to be my in-law and marry him to my daughter if both are willing to. That wouldn't be so bad." He muttered and stood up, exiting the room.

His daughter was standing outside near the stairs, waiting for him with her arms crossed. Her elegant and pure manners from earlier were gone and were replaced by her usual, casual attitude.

"Shall we return to our temporary mansion?" The Duke said.

Naya nodded at her father, and both were going down. When they were about to pay for the breakfast, they found out that the Paladin had already paid for it, including their shares.

"Hahaha, he's also polite too. Naya, why don't you marry him if you like him? Charm him and bring him to the bed. That way, you can conquer his heart easily!"

"Father!" The black-haired girl shouted once again as her face reddened again in embarrassment.

She looked around and noticed many eyes were on them. That only made her more embarrassed, and she buried her face in her hands.

***

Inside the Virtue Royal Academy's headmistress office. I suddenly sneezed.

"Achoo!"

"Goddess Teri blesses you."

"I was blessed already." I wiped the snot that came out from my sneeze with a napkin I took from my inventory. "Still, headmistress. Have you finished your investigation about that lotion? I never expected to see you gesturing to me from the window. I thought you would need at least a few hours more."

"I got a clue," Alesia replied, sipping a hot tea from a cup.

Her complexion looked a little bit tired, and I thought that was natural because she probably pushed herself to find this clue she spoke of.

"The source of its distribution is an Underground City called Pleasure." She continued. "And Duke Blacktomb has nothing to do with this."

'Pleasure?' I raised my eyebrows, urging the headmistress to continue.

I was unfamiliar with that name. Or rather, it was the first time I knew that Underground City, except for the Border City, had a name. I just knew that they were Underground Cities.

"It's located near Bluerose Duchy," Alesia replied with a slight nod.

Hearing that name, I couldn't help but let out a sigh.

'Why am I not surprised?'

That made sense. The assassin under Duke Blacktomb received orders from his noble subordinates that they would be punished.

However, as they stayed under Duke Bluerose, I nor Duke Blacktomb didn't know what kind of order they received. It wasn't strange if I thought the lotion was from the Sin Kingdom if those assassins were the ones who spread it.

'Probably under Beatrice or Duke Bluerose's order. The problem caused by that bitch hadn't been fully finished yet?'

Perhaps I shouldn't give her a reward if she was truly the one who ordered that. But for what?

'Ah, she wants to make people addicted so she can take over the Virtue Kingdom easily. The lotion also didn't spread when Beatrice was in the Border City. This... Could she be the one who spread it to influence the Queen and King Cassius?

'And it only spread far after Ertha returned to the Academy City. It could also be not Beatrice but the people from this Pleasure City.'

"Arthur? Are you still with me?" Alesia called out, narrowing her eyes in displeasure.

I was pulled out of my thoughts as I blinked a few times, looking at the older elf.

"Ah, my bad. You can continue." I replied, "I just remembered something unpleasant about Bluerose Duchy."

"Understandable." She nodded, "Shall I continue?"

I nodded at her.

"The leader of the city, called Tyrant, has discovered a recipe to make that lotion in an ancient ruin. Because I only used <Clairvoyance> to take a look, I am unable to determine the recipe. However, I did find that it used acid slime and some kind of flower that had an addictive and aphrodisiac effect."

"Could it be, Pink Faced Flower?" I asked.

That was the only flower that contained an aphrodisiac effect and was addictive. Usually, it was used to drug someone to train them as sex slaves back in Horizon Online, a really bad flower. I had many of them in my inventory, but I put them deep inside and swore that I wouldn't take them out.

Alesia's ears perked up when she heard the name, "What is that?" She asked.

"Drugs. Its addictive effect only worked on Humans and not other Races."

So that was why Eliza and Emilia felt a tingling effect. Thankfully, I cured them before they became addicted.

'I can't let my girls use the lotions any longer.'

If they wanted to have a lotion play, I had something better and harmless in my inventory. I should've known this was bad, but my lust overcame me.

'I guess the only way to fix this is to destroy the source.'

My plan to deal with the lotion and spread it to chosen individuals needed to be scratched. This thing was bad. Anything that used Pink Faced Flowers as ingredients should be destroyed.

'And here I thought that I would never hear its name again. I guess they really use the asset from Sins Paradise to create Horizon Online, huh? Except for the world and the lore.'

Looking at Alesia seriously, I asked, "Headmistress. Can you track where they got the flowers from? The faster, the better."

"I can." She nodded. "I received a report that some of our students went to a massage parlor that used this lotion. So this falls into my responsibility too. Just wait until tonight."

Hearing that, I couldn't help but smile. While it was just a coincidence that some students of the Royal Academy loved getting massages, especially the nobles, their product had touched them.

Thus, they released someone they shouldn't touch.

'I guess this will be easier than I thought.'