Chapter 33: Pinned Down

As Tania grew increasingly brazen, Roman stared at the liquid in his wine glass.

At the bottom, there was a barely visible sediment.

He had suspected earlier that Annie might’ve tampered with something elsewhere, and the moment he accepted the wine glass from Tania, he noticed it.

The wine, once in his stomach, brought a chill that gradually turned into a burning heat.

The reaction suddenly made things click for Roman, he now had a pretty good idea of what Annie had been sent to do.

He set the wine glass aside and closed his left eye, his expression turning strained.

It didn’t take long before Roman’s body started to feel strange.

He frowned, supporting himself on a nearby table and chair, pressing his temples as a headache came on.

Tania’s eyes lit up with delight as she stepped forward lightly.

She couldn’t lick the cake clean just yet, but getting a little taste would still be sweet enough.

A soft, smooth hand slid over the back of his, gently stroking as a waft of perfume drifted to Roman’s side.

“Are you not feeling well?” she asked sweetly.

“Mm… I suddenly feel a little dizzy…”

Roman mumbled vaguely.

Tania assumed it was the drug taking effect, but in truth, Roman had simply gotten drunk.

He’d always had that kind of constitution, unable to hold alcohol at all.

A few sips and he’d end up just like he had on the night of the banquet.

But this time it had caught him off guard…

He had originally assumed his Sacred Seal would shield him, but completely overlooked his own lack of magic reserves.

The poison had indeed been suppressed, but the alcohol’s effects hadn’t been blocked at all.

The feeling of teetering on the edge of losing control over his body made him uneasy.

Roman tried to pull his hand away from Tania’s grip, but in her eyes, his struggle didn’t look like resistance, it looked more like he was being coy.

With Luo Xiya nowhere in sight, the sense of security Roman had first felt in this world had also vanished.

He took a wary step back, only to nearly fall over while leaning against the table.

Perfect timing!

Tania immediately stepped forward.

As she murmured a soft “Careful,” her hand snaked around Roman’s waist, pulling him into her arms.

His waist, so soft it felt like there were no bones, was impossibly smooth to the touch.

As she leaned in, a faint fragrance from Roman’s body reached her nose, soothing and addictive.

She couldn’t help but press her cheek to his forehead, rubbing against it gently.

The temptation made her change her plans on the spot.

She suddenly became bold beyond belief.

Looking around, there was no one paying attention, only the occasional maid passing through in the distance.

As for Luo Xiya, she was probably still tangled up in whatever Tania had said earlier, unlikely to intervene anytime soon.

Licking her lips, Tania kept her arm wrapped around Roman’s waist and began guiding him toward a vacant side room.

Gently closing the door behind them, Tania laid Roman down onto the bed.

“You…”

Roman finally began to feel fear.

He tried to sit up with both hands, but before he could rise, Tania pushed him back down.

She practically straddled him, her long hair falling beside Roman’s cheeks.

“You’re drunk. Just rest a little,” Tania said with a smile.

Roman couldn’t even begin to imagine how this woman could be bold enough to pull something like this inside Luo Xiya’s own estate.

“Get out,” Roman said coldly, bracing himself.

Tania curled her lips with disdain.

As the defenseless cake laid beneath her, Roman didn’t look like he had any awareness of what was coming.

“Don’t be so tense. I’m just helping you sober up,” Tania said softly.

Then she slowly leaned down, her beautiful face inching closer and closer to his.

Roman tightly shut his eyes and turned his head away.

Tania halted her downward motion, her brows knitting as she finally revealed a look of irritation.

Forcing Roman’s face toward her, she had intended to say something threatening, only to be startled by a sudden chill behind her.

Her whole body stiffened as she instantly turned around.

Dressed in a black-and-white lace maid outfit, Elise stood silently, her eyes alternating between Tania and the Roman lying beneath her.

“Lady Tania, don’t you think your behavior is rather inappropriate?”

Elise questioned coldly.

Tania had felt a little guilty at first, but being reprimanded by a maid instantly reignited her arrogance.

“What, I need your permission just to have fun with a pretty little boy? Who the hell do you think you are?!”

To Roman, her words made no sense at all, but Elise paused for a few seconds.

It had been said before: in this world, men had no human rights.

When a noblewoman visited as a guest, it was an unspoken rule among nobles to share their finest possessions.

And those “possessions” weren’t limited to objects, they included men.

Forget male slaves, even the so-called “husbands” of noblewomen were treated as exchangeable goods.

No one knew how many people a noblewoman’s “husband” might have served before.

Almost no one saw this as shameful or worth lamenting.

To put it another way, what kind of master gets upset when someone pets their dog?

“I don’t mind, Elise finally said, but Her Ladyship will care very much. Are you planning to challenge her bottom line?”

Only then did Tania show a troubled expression.

After tidying her hair, she slowly moved off of Roman.

“I’ll wait for her to agree in person,” she murmured smugly into Elise’s ear as she passed by.

Once Tania was gone, Elise exhaled deeply and walked over to help Roman sit up.

“Lord Roman, are you alright?”

Elise asked with concern.

He had expected Luo Xiya to arrive in time, but it was Elise who came to stop Tania.

Thinking back to how close Tania’s lips had come to his, a wave of revulsion rose in his chest, and he instinctively covered his mouth and dry-heaved a few times.

After gagging, the numbness and weakness in his body gradually faded.

Lifting his head, Roman looked at Elise with gratitude.

“Thank you. I’m alright.”

“She didn’t do anything to you, did she?”

“She didn’t get the chance,” Roman shook his head.

Then Elise finally showed a look of reproach and said firmly, “From now on, you must avoid her at all costs.”

Roman shook his head.

Although the experience just now had been dangerous, he had gained valuable information.

Tania didn’t know what he had discovered, so today he had deliberately exploited the information gap, drinking the wine she prepared with the help of his Sacred Seal.

Now, all he needed to do was wait.

Once she made the first move and revealed her flaws, she would lose the upper hand.

Roman closed his eyes, and Elise whispered in his ear, “Today, during Lady Tania’s negotiations with the Countess, they talked about you.”

“What happened?”

Roman’s heartbeat quickened.

“She claimed she could cure Lady Catherine’s illness.”

“And?”

“But she had a different condition.”

Roman’s eyes snapped open.

He didn’t need to guess what the condition was.

Then how did Luo Xiya respond?

Roman, who had just begun to calm down, once again felt his heart waver.