"What do you mean 'what was in that drink'? I poured it all at the table. The wine I drank was the wine you drank. Do you really think I'm such a bad person?"
He said nothing.
She wasn't lying when she said they had the same drink. It was the cup that was special, not the alcohol.
To speed things up, she had to get him relaxed and defenseless. A little 'spice' just happened to be her solution.
It was a water-soluble anxiolytic recently developed by her family's pharmaceutical company. It blocked the sympathetic response to the brain while increasing melatonin levels by a small increment.
In short, it was a mild tranquilizer if used correctly. Coupled with the sister 'wine', which contained low amounts of medicine to increase seratonin, it had the perfect effect.
The high concentration meant that a pinch of the powder hidden at the bottom of a glass was effective, while more than a tablespoon was bordering lethal.
The only bad thing was the number of side effects that came with the efficiency. Nausea, headache, and body aches were the most prominent, luckily imitating the effects of a hangover.
If Xin Tuyong wasn't anxiously overthinking, why would he resist her advances?
She never forced him into anything, but she gave him a little push to help him open up his existing feelings. She knew him too well to mistake his feelings for her.
Even if he didn't know how he felt, she would help him realise. What Huan Mao wanted, Huan Mao never failed to get.
She had reached a new level of familiarity with Xin Tuyong that couldn't easily be undone. He couldn't easily pretend that they didn't sleep together with the evidence on his body that suggested they did something.
When he saw Di Gaohun, he couldn't meet his eyes. In a single night, his world drastically changed.
The only person who treated him the same was the chef, dismissive as usual but surprisingly comforting.
The other housekeeper never really spoke to him other than the occasional greeting because he was always busy.
Xin Tuyong felt more awkward around Huan Mao, always conscious of her piercing stare, while she was more comfortable than ever.
Really, she treated him like they were dating. While she was usually aloof and commanding, at random times she seemed to switch personalities.
For instance, one time she came home while he was playing on his cellphone while sitting alone in his room.
He didn't hear her come home until she burst through his door, sending his soul through his mouth.
"Babyyyy! Do I look different at all?" she asked cutely.
Still sitting as an empty husk, it was like he got a kick in the stomach. Cute talk was so unsettling considering how easily he knew she could kill a man.
More than cute talk, who was she calling baby?
When his spirit returned, he regained his senses to try to see what was new.
Same hair... right? Was her outfit new? It all looked normal to him.
She got close to his face. "Look carefully..." She put her face next to him, so it had to be... her makeup then?
"Did you change your makeup?"
"Ding ding ding! Chu~" She planted a kiss on his lips.
Since his birthday, she started kissing him whenever. She progressed from his cheek to the corner of his mouth, and today was directly on the lips.
He grimaced and wiped his mouth. Her red lipstick smeared onto the back of his hand.
"...Why?" he deadpanned.
Huan Mao happily ignored his lack of enthusiasm. "New lip color, do you like it?"
"En."
"Are you lying?"
"En."
She pouted and lightly smacked his chest. "I thought you'd like it..."
"En."
"Hey! Are you listening to me?"
"En." His attention was back to his phone.
She pounced on him and slid in between his arms, blocking the phone while poking his face with her finger.
"Pay attention to me!! Me!!" she whined.
He looked at her with no other choice. "It looks cute, okay? Please go now. I'm tired."