Kallen held the cup, looking at the utterly clear blue liquid inside.
Thinking Kallen felt uneasy about it, Puer offered some reassurance. "It's fine. Just think of it as drinking fish sauce."
"You could stop making random comparisons," Kallen said.
"Oh, sorry, my dear little Kallen. I only wanted to help, you know." Puer swished her tail and continued, "Come to think of it, you never seem to use fish sauce in your cooking."
Alfred said, "Young Master, I've already purified it. There isn't a trace of impurity left. It's extremely clean."
Kallen shook his head. "I'm not feeling squeamish. I feel as though it's a little wrong that I'm not the least bit resistant to this, so I'm trying to work up some squeamishness."
Understanding dawned on Alfred. "I see."
Having said that, he instinctively reached for the notebook in his pocket to make a record, but restrained himself. Recording the young master's words and actions in front of him was disrespectful, as though he were monitoring him.
Kallen hesitated no longer. He raised the cup and drained the blue liquid, then put it down, leaned back in his chair, folded his hands in front of him, and closed his eyes.
Alfred stood facing the study door. Puer stopped talking too, sitting on Kevin's back and watching Kallen's reactions closely.
Soon, a trace of pain appeared on Kallen's face.
"Hsss..."
After drawing a deep breath, Kallen reached up and clutched his chest.
Now, every beat of his heart felt as though someone were striking it with a hammer, making his body tremble with it.
Still, Kallen knew he had to endure this period.
The pain lasted about ten minutes. Cold sweat covered Kallen's face, and his lips had turned white.
At that point, the "pounding" of his heart began