“The apothecary has been acting a little strange lately.”
At the maid’s words, Bvel let out a small grunt.
The Duke was sensitive to matters concerning the apothecary. Bvel glanced toward the Duke’s office and lowered his voice.
“What do you mean by strange? In what way?”
“Well… she sleeps too much.”
“Sleep?”
This was an unexpected problem, and Bvel couldn’t fathom why it would become an issue in the first place.
As Bvel’s expression grew more severe, the maid hastily added the next words.
“Yesterday, she was awake for barely five hours. And the day before that!”
Finally, Bvel became a bit more attentive. With a raised eyebrow, Bvel asked,
“Even if you wake her up, she won’t get up?”
“It’s like she’s completely unconscious when she sleeps.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“For a little… about a month.”
Bvel’s frown deepened.
It had been nearly a month, and she was only bringing it up now.
He wanted to yell at her, but this was close to the office.
The Duke doesn’t like loud noises echoing through the mansion.
‘Well, this is indeed strange.’
Typically, one wouldn’t sleep for nearly twenty hours a day. If it happened once, maybe, but if it persisted for a month, it was hard to consider it normal.
“Have you asked her directly what’s going on?”
“I already did. But she just said it’s because she has to sleep.”
“Is it not because she’s unwell or something?”
“There doesn’t seem to be any indication of that. She’s a good doctor……, so if she wasn’t feeling well, wouldn’t she make her own medicine?”
The maid had a point, so Bvel didn’t press further and just sighed.
After all, apothecaries weren’t known for being talkative.
He had to ask several times before he could get a single answer.
‘I wish I could see what she looks like.’
Since arriving at the Duke’s mansion, the apothecary has always worn her robe inside out. In all her years here, she had never shown her face to anyone.
The maids said she revealed her face to them, but Bvel had never seen her.
Not only would she not open the door for him, but even the Duke had forbidden him to pay her any attention.
“What a headache.”
The maid’s story might seem like a trivial matter, but it was certainly strange.
Bvel found it difficult to decide whether to report this to the Duke or not.
Contemplating, Bvel gave instructions to the waiting maid.
“For now, keep observing. If there’s even the slightest change, inform me without delay.”
“Yes, Butler.”
The maid disappeared down the hallway, and Bvel ascended the stairs once again.
Despite seeming like a minor issue, the apothecary was someone the Duke was particularly concerned about.
‘It’s better to report.’
Bvel hoped the Duke wouldn’t get angry for reporting something seemingly trivial.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
“Milord, a package has arrived from the main castle.”
Before Rohiriel’s visit to the Count of Rivolain.
Roxis, who was preparing at Dathion Mountain, received a small pouch and a vial brought by his subordinates.
The pouch emitted a strong herbal scent.
Upon opening it, he found various pills and a small piece of paper.
“Consume the pills; use the potion?”
Reading the note, Roxis’s lips twisted in a grimace.
It was a simple and straightforward sentence, but it lacked kindness.
Without any explanation about who, when, and how to consume and use it, it was impossible to understand.
“So, you’re testing me.”
It was very characteristic of Cassian to still test him despite his current state. Roxis sighed in frustration and crumpled the paper.
‘There’s no way he doesn’t know my situation.’
It’s humiliating and hurts his pride, but there’s no way his father doesn’t know that he’s in this state because of Rohiriel.
The fact that the items were sent to Dathion Mountain instead of his mansion was evidence.
In that case…
‘When he said “consume,” he probably meant for me to eat it. But as for the potion… he specifically expressed using it.’
Roxis opened his eyes that he had closed.
Then, without any hesitation, he picked up a pill and put it in his mouth.
The bitter taste melted on his tongue.
“….. “
With that, the pain that had been overwhelming him for days seemed to ease a bit.
It didn’t completely disappear, but even this much provided relief for his breathing.
‘An antidote?’
Thinking so while examining his body, Roxis furrowed his brow again.
“……It was temporary.”
The same pain as before covered his entire body again.
The relief had only lasted a few minutes.
About to reflexively take another seed, Roxis hesitated.
He still hadn’t figured out the purpose of using the potion.
His eyes scanned the area like a hunter looking for prey.
Before him, his subordinate, who had delivered the package, crouched, awaiting orders.
“Come closer.”
As the subordinate approached, Roxis opened the elixir bottle.
Then, through the narrow opening of the bottle, a faint purple smoke began to emerge.
For a moment, he thought the smoke was contagious.
His subordinate in front suddenly collapsed, as if his legs were broken, onto the ground.
Stabilizing himself by touching the ground, he shivered, then let out a pained groan.
“Ugh… What on earth is this, what…!”
The subordinate’s eyes, red and swollen as if they were about to burst, showed pupils shaking as if crazed.
He gasped helplessly at the pain that suddenly struck his entire body.
Roxis’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Is it a type of nerve poison?”
Roxis observed the subordinate with a cold expression, as if looking at an insignificant matter.
After writhing for a while, the subordinate sent resentful eyes toward Roxis.
Eventually, he lost consciousness.
Another subordinate was summoned to wake him up, and the moment he opened his eyes, he was in agony again.
After watching him faint and wake up several times without any further abnormalities, Roxis took out a pill from the pouch and threw it to the subordinate.
“Eat this.”
“Gasp, ugh…!”
Hurriedly consuming the pill, the subordinate breathed in with a fresh breath, as if the pain had subsided.
Saliva dripped from his mouth, and his eyes were half-empty, as if he had lost focus.
It seemed this seed played the role of an antidote to the elixir.
“Disgusting. Put it away.”
The struggling servant was dragged away by the others, and Roxis looked at the potion with satisfaction.
“After a while, that woman did something decent.”
The shady apothecary brought by his father.
Roxis disliked her, but this time, he couldn’t deny the potential.
With this elixir, he could make the proud Rohiriel submit.
“I’m so looking forward to this, Rottie.”
The sight of you crying and begging for mercy.
He thought it might be a reckless plan.
But now, if he could just get close enough, he’d win.
Roxis smiled through the pain.
He could vividly envision the future where he would both seek revenge on Rohiriel for subjecting him to such terrible pain and obtain the antidote.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Where did things go wrong?
I was momentarily speechless as I observed the unfolding situation in front of me.
I had done a good job of identifying Roxis and his minions.
It was also good that the knights who had been waiting at Julion’s command had drawn their swords and charged at them.
‘The problem is that smoke.’
The purple smoke suddenly spread around us.
Instinctively, they covered their noses and mouths, but it was impossible not to inhale what had dissolved in the air.
The knights either collapsed to the ground or struggled with unknown pain while leaning on their swords. Ares and Julion were the only ones holding their ground in a proper stance.
Fortunately, the people had moved away a little due to the food and jewel thrown by Julion and me. They scattered in confusion at this unexpected turn of events.
All of this had truly happened in the blink of an eye.
“What the……!”
Ares bit his lip, unable to continue speaking. His face was becoming pale.
Julion, too, exuded a different atmosphere than usual as he stood in front of me.
“……Rohiriel, step back. It’s dangerous.”
His voice was slow and low.
Julion, too, exuded a different atmosphere than usual as he stood in front of me.
‘I think it’s a nerve poison that causes pain…….’
The type of poison was similar to the one I had thrown at Roxis. A poison that maximizes pain for no apparent reason.
I’d guessed the Dukes had a good apothecary, but I didn’t expect Roxis to use such a poison.
“Rottie, you really don’t have many cute sides, do you?”
“……Roxis.”
“I thought you were just a pushover, but you’re also Cassian. It must be painful, yet your expression remains disgustingly unchanged.”
One corner of Roxis’s mouth twitched upward as he removed his robes.
As he took a step towards me, Julion stepped even closer to block my path.
“Get in the carriage… now!”
A trickle of blood ran down Julion’s face as he glanced at me.
He seemed to be gritting his teeth to keep the pain at bay.
“This is bad. At this rate, we’ll all be in trouble.”
If only the shadows of the crown prince, who usually escorted Julion in secret, were present, the situation would be better.
However, Julion had left them in the Tishrit palace to escort the emperor.
The only good news was that Roxis had few antidotes, and more than half of his men were sleeping on the floor.
Roxis and a few others were the only ones remaining sane.
They crept slowly toward me.
The knights and Ares tried to block their path, but there was no way for them to defend properly.
As they continued to be pushed back, Julion’s nerves were on high alert around me.
“Julion. Are you okay?”
I gripped the hem of his robe tightly in my nervousness.
Seeing him in pain made me hurt even more.
At that moment, I realized something strange.
‘Wait. Why am I fine?’
There was no way it was due to my illness.
My recent treatments had been going very well, and I had most of my senses back.
I couldn’t think for long.
“It’s better to get rid of the hindrance first.”
Roxis, now within earshot, swung his sword with a sinister smile.
