Episode 33
“Ahem… I suddenly feel rather parched.”
Walter fanned his face with his fingers and sipped from the bottle next to him as he observed my dismal expression.
No matter which way you looked at it, it really didn’t seem to be water in the bottle.
“That’s not water, is it?”
“…Did you catch me?”
Whether it was out of concern for my plummeting mood, Walter made a show of his reveal, as if he had been caught out by my repeated doubt.
“I made it a long time ago. Looks good, right? Would you like to try some?”
Walter held out the bottle to me.
“Next time.”
I swiftly retracted my hand. Of course, given my current mood, I felt like a drink would go down very agreeably. Downing a bottle and then sitting on the street moping about my existence. Yes.
But if I were to return to the ducal mansion in such a condition, I would never hear the end of it from Camilla.
“This isn’t just booze. It’s medication, medication.”
“Medicine?”
“It contains everything beneficial for the body. There have to be some benefits in owning a drugstore.”
He chuckled and raised the mouth of the bottle, or rather, the liquor bottle, to his lips once more.
“…How many bottles did you make?”
“Hm? Approximately seven bottles?”
He directed his attention to the glass bottles on the shelf.
“Did your wife allow it?”
“Of course not. But who, pray tell, am I?”
The names of numerous medicinal plants were inscribed on the outside of the glass bottles grouped by year, giving the impression that they were medical formulations.
“…It does look like medicine.”
“Right? I made it look just like medicine, down to the hue. And I only utilized the highest-quality medical substances! It should be superior to standard medication.”
“It’s still alcohol, though.”
“What are you talking about? Alcohol is either medicine or poison, but not both. But in this case, I’ve fully eradicated the alcohol’s toxicity while amplifying its medical properties.”
Walter’s voice was filled with pride as he talked.
“The more you drink, the more powerful you become! Both during the day and at night! Nothing like this exists anyplace else.”
He broke out laughing after folding his arms.
“…If it’s that excellent, you should have given some to me as well.“
“You have no idea how expensive the ingredients are! I can’t just hand it out for free…”
When Walter realized there was another voice in the mix, he swiftly spun around.
“Li…. Lily.”
“It’s been a very long time, Selene.”
“How have you been?”
Lily, Walter’s wife, entered the shop, bringing with her a sinister undertone to her every word.
“Well, I’ve been just fine.”
The sensation of grinding teeth was more than simply an impression.
When Walter’s gaze met Lily’s, he startled and placed the bottle behind him on the table, trying to conceal it.
“I’m sorry for how things happened at the time. I was furious and threw you out.”
“I was wrong, too.”
If I’d been in Lily’s shoes, I’d also be upset if I walked in on an employee preparing medication while my husband was out gambling on horses on the track. Lily’s surprise when she saw me reciting the prescriptions Walter had written down was totally understandable.
“So, have you two had a good catchup?”
“Yes. It had certainly been a while… But I should probably get going. It was great to see you after such a long time.”
I took a hesitant step back. I could see Walter behind Lily, every muscle in his face pleading with me to help. But I had to survive as well. And one should never get involved in a couple’s argument.
“Oh, you should take a gift since it’s been a long time.”
“A gift?”
“I heard there’s someone sick at home? This alcoholic has brewed an amazing amount of very nutritious tea.”
Lily extended her hand and gestured to the bottles on the shelf.
“Ah.”
Walter’s face twisted grotesquely for a brief period. He wailed quietly, but Lily pretended not to notice.
“Come on, go on and grab it. It’s a present from me, you see? Of course, for you, Selene, even something so precious is nothing.”
“Right. You were always a smart girl. You can make a lot of medicine yourself, can’t you?”
Lily fired off constantly as she kept her eyes on me.
“So please, take it. I want to do this for you because you were our precious employee once.”
Lily didn’t only talk; she moved to the shelf and began removing glass bottles one by one.
With no other option, Walter dispiritedly began to assist his wife in removing the remaining glass bottles off the shelf.
“Can I really take these?”
I inquired warily. Walter appeared to have lost all of his vigor, as if he had had all of his blood drained right out of him.
“Of course. I’d be grateful if you could take these, Selene.”
Walter murmured glumly.
“I don’t have to if…”
When I saw Lily’s gaze slide to me, I grabbed the bottles enthusiastically.
“I’ll enjoy it.”
***
I didn’t speak the entire carriage journey home.
Rona, seated in front of me, softly closed her lips when she noticed my somber atmosphere. She must have been curious about where I had gone and what I had done, but she didn’t press the issue further.
‘Was I mistaken, then?’
It seemed like all the courage I’d been clinging to was evaporating. After all, Raymond was a great doctor who was unlikely to play with lives. But, if he, the most probable suspect capable of poisoning Amoide, was not the perpetrator…
Could it be someone else? In other words, ‘Was all this conjecture about the medicine a waste of time?’
Will Amoide die as planned, along with me?
In fact, I had considered it. Wouldn’t a daughter-in-law who can’t even bear an heir be buried alongside her husband? Even without poison, Camilla may murder me in her rage! That would, of course, be murder.
I cast a discreet glance at Rona.
This is a country with an illicit slave trade. A place where the duchess could quickly dispose of a person without anyone the wiser.
“My Lady, so… What was the purpose of coming here?”
“Oh? It was nothing in the end.”
“I see. So, what exactly are these?”
Rona tapped the water bottles, or rather liquor bottles, on the carriage floor.
“That’s…”
I paused, unsure of what to tell her.
“It was a gift.”
I wasn’t exactly lying. Even if the original owner gave them to me with a look on his face as if he was being forced to sell his children.
What would Rona think if I showed up at the duke’s residence with seven bottles of liquor?
“They said it’s brewed with medicinal ingredients that are difficult to find,” I said with determination.
Rona’s eager voice invaded my ears while I was pondering how to dispose of the alcohol.
“It’s liquor, isn’t it?”
Rona had somehow recognized it right away.
“How did you work that out?”
In shock, my voice came out as no more than a squawk.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Rona’s eyes gleamed like a snake that had discovered a rabbit.
“Oh, that’s right.”
I had forgotten. Despite her rabbit-like appearance, Rona had the highest alcohol tolerance among the duke’s servants.
“Good alcohol can’t hide its scent.”
“Where did you hear such nonsense?”
How could any odor escape from a securely sealed glass bottle?
“Um… the date… I would say it needs to age a little more. You’ll have to wait a little longer before you can drink it.”
Rona said as she verified the date on each bottle.
“…Do you want to drink some of it?”
“Oh, yes. And you, my lady?”
“I know Rona’s a heavy drinker.” I answered instead, with a giggle.
“Drinker?”
Rona cocked her head at the strange term.
“There is such a thing.”
I slumped back into my chair, trying not to chuckle.
“I’ll give you a bottle when it’s fully aged.”
“Wow.”
Rona shrieked in delight, covering her face in her excitement.
“Really!?”
“Of course.”
Observing Rona’s reaction, I asked,
“Do you intend to share it with Robert?”
“Oh, absolutely.”
Rona enthusiastically examined the bottle of booze.
“Won’t you have any, my Lady?”
“When would I drink all of that?”
“You could share it with the master.”
“With Amoide?”
“Yes. Pouring each other a glass cozily, tenderly…”
Rona’s eyes clouded over as she conjured up another romantic fantasy in her mind.
“That won’t happen.”
Even the prospect of sitting face to face with Amoide, tipping back glasses of alcohol, was terrifying.
“What’s the harm? The master has been more kind to you lately.”
“Well, that’s…”
I examined my hand. The meticulously prepared bandage was playing a large role. Because anytime he was starting to get brusque, he would often soften again when his eyes slipped to the bandage.
‘It’s too much. It’s humiliating.’
But it was quite valuable. There was no finer training carrot, no, whip. I couldn’t believe I could control that enormous, frightening man with just one hand.
This weapon, however, had an expiry date. I couldn’t live with a bandage on for the rest of my life, so I had to stop when the time came.
But then I worried: ‘what if Amoide no longer treats me the same?’
So I decided to take advantage of it for as long as possible.
‘To the point where he won’t avoid me even if I don’t have this.’
In any event, I felt a prick to my conscience because I was fooling him.
The distance between the duke’s mansion and Walter’s pharmacy was fairly great, so the sun had already set by the time I returned to the mansion.
<The lady is looking for you.>
Camilla was waiting for me.
“Where have you been?”
Camilla’s piercing stare was fixed on me. It was clear she already knew I hadn’t gone to meet my siblings.
‘Ah, the coachman.’
I even gave him a gold coin. I didn’t have high hopes because I didn’t like the look of him to begin with. But it still left a bitter aftertaste.
I decided to be somewhat truthful. She probably already knew everything seeing as she was asking this question.
“I went to a pharmacy, as you know.”
“Aren’t you going to offer an explanation?”
Camilla straightened up in her seat and looked surprised by my nonchalant admission.
