The Villainess' Ending Was Death

Fresa devoted herself to research for several days. Lycaon and Reese played an excellent supporting role, and thanks to them, the medicine was completed faster than expected. It was called mint water and hair loss treatment ointment. Mint water was easy, but hair loss treatment was a problem. It was difficult for useless hair to grow when it came in contact with skin other than the scalp, so the formula had to be changed several times to make it react only to the scalp.

 

A large trash can was filled with discarded materials.

 

“It’s really touching to see how much effort you put in for a poor hair loss patient.”

 

Reese even said he was impressed by Fresa’s efforts and readily offered help.

 

“I think I can improve the effect to this extent.”

 

Reese used the power of the spirit, promising to make the hair as abundant as the midsummer bushes. A powder that looked like a very small light was sprinkled on top of the ointment.

 

‘I didn’t know that a medicine like this would even use spirit power…’

 

Well, the better the effect, the better it was for Fresa.

 

“Thank you, Reese.”

 

Fresa wiped the sweat from her forehead and stared at the light green liquid and dark brown ointment. It was an ointment that made you feel like your hair would grow thicker right away.

 

“Once it’s completed…”

 

Lycaon, who had just come down to the basement, said with a surprised expression.

 

“Is it finished already? That’s great. You’ve had a hard time, Resa.”

 

“However… There’s just one problem.”

 

Fresa’s expression turned to Lycaon and became a little more serious.

 

“I need something to test on. You can’t just sell unproven drugs. Lykaon and I can try the mint water, but neither of us are short of hair.”

 

“Oh, I’m sure so. Especially because I have a lot of hair.”

 

Lycaon crossed his arms and nodded his head with a confident expression. A few days ago, he kept secretly bragging about his hair, and she couldn’t quite figure out why. Anyway, Fresa never thought that this ointment wouldn’t work. However, since nothing was perfect, it was necessary to conduct several experiments in advance.

 

Fresa wanted to do her best as a pharmacist. If she passed on it without properly verifying its effectiveness, she would be no different from a quack.

 

‘You can only enjoy the promotional effect if you first let people know that it is effective.’

 

Presa wondered for a moment whether there was a suitable person around her. After a while, only one person came to mind.

 

“Albert Dunn, do you remember?”

 

“Ah. Lord Barrett’s secretary?”

 

Lykaon, who was cleaning up the messy desk, raised his head slightly and asked back. Fresa answered by pouring mint water into a cup and holding it out to Lycaon.

 

“He was clearly starting to lose hair from his forehead.”

 

“Did you recognize that?”

 

“Can’t you see it just by looking at him?”

 

“Well. I don’t know. Thank you for this.”

 

Lycaon shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of mint water. Albert Dunn seemed sensitive and had a rough personality, but he was the only hair loss host that she could get to know. 

 

The remaining mint water that was given to Lycaon went into Presa’s mouth. It was sour yet refreshing.

 

‘First of all, the taste passed.’

 

Lykaon also had a satisfied face.

 

“It tastes good. It’s a bit unique, though.”

 

“I can sell this right away. We will start with a one-day limited sale. I’m not familiar with the recipe, so it takes some time.”

 

Fresa wrote down its detailed sales plan on paper. She also planned how to deliver the hair loss ointment. Tomorrow was the day Albert was scheduled to visit. The purpose was to finally receive the completed oral sun allergy medicine. 

 

Allergy medication was difficult to make, so it took quite a while. In the meantime, Daisy tried the medicine several times, but it didn’t seem to have any effect, so she had to make new medicine several times. Lord Barrett provided ample support for the material costs, but the cost of the materials needed to make the medicine was prohibitive.

 

‘Because there were a lot of materials thrown away.’

 

If you learn the recipe all at once, there will be less material loss. It was a shame that Fresa wasn’t at that level of skill yet.

 

‘It has to be effective this time.’

 

Fresa put mint water in a medicine bottle and packaged it with Daisy’s medicine. She even finished it off with a purple ribbon, Daisy’s favorite.

 

“While delivering Daisy’s medicine, I’m planning to subtly add some ointment and give it to her. Hey there, Your Highness. I told you overdosing is not good.”

 

Fresa slapped the back of Lycaon’s hand as he tried to get another bottle of mint water. Lycaon said, shyly withdrawing his hand.

 

“…Wouldn’t people be offended if I told them I was bald when it wasn’t very noticeable yet?”

 

Lycaon had a faint look in his eyes that seemed to understand the bald man’s feelings. She remembered his words that there were many bald heads in the empire.

 

‘No way. Mr. Lycaon isn’t genetically bald.’

 

Hey, that couldn’t be possible. Looking at that abundant hair, she felt like she should worry more about the time it would take to wash her hair, let alone hair loss.

 

“I have to give it as naturally as possible. I have roughly thought about what to do.”

 

Fresa drank all the remaining mint water, chewing the cud over the plan in her head.

 

Early the next morning, Albert came to pick up the medicine and ointment he had delivered to Daisy. His forehead was exactly as Fresa had seen it.

 

‘It’s still hair loss that only you can notice.’

 

Fresa looked away from his forehead and handed him a small basket containing medicine.

 

“Thank you for your hard work.”

 

Albert answered bluntly and took the basket. Then he held out a pocket containing some compensation. It was the cost of Daisy’s medicine to be made next and the cost of operating the pharmacy. Fresa held her pocket dearly and looked at Albert’s thoughts. Albert turned his body as if he would go back without saying anything.

 

Fresa hurriedly called him over.

 

“Mr. Albert, may I recruit someone to test a new drug? The side effects are minimal, so there will be no problems. I just need to verify the effectiveness.”

 

“What kind of medicine?”

 

Albert glanced at Fresa with a cold gaze. Fresa smiled and answered as if she had been waiting.

 

“It’s a baldness treatment. It is a groundbreaking medicine that helps grow strong hair when applied to the scalp where hair loss has occurred. Could you tell it to the lord?”

 

Fresa quietly took out some ointment from her apron pocket.

 

Albert’s eyes wavered slightly. He tried hard to hide his expression, but he couldn’t fool Fresa’s eyes, which were watching him intently.

 

“…Hair loss cannot be cured by magic or divine power.”

 

“That’s right. So special! I made it. Although it was a little difficult… It will definitely be effective in just three days. So, I want to get permission.”

 

Albert stared at the container containing the ointment. Those eyes were so cold that it seemed like not a single drop of blood would come out even if you pricked them with a needle. Fresa smiled leisurely, trying to hide her nervous expression.

 

After a while.

 

“All right.”

 

Albert took the container of ointment. Fresa internally sighed with relief.

 

“Please take care of it, Mr. Albert.”

 

“Okay then.”

 

“Take care.”

 

Mr. Albert should definitely try it out himself. Fresa looked at the back of Albert’s head as he was already riding away in the carriage and hoped desperately.

* * *

Rowan and Alicia’s honeymoon was over. Rowan left his mansion as soon as he returned, under the pretext of needing to ascertain the situation of Count Thorpe’s family. He left her a friendly greeting, but Alicia read those dull emotions right away. Normally, she would have to tell him several times to hurry up and go to work, and then he would leave.

 

Alicia was biting her fingernails and rummaging through Rowan’s luggage.

 

“Found it.”

 

Soon she found the outerwear Rowan had been wearing. She pulled out a small magic tracking device from deep inside her pocket. And with her trembling hands, she pressed her buttons to check Rowan’s path. An image in the form of a small map appeared in the air.

 

The sparkling red dot was Rowan.

 

The record started from the port of Faro village. That day was the last day of the Wheat Field Festival. While looking at the wonderful fireworks festival, she whispered her love to Rowan. It was all just a moment. Alicia suppressed her seething insides and moved her gaze along the red dot.

 

‘It’s a pharmacy. I went to buy an ointment that is said to be good for sun allergies.’

 

After he stopped by the lighthouse. She heard that it was closed throughout the festival, but Rowan rented it for Alicia for a day. There, the two shared a deep kiss and stayed for a long time. Afterwards, it was a restaurant, a cafe with a view of the beach, and a villa.

 

‘I went to see Lord Barrett briefly in the evening.’

 

Alicia was tired so she rested at the villa, and Rowan went to the manor house alone. After staying a few hours at Lord Barrett’s house, Rowan passed the market and returned to the villa.

 

The next day,

 

‘Rowan. Why did you go to the pharmacy again?’

 

The location of the pharmacy on Rowan’s path flashed several times. Alicia glared fiercely at the blinking red dot without even noticing it.

 

‘I had a problem with the pharmacy staff.’

 

That big man, just like an escort knight. She thought they said the boss was away… Judging by the expression on his face when he came back, something not very good would have happened.

 

‘He didn’t even buy any medicine. When he came back he was empty-handed.’

 

Did he meet someone there? Who on earth? Faro Village was the first place both Alicia and Rowan had visited. There was no way there was anyone they knew.

 

‘Or he ran into someone he knew from somewhere else.’

 

No matter how hard she racked her brain, she couldn’t even guess who it might be. If she had checked this earlier, she would have gone to the pharmacy directly before returning. There was no reason to go back to Faro village now.

 

‘But the same goes for Rowan.’

 

Since she couldn’t find any evidence, the only way to do it was to keep an eye on Rowan for the time being. After turning off her tracking device, Alicia planned to use it again when Rowan returned.

 

‘You brought this on yourself, Rowan.’

 

He shouldn’t have fooled her like that. Alicia bit her lip as she clutched the tracking device in her hand.

 

* * *

 

Exactly one week later, the village of Faro was abuzz with new news.

 

“Did you see the lord’s secretary?”

 

“Oh, you mean that hair?”

 

“Yes! He suddenly felt 10 years younger. Did he wear a wig or something?”

 

“It’s too rich to be a wig.”

 

“Isn’t it healthy?”

 

“So magic?”

 

“I guess I’ll have to ask next time he come to collect money.”

 

It was a story about the hair of Lord Barrett’s secretary, Albert Dunn. A surprising change came to him, who had a sharp look thanks to his thin hair. It was hair that was comparable to that of someone in their 20s. The rumor spread quickly and soon reached Fresa’s ears.

 

—————————————————————

Translator Note: