‘Oh, come to think of it… I’ve been eating and sleeping in the lab for over a month now…’
I gave a sheepish smile, and Annie spoke up in a worried voice.
“Young lady… I know the research is important, but please, can’t you sleep in your room instead? I’m really worried about you…”
Annie was my one and only personal maid.
She’d been with me since I was little—sometimes acting like a friend, and other times like a stand-in for my mom, who lived in a separate building.
So it made sense that she looked so concerned when she saw me throwing myself into experiments like this.
‘But I’m really so close now…’
After many trials, I had finally succeeded in extracting just the right amount of salicylic acid from willow bark.
Now, all I had to do was mix in some herbs to protect the stomach, and I’d have a perfect pain reliever and anti-inflammatory—basically a substitute for aspirin.
‘Maybe it’s actually a good thing Dad’s been away this whole time. I could work freely without raising any suspicion…’
Not long ago, I had visited my dad’s office—partly to get his advice on herbs and partly just to check on him.
But instead of Dad, a tall, nerdy-looking assistant in glasses was sitting there.
“The Viscount’s already left for a house call.”
I frowned and asked again.
“Do you know when he’ll be back?”
“…Not really. Judging by how much stuff he packed, it might be a while.”
Normally, Dad would always stop by my room to say goodbye before heading out, so it felt a little strange.
But we had both been busy lately, so maybe it just slipped by.
Actually, thinking about it, it might be better if Dad came back after I finished the medicine—it would be easier to convince him that way.
‘So maybe this worked out perfectly.’
“I’m fine, Annie. I’ve been getting enough sleep. By the way, is this meat stew? Did Aunt Marilla make it?”
I casually dropped the cook’s name I’d once heard in passing and started eating with a smile.
It kind of reminded me of ordering food during night shifts.
Annie seemed relieved to see me chewing my food properly and gave a faint smile.
“Um, young lady, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Does that… thing over there go into the medicine you’re making?”
She pointed to a big bucket sitting in the corner of the lab.
“Oh, the kelp?”
“Huh…? Isn’t that… not something you’re supposed to eat?”
Her question was so innocent that I couldn’t help but sigh.
Just like how Westerners don’t eat seaweed or kelp, it was the same here.
They said it was slimy and the texture was weird or whatever.
I waved my fork in the air like it was no big deal and said,
“Annie, you shouldn’t judge ingredients based on bias, okay? Seaweed and kelp are super good for your health. Westerners always have stomach issues, and yet they still don’t eat kelp or seaweed. I don’t get it.”
“West… Westerners? What are those? But young lady, this really seems…”
Annie looked at the kelp like she’d never seen anything so weird and gross in her life.
I shook my hand in the air and tried to explain.
“The medicine I’m making has a major side effect—it can hurt your stomach. That’s why I need something that can protect it. Kelp has a lot of alginic acid, which is really good for the stomach…”
“Ah…”
Annie nodded slowly, her eyes unfocused.
‘Maybe I went too deep with that explanation…’
I gave up trying to explain and stuffed another bite of meat into my mouth.
Yeah, whatever. First, I need to eat. Even ghosts look better with a full stomach.
“Young lady, please call me if you need anything, okay?”
“Got it. Thanks for bringing me food. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Please don’t leave any behind. You’ve been eating so little lately, I’m really worried.”
“I know, I know.”
I smiled and pushed Annie toward the door. She practically got pushed out of the lab, but…
I couldn’t go back to my room now—not when I was this close.
After finishing the rest of my stew, I stood up and lit the burner under my glass flask again
***
“Wow! It finally looks right!”
Wow, this tiny thing took a month and a half!
It wasn’t perfect yet, but the prototype was finally done.
(Prototype = a first working model before a product is officially released.)
It would take ages to finish clinical trials and release it officially, but…
I was confident that, in terms of effectiveness, it would be better than any medicine in this world.
‘Though… is this really the best color I can get?’
Because I’d used so many herbs, it came out a deep green color… Honestly, it looked kind of like rabbit poop. Not ideal.
‘No! Don’t call it poop. I worked hard on this!’
I shook my head and looked at it carefully. This was practically my baby.
“All that’s left is clinical testing…”
The formula seemed stable now, but I couldn’t just give it to someone without testing.
Normally, you’d start with small animals, then move on to larger ones, and finally to humans.
But in a society like this, people would freak out if they knew it was tested on mice.
And there’s no way I could just ask someone to eat something that smelled vaguely like seaweed.
So I had only one option.
‘Sorry, Mom…’
I looked up at the sky and offered a solemn apology—then stared at the table leg.
“…One shot. That’s all I need.”
Then, I kicked the leg of the table as hard as I could.
“OWWW!”
Oh my god! That really hurt!
Even though I kicked it lightly, a sharp pain shot up through my foot.
At that moment, the door creaked open—and Dad appeared.
Wait… Dad?
Why is Dad here?!
“My goodness! Ria! What on earth happened?!”
I wanted to answer, but the pain was so bad I couldn’t speak.
‘Of all times… he had to come back today?!’
“I-I… I was just… developing a medicine… ugh…”
“Oh, Ria! Are you okay?!”
As I clenched my teeth in pain, I thought to myself, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t scold patients for being dramatic anymore…’
I looked down at my foot, now swollen and red. It hurt so badly I couldn’t even speak. It was probably a sprain.
‘Please tell me nothing’s broken…’
I was getting a bit nervous, but I forced myself to stay calm and pushed myself up with the table.
Dad was already kneeling in front of me, carefully inspecting my foot.
“Oh dear… how did this happen…”
His face was twisted with worry. I felt a little guilty, but tried to play it off.
“I-it’s okay now… I think…”
“Okay?! It’s starting to swell up! No, this won’t do. Wait here—I’ll go get some ice—”
He turned to leave, but I quickly grabbed his arm and forced a smile.
“Dad, um… instead of that, I actually have this amazing medicine for injuries… Want to take a look?”
“So… you’re saying you made this medicine, Ria?”
“Yes! Ugh… I really did!”
Honestly, it worked out. I didn’t know how to bring it up, but since I was injured anyway, I might as well prove it like this.
Dad examined the small dark green pill I made—something that looked weirdly like rabbit poop.
“You know how the regular herbal teas have weak effects and just make you feel full?”
Ignoring my throbbing foot, I held up the pill between my thumb and forefinger like a home shopping host.
“But I extracted only the pure pain-relief component, so the effect is faster, stronger, and there’s no bulky tea to drink. One pill is all you need!”
But Dad just kept tilting his head, clearly puzzled.
I mean, considering this world’s medical knowledge, maybe it was hard to understand…
‘Still, this isn’t the reaction I was hoping for!’
Ideally, he should be wide-eyed and ready to throw money at me by now!
Seeing his lukewarm reaction, I thought maybe I should just show him how it was made from the start.
“Dad, wait just a minute. I’ll show you directly.”
