Chapter 154
“What? H-Hey, medicine?”
“You know, don’t you? What my aunt did to Yulia.”
Of course he knew. She had even gone to prison over it!
‘Don’t tell me… p-poison…!’
Count Micro’s face slowly stiffened. Was she saying she had fed him poison? Just like she had done to Yulia?
“It wasn’t poison.”
“…It wasn’t?”
“Yes. I said it wasn’t poison. Instead…”
As Ceres trailed off again, Count Micro’s insides burned with anxiety. Just what had she made him take?!
“Haven’t you been feeling unusually tired lately? Like your stamina just isn’t there?”
“H-How did you know that?!”
…How would I know? I investigated you.
‘Even a healthy person wouldn’t have any strength left if they were juggling that many households.’
Ceres already knew through her investigation that he had been frequently purchasing and taking stamina-boosting medicine.
Even without that, just looking at the dark circles under his eyes made it obvious how exhausted he was.
“Oh—oh my!”
“What? What is it?”
“My—my head…”
“What?”
“H-Here, my hair…”
Ceres casually reached out and ran her hand through Count Micro’s hair.
Whoosh.
In an instant, his dark brown hair turned white. Not only that, but his once relatively firm face rapidly began to age.
“G-Gasp! Your face too!”
“What?!”
Startled by Ceres’s cry, Count Micro leapt to his feet and rushed to the mirror in his office.
“Gah! W-What is this?!”
A scream burst from his mouth. Reflected in the mirror was an old man who looked well into his seventies.
Watching the elderly man move exactly as he did, Count Micro realized that the reflection was himself. His face drained of all color.
“Oh dear. They said the medicine would start taking effect around now.”
“Th-This… this is because of the medicine Agne fed me?!”
“Yes… You saw how Aunt Agne’s hair turned white, didn’t you? That’s the same medicine. She must’ve accidentally taken it herself… I think she tested it on you before giving it to her husband. Sigh…”
“Th-That wretch! Aaaaargh! That crazy woman, Agne!”
The kindly-looking count’s face completely shattered. Screaming like a demon, he clawed at his face again and again.
Tears streamed down his eyes as if he couldn’t believe what was happening.
“There is a cure, though…”
“…What?”
That sounded like salvation. His head snapped up, trembling eyes locking onto Ceres.
“There’s m-medicine? Really?”
“Yes. There’s medicine that can restore you to your original appearance.”
“Wh-What kind of medicine is it?! Where can I get it?!”
Faced with his desperate questions, Ceres once again hesitated, looking troubled.
“The thing is… it’s extremely expensive. Even my aunt couldn’t afford it easily.”
“I don’t care! No matter how much it costs, I don’t care—just tell me! How do I buy it?! Where do I get it?!”
“Y-You’ll really buy it?”
At Ceres’s flustered question, Count Micro nodded vigorously—as if he would sell everything he owned to get it.
Watching him, Ceres smiled faintly to herself.
‘Just as expected.’
She’d heard how obsessed he was with his appearance. That even a single wrinkle would send him into a full day of skin treatments.
‘If he’d only skimmed my aunt’s money, I might’ve let it slide.’
But that wasn’t all.
He had known everything from the beginning—about poisoning a child, about siphoning money from the dukes—and had simply pretended not to know.
‘He even went to the bank regularly to check how much her assets had grown.’
He had even secretly looked into hiring assassins. If things hadn’t blown up and led to a divorce, Agne might already be dead.
‘Instead of stopping her, all he cared about was the money.’
No need to argue who was worse. They were cut from the same cloth—perfect for each other.
Even the cheating.
“If the medicine doesn’t work, you’ll be held responsible.”
The formerly gentle count threatened the young Ceres without hesitation, his mask completely gone.
“D-Don’t worry.”
…The bastard’s suspicious to the end.
Though she looked terrified, Ceres’s smile deepened internally.
* * *
Under the pretense of obtaining the medicine, Ceres stalled for several days before returning to Count Micro.
Each time he gathered more money, she brought him another bottle.
Today was the final dose.
“Ah…”
Count Micro groaned as he stared into the mirror.
“Finally…”
He looked on the verge of bursting into tears. His hands carefully touched his face, fearful it might age again.
“You’ve finally returned to your original appearance.”
“Yes.”
At an enormous cost.
Count Micro glanced at the small empty medicine bottles scattered nearby.
One bottle cost 100,000 gold!
‘And I had to take nine of them.’
At first, the effect had been minimal, and his hands had trembled with rage. But since there was some effect, he couldn’t complain.
“I told you—it would be subtle at first, but dramatic in the end.”
Ceres smiled as he couldn’t take his eyes off the mirror.
‘Of course I kept the early effects small.’
Otherwise, he might’ve stopped halfway to save money.
She had reversed time just a little at first—and then massively at the end.
“It’s worth the money.”
A total of 900,000 gold. An absurd amount.
To afford it, he’d sold off all his businesses. Even this house would soon be gone—it had been mortgaged as well.
Now that the treatment was over, the money felt painfully wasted.
But…
‘Still.’
He wasn’t worried.
He had them.
Divorced women, sure—but wealthy and capable.
With their help, he could recover.
“C-Count.”
“What is it?”
“You… you should come outside.”
“…Hm?”
At the servant’s flustered expression, Count Micro followed him out.
Ceres quietly rose and followed behind.
“What? Who do you think you are?!”
“I’m the woman who’s going to be your wife!”
“What are you all talking about? Are you sure that man is Ardo?”
“Hah!”
Four women stood in the parlor, their faces filled with disbelief and rage.
They kept repeating the same questions, trying to confirm each other’s words.
“Gasp!”
When Count Micro entered, he froze, unconsciously stepping back.
‘W-Why are they here?!’
These were the women who should never have met.
“Ardo!”
“You…!”
“Who are these women?!”
“H-How… how could this… sob!”
The moment they spotted Count Micro, their fury exploded.
