~Chapter 50~
It had been two weeks since Penelope drank the magic potion Leah made.
Today again, Leah went up to the fourth floor to check on her condition.
“Your tongue looks so much better now.”
“Really?”
“Yes. If you don’t look closely, you can’t even tell it used to be dark blue.”
Penelope looked at her tongue in a mirror, turning it this way and that.
“I was too scared to look at it before… I was afraid it might go back to how it was.”
“Don’t worry. It’s not going to come back.”
“Thank you so much.”
Penelope put the mirror down on her bedside table and bowed her head to Leah from her seat on the bed.
“You’re bowing to me?!”
“Leah, you deserve her thanks,” said Isabella.
“Yes, not just my brother, you saved my life too,” Penelope said.
She rolled up her sleeve and showed her wrist to Leah.
“I was withering away, but look—I’ve gained weight!”
Her wrist, which used to look so skinny and fragile, looked healthy now.
Penelope even pinched her own cheeks.
“They used to feel like just skin and bones, but now look at this.”
“If you gain any more weight, we’ll need to call the seamstress and have all your dresses altered,” Isabella said with a soft smile.
“I want to get new dresses—the ones that are in fashion now.”
“Sure, let’s get you whatever you like.”
At this rate, Penelope would soon be able to get out of bed and go outside.
She could walk around the mansion again, ride in a carriage, and travel around the capital.
She could even go visit other cities.
‘So this is what it feels like to heal someone. It’s such a good feeling.’
Leah felt so happy knowing her potion helped the village kids and now Penelope.
She was glad she learned how to make potions from her grandmother.
“Madam… um…”
“Do you have something to say?”
“You mentioned last time that there were other people who got sick from being bitten by those monster fish like Penelope.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Are there a lot of them?”
“Not too many, because purification mages work hard every spring. But I heard new patients still appear every year.”
Monster fish were small and tough to kill.
They hid deep in water and could withstand magic.
Since there weren’t many purification mages in the empire, it was impossible to purify every lake and river in the north every year.
So people kept getting bitten by those fish.
“I’d like to give my potion to those patients for free.”
“For free?”
“Yes. I didn’t make it to earn money. I just want everyone to get better if possible.”
And anyway, what would she do with the money?
By next summer, she’d be on her deathbed.
Money is only useful if you live long enough to spend it.
And even if she left it to Raphaella, it would be nothing compared to the fortune of the Blumhardt family.
“…That’s a noble thought. The patients and their families will be really happy.”
“Do you think so?”
“But you should talk to Johann about this, not me.”
Giving the potion for free wouldn’t be that easy.
They’d need to know how many patients there were, make a large supply of the potion, and figure out how to deliver it.
It was a lot of work, so Johann, as head of the family, was the better person to handle it.
So Leah left Penelope’s room and headed to Johann’s office.
Knock knock.
“It’s Leah.”
Samuel opened the door and greeted her.
“Hello, Lady Leah.”
“I came to discuss something with the Duke.”
“If you wait in the lounge, His Grace will be there shortly.”
She sat down in the drawing room, and a maid brought her a cup of hot tea.
Just as she was sipping the floral tea, Johann entered the room.
“What brings you here?”
He seemed a little off today.
His expression and voice were the same as usual, but something felt different.
“…Did something happen?”
He blinked. “What?”
“Sorry. You just seemed… upset.”
“…”
She was right. He was in a bad mood.
His assistant had just told him that the imperial princess and prince were arriving that afternoon.
Just thinking about having to deal with Princess Patritia made his head ache.
She always acted like the world revolved around her.
Once she found out about Raphaella, she would definitely throw a fit and try to come to the mansion.
Maybe he needed to send Leah and Raphaella somewhere else for a while.
He was thinking about that when Leah showed up.
“…Nothing.”
He wasn’t sure how to explain the situation to her.
“So, what did you want to talk about?”
“Oh, I wanted to give the potion I made to
patients for free.”
“You mean… not sell it at all?”
“Yes.”
“But why? This could be a huge moneymaker if you patent it.”
“I didn’t make it for money. I just want sick people to get better.”
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason, but Johann didn’t know that.
To him, Leah just seemed like a naive country girl.
Who gives away a miracle cure for free?
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“…That’s very admirable, Lady Leah.”
Johann went silent at her firm answer, and Samuel looked at her with admiration.
“…Well, if that’s what you want, we’ll do it your way.”
He gestured with his hand, and Samuel walked up to him.
“Samuel, I want you to handle this personally.”
“Yes, Your Grace. I’ll start with the patent paperwork.”
“Is there anything I can help with?”
“Just the location of the waterdrop flower field and how to harvest them.”
Samuel had already made a plan in his
head.
“Later, you can also show the mages how to make the potion.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes, for now. I’ll get started on the patent.”
“Thank you, Sir Samuel.”
“No, I’m honored to help with something so meaningful.”
Leah stood up, ready to leave.
“…Wait.”
“Yes?”
Johann started to speak, but the words wouldn’t come.
“…Never mind. You can go.”
He called her back but let her leave without saying anything.
‘…What am I supposed to say?’
Should he warn her about his fiancée?
Tell her to take Raphaella and go to the summer house for a while?
He had been planning to use Raphaella to provoke Patritia and break the engagement.
But now, telling her to be careful felt ridiculous.
‘Even I think I’m being absurd.’
—
As the sun set, Princess Patritia and Prince Florian arrived at the palace.
They settled in their own rooms, then went to have dinner with their mother, the Empress, in her palace.
The Empress warmly hugged them when they entered the grand dining room.
She sat at the head of the table, and the siblings sat down as well.
“Hey sis, did you hear?” Florian asked after the appetizers were cleared.
“Hear what?”
“You didn’t hear? Seriously?”
He looked way too excited, grinning at her.
“Ugh, stop teasing me. What is it?”
“I heard the Duke of Blumhardt has a daughter now.”
“…What? A daughter? Like… an illegitimate child?”
Patritia was so shocked she dropped her fork.
A servant silently replaced it with a new one.
“They said she was officially registered last winter.”
And she hadn’t heard about this until now?
No messenger had told her anything about this during her trip.
It had to be her mother.
She must have kept the news from her.
“Mother!”
“What’s so shocking about that?”
“How is this not shocking?!”
“Calm down, Patritia,” the Empress said, sipping her wine calmly.
She looked completely at ease, the total opposite of her daughter, whose face was turning red with anger.
“The more upset you get, the happier the Duke will be.”
“How can I not be upset right now?!”
Patritia’s eyes filled with tears.
“You always told me you’d give me the best of everything!”
“I did. And the Duke of Blumhardt is still the best, so don’t worry.”
“How can he be the best if he already has a kid?! He’s engaged to a princess and did that?!”
“Just get married and have a child of your own. Then it won’t matter.”
“…”
Patritia was speechless.
Ever since she was little, her dream was to marry the most perfect man in the Empire.
But if that perfect man already had a child, then he wasn’t perfect anymore.
Even the finest food loses its value if someone else has already taken a bite.
At least, that’s how she saw it.
But her mother clearly didn’t think the same way.
“Patritia, stop acting like a child. Try to see the bigger picture.”
The Empress set down her silverware and gently held her daughter’s trembling hand.
“Have I ever given you anything less than the best?”
