Chapter 9
Valentis had become the very monster he had hated so deeply.
Though he had gained power, he constantly feared having people around him.
Mana, once out of control, would strip away his reason.
Even on the battlefield, Valentis charged like a mad beast, driven only by the desire to spill blood.
He would pour out mana until he collapsed, and when he finally came to, he was always soaked in blood.
He could never escape the self-loathing and the violent chest pains that followed.
A curse.
In a way, Valentis was cursed just like Arthur.
As the dying dragon lost to him, it had laid a terrible curse on the wounded prince.
After all, a human body wasn’t made to house a dragon’s heart.
And for the future emperor to be part dragon…
People still hadn’t overcome their fear and dread of dragons.
They would never accept an emperor with a dragon’s blood.
Before he could find a way to remove the dragon’s heart, he first needed to learn how to control his mana.
But no matter what he tried, there was no solution.
“Haa…”
And then, finally, he drank Sophie’s tea. The mana that tormented him every second began to calm.
The mana coursing through his body wasn’t his—it belonged to the dragon.
Every moment, the dragon’s essence brought pain and curse.
But now the tattoo of the dragon spreading from his heart faded slightly, and the pain eased.
“…How are you feeling?” Robin asked cautiously, unable to hide the worry on his face.
“…I feel better.”
Valentis gave a faint smile after drinking the tea.
It was only a moment, but for the first time, he felt a flicker of hope.
If he had this tea—maybe he could be free of the dragon.
“Thank goodness!”
Robin’s eyes welled up as he cheered quietly.
“It seems that regardless of whether it’s Hedelria or not, the herbs I grow are effective,” Sophie confessed, sitting across from Valentis.
“What I just gave you wasn’t Hedelria, but a different herb.”
Since Hedelria was mainly for insomnia, I decided to try something else today.
“And I think my tea can regulate mana too. Right?”
Sure, spirit-grown herbs were potent.
But to control mana?
Though the affinity between mana and spirits shared some traits, they were fundamentally different in many ways.
Why do I feel so uneasy?
Sophie glanced around her small apothecary, overtaken by a strange, indescribable feeling.
The most powerful prince and duke in the empire were sitting right there.
As their eyes sparkled in her direction, she grew more and more uncomfortable.
Somehow… things felt like they were spiraling out of control.
If it were just Arthur, I could still think of him as a special patient…
That’s why she accepted Arthur in the first place. Even though he was a duke, he was humble and needed her help.
Besides, he always respected her boundaries and visited at the most discreet times possible. But now even the prince was here? Was this okay?
“In any case, now that we know this helps Your Highness—”
“…?”
Robin, who had been quiet until now, met Sophie’s gaze. His eyes were blazing, and Sophie fell silent for a moment.
What the—why is he looking at me like that? That’s scary.
“Please come with us to the imperial palace!”
Please, Lady Sophie! Robin exclaimed.
He bowed deeply, so desperate he looked on the verge of tears.
“Please! I beg you! Lady Sophie!”
Even a royal aide was bowing his head—that said a lot.
“His Highness needs your power, Lady Sophie. Please come to the palace with us!”
Robin couldn’t let Sophie go—not when Valentis was involved.
Valentis had once saved Robin’s life.
Now Robin wanted to return the favor by saving his prince.
And for that, he needed Sophie.
He had seen just how much Valentis had suffered—so Sophie was essential.
“If there’s anything you wish for, I will make it happen! I swear on my name. So please, Lady Sophie… please come to the palace.”
“That’s quite enough!”
Arthur sprang to his feet at Robin’s words.
“She has already built her life here. You’re being incredibly rude.”
“Why can’t she come? We can help her settle in at the palace too.”
Robin was even planning to build a greenhouse and apothecary within the palace.
“Lady Sophie! If you wish, I’ll use my personal funds to give you your own land. Please, come with us for His Highness’s sake—and for the empire!”
“But we asked first!”
Afraid they’d lose Sophie, Ben and James joined in the fray.
They insisted they had made the request first.
“Are you seriously playing ‘whoever asked first wins’ right now?”
Valentis scoffed.
“I’ll do as Robin says—grant her land, right inside the palace. And a building too. No, I’ll give her an entire palace.”
An entire palace for a commoner? That sounded absolutely insane.
But Valentis was dead serious. Robin clenched his fists and nodded.
“If you want, I’ll assign mages and physicians to assist you, and maids will tend to your every need.”
The prince made a groundbreaking offer.
“The duke can do that much too!” James shouted.
“Right, Your Grace?!” he turned to Arthur.
“We can offer the same, Lady Sophie!”
I don’t need any of that… Sophie pressed her lips tightly together.
And you’re all being way too loud.
As the apothecary grew noisier, Sophie frowned.
“Sophie doesn’t want to leave here. We can’t force her,” Arthur said wisely.
“His Highness suffers because of the dragon’s heart. He needs her tea regularly.”
“Our Duke struggles with insomnia too! You do know humans need daily sleep, right?”
“You have no idea how badly His Grace suffers from it!”
“Lady Sophie, are you really going to the palace?”
“Come to the palace. We’ll treat you so well.”
Valentis and Arthur were bickering, while James, Ben, and Robin loudly added fuel to the fire.
[Shall I feed them dirt?]
One of the spirits sparkled its eyes and asked.
“Ugh…”
Sophie clenched her fists and trembled. It was just too much noise!
Whether they realized how close she was to exploding or not, they kept arguing about her.
“She’s better off staying here!”
“You’re just trying to take her while we’re not looking!”
“No! We’ll get her consent first!”
“I can’t trust your knights.”
“Excuse me?!”
And on top of that, they were all high-ranking nobles.
Even Ben and James were highly respected knights in the capital.
In short, they were all proud and self-important gentlemen.
And yet here they were, throwing away their pride and manners to win Sophie over.
“Aren’t you being a bit harsh?!”
“The Duke’s curse has mostly faded, but our prince hasn’t even started recovery!”
Robin shot back.
“If we bring Lady Sophie to the palace, she can make tea regularly. The Duke visits often anyway—”
“His Grace could relapse at any moment!”
“Our prince is always at risk of losing control!”
Even Arthur and Valentis started glaring at each other.
Rumor had it they never got along—and now it showed.
“You saw my curse and said nothing. I’m grateful, Your Highness.”
“No need for thanks. I’ll keep doing it.”
Valentis casually brought up Arthur’s poor performance in the mountains.
Why would you say that here, in the apothecary?!
Sophie could no longer hold back and shouted,
“Everyone, be quiet!”
At her voice, the apothecary fell silent.
“I have no intention of leaving. And it seems you’ve all forgotten—this place is an apothecary, not a teahouse. Or…”
Sophie stumbled over her words.
“This is a teahouse?” Valentis asked.
She’d gotten flustered and said the wrong thing. She needed to stay sharp!
“…It’s an apothecary. I don’t sell tea.”
“…”
“The tea I served was not to open a business—it was for the sake of patients.”
So all your offers—consider them rejected. Now please be quiet.
Valentis and Arthur were desperate to take her away.
But Sophie had no plans to leave.
She didn’t become a spirit pharmacist to brew tea for one person.
“If you want tea, make an appointment.”
“…”
“And if you must argue, please take it outside. I don’t want the apothecary to be noisy.”
This was a peaceful place, meant for patients.
Not a bustling, chatty teahouse.
“We only wanted to bring a talented person to the palace,” Robin insisted again.
Well, at least that was better than the chaotic behavior of Paul.
“Patients come to the apothecary, not the other way around. Even if others do that, we don’t.”
“…”
The real clients were about to arrive, and this was all getting way too loud.
Sophie forced herself to stay calm despite the rising frustration.
“Do you understand? If you want tea, make an appointment.”
Even the usually noisy spirits clammed up, sensing Sophie’s foul mood.
“This is an apothecary. A place where patients come because they can’t get to a physician.”
In fact, there wasn’t even a proper doctor nearby. Sophie was the only one people relied on.
If anyone ever needed medical help, Sophie had to send a spirit to summon a healer.
This place was meant to be sacred. Peaceful.
And now it was a madhouse.
Sophie hated the way things had turned out.
And to top it off, their empty teacups were scattered everywhere.
“So if you’ve finished your tea, please get out.”
She pointed toward the door.
“B-but…”
Ben tried to protest, but Sophie shot him a glare.
Arthur, Valentis, and the rest of the aides and knights quietly filed out of the apothecary.
