Saved Him, Now I'm Obsessed - Chapter 53

“Hey! Young lady.”

Just as I was about to convey words of comfort to him that both Cass and he would be alright, Cass’s grandmother rushed out of the house urgently.

“If it’s okay… I heard the gravedigger’s daughter is sick. Could you go there once and take a look? As Jane the pharmacist’s apprentice, I’m sure your skills are good… I heard that gentleman has been struggling a lot because his daughter hasn’t woken up for a long time. I don’t mean to meddle in others’ affairs. It might just be an old person’s meddling, but…”

From what I heard about her not waking up for a long time, it seemed her condition was bad. Anyway, there didn’t seem to be any guests or work to do if I went back to the imperial palace, and there was still a long day ahead, so I decided to go visit.

Worried that she might be making an unnecessary request, the grandmother urged my answer with an anxious gaze.

“I’ll definitely go right away, so don’t worry too much.”

When I readily agreed, she let out a sigh of relief.

“And this.”

She placed something in my hand.

“If it’s for the treatment fee, you really don’t have to give me anything. I’m the one who came here forcefully.”

“I’m just so grateful and sorry. And you’re not even accepting payment for treatment…”

When I checked what she had placed in my hand, it was an intricately braided string bracelet. Colorful stones were threaded in between, and its sparkling appearance was quite pleasing to the eye.

“It’s really nothing. I made it by twisting leftover threads from the sewing room… It’s not much, but please accept this at least.”

“It’s so pretty. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Even though Jane the pharmacist left instructions, I’m so grateful for your help like this.”

I thanked her, received the gravedigger’s address, and left that place.

I immediately put on the bracelet I received from her, and the colorful colors made me feel good. Ian, on the other hand, was walking with his lips pursed the entire way, as if something was displeasing him.

“What are you so dissatisfied about?”

“Jane came to help with good intentions, but they treated her as if an occupying force had arrived. It’s vexing. Are all pharmacy customers like that?”

“They were grateful later, weren’t they? They even gave me this pretty bracelet.”

“Still, you didn’t even receive proper payment for the medicine.”

“This feels more valuable than the medicine fee. Isn’t it pretty? Doesn’t it suit me?”

I waved my arm with the bracelet in front of his eyes, demanding his answer.

“It’s pretty. What wouldn’t be pretty on Jane? More importantly, they should have just been grateful to Jane from the start.”

“They’re not children. You heard why Cass’s grandmother was wary of us.”

“I understand being wary of nobles, but Jane doesn’t look threatening, and she was offering treatment. I don’t like how they treated her. And their attitude only changed after the examination.”

I burst into laughter. Puzzled by my laughter, he asked me again.

“Why are you laughing like that?”

“It’s just that when Ian says things like that, it really makes you seem like an innocent young master who grew up sheltered and doesn’t know anything.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“From Cass’s grandmother’s perspective, showing such wariness is a perfectly natural reaction. But Ian, you don’t understand that reaction at all.”

“What don’t I understand?”

“For commoners, a noble suddenly visiting is almost like a disaster. Regardless of whether they look threatening or not, nobles are people who think it’s natural for them to rule over commoners, so they always demand something.”

Ian looked at me as if he didn’t understand. His reaction seemed to say, isn’t it natural for nobles to rule over someone?

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Of course, it would be fine if they asked for reasonable things and paid for them, but there are also those who try to order unreasonable things.”

“Unreasonable things?”

“There are cases where nobles take children away, saying they’ll raise them in a good environment.”

“Isn’t that good? It’s better to grow up in a good environment than living in a place like this.”

“It’s a problem because they don’t really intend to raise them in a good environment. Cass is small and pale, right? There are people who take young children and make them beg, and cases where they secretly take them and sell them as slaves to other countries. Cass’s grandmother has lived longer than me, so she probably knows about more terrible things. So it’s natural for her to react sensitively.”

“When I glanced earlier, she looked less than 9 years old. It seems useless to take her as a slave.”

“That’s right. If I remember correctly, she should be 12 years old. She’s been sick for a long time, so her body is smaller than her peers, making her look younger.”

“Slave trade should be banned within the empire…”

“Of course that’s true, but not everyone lives by the law. Even if trade isn’t possible within the empire, there are still other countries where slave trade is possible.”

Ian frowned at the suggestion that slave smuggling might still exist.

“Have those weird guys ever approached Jane too?”

“Illegal slave traders? Not that, but I’ve received quite a few suggestions to work as a maid rather than doing pharmacy work. They say I look like I can do hard work and do it well.”

Those who suggested I work as a maid surely made the proposal with good intentions.

Maids working in decent noble households tend to receive higher wages compared to other jobs, so many commoner children want to become maids.

I received many suggestions that working as a maid would be more helpful for my livelihood than working under a blind pharmacist grandfather, and I was tempted by such proposals at times, but I still liked this job.

Moreover, if it weren’t for me, my grandfather would have had difficulties not only with daily life but also with running the pharmacy, so I wasn’t in a position to become a maid just to live well on my own.

“So Jane could have become a maid? It doesn’t suit you.”

“Grandfather must have thought so too. When he received such proposals, he would chase them away with a poker, saying, ‘How dare you make such a proposal to a child who will become the best pharmacist in the Callovanian Empire?'”

Ian nodded with a smile at my words.

“Jane’s grandfather had Jane figured out properly. Being a pharmacist suits Jane better.”

“I think so too.”

“Still, wasn’t it hard running a pharmacy with your grandfather at such a young age?”

“What’s the use of talking about it? There were many times when I was tired because of difficult customers…”

“Difficult customers?”

“When you run a business directly, you’re bound to get all sorts of customers. Moreover, since a seemingly easy target child was running it, there were many scammers desperate to swindle money somehow.”

Of course, I, who had been like an old soul since childhood and had a not-so-easygoing temperament, drove away those who tried to scam me and my grandfather with fierce determination.

Of course, similar things happened even after I grew up.

As a female pharmacist wandering around with just one house call bag and a blind grandfather, quite a few people looked down on us.

Even if they weren’t nobles. How could I remember each and every one of them? On days when I met unpleasant people, I just swallowed curses, wishing they would fall face-first and break their noses even while walking on a perfectly fine road.

“There were such bastards?”

“It’s all in the past. I don’t even remember the faces or names of those troublemakers anymore.”

“Jane might have forgotten, but I don’t want to forgive them so easily.”

“No, how can you not want to forgive when you don’t even know their names? Don’t worry about useless things.”

He was still frowning, seemingly unable to shake off his bad mood despite my words.

“You should have told me earlier.”

“What’s the use of telling you? How could I tattle about such things that happened day after day?”

“Anyway, it makes me so angry to think that Jane was disrespected by those pathetic guys while I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine. It’s all in the past. After my grandfather passed away and I became known as a pharmacist, there were hardly any people who looked down on me.”

He still seemed unsatisfied, biting his lip in displeasure.

“Can’t be helped. From now on, if any weird guys approach you, tell me right away.”

“What will you do if I tell you? Scold them on my behalf?”

“Of course. I’ll teach them a good lesson.”

He answered quite reassuringly. I nodded, imagining him kicking the bottoms of troublesome customers hard.

“I will.”

“You promised. You’ll definitely tell me if such things happen.”

“I said I would.”

“No, I’m still uneasy. From now on, I should stick with you wherever you go. To prevent such things. By the way, why are we going back the way we came? If it’s the address the old woman gave us, shouldn’t we go that way?”

“I told you. How I find my way around.”

The downside of my devised way of finding directions is that it has to start from the pharmacy.

“It seems close from here… According to the old woman’s explanation earlier, we should go that way.”

“You know where it is just from that explanation?”

Cass’s grandmother gave detailed directions along with the address, but it sounded like a code to me.

I even asked her to explain the way from the pharmacy.

Ian, who understood it at once and easily found his way, seemed impressive to me.