In Aaron’s pharmacy, a faint scent of herbs wafted.
Aaron left Charlotte seated in the pharmacy and went out to get some tea.
It had been a long time since she had been here too.
The pharmacy only had simple drawers and a patient bed.
Just then, Aaron opened the door and came in.
“Sit comfortably. There’s nothing to drink, but I brought some herbal water. It will be good for calming your mind and body.”
Aaron was of the same age group as a grandfather.
His white hair was slightly curly, which, surprisingly, gave off a gentle impression.
“Did you send off your mother well?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, I sent her off well.”
“I wondered what had happened these past few days. I thought you had become a completely different person.”
“Change? I’m the same.”
To Aaron, it was only a matter of a few weeks, but to Charlotte, decades had passed.
Aaron looked exactly as she remembered him.
The old pharmacy building had a stern impression, accentuated by the wrinkles caught between his brows.
“I thought it was right to inform you about my mother’s death.”
“Has it been three weeks already? Your footsteps suddenly stopped, so I had anticipated it. I also felt your mother’s demise was approaching. Still, hearing it directly from you feels strange.”
He was speaking of his biological mother’s death.
Had it only been a few weeks since she lost her mother?
But that child spoke as if it were a tale from a distant past.
As if recalling a very old memory, her eyes were lingering in the distant past.
“What a strange child.”
Aaron recognized Benjamin and bowed his head.
“I greet His Highness, the Crown Prince.”
“A familiar face.”
“What connection could there be between an old man who has aged as I have and the nobility of the royal family? You must be mistaken.”
Aaron bowed his body awkwardly.
He was old, his back bent, and his knee joints were not so flexible.
“Even an old man working in a village pharmacy can recognize noble blood.”
Aaron grumbled, leaning on his knee to rise.
“Wait. I’ll bring you something.”
Charlotte was sitting on the porch of the pharmacy.
The scent of herbs spread thickly even here.
“Don’t bother, old man. Just go.”
Aaron saw the two off with his bent body.
“I’ve packed some herbs.”
“Thank you.”
“I didn’t pack it to hear your thanks. Huh? Are you the kind of fellow to be satisfied with such thanks?”
“I understand, Aaron.”
“Don’t run around and scrape your knees like a child. Take care of your body first. Your path will be smooth only when your body is at ease.”
The herbs Aaron packed were wrapped in a white envelope.
It was roughly tied with a rubber band, but the white envelope was clean without a stain.
“I put in some painkillers for His Highness. Both of you take care of your health.”
Aaron scolded them without hesitation.
He was old and about to die soon. He stood tall even before the power of the royal family.
“Anything else you’re curious about?”
They almost forgot their purpose of coming here. Aaron gestured for them to speak.
“Do you know of a disease called Lupetic?”
“It’s an unfamiliar name, but it seems I’ve heard of it. Why do you ask?”
“Could you possibly look into this disease for us?”
Lupetic was the disease that took her life.
It would not be urgent for another decade or so, but it wasn’t a matter to be taken lightly either.
“Just go.”
Charlotte gave a smooth smile.
(This is a time separator.)
It was around sunset.
Leaving Aaron’s pharmacy, the two strolled along the road.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been here.”
Charlotte led the way, and Benjamin followed.
“A place you visited often?”
“When my mother was alive. I used to come here often for a walk on my way back from the pharmacy alone.”
Charlotte familiarly passed through an empty lot and reached the edge of the land.
A steep cliff spread before her eyes, and she stood at the edge of the cliff.
The view spread widely below the cliff.
The sky was gradually turning red with the sunset, and she looked down below the cliff.
“Did you know?”
Benjamin asked Charlotte.
“What?”
“That apothecary.”
He was talking about Aaron.
“It’s been a long time.”
“It was a familiar face, wasn’t it?”
“He was the apothecary my mother kept by her side.”
Even in a vast empire, the connections between people tended to touch each other, however briefly.
“Did Aaron tell you himself?”
“It’s someone who was executed by the Empress and secretly escaped, living in hiding. There’s no way they would have talked directly.”
“Then?”
“I happened to see a nameplate. The craftsmanship was good, but it was strange that they were hiding in a place like a shabby house.”
Aaron’s connection to the Empress was discovered later.
They had secretly kept the royal family’s nameplate, and happened upon it by chance.
In the past, they ignored it.
Sick mother and whatnot, there was no time to pay attention to the outside.
‘Only now have I had the leisure to remember it.’
Charlotte swept up her hair, stealing glances at Benjamin.
“You must have been somewhat pleased.”
“I don’t know if they were pleased as well.”
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
