The next morning, Lea had penned a letter to the royal palace at the crack of dawn. It was a letter expressing her refusal to work there.

“Is this enough?”

Lea, who had neatly folded the letter and sealed it, let out a small sigh.

She had told Akkia that it was natural not to work at the royal palace, but that would be a lie if she said she wasn’t a little disappointed.

After all, working at the royal palace was a dream that any imperial pharmacist might have once considered.

And if people knew she had refused a job offer directly from the emperor, they would probably click their tongues in disbelief.

“Well, what can I do.”

Lea, who had asked Rikel to send the letter to the royal palace, returned to her lab. A little while ago, Akkia had arranged a lab within the mansion to help her develop a cure.

It was a bit smaller than the space she had in Count Heidern’s domain, but this cozy place was quite to Lea’s liking.

[Don’t get distracted. Focus on developing the cure.]

“Since the Count advised the same, should I really focus on the cure development now?”

The toxicity of Polarium had been removed, but it had caused side effects. And they were side effects she couldn’t mention to others.

Given the current circumstances, it wasn’t a onetime side effect.

‘It’s not over with just one occurrence.’

Lea had experienced the awkward situation twice, accompanied by strange fevers. And the same was true for Akkia.

‘The side effects might appear periodically.’

Therefore, she had to develop the cure as soon as possible.

‘Ha. Just when I thought I had made an antidote for Polarium. Now, it’s a cure for the side effects.’

It was one hurdle after another.

Lea, who had been shaking her head, approached her desk and opened a notebook. It was a notebook containing information she had seen in a book at the royal library.

“Reparatio Tree….”

The Reparatio Tree had long been known as a panacea.

If you crushed its leaves and applied them to a wound, the wound would heal. If you boiled its roots and drank it, it would cure chronic illnesses.

According to the ancient book she had read at the royal library, the sap of the Reparatio Tree was a clue for curing the side effects.

‘Because they said the sap is more effective than boiling the roots.’

Upon researching other studies, she found that treatments containing Reparatio Tree sap were effective against drug side effects.

However, the Reparatio Tree was only found in one place within the empire.

“Hmm.”

Lea, who seemed thoughtful as she tapped her desk with her finger, opened one of the books piled on the side. They were ancient texts about spider venom that she had acquired through Rikel.

“There might be other alternatives to Reparatio Tree.”

Depending on the composition, similar effects to Reparatio might be achieved.

It was then. A sentence caught her eye.

“Friaphos spider venom can also be used as an aphrodisiac?”

Friaphos venom had components that helped boost virility. That moment, a brilliant idea crossed her mind.

‘Come to think of it, this world doesn’t have something like Viagra, does it?’

Moreover, the side effects of her Polarium antidote had similar effects to an aphrodisiac.

Which means.

“If I tweak it a little, it could become a plausible aphrodisiac….”

And if she succeeded, she would make more money than any nutrient supplement could bring. Soon, Lea began to dream of becoming a landlord with properties in the capital city.

‘I can smell it. The smell of money. And it’s huge!’

It was as if steam was erupting from her nose. Lea, who had been lost in delightful fantasies for a while, snapped herself back to reality.

‘This isn’t the time for such thoughts!’

She must have lost her senses for a moment at the thought of making big money. What was important to her now wasn’t money at all!
Lea gathered her focus once more to look into the book for clues on the antidote.

But.

“Huh?”

Her body stiffened at the shocking sentence that caught her eye.

[Aphrodisiac components increase sexual desire and intensity over time. The time and frequency at which arousal will occur are unpredictable; it is recommended not to use this substance.]

Her hand, holding the book, started to tremble.

“Wait, it intensifies more than it is now?”

What’s the point if it gets even stronger here?

Lea, taken aback by the sudden and intense revelation, inadvertently dropped the book she was holding.

“I have to make the antidote quickly.”

Not knowing when and where the side effects would occur again, Lea had to create an antidote as soon as possible.

She could lose her sanity and live a life solely dictated by her instincts.

Thus, she began to devote several days to the research on the antidote.

However.

“Another failure.”

She lost count of how many times she had failed. The ratio of the medicinal ingredients was perfectly accurate.

Why did she keep failing? She had tried hundreds of combinations to create the antidote, but all were in vain.

“Sigh…”

Lea sank into her chair and tilted her head back.

“So the only answer to the antidote is that.”