“You’ve arrived.”

As Akkia entered the room upon returning to the mansion, a man approached as if he had been waiting.

“Where’s the butler?”

“He should arrive tomorrow morning.”

Thanks to his hasty departure from Tren, he was able to reach the mansion faster than Bayern. With tension eased, Akkia reclined on the sofa and asked in a tired voice.

“Did something happen in the capital? You’re back much earlier than expected.”

Bayern usually stayed in the capital for over two weeks when he took a vacation, rarely returning to his domain.

If anything, he would be late, but never early. Yet he returned three days ahead of schedule. This was not a good sign.

“Bayern’s schedule remains the same. He met friends in the capital, gambled, just like usual.”

“Is that so?”

Despite the report of nothing unusual, he tapped his knee with his finger, feeling uneasy.

‘Something’s off.’

He had a bad feeling. Surely things must have become difficult after the imperial doctor incident, yet it was so quiet.

He had even sent a letter of gratitude, potentially offending the Emperor. Could this be the calm before the storm?

Unable to shake off the ominous premonition, the Duke ordered the man beside him.

“Just in case, monitor Bayern’s every move. Don’t miss even the slightest detail.”

“Yes, understood.”

It couldn’t hurt to be careful, after all.

[This is the timeline separator]

Late at night. Leah, who had just gotten out of the carriage, stretched her stiff body.

“Ow. I thought I was going to die from stiffness.”

Originally planned to arrive during the day, they only reached the mansion at night due to a stuck carriage wheel.

After dropping off her luggage in her room, Leah headed straight for the herb storage.

‘No time to waste. I need to start making the medicine right away.’

While organizing information about the poison spider in Tren, she discovered a new hint. If her theory was correct, it could address the issues with the existing antidote.

Eager to experiment as soon as possible, Leah quickened her pace.

‘First, I’ll gather the necessary herbs from the storage, then go to the pharmacy… Huh?’

But Leah stopped in her tracks on the way to the herb storage.

“Jane?”

The maid Jane was sneaking out of the storage, looking around cautiously.

‘Why is Jane coming out of there?’

And at such a late hour.

The herb storage was off-limits to anyone except Leah the pharmacist, the butler, and the Duke.

Not only were there many valuable herbs, but different herbs required different storage methods, risking spoilage if mishandled.

Leah waited until Jane was far from the storage before entering.

“She wouldn’t have come here for no reason…”

There must have been a reason for her to come here, avoiding people’s eyes.

Leah began comparing the herbs one by one with the inventory list.

“Wildcat grass, dried deer mushroom, daffodil root, and… Huh?”

Leah paused as she compared the list and quantities.

“The Heteria and Kiana are missing.”

Exactly one of each was missing. She recalled last checking the quantities before leaving for vacation.

Since then, the Duke was in Tren, and the butler was also on vacation, so no one should have taken them.

Moreover, the herb storage was always kept locked.

“It seems Jane took these herbs…”

The two herbs weren’t particularly problematic. Mixing them wouldn’t create a poison either.

If there was an issue, it was just one thing.

“They’re expensive.”

While not difficult to obtain in the market, they were expensive due to growing only in high mountainous regions.

But why did Jane take those herbs? As she pondered, she recalled something the maid Marie had said in the past.

[Jane has it tough too. She said she has a sick younger brother at home. That’s why she’s desperately saving money. Apparently, she needs quite expensive herbs to treat her brother.]

‘Is it for her sick brother?’

She had heard that Jane’s younger brother suffered from congenital hemophilia. And the herbs she took were commonly known treatments for hemophilia.

But they were only temporary measures, not cures. Hemophilia was a genetic disorder, impossible to cure completely.

‘Should I report this?’

In fact, servants stealing herbs was quite common.

Since many herbs were hard for commoners to obtain, those with sick family members often stole them.

How should she handle this? After brief contemplation, Leah let out a short sigh.

“I’ll let it slide this time.”

It’s not like they were particularly problematic herbs.

If this came to light, Jane would not only be fired but also have to compensate more than ten times the value of the stolen herbs.

Leah decided to warn Jane tomorrow and cover up the incident. With that in mind, she began gathering the herbs she needed, her shoulders shrugging.

There was no time to dwell on such trivial matters now. Leah’s movements became a bit quicker than before.

.

.

.

The lights in the pharmacy were brightly lit in the middle of the night.

The Duke had said she could come out to the annex in a few days, but Leah was eager to experiment with the poison spider venom and herbs.

She immediately turned her gaze to the table. It contained various information about poison spider venom that she had organized during the carriage ride.

‘The Priapus poison spider.’

The transparent liquid droplets at the tips of its sharp fangs were called ‘poison drops’ because they looked like water droplets.

The poison drops grew larger the longer the spider maintained a defensive posture. And the vial Leah was holding contained these collected poison drops.

“A single bite leads to death within 20 minutes, right?”

It was a deadly poison even in small amounts. Initially, attempts to mix it with less toxic local spider venoms had failed repeatedly.

‘But this time, it might work.’

There was hope. Hope that she could complete the antidote and safely leave the mansion.

Leah immersed herself in research, forgetting her fatigue.

After mixing for a while, Leah buried her head on the desk. Next to her was a small vial emitting a coral-like glow.

“It worked.”

Along with a sigh-like murmur, Leah’s shoulders trembled slightly.

“I… I did it!”

She had finally succeeded in creating the antidote.

Leah almost shouted in joy, forgetting it was dawn. Every previous attempt had resulted in explosions, much to Magnolia’s chagrin.

The mixture with the Priapus spider venom was successful.

Although clinical trials hadn’t been conducted yet, Leah couldn’t contain her excitement as she had never reached this stage before.

“I must test it tomorrow!”

The deadline set by the Duke was three months. Fortunately, the cure was developed faster than she had anticipated.

She had been mocked as a quack after each failed attempt. Imagining the Duke’s surprise at the news of the cure’s development made Leah feel happy.

‘I should inform the Duke as soon as day breaks.’

Leah leaned back in her chair with a flushed face. Behind her, through the window, the sun was rising, illuminating the bluish sky.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next morning. Before going to the Duke, Leah went to find the maid Jane.

‘I should warn Jane not to go to the herb storage anymore.’

As the saying goes, a long tail gets caught. If she continued stealing, she would eventually be caught. Leah entered the kitchen.

Thinking Jane would be there to fetch the Duke’s breakfast, Leah was surprised not to see her. Looking around, Leah approached the maid Marie.

“Marie, do you know where Jane is?”

“Jane? She just went to see the butler.”

“Is that so?”

‘So early in the morning?’

Why would the butler call for Jane when she should be preparing breakfast?

As Leah was about to turn back, grumbling internally about the wasted trip,

“But lately, the butler has been calling for Jane quite often, hasn’t he?”

“Yeah, almost every day, it seems?”

The maids’ conversation stopped Leah in her tracks.

‘The butler calls for Jane every day?’

Leah halted and listened to the maids’ conversation.

“Why is he only calling for Jane so often?”

“Well, could they be… you know, involved?”

“Oh my! Hey! What about their age difference? That’s too much.”

The maids, visibly disgusted, soon lost interest and moved on to other topics. But Leah couldn’t shake off an uneasy feeling.

‘It’s not just anyone, but the Duke’s maid getting close to the butler.’

Hadn’t Bayern previously conspired with the imperial doctor?

‘I should keep an eye on this.’

Whether Jane and the butler were simply close on a personal level, or if there was something more. Leah felt the need to confirm this unsettling feeling and turned back.

Leah headed straight to the Duke’s bedroom with zizyphus tea. Having stopped by the kitchen to look for Jane, it was almost mealtime.

‘I’ll tell him about the antidote while serving the tea.’

After succeeding in developing the cure last night, she had immediately tested it on a field mouse.

Now she just needed to observe over the next few days to see if it had any effect on neutralizing Polarium and if there were any side effects.

There was a risk of sudden death if the medicine was wrong, but fortunately, the mouse remained fine after the injection.

‘It feels better than expected.’

Perhaps because the cure development was successful, Leah’s steps towards the bedroom were light. With a brief knock, she entered the bedroom to find the Duke sitting alone on the bed.

As Leah approached the table where the Duke was sitting, his voice was heard.

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Me?”

Instead of answering, the Duke rested his chin on his hand and looked up at Leah obliquely.

‘Is it that obvious?’

He’s always so perceptive.

Leah felt lighthearted, probably due to the successful development of the new medicine.

“Did something good happen?”

“Ah, it’s not like that…”

“You always smile meaninglessly like that before causing trouble.”