The Terminally-Ill Duke Clings to Me Every Night - Chapter 42

Leah arrived at the most famous pharmacy in the capital. She turned to the employee of the merchant group that Akkia had assigned to her, in case she had a lot of luggage.

“Could you please wait here for a bit? Not just anyone can enter the pharmacy.”

The man smiled at Leah and told her to go in comfortably.

As Leah entered the pharmacy, her eyes widened at the sight of the large interior, different from the pharmacy in Hyderne territory.

‘As expected of the capital, they have all kinds of medicinal herbs.’

The high-ceilinged pharmacy had shelves filled to the brim with medicinal herbs reaching up to the ceiling. The scent of medicinal herbs brushed past Leah’s nose everywhere she walked.

‘It’s clear that the side effect of the spider venom is high fever.’

Leah stopped in front of a shelf of medicinal herbs, looking at the progress chart for the new medicine. It was a shelf filled with numerous herbs that were good for high fever.

There were so many different types that Leah found it difficult to choose the herbs.

“Hmm. This isn’t easy.”

There hadn’t been many research results from academia on spider venom, so Leah hesitated in choosing a treatment for the side effects.

“Young lady, what are you pondering so deeply about?”

“Ah. I’m looking for herbs that are good for high fever.”

The moment Leah turned around, thinking that a pharmacy employee had approached her, her eyes widened as she discovered a middle-aged man who had come right up to her.

“Oh! Professor Rams, is that you?!”

The large stature exuding a scholar’s dignity was just as she had seen in the portrait published in academic journals.

Not to mention the monocle that Professor Rams was known to often wear.

“Hoho. Judging by how you recognized me right away, you must be a pharmacist.”

‘I knew it! I was right.’

The man was Professor Rams, a master of herbology.

Wasn’t Leah the one who had studied while reading the series written by Professor Rams? Leah’s face flushed at the thought of directly meeting such a renowned professor.

“Pro-Professor. It’s an honor. I studied while reading your books!”

“Hoho. How gratifying.”

Professor Rams smiled kindly and shook Leah’s hand.

“You seem to have found good herbs for high fever. The herbs on this shelf are excellent for reducing fever.”

Professor Rams spoke while looking at the herbs laid out in front of Leah.

“It’s because the side effect of a recently compounded treatment using spider venom is high fever.”

“You used spider venom, you say?”

“Yes. Since each herb has a different nature, I’m a bit hesitant to use them.”

Professor Rams’ eyes widened greatly at Leah’s words about compounding with spider venom.

“Oho. That’s quite an interesting combination. What kind of spider did you use?”

“I used the venom sac of Priapus.”

“Hmm. Priapus… Then they may have suffered from high fever.”

“How do you know…?”

“It’s one of the typical side effects of Priapus. There must have been other side effects besides that, right?”

‘Other side effects?’

Since there had been no notable side effects other than high fever so far, Leah asked with a puzzled look.

“Are there other side effects?”

“There are, but… It’s a bit awkward to say it here. By any chance, would you like to visit my lab sometime later?”

“What? Professor’s lab?!”

Leah couldn’t hide her surprised expression, unable to believe what she heard with her own ears. Professor Rams was inviting her to his lab!

Professor Rams’ lab was nothing short of a sacred place among pharmacists.

Professor Rams’ academic journals and research results that spread not only throughout the Croatea Empire but also worldwide.

Surely, going there would lead to learning a lot of new knowledge.

“These days, I’m in the midst of researching poisons, you see. The book was also published by my lab.”

My goodness. The author of the interesting book she had read in Tren was Professor Rams’ lab. It was thanks to that very book that Leah started compounding with spider venom.

‘As expected… I made the right choice in coming to the capital!’

“So that book was written by you, Professor. I would love to visit your lab.”

Perhaps reading the passion reflected in Leah’s eyes, Professor Rams laughed heartily. Then, he took out a fountain pen from his pocket, wrote something on a piece of paper, and handed it to Leah.

“I’ll be attending a conference tomorrow, so how about we meet in three days?”

“That would be wonderful!”

“Alright. Then let’s meet then.”

Professor Rams left, receiving Leah’s farewell.

‘I have to hurry back and tell the Duke.’

The Duke would also know who Professor Rams was. He seemed to be very concerned about the side effects of the new medicine anyway.

‘He’ll be pleased.’

Leah was about to leave the pharmacy, thinking it would be better to buy the medicinal herbs after visiting Professor Rams’ lab.

− Poke poke.

Someone suddenly poked her.

“Huh? Little one, who are you?”

“Unnie. Are you a doctor?”

“Unnie is not a doctor, but a pharmacist.”

Leah bent her knees towards the little girl who was so small that she didn’t even reach her waist.

Looking closely, she could see black dirt smudged on the child’s face, and her clothes were also shabby.

“Unnie. My mom is s-sick.”

“Your mom is sick? Where?”

The child hesitated, not even able to make proper eye contact with Leah.

Leah, who was watching the child just fiddling with her fingers, looked around.

“Is she nearby?”

Instead of answering, the child just nodded her head.

Normally, she would have to refuse with an apology.

But seeing the child who looked like she would burst into tears at any moment reminded Leah of the younger siblings at the orphanage.

The adults who didn’t help because they had no money, even though the children sought out a doctor to save their sick mother.

There were quite a few children at the orphanage who had lost their parents that way.

Perhaps reading the hesitation in Leah’s eyes, tears welled up in the child’s eyes and flowed down. At that moment, Leah called out to the employee of the Magnolia Merchant Group who was waiting at the entrance.

Leah said something to him in a way that the child couldn’t hear, then held the child’s hand.

“Shall we go to where your mother is?”

Only then did a faint flush of color return to the child’s face.

.

.

.

The child walking together was silent after that. Leah kept noticing the child’s bony, thin wrist as she held her hand.

It would be better to grow up in an orphanage, at least being able to eat and live. Children growing up under sick parents often suffered from malnutrition.

‘The parents probably don’t have the capacity to take care of the child…’

In the end, Leah stopped in her tracks and took out a chocolate from her bag and handed it to the child.

“Hey, would you like to eat this at least?”

“…”

“Unnie doesn’t really like sweet things.”

The child held the chocolate Leah handed her without eating it. An indescribable, subtle expression flashed across the child’s face.

“By the way, the house is farther than I thought?”

Even after walking a long way with Leah, the child turned into a sparsely populated road. Perhaps because it was a poor neighborhood, numerous eerie eyes followed Leah as she walked along the street.

Before following the child, Leah had instructed the merchant group employee who came with her to convey this situation to Rikel.

If she were to disappear, Rikel would find her somehow. Leah firmly held the child’s hand.

After walking for a while like that, the child suddenly stopped in front of a narrow alley. Then, she began to shed tears, trembling slightly.

“Why are you crying? Unnie will make your mom better.”

Leah bent her knees to meet the child’s eye level. The child looked at Leah, shaking her head vigorously, and pointed to the path they had walked, saying,

“U-Unnie. I-I’m sowwy.”

“Huh?”

‘She’s sorry?’

Leah’s heart sank upon seeing the child’s frightened face. And at that moment, footsteps were heard from the end of the alley.

She thought the alley was empty, but it seemed they were hiding. Men started walking out one or two at a time, approaching her.

“Tsk. What’s the use of crying after bringing her all the way here, little one?”

‘Ah.’

A deep sigh escaped Leah’s lips.

So their goal was to use the child as bait to lure her here.

Leah bit her lip tightly. Then she gripped the hem of her skirt.

A group of men approached, swaying. They had sturdy physiques at a glance, putting Leah at a disadvantage.

‘It’ll take some time for Rikel to arrive.’

“What are you guys scheming, using such a young child like this?”

Confronting the men, rather than fear, a surge of rage welled up in Leah. Using this young child as bait.

What sin did the child, who had shed tears apologizing to Leah, commit? They must have threatened her.

The men looking at Leah grinned.

“That, you don’t need to know. Now, let’s see… Hmm. Red hair is still rare, so we can get 10 silver coins for it.”

“No, I think we can get more than that? She’s prettier than I thought.”

They were evaluating Leah’s worth as if appraising an object, finding it amusing for some reason. Goosebumps rose all over Leah’s body.

‘Human trafficking?’

Leah pulled herself together, her mind trying to go blank. The Duke’s townhouse wasn’t far, so Rikel would arrive soon.

‘If I can just endure a little longer…’

“It’s all over your face that you’re trying to think of something. It’d be better to just give up and come with us… Ugh!”

As a man approached and tried to grab her wrist, Leah struggled to shake off his hand. That action seemed to provoke him, and the moment Leah was pushed to the ground.

Suddenly, the man who had pushed Leah was instead thrown to the ground. The man who had been toppled over in an instant was sprawled out without a chance to avoid it.

Leah blinked her eyes, not understanding the situation.

At first, she thought Rikel had arrived. But a man who had appeared out of nowhere was beating up the human traffickers.

“Y-You, who are you?!”

Only then did the guys, grasping the situation, ask the man. As if finding that question very amusing, the man grinned.

Obscured by the deep shadows of the buildings in the alley, he wasn’t clearly visible, but the man had a tall stature.

Whenever he moved, the hem of his clothes cut through the air like a blade.

Extraordinary body movements that seemed to have been honed through long hours of training.

‘Who is he?’

Even in the darkness, Leah could see the man’s eyes that shone brilliantly. The man with eyes of a clear blue color like a lake took a step towards the remaining underlings.

A strange, noble bearing flowed from his every movement.

“You guys don’t need to know that.”

A low voice reached Leah’s ears.