The next morning. As soon as dawn broke, Leah scribbled a letter of refusal to be sent to the imperial palace.

“It’s done. This should be enough, right?”

Leah neatly folded the letter, sealed it, and let out a small sigh.

Although she had told Akkia that it was natural not to work at the imperial palace, it would be a lie to say there was no regret at all.

For any apothecary in the empire, working at the imperial palace was something everyone would dream of at least once.

If others saw that she had refused a job directly proposed by the emperor, they would click their tongues and say she was crazy.

“Well, what can I do?”

After asking Rikel to send the letter to the imperial palace, Leah returned to her laboratory. Recently, Akkia had prepared a laboratory within the mansion for Leah to develop a cure.

It was slightly smaller than the Heidern estate, but Leah quite liked this place that gave a cozy feeling.

[Don’t think about other things, you should focus on developing the cure.]

“Since His Grace said so too. Now, shall I put some effort into developing the cure again?”

The toxicity of Polarium had been removed, but side effects had occurred. And they were side effects that one could hardly speak of to others.

Judging from the situation so far, it wasn’t a one-time side effect.

‘It didn’t end with just once.’

Leah had already experienced an embarrassing situation with strange heat twice. And it was the same for Akkia.

‘Perhaps the side effects could appear periodically.’

So she had to develop a cure as soon as possible.

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

It was one mountain after another.

Shaking her head, Leah approached the desk and opened her notebook. It was a notebook recording the contents of the book she had seen in the imperial library last time.

“The Reparatio tree…”

The Reparatio tree had long been called a panacea.

It was said that if you grind its leaves and apply them to wounds, they heal, and if you brew and drink the roots, even old chronic diseases wash away.

And according to the ancient book she had seen in the imperial library, the sap of the Reparatio tree was the key to the cure for side effects.

‘They said the sap of the tree is more effective than brewing and drinking the roots.’

In fact, looking at other research cases, it was said that a cure mixing the sap of the Reparatio tree was effective in treating drug side effects.

But there was only one Reparatio tree in the entire empire.

“Hmm.”

Leah, who had been flicking her finger on the desk as if pondering, opened one of the books piled on one side. They were ancient books about spider venom that she had asked Rikel to get.

“There might be other methods besides the Reparatio tree.”

Depending on how the medicinal ingredients are mixed, it could have similar effects to Reparatio.

As Leah was deeply absorbed in the book, there was one sentence that caught her attention.

“The venom of the Priapus spider can also be used as an aphrodisiac?”

It was written that Priapus venom contains aphrodisiac components that help improve sexual function. At that moment, a brilliant idea flashed through her mind.

‘Come to think of it, there’s no Viagr* or similar aphrodisiacs in this world, right?’

Moreover, the side effects of the Polarium antidote she had made were having the same effect as an aphrodisiac.

That means.

“If I tweak it a little, I think I could make a plausible aphrodisiac…”

And if successful, she could make much more money than with nutritional supplements. Soon, Leah began to dream of becoming a building owner in the prime area of the capital.

‘I can smell it. The smell of money. And a lot of it!’

Hot steam seemed to be puffing out of her nose. After indulging in happy fantasies for a while, Leah shook her face.

‘This isn’t the time for me to be thinking about such things!’

It seems she had momentarily lost her reason at the thought of making big money. What’s important to her now isn’t money!

Leah, who had gathered her thoughts once again, looked into the book to find clues about the cure.

But.

“Huh?”

Leah’s body froze at the shocking phrase that caught her attention.

[Although it can be used as an aphrodisiac, the intensity of sexual desire due to the aphrodisiac component intensifies day by day. It is recommended not to use it as much as possible, as it is unknown when and where the sexual potency will be amplified, or how often it will occur.]

The hand holding the book began to tremble.

“Wait. So it gets even stronger than now…?”

No. What are we supposed to do if it gets even stronger from here!

Overwhelmed by the sudden intense shock, Leah dropped the book she was holding.

“Qui-quickly… I need to make a cure.”

Since she didn’t know when and where the side effects would occur again, Leah had to make a cure as soon as possible.

At this rate, she might end up living a life devoted only to instinct, having lost her reason.

So she began to dedicate herself to researching the cure for days and nights.

But.

“Another failure.”

She couldn’t even count how many times this was. The mixing ratio of the medicinal ingredients was accurate without even a hair’s breadth of error.

But why does it keep failing? She had made cures based on dozens and hundreds of hypotheses, but they all failed.

“Haah…”

Leah, who slumped down in her chair, tilted her head back.

“Is that really the only answer for the cure?”

The only one in the empire.

‘The Reparatio tree.’

For now, it seemed there was no other answer but that.

After failing to develop the cure, Leah’s heart remained heavy, as if weighed down by a heavy stone. The Reparatio tree was a rare species imported from Arabia.

Not only was it a hard-to-obtain species of tree, but what was needed wasn’t even the leaves, but the sap. Leah was devastated.

“How can I get that?”

The tree’s sap must be used within 24 hours after extraction due to its volatility. In other words, the extraction of the sap and the development of the cure had to happen simultaneously.

She had found a method worth trying, but the problem was that she couldn’t think of a way to obtain the sap.

Even through the Magnolia Guild, it was nearly impossible to obtain it within 24 hours.

‘It would take at least half a year to bring it in from Arabia.’

And there wasn’t even a substitute. She had tried mixing with sap of similar efficacy, but it had failed miserably.

“Sigh, is there really no way?”

Of course, it wasn’t that there was absolutely no way. If she accepted the emperor’s offer and worked at the imperial palace, she could secretly extract the tree’s sap.

But at the thought of entering the imperial court, Akkia’s face kept flashing in her mind. The tense atmosphere that had flowed between them still couldn’t be forgotten.

‘Yeah. Entering the imperial palace just doesn’t feel right. It’s unsettling.’

Moreover, she couldn’t shake off the unsettling feeling she had received from the emperor when they met again.

Although it was quickly hidden by his smiling face, Leah clearly remembered the emperor’s eyes that had flashed while looking at her.

As Leah was thinking that she should find another way and heading towards the duke, she heard a familiar voice as she crossed the threshold of his bedroom.

“Is the situation that difficult?”

“Yes. We had to hurry to organize and come up to the capital, and the flood damage in Tren last time was not insignificant.”

The owners of the voices were Akkia and Rikel. It seemed Rikel was reporting to the duke.

Leah was about to turn back, thinking she should come again later, when she stopped her steps at the sound of the conversation.

“It seems too much to pay such a large amount. The capital that can be operated immediately is limited.”

“…”

“As you know, Your Grace, the relief supplies you sent to Tren at that time were from your private…”

“I understand what you’re saying, so that’s enough. Since it takes a long time to organize private property, for now, look into things that can be immediately monetized.”

She didn’t know the exact details, but it seemed like they were talking about lacking funds for some business. Moreover, didn’t Rikel just mention ‘relief supplies sent to Tren’?

She had heard from Theo that not only the orphanage but also large-scale relief supplies had been provided to the Tren region.

‘To think it was His Grace who did it.’

It must be due to this that the Magnolia Guild was lacking funds. If they were considering organizing private property or monetization, it must be a serious lack of funds.

As she reached that thought, shadows darkened Leah’s face. When Tren was hit by flood damage, no nobleman extended a helping hand.

Tren, which had to wait for support from the imperial palace that might never come. The only one who helped Tren was Akkia.

‘He must have helped because of me.’

Otherwise, there’s no way a duke with no connection would have helped Tren.

Her heart felt heavy at the thought that she was partly responsible for the duke’s current financial difficulties. Just as she was wondering if he might even sell the guild…

“If it really doesn’t work out, even the guild…”

As the duke uttered the words she had anticipated, Leah burst open the door. It was an action that came out even before she thought.

“Your Grace!”

“…Leah?”

Not only Akkia, who was sitting at the table, but even Rikel looked at Leah in bewilderment.

But Leah walked into the bedroom, regardless of the gazes of the two.

“I’ll try to solve it.”

Leah’s leaf-green eyes, facing Akkia, sparkled with resolute will. Appearing out of nowhere and saying she would do something, Akkia asked with an incredulous look.

“What?”

“What else? Raising funds!”

After overhearing the conversation between the two, Leah had just thought of an incredible business item.

Namely,

‘An aphrodisiac.’

The potency enhancer she had discovered in the lab earlier would surely be able to raise a large sum of money.

Leah had already been feeling a heavy sense of responsibility for the duke suffering from side effects.

‘This might actually be good.’

If she could earn a large sum of money and help the duke with this opportunity, she could ease the burden on her mind.

“So you’re saying you’ll raise the lacking funds?”

“Yes.”

Akkia, who had been showing bewilderment, tilted his head.

“…Why you?”

Akkia had been looking for a new town house for the Heidern duchy. He had been postponing it because he couldn’t find a house he liked.

In the past few days, an excellent property had come up. However, due to its outrageously high price, it wasn’t easy to win the bid.

Since most of Akkia’s personal assets were tied up in the Magnolia Guild.

He was about to say that if it really doesn’t work out, they should draw capital from the guild to buy it, but suddenly she appears and says she’ll give him money to buy a mansion.

As the duke who knew well Leah’s obsession with money, he was even more puzzled by her answer.

“I said I would take responsibility, didn’t I? Think of it as an extension of that responsibility.”

It seems she has seriously misunderstood something…

However, seeing Leah’s sparkling eyes, Akkia wanted to watch more. That responsibility she spoke of.

“If you insist so much. I look forward to it.”

With his chin resting on his hand, Akkia’s lips curved into a smile as he looked at Leah.