As Akkia stepped out of the carriage, a middle-aged butler came out to greet him as if he had been waiting.

“Welcome, I am Barton, the butler of Belarus.”

He had his graying hair neatly combed back and was wearing a monocle.

“Excuse me for a moment. By the way, where is the Duke of Belarus?”

“The Duke is currently away on urgent business. He is expected to return to the mansion within a few days. He instructed me to attend to Duke Heidern without the slightest negligence.”

“I see.”

The Duke nodded at the butler’s concise report.

‘Can I get out now?’

It was Leah who had been waiting in the carriage as the conversation between the two men continued. As she carefully tried to step out of the carriage while quietly observing the situation.

“Can you get down on your own?”

“Yes. Well…”

The Duke, noticing Leah, approached her.

‘With others watching…’

An apothecary being escorted by the Duke.

It was obvious how the people of Belarus would look at her. Leah, who let out a deep sigh inwardly, suddenly met eyes with the butler of Belarus.

But then.

“…”

The butler’s eyes, which had locked with hers, shook violently. As if he had seen something he shouldn’t have, his lips remained parted, unable to close.

“I’m late with introductions. This is my apothecary and personal physician.”

At the Duke’s smooth introduction, the butler’s gaze, which had briefly turned to him, once again fell on Leah.

“Hello. I’m Leah, Duke Heidern’s apothecary.”

“…Pleased to meet you. I’m Barton, the butler of the Belarus mansion.”

He bowed with the grace of an experienced butler, without any unnecessary gestures.

The old butler’s voice seemed to tremble slightly as he spoke to her, but Leah dismissed it, thinking she must have been mistaken.

The Duke was sitting in the reception room, listening to a report from the manager of Bialitzcal.

According to Barton, the Duke of Belarus had urgently left due to a problem with the cultivation of the territory’s specialty products.

Part of the mine had collapsed while the Duke of Belarus was temporarily away in another territory.

Originally, the schedule for the specialty product issue was supposed to take another fortnight, but it seemed he decided to return urgently due to the mine collapse.

Akkia tapped his fingers on the table.

“So, what’s the current situation at the mine?”

“The area that collapsed in the mine this time is the third room, which is the innermost one. It’s a room that was recently completed for excavation, and the health condition of all the rescued survivors, excluding the deceased, is good. Since mine collapses happen so frequently, it’s not such a serious situation.”

Akkia’s brow furrowed deeply at the manager’s subsequent words. In fact, this wasn’t the first time a salt mine collapse had occurred, as the manager reported.

Due to the nature of salt mining, empty spaces were created, and props were set up to fix them. And accidents occurred when these props collapsed.

However, Akkia was puzzled. It was common to use wood that doesn’t corrode due to the salt in salt mines.

‘Could there have been a problem with the wood?’

But this couldn’t be determined from the report alone. Seeing it directly would be the best method.

To grasp only the most basic information, he asked the manager.

“Isn’t the third room quite large?”

“That’s right. But this doesn’t seem to be a matter that requires Duke Heidern to come down to the territory personally.”

Cox, the manager of Bialitzcal, answered with an expression that suggested he really didn’t expect the Duke to come in person.

“The Duke of Belarus also said there’s nothing to worry about, as it’s a common occurrence. But since you’ve visited the Duke’s estate, please rest comfortably and recover from your travel fatigue…”

− Knock knock.

Cox stopped mid-sentence at the sound of knocking. Then, a maid who entered bowed to the two and said.

“The apothecary has arrived.”

“Let her in.”

Leah, dressed in an unfamiliar dress, slowly walked into the reception room. The fabric of her dress rustled as it swirled around her feet.

The Duke’s gaze, who had been sitting and listening to the report, wavered at the sight of Leah in a dress for the first time.

“Um… You told me to wear it, so I did, but it doesn’t suit me at all, does it?”

Leah’s luggage bag, which she had brought due to the carriage incident days ago, had all been soaked in mud.

As a result, all her spare clothes were ruined, so she had asked Barton, the butler here, for clothes.

A mansion where the gray-haired Duke of Belarus lived alone.

Naturally assuming there wouldn’t be any suitable clothes for her to wear, she was about to borrow even a maid’s clothes when.

The butler, who had been contemplating something for a moment, handed her a dress that seemed quite old.

Although the fabric seemed a bit faded, unable to ignore the traces of time, it was clearly an expensive dress at a glance.

Leah, who had never worn such a dress in her life, found her appearance unfamiliar.

As Leah stood awkwardly facing Akkia, waiting for a response, it happened.

With a sharp sound of a dish breaking, ceramic fragments scattered on the floor.

− Crash!

At the intense crashing sound that echoed through the room, everyone turned towards the entrance behind. There stood butler Barton, frozen with a shocked expression.

“Butler, are you alright?”

Leah asked with a concerned look, seeing the shattered coffee pot and teacups at his feet.

“Ah…”

As if possessed by a ghost, he just stared blankly at Leah’s face with a dazed expression.

“Butler?”

Only after Leah asked again did he seem to come to his senses and shudder.

“Oh, my… I’ve been rude to the guests. I apologize.”

It was a mistake unbecoming of an elderly butler who had managed the Duke of Belarus’s estate for over 30 years.

Barton hurriedly bowed his head to apologize to the two. Then he ordered the maid who had entered to clean up.

“It looks like your hand is bleeding. Let me examine it…”

Blood seemed to be flowing from Barton’s thumb, as if cut by a broken piece. Leah, seeing the wound, was about to approach Barton.

Seeing Leah trying to approach him, the butler gasped and stopped her in her tracks.

“It’s fine! You’ll get hurt. Miss! Please don’t come closer…!”

“Huh? Oh, yes…”

‘Miss?’

The butler’s unfamiliar title rang in Leah’s ears. Just a moment ago when he lent her the dress, he had called her apothecary.

She was a bit puzzled by the suddenly changed title, but she didn’t pay much attention to it. However, the expression on Akkia’s face, who had been watching the scene, changed subtly.

.

.

.

It was only when the fatigue that had accumulated at the mansion was relieved that preparations to go to Bialitzcal were complete.

“Are you really going to come along to Bialitzcal?”

“I heard there’s a severe shortage of doctors. I’d feel more at ease helping there than waiting for you at the mansion, Your Grace. And the doctor said it’s fine too. Look, I’m all better now.”

Leah lifted her arm with all her might, as if to prove that she was now healthy. Akkia chuckled at her behavior and ruffled her hair.

“Alright. If that’s what you really want.”

Butler Barton, who had been quietly observing the two who looked quite affectionate, approached.

“Then I’ll be waiting at the mansion. Duke Heidern. And… Apothecary.”

The butler’s voice trembled slightly as he called Leah at the end, but no one seemed to notice.

With that, the carriage carrying the two gradually moved away from the mansion, with the butler’s send-off.

After riding in the carriage for another full day, the two were finally able to arrive at Bialitzcal.

“That’s the salt mine you see over there.”

Cox, the manager of Bialitzcal who had guided them, pointed to a mine not far away.

Akkia got out of the carriage and entered the campsite of the rescue headquarters set up near the mine.

As the Bialitzcal territory was virtually a wasteland, there were no proper accommodations.

The miners too seemed to have been living in campsites set up near the mine.

‘The situation seems more serious than I thought?’

As they entered the rescue headquarters, a more serious situation than expected came into view. The few doctors were running around frantically, answering calls from here and there.

Akkia seemed to have the same thought, as he asked the manager Cox after seeing the scene.

“What’s the exact situation now? It doesn’t look good.”

“Twenty-nine out of the thirty miners who were buried have been rescued and are now receiving treatment. However, the identity of one person has not yet been confirmed.”

“There’s a missing person? When you reported to me, didn’t you say all the rescued survivors were alive? You don’t even know if they’re alive?”

Akkia’s brow furrowed deeply in displeasure. He had just heard about the missing person, as the report from Cox, who was in charge of overseeing the entire rescue site, had been inadequate.

“Ah, I apologize. There was one missing person, but we were considering them as deceased. It’s been a long time since the mine collapsed, so we doubted if they could still be alive…”

Leah recalled the news that the mine had collapsed a second time while they were on their way here.

“It’s been two weeks, so they might still be alive if we’re lucky. It would be good to send people for additional search.”

It took about two weeks to get here. But since there’s plenty of salt in the mine, she thought they might still be alive if lucky.

Akkia nodded, seeming to agree with Leah’s opinion.

“Send a search team to the mine.”

“Yes.”

Meanwhile, Leah, looking at the patients being carried around on stretchers, asked Cox.

“Are those people over there the rescued ones?”

“Yes. But there are no resident doctors at this mine, so we’re receiving support from nearby villages… However, we’re still severely understaffed.”

Leah, watching the few doctors and pharmacists running around frantically, replied.

“I’ll help.”

“Pardon? You, Apothecary?”

“Yes. I’m also capable of some medical skills. Is it alright if I help, Your Grace?”

Cox’s eyes widened in surprise at the fact that she, an apothecary, could perform a doctor’s role.

Leah met Akkia’s gaze straight on, as if seeking permission.

‘You’ve already made up your mind.’

Akkia sighed at Leah’s expression, which looked like she would rush off as soon as he gave permission.

“Do as you wish.”

With that, Leah blended into the group of medical staff. The doctors at the headquarters, who were desperately short-handed, were delighted with Leah’s help.

It was while she was helping treat the injured patients.

“There’s a survivor inside the mine!”

News of the survival of the missing miner came from the dispatched search team.