As Matiel carelessly shook his damp hair, the scent of bitter herbs and daisies mixed with soap wafted through the air.

Charlotte couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation upon smelling that fragrance.

Though it was something she always used—she made the soap herself—mixed with his scent, it seemed to transform into a new and unique fragrance.

Matiel, noticing Charlotte’s staring gaze first, deliberately spoke in a grumpy voice.

“I know it doesn’t suit me, so there’s no need to stare that intently.”

Only then did Charlotte realize how intently she had been looking at him.

For a moment, she felt her heart sink, and to hide that fact, she snorted.

“I didn’t say anything like that. I don’t know why you’re jumping to conclusions. You should have just returned to your duchy as you were.”

Ignoring her words, Matiel lightly touched the dried herbs hanging upside down with their stems tightly bound.

He tilted his head slightly to smell them, but quickly pulled away, seemingly not liking the scent.

At that moment, the smell from the cauldron began to grow stronger and more pungent.

Charlotte put on thick, heat-resistant gloves and took the cauldron off the fire, then extinguished it.

When she lifted the lid, an indescribable smell filled the shop.

“It’s my first time smelling roasted insects,” Matiel said.

Charlotte simply shrugged her shoulders with an expression that said ‘Of course you haven’t’, and used her gloved hands to place the roasted beetles into a large, thick bowl.

Then she began to carefully grind them with something resembling a pestle.

Charlotte said,

“Don’t come too close. If you accidentally inhale the powder, you’ll be dizzy until tomorrow.”

Matiel raised an eyebrow.

“Isn’t that a bit hypocritical coming from you? If it’s really that dangerous, shouldn’t you be wearing a gas mask or something?”

“Do you think I have something like a gas mask? I’ve developed some immunity, so I’m fine. These beetles aren’t just used for making rat poison, you know.”

“Oh? You mean they’re used medicinally as well?”

Instead of answering, Charlotte started whistling softly.

It was a tune that somehow evoked a sense of nostalgia.

Even though it was the first time hearing it.

However, instead of getting lost in the sentiment for long, Matiel pondered where exactly Charlotte might have used these toxic beetles.

“Don’t tell me you make poisons too?”

As he asked, Charlotte glanced up briefly.

Her hand continued to grind the beetles carefully yet firmly, without pausing.

The crisply roasted beetles turned into a powder with a subtle burgundy hue after just a couple of strikes from her pestle.

“Depending on the person, even a normal medicine can become a poison. In that sense, I suppose you could say I make poisons.”

“You don’t think I’ll let you off with that kind of evasion, do you?”

Charlotte smiled, lifting the corners of her mouth.

“What if you don’t let it go? Are you going to report me to the security forces? Think about it, Your Grace. Who do you think comes to places like this to request suspicious medicines? Is it the aunties who sell fruit and cold tea from carts? Or the uncles who collect dirty bottles for pocket change? What do you think?”

Matiel let out a short sigh, immediately understanding her words which seemed both sarcastic and bitter.

Matiel said,

“I admit that nobles often use poison to commit murder. And I know it’s difficult for the security forces to investigate such cases. But…”

“If you know that, you shouldn’t say ‘but’. And I only accept such requests when I think it’s absolutely necessary. For example, if I hear that a husband has seduced a minor 20 years younger than him to be his mistress, or something like that.”

With those final words, Charlotte lowered her head towards the bowl and focused solely on moving the pestle, as if she had no intention of speaking further on the topic.

Already more than half had turned into a purple-tinged powder, and she occasionally rubbed the pestle against one side of the bowl, as if trying not to miss even the tiniest fragment.

Matiel was captivated by the scene, as if watching a fascinating acrobatic performance or feat.

For some reason—perhaps because of her whistling—he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

The skill with which she ground it into such fine powder without making mistakes like tilting the bowl due to poor force control or scattering the powder here and there… it was almost mystical.

At the same time, he harbored one question.

“Why don’t you do this with magic? It would be much faster and easier.”

Charlotte immediately shook her head.

“I’m not that kind of magician.”

“What do you mean by ‘that kind of magician’?”

Charlotte slammed down the pestle with a thud and looked at Matiel again.

Her expression somehow reminded him of a stern professor.

It was the kind of look one might make after enduring endless, annoying, and meaningless questions from a troublesome student, finally unable to hold back any longer.

“Not all magicians are the same. Most magicians known to ordinary people are those who understand and study the flow of magical power. Magical power naturally occurs in the air, in the earth and water, wherever there is life. These people devote their lives to researching and exploring everything from how to detect magical power in nature, to methods of drawing it to themselves, to ways of creating smooth flows… That’s how they evolve magic step by step.”

“Then what about you? Are you saying you don’t do that?”

Charlotte nodded.

“My magical power is innate. Sometimes there are people like that. Such people show an enormous difference compared to those who acquire magic through cultivation of talent. For example, the most expensive healers at parties are like that. Healing power is usually innate. Unfortunately, in my case, I’m far from having healing power.”

“You control others, don’t you?”

“I prefer to think of it as ‘the ability to make things easier’, but if that’s how you want to see it, feel free.”

Even so, Charlotte openly showed an uncomfortable expression.

She had never worried about or resented her ability, but Matiel’s tone seemed to carry some reproach.

Charlotte continued,

“Thanks to the ability I was born with, I could easily get what I wanted from a young age. To give a very simple example, if I stared intently at candy in front of a candy display or kept looking at a doll I wanted, the people selling them would often give me gifts for free. Sometimes even my father and mother would fall for it, but at the time, they say they didn’t think I was a child born with magical power. They must have thought it was for other reasons.”

Matiel crossed his arms and tilted his head with a dubious expression.

“Other reasons? What kind of reasons?”

Charlotte opened her eyes wide.

“As you can see, I’m pretty.”

It was absurd…

Matiel’s lips twitched as if he was about to say something, but he shook his head slightly and remained silent.

It was a wise choice to avoid unnecessary conflict. But there were other reasons as well.

It was true that Charlotte’s appearance was outstanding.

Even Matiel, who was quite discriminating, had thought ‘beautiful woman’ the moment he saw her at Baron Lirald’s party.

She possessed more than enough charm to catch others’ eyes.

Her silvery hair, flowing luxuriously, gave an impression of an innocent fairy at first glance, and when she smiled, it was as if a light had been turned on only around her, brightening one’s view.

And how intensely her eyes, sometimes gleaming intellectually with biting cynicism, captured one’s gaze.

“Then there was an incident that made my parents suspect my ability. As you know, my father was renowned as a monster hunter and was often away from home. Sometimes he wouldn’t return for an entire year. So it was always just my mother and me in the pharmacy, and when I was about 7 or 8 years old, there was a man who persistently pursued my mother.”

She finished grinding the last of the beetles into powder, then crouched down under the counter and opened a shelf door.

It was filled with dusty bottles, and she pulled out a brown bottle from deep inside.

It was a bottle with an old label depicting a dead rat.

“That man was so persistent that my mother was very troubled. Of course, I hated it when that man came to the shop. Then one day, that bastard suddenly grabbed my mother’s wrist and insisted that she marry him.”

By this point, Matiel was intensely focused on Charlotte’s words.

He had even forgotten that he had never listened so intently to someone’s words before.

“And then?”

Charlotte poured rat poison pills into the powder in the bowl.

It smelled strangely like spicy jerky with pepper that had been stored in a shed for about half a year.

“So I looked straight at that man and said, ‘Get out of here right now and never come back!’ Then suddenly, with a blank face, that man let go of my mother’s wrist, left the shop, and never came back. That’s how my mother found out I had magical power. Later, my father found out too, but he couldn’t believe it to the point where he made me try various things. One time…”