BRRC CH 43

Chapter 43 – The Devil’s Weed

The Florentia flower, also known as the Angel’s Breath.

It earned that nickname because its snow-white petals were said to heal any wound, no matter how deep.

“Master, you’re silly. Did you really think the Alchemy Academy would just hand you one of those?”

I lifted my chin smugly, speaking in the tone of someone who had predicted this outcome all along.

“They probably told you to put your name on the waiting list, didn’t they?”

Owen frowned. “How do you know that?”

“Because it’s useless. You see, back then…”

I motioned for him to come closer. When he bent down, I whispered in his ear,

“Count Douglas waited for his turn too—and died before it ever came.”

Owen’s eyes went wide.

And who could blame him?

Count Douglas had been a distant relative of the Emperor himself—someone with real power in the capital.

But in my previous life, he had gone hunting, been gored by a wild boar, and barely survived.
His side wound was deep, and to prevent infection, he’d desperately needed the Florentia flower.

However, the Academy had sent him away after making him sign up for the waiting list.

He had no choice but to wait.
And while he waited, his condition worsened.
He tried to get the flower by other means—but…

“In the end, he died.”

His cause of death: tissue decay and infection.
He never got the Florentia flower.

“That’s absurd. It can’t be that hard to get one—not even a count could?”

“You saw it with your own eyes.”

“But I heard there’s a way to get seeds illegally from another kingdom—through a merchant guild—”

“Seeds are useless.”

Owen fell silent.

“You can plant as many as you want, but they’ll never grow. Do you know how hard it is to make them bloom?”

Florentia flowers were almost impossible to cultivate.
Even getting them to sprout was a miracle. After that, the temperature, humidity, and light all had to be controlled precisely.

And just when they seemed to be doing well, they’d wither and die in an instant.

“Even a soft breeze kills them. Stare at them too long, and they die. The Academy barely has any left—and whatever they do have gets sent straight to the Imperial Palace.”

Owen’s expression darkened.

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

“Hmm?”

“I mean your wounds.”

“Oh, that.”

I glanced over my shoulder and grinned.

“I’m fine!”

“Fine?”

“Yup! Actually, I’m almost healed!”

Owen’s eyes narrowed, then widened again.

He looked at me like I’d just told him I could fly.

“That’s impossible. It’s a miracle you didn’t get infected, and now you’re saying the wound’s almost gone?”

“Well…”

I was about to explain when—

“Big sis!!”

“Lia! I came!!”

The door burst open.

Two little kids—Tom and Lulu—ran in, both covered in dirt from head to toe.

***

“Ta-da! Look! I picked a ton! Right?”

“Me too! I picked more than him!”

Owen stared in disbelief.

The two small children proudly held out their baskets to Annelia.

“Let’s see… wow, Tom, yours is full!”

“Of course! Remember? I was the fastest runner in the Sunshine Class!”

Tom puffed up his chest, laughing proudly.

“And Lulu did great too! You both pass!”

Lulu beamed at the praise, hopping up and down.

“Since you both completed your mission perfectly,” Annelia said, smiling like an adult rewarding her employees, “you’ll get your payment.”

She pulled a small pouch from beside her pillow.

‘What in the world is going on?’ thought Owen, narrowing his eyes.

Because Annelia, her arms still stiff with bandages, began fumbling with the ribbon on the pouch and pulled out… two giant lollipops.

“Here! Today’s wages!”

She dropped one into each of their small hands.

“W-wow!”

The kids unwrapped them right away, popped them into their mouths, and smiled like they were in heaven.

“It’s sooo good…”

“Mmm, it melts so fast…”

Watching them shiver in delight, Annelia nodded with satisfaction.

“Come again tomorrow!”

“Of course! Actually, I want to do this job ten times every day!”

“Me too! I want more rewards!”

But Annelia crossed her arms seriously.

“No. One candy per basket—that was the deal.”

“Aww, but…”

“Tom,” Lulu said sternly, “what did Big Sis say?”

Tom fidgeted and looked up at Annelia.

“Um… if you chase a wild rabbit, you lose the tame rabbit?”

“Not lose—miss.”

“Miss!”

“Good. So go home before you lose the candy you already got.”

The children drooped their shoulders and trudged out of the room.

Owen just stared, dumbfounded.

Annelia carefully tied the pouch again, tucked it under her pillow, and inspected the basket the children had brought.

It was full of ugly, foul-smelling leaves.

“My dear apprentice,” Owen asked warily, “what is all this?”

“I just borrowed a little child labor.”

“Child labor?”

“Yup. I can’t walk yet, remember?”

Following her gaze, Owen noticed her still-bandaged right leg.

All her leg and arm wounds came from falling down the marble staircase.

“Master,” Annelia said suddenly, “do you know why the Florentia flower dies so easily?”

He frowned. “I don’t know. I thought it was just fragile.”

“Nope!” she said brightly, her voice full of mischief.

“It’s because it’s a mutation.”

“A mutation?”

She pointed with her chin toward the bottom drawer of the nightstand.

“Open that.”

Owen hesitated, then walked over and pulled it open.

Inside was a small box filled with something that looked like dried, powdered leaves.

“What is this?”

“It’s Lubarin grass.”

“Lubarin grass?”

The name sounded familiar.

“If it’s the same one I’m thinking of…”

“Yes! The demon weed!” she said cheerfully.

Owen groaned, scowling.

***

“This isn’t the greenhouse I remember,” he muttered, looking around in disbelief.

I giggled on his back as he carried me through the wide glass structure that stretched across the right side of the Abner mansion’s garden.

A few weeks ago, it had been completely empty.

After Sharon Abner’s husband, Lloyd, had died, no one had tended the greenhouse anymore.

“When I came here before, it looked like a wasteland,” Owen said.
“And now it’s a jungle of weeds—wait. Is that… Lubarin grass? I thought it was extinct!”

Ding-dong-dang!

I tapped his shoulder proudly. “It’s not weeds at all!”

Lubarin grass.

In the Empire—especially the South—it was infamous as a cursed plant that killed any crop nearby.

It spread fast, its roots digging deep, choking entire fields until nothing else could grow.

But—

“In terms of healing power, it’s ten times stronger than the Florentia flower!”

“…”

“It’s a miracle plant disguised as a weed!”

“…”

“It’s the best medicine of this age—and it only grows here, in Abner territory!”

Owen inhaled sharply.

I grinned, watching him take in the sight of the greenhouse.

Every inch of soil was filled with lubarin grass—dense, green, and thriving.

It had taken several days of work and all the help from the orphanage kids, but we’d done it.

Owen muttered, dazed, “Lubarin grass, a medicine… I can’t believe this. And to see this much of it…”

“Isn’t it amazing?” I said proudly.

“I thought it was completely wiped out. Everyone called it the demon weed for a reason.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Lubarin grass had been the Empire’s greatest agricultural nightmare.
Especially in the South, where farms were everywhere, it was despised.

If Lubarin grass appeared in your fields, that year’s harvest was already doomed.

And as if that weren’t enough—

“This horrible stuff, a medicine? I can’t believe it,” Owen said, backing away and covering his nose.

I giggled quietly.

He wasn’t exaggerating.

Lubarin grass had a pungent, metallic odor so sharp it made most people dizzy.
Even animals avoided it.

So no one had ever considered it could be useful for anything.

Worse still, its stubborn vitality made it impossible to get rid of.
It smothered other crops and devoured entire farms.

Eventually, the people of the South had reached their limit.

They launched a massive Lubarin Eradication Campaign—
Nobles and commoners alike joined forces to destroy every last plant.