Chapter – 04
The medical arts in this world were at a crude level.
Starting from a generation ago, the number of capable individuals plummeted. While the warrior class was barely holding up, mages and healers decreased dramatically.
Healers were rare enough to be counted on one’s fingers, and even then, only those in power could afford them. However, the skill of those who remained was not what it used to be, and miraculous healings of the past could no longer be expected.
Because of these circumstances, ordinary people were relying on folk remedies.
Thanks to this, my treatments produced effects bordering on miracles.
“You can rest easy now.”
At my words, Gilbert’s eyes welled with tears. Whenever the topic of his wife came up, he acted like a tender young girl.
I took out two packs of herbal medicine from my basket.
“So, I changed the medicine. It is not for treatment, but to replenish her weakened body. This one is good for the lungs, and this one will restore her stamina.”
I handed over the Gyeongok-go and Bojungikgi-tang.
“And this is the prescription. If she boils and drinks it steadily from now on, she will get healthy.”
The hand that eagerly reached out to take the medicine paused for a moment, but I pretended not to notice.
“You said your wife wanted to try kkwaebagi (twisted donuts), right? I made these myself.”
“Thank you so very, very much.”
Gilbert bowed repeatedly as he accepted the basket containing the kkwaebagi, and then immediately held out an envelope.
“Raymond dropped by yesterday as well.”
“How much did you sell it for this time?”
“Two gold coins.”
I smiled with satisfaction.
“You worked hard.”
A dog is more likely to stop eating dung.
Raymond can never quit gambling.
Whenever the harvest season arrived, professional gamblers would flock to the fief to strip him bare. It was to the point where people even said this:
‘When winter comes, the Lord of Valdif sleeps on a mountain of debt.’
He would have sold anything as long as it turned into money. The problem was that he had nothing worth selling. The only thing he owned was land, but in Valdif, no one bought or sold land.
It was because the land was too barren to have any value.
Then one day, Raymond heard astonishing news.
The dying mistress of the pawnshop had miraculously recovered. However, because the treatment costs were so high, her circumstances had become urgent. That proud pawnshop had begun accepting land as collateral.
Raymond rushed over immediately. After that, he wore out the doorstep coming and going, diligently handing over choice pieces of land.
Right up until yesterday, that is.
The envelope Gilbert gave me was packed with the land deeds that Raymond had sold off. He held out one more document.
“This is the location of the cheating gambling syndicate that stripped Raymond bare.”
“You’ve worked hard all this time.”
I tucked the envelope into my basket. Gilbert hesitated before opening his mouth.
“My Lady, I have never once asked a customer where they intend to spend their money until now.”
He seemed to have realized that this was our final transaction. Because I had always provided the prepared medicine, but had never handed over a prescription before.
“I know it is impolite, but I am saying this because I am so worried. This is far too meager a price for curing my wife.”
When I said I would accept land deeds as payment for treating his wife, he had looked bewildered.
So, seeing me ask him to take land deeds from Raymond and lend him money, I must have looked like a child who knew nothing of the world.
“Why are you gathering useless land?”
You only see as much as you know.
The Gyeongok-go made for his wife contains honey, raw rehmannia root, and Poria cocos. And Bojungikgi-tang requires even more medicinal herbs, such as milkvetch root, Atractylodes, angelica root, Cimicifuga, Bupleurum, tangerine peel, and licorice.
Where do you think I obtained these?
The terrain of the Valdif fief, if compared to Earth, is long and narrow like Chile in South America, and covered in mountains like Korea. Not only Oriental medicinal herbs, but various spices were scattered everywhere.
In a word, it was a treasure chest.
Contrary to his worries, I knew the ways of the world all too well, which was precisely why I could never tell him.
I simply smiled. At that, Gilbert apologized, saying he had asked something unnecessary.
I shook my head.
“Not at all, I completely understand.”
Soon after, erasing the smile from my face, I said:
“I am also saying this out of concern, but do not discuss our transactions even in bed.”
I tapped his shoulder while bringing up his wife. It was a warning not to breathe a word to anyone anywhere. Seeing him swallow his dry saliva, he seemed to have understood well enough.
Just as I turned to leave, Gilbert asked.
“My Lady, may I hope that you will continue to patronize our shop?”
Gosh, quick-witted as always.
I looked straight at him.
“Are you sincere?”
“Valdif without My Lady is no different from a sinking ship.”
Then he quickly added:
“It is not because I am worried that the fact that I cooperated with My Lady will be discovered.”
When I narrowed my eyes, Gilbert subtly avoided my gaze.
I let out a smirk and walked straight out. Looking at the western sky, the sun was slowly setting.
‘It’s about time the mercenaries arrive.’
I hurried toward the castle.
The head maid let out a long sigh.
Since the greenhouse incident, all sorts of rumors had been circulating. That Gerard had been wrapped around the skirt of an enemy kingdom’s princess…
Well, that part was true.
There were also rumors that Anais would leave.
“Nonsense. Do you know how much money she has earned for the fief all this time?”
She had earned a lot, but the herb garden she cultivated herself was something that couldn’t be measured in money.
“Leaving all that behind and departing? Nonsense, absolutely. If they divorce, I’ll do whatever it takes to stop it.”
As she muttered to herself, a sharp voice was heard from behind.
“Divorce?”
It was Tonya.
“Anais is getting a divorce?”
“Pardon? Ah, no.”
“I heard everything you were talking to yourself about!”
“No, that’s…”
The head maid broke out in a cold sweat. However, the water had already been spilled.
Tonya shouted as she ran toward Josephine’s quarters.
“Mom, Mom!”
The head maid clutched her head with both hands.
When I arrived at the castle, the sun had just dipped below the horizon. Unfavorably, even the moon was hidden behind clouds, making it pitch black.
The entire time I crossed the courtyard, there was not a single light.
‘Raymond is recklessly squandering money, I see.’
To the extent of using up even the money meant for lighting fires. The household’s finances were becoming visibly impoverished.
For me, it was a satisfying sight.
Before Gerard returned, people used to revere me like a goddess.
However, once I was stripped of real power by Raymond, and Shia—who possessed Gerard’s favor and even his heir—appeared, people began to waver one by one.
Josephine was the first to turn her back, and the servants seemed to be quietly following suit as well.
Since I was only wandering around outside while preparing various things, it ended up fanning the flames even more.
Now, the only person left by my side was the head maid, who possessed a upright nature.
In my past life, she tried to help me somehow. Saying that she had avoided starvation thanks to me and that I was her lifelong savior, she used to send me money even after I left this place.
‘If I leave her behind, she’ll be severely bullied… Should I take her with me?’
The head maid held a lifelong position, so she couldn’t quit or leave the fief as she pleased.
As I walked while deep in thought, a sound suddenly came from behind.
“Where have you been?”
The one who popped out from the darkness was Gerard.
My heart almost jumped out of my chest along with it. I stroked my chest to calm down and widened my eyes.
However, my field of vision was blurry.
Gerard’s chest, clad in white clothes, was right in front of my nose. I tried to quickly step back, but my back hit a wall.
His dignified physique worthy of a warrior, his deep yet strong gaze, and his well-balanced features still looked quite handsome even now.
His tightly closed lips used to wear a smile capable of melting even ice whenever they were directed at me.
Though that has become a thing of the very distant past now.
Out of nowhere, he grabbed my hand.
“Rough. It’s hardly a noblewoman’s hand.”
He clicked his tongue briefly.
“Was I that unreliable?”
When I scowled as if asking what he meant, he continued speaking.
“Did you not believe that I would return alive? Is that why you fiddled with grass until your hands turned into this state?”
Ha!
A hollow laugh escaped my lips automatically.
“Even when you were here, all the people of the fief had to wander the mountains scraping together anything edible.”
“That is precisely why I went on campaign and returned as a triumphant general.”
When I twisted my hand to pull it free, he scowled.
“I put my life on the line, yet you compare that to mere grass. I am disappointed. I went all the way to hell and back for the fief and my family.”
“Count me out of that family. I never expected a concubine or anything of the sort.”
“Know your limits. It’s not a good look.”
Gerard let out a faint sigh.
“Do you hate Shia that much? She is a pitiful woman. Considering that she was my sole sanctuary when I was hovering between life and death, it feels regrettable to merely make her a concubine.”
He gripped my shoulders firmly.
“Anais, you are my wife. That fact remains unchanged, so do not sink too deep into self-pity.”
In my past life, he said the exact same thing.
But it wasn’t true.
Shia was not satisfied with being a concubine. She constantly ran her mouth.
‘What do you think a woman whose husband was thought to be dead wants most? Remarrying while she’s still young is the only way to live comfortably, after all. She might have been desperate enough to throw herself at an old noble.’
