TLDOWN 16

Posted by zahid, Released on July 23, 2025

CHAPTER 16.
Gamble

A man with a dignified, commanding presence entered the room alongside Butler Bayern. He adjusted his monocle and slowly looked around.

‘Is that the doctor from the Imperial Court?’

Leah recalled the rumor that the Emperor had personally dispatched his royal physician to care for the Duke, his cousin.

But then—why? Why was this indescribable unease rising from deep within her core? While Leah kept a wary eye on the two men, Bayern suddenly asked sharply,

“Why is Miss Leah here?”

“The Duke suddenly took ill. I was examining him,” she replied calmly.

“The Duke?”

At her words, the royal physician who had entered with Bayern approached the Duke’s side. After checking the Duke’s condition, the doctor turned on Leah, scolding her.

“What was the attending physician doing, letting the Duke deteriorate to this state?!”

Leah discreetly slipped the empty medicine bottle she had been holding into her sleeve.

“I’m sorry. It seems the Duke’s chronic illness has worsened again. I’ll go right away to get the antidote—”

“Antidote? And who do you think caused the Duke to become like this in the first place?”

Bayern cut her off, stepping closer.

“We have the royal physician sent by His Majesty here now. You’re dismissed.”

Left with no choice, Leah took a step back as the royal physician, Jacob, began his examination.

“Hmm. As you said, the Duke’s condition has worsened. I’d heard from the butler that he was recovering, so I’d let my guard down.”

Clucking his tongue, Jacob pulled a vial of blue liquid from his bag.

“What is that?” Leah asked.

“It’s a remedy made from lynx grass. A secret formula of mine.”

“Lynx grass…?”

“The Duke’s condition stems from vascular issues. A chronic illness due to poor circulation. I specially created a new remedy using lynx grass,” Jacob said confidently.

“You may not know, but lynx grass is a rare herb from the East. It purifies the blood vessels,” he added.

But unlike the confident physician, Leah’s eyes widened in horror.

‘Unbelievable! Using lynx grass as a remedy?!’

So rare that few knew about it, lynx grass was far too toxic to be used medicinally. It didn’t just purify blood vessels—it dissolved them. And yet the royal physician had brought it, claiming it was medicine?

‘Is he out of his mind?!’

Leah cried out urgently, “Wait! Lynx grass is practically a poison! You can’t use that as a medicine! The Duke could get even worse!”

Jacob’s brow twitched.

“Tsk. To think someone who calls herself an apothecary could be this ignorant.”

Ignoring her protests, Jacob administered the potion to the Duke.

Leah tried to stop him, but Bayern stepped in front of her, preventing her from interfering.

Moments after the Duke ingested the medicine, his complexion, already deathly pale, began to deteriorate further.

And then—

—Cough!

Akkiah began convulsing, violently coughing up bright red blood.

“See?! He’s seizing!”

“Hmph! It’s just a healing response,” Jacob scoffed.

A healing response?

Leah could hardly believe it. Watching the Duke cough up blood and seize, and to call that a positive sign?

Unable to restrain herself any longer, she shouted,

“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re killing him!”

But before she could say more, Bayern slapped her across the face.

—Smack!

The sound of flesh on flesh echoed, and the room fell into an icy silence.

“How dare you lecture us.”

Leah’s head was turned by the force, and her cheek immediately flushed red. Bayern looked at her with disdain and wiped his hand with a handkerchief.

“You’ve driven the Duke to death’s door and now try to shift the blame. Until I say otherwise, this apothecary is not to be allowed near this room again!”

At Bayern’s order, the servants dragged Leah out. Even as she was pulled away, her eyes remained fixed on Akkiah.

❀ ❀ ❀

Leah paced anxiously in the apothecary’s room, her mind racing. After much thought, she had sent word to Richel, subtly asking him to come.

‘What if he doesn’t come?’

She believed Richel would understand her intentions—but in such a dire situation, anxiety gnawed at her.

“Quack of a doctor,” she muttered bitterly.

Calling the Duke’s seizure from the toxic medicine a healing response? It was absurd. The Duke wouldn’t survive long without a proper antidote.

Moonlight streamed through the window as Leah stared, helpless and shaken.

Lynx grass wasn’t classified as poisonous per se—it wasn’t toxic by nature. But that meant it couldn’t be neutralized by Alpharadia either.

‘Even Alpharadia can’t counteract lynx grass.’

So much for standard antidotes.

“And to think the royal physician used it as medicine…”

Her lips were sore from chewing them in frustration when—

—Knock knock.

A knock shattered the silence.

Without even asking who it was, Leah flung the door open.

“Richel!”

“Were you waiting long?”

He stepped inside, smiling with his usual nonchalance, eyes twinkling.

“What took you so long?” she asked.

“Me? I wasn’t sick, so I had no reason to visit the apothecary.”

Earlier, she had asked him to come after sunset. With the Duke in such a dire state, she had expected him to come straight away.

When Richel sat down at the table with a casual air, Leah’s heart began to pound. Had she misjudged him?

‘No.’

Her instincts, honed through a past life of hardship, told her this gamble was worth the risk. She just hoped she hadn’t bet wrong.

“So tell me. Did you call me here because you missed me, or—”

“….”

“—because you have something to report?”

His lips curled into a teasing smirk. Leah met his gaze and began quietly.

“You know the Duke’s critical right now.”

“Hm. I heard. You defied the royal physician and got thrown out. That too.”

He glanced pointedly at her still-red cheek. Leah clenched her jaw, recalling Jacob and Bayern.

‘At least I’m not playing with someone’s life.’

Bringing in a rare herb from the East under the pretense of a cure—maybe they thought her inexperienced enough to accept it without question.

They didn’t know she had memorized the entire herbal encyclopedia. That she, an orphanage-raised apothecary, had passed her licensing exam purely by rote memorization.

A royal physician prescribing a poison… Whatever the reason, the Duke was now in danger.

‘And so am I.’

This wasn’t just about money. If the Duke died, she’d be held responsible.

‘They were planning to pin this on me from the start.’

That was why the royal physician was acting so nonchalantly after making a deadly mistake. Leah wasn’t some naïve 22-year-old anymore. Her past life had made her sick of political manipulation.

“Richel, listen closely. The physician’s prescription is wrong.”

“…”

“He said the Duke’s seizure was a healing response. But it wasn’t! If we don’t act, the Duke really will die.”

At her mention of death, Richel’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.

“Lynx grass won’t help a vascular disease—it will dissolve the Duke’s blood vessels entirely. And when that happens…”

“When that happens?”

Leah choked on the words she couldn’t bring herself to say aloud. Just thinking about how close death loomed made her dizzy.

Richel said nothing for a long moment, simply watching her. After several seconds, he finally spoke.

“Leah. From everything you’ve said…”

His voice dropped low, firm as he said her name.

“…it sounds like you didn’t call me here to report something. You called me here to ask for help saving the Duke.”

His indigo eyes deepened sharply, piercing through her. Leah swallowed hard under his intense gaze.

“…Yes.”

She steadied her trembling voice.

She’d been debating this since morning—whether to trust Richel. She had been ordered by the Duke to act as his double agent, but she still wasn’t sure whether Richel was the Duke’s ally or enemy.

‘If he wanted the Duke dead, he wouldn’t have asked me to report—he’d have given me a more direct task.’

Poisoning, perhaps. Lacing a treatment with a slow-acting toxin. She was in the perfect position to do so.

But he hadn’t. No such orders had ever come.

So Leah thought: maybe the powerful figure who paid Richel to watch the Duke was actually on the Duke’s side.

It was risky. But there was no other option.

Bayern had barred the Duke’s bedroom to everyone except himself and the royal physician.

Right now, the only person who could get through was Richel—and the person he served.

“This is where the real report begins, Richel. The one you serve told you to monitor the Duke, right?”

“….”

“The Duke is in a critical state. If your master wants the Duke dead, I’ll stay put.”

There was no visible emotion on Richel’s face as she spoke. He simply listened. For Leah, this was a gamble with everything on the line.

“But if they want the Duke alive—then I have to treat him right now. So please, make your decision.”