TLDOWN 19

CHAPTER 19: 

More Than Enough Has Piled Up

‘It’s already this late?’

While she was immersed in making supplements, time had flown, and the sun was already setting. Leah leaned back deeply in her chair as she gazed at the sky dyed in red.

As her busy hands finally stopped, memories of what happened yesterday suddenly surfaced in her mind.

‘Luckily, the Duke seems to be trying to cover the incident…’

Whether he found her words convincing or not, the Duke hadn’t reprimanded Jacob or Bayern. And since the Duke let it slide without a word, those two probably wouldn’t dare make another move either.

“But seriously, who could it be?”

Who would be powerful enough to use the emperor’s personal physician in an assassination attempt on the Duke?

‘No way… It couldn’t be His Majesty, could it?’

The name “Parcia Trading Company” suddenly flashed through her mind.

Everything that came into the Duke’s residence passed through Parcia. Even the household staff were sent from the Imperial Family.

The most reasonable assumption was that the Duke had fallen out of favor with the Emperor…

‘No, come on. There’s no way His Majesty would target the Duke personally… right?’

Leah shook her head, trying to dismiss the train of thought that was spiraling out of control.

“This is too complicated.”

She decided to stop worrying about other people’s family drama. Refocusing, Leah looked at the pile of corn starch and herbs in front of her.

‘I don’t have time to be wasting like this.’

She needed to make as many supplements as possible before evening.

Because once night fell, she had to work on developing the antidote with the Duke in the annex.

She’d become quite adept at making the supplement now, and the work was going quickly. Plus, the silver she earned from selling it was better than expected.

‘How much is all that worth?’

She smiled contentedly at the stack of order forms in front of her. She might earn at least as much as a monthly pharmacist’s salary at this rate.

‘Maybe I should just ditch the double agent gig and sell supplements full-time.’

If she dedicated herself to it, she could pay off the pharmacist’s penalty fee in no time. And if she supplied the trade company and sold across cities…

‘This could be a jackpot!’

The bottles of supplements in front of her started to look like piles of gold coins.

‘Yeah, let’s mass-produce these, earn a ton, pay the penalty, and leave proudly!’

Leah was completely caught up in this dream when a sharp knock sounded. Before she could respond, the door burst open.

Who just barges in like this?

Leah whipped her head around to see who lacked such basic manners—and immediately jumped to her feet.

“D-Duke?!”

A wave of confusion spread across Leah’s face. She didn’t expect him to come to the pharmacy; she’d thought they’d only meet in the annex.

“Is something wrong?”

The Duke stepped inside, and the sound of the door closing echoed ominously.

“I knew it.”

“Huh? Knew what?”

He glanced at the cluttered table.

“You’re not working on the antidote, just making more of your weird supplement.”

“Weird?! You have no idea how popular this is!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! Not just the mansion staff—people from the village swear by it!”

Word had spread, and the supplement she’d initially sold only within the mansion was now popular with townspeople too.

They claimed it filled them with energy for some reason. The Duke stared at her proud face and smirked slightly.

“Fine, let’s say it’s legit.”

Then he pulled up a chair and sat behind her.

“…Are you going to just sit there?”

“How do I know you won’t slack off again instead of working on the antidote?”

So now he’s here to babysit me? Leah gritted her teeth, trying to maintain a smile as she glared at him perched so regally.

But what could she do? The master of the house said he’d stay. With a resigned sigh, she put away the supplements and started working on the antidote.

Who knew how much time had passed. The Duke, who she thought would leave quickly, showed no signs of moving.

‘Ugh. This is nerve-racking.’

It felt like being watched by a boss hovering behind your desk.

Trying to show she was genuinely working, Leah mumbled to herself.

“Let’s start by mixing evening primrose and corel.”

Corel, like primrose, had effects that countered lily-of-the-valley.

While primrose could slow down the side effects of Forarium, it couldn’t neutralize the poison completely.

So she aimed to develop a cure based on the primrose.

She confidently fetched the herbs from a display case in the corner and began mixing them.

It all started well—until…

BOOM!

The herbs exploded with a pop. Acrid smoke filled the room, and the burnt stench was overpowering.

“What the—! cough cough”

Before she could even sigh, the pungent fumes made her cough uncontrollably. Her eyes stung. Something had gone wrong in the combination.

Looking at the charred herbs, Leah let out a hollow laugh.

‘What the hell went wrong?’

She frantically flipped through her notes to figure out her mistake.

Then—

“You trying to blow up the whole pharmacy?”

A quiet voice made her flinch.

‘Right. The Duke is still here…!’

How pathetic she must look. She turned toward him with a sheepish expression.

He stood a short distance away, arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

His expression said he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Were you making an antidote or a bomb? Changed your mind and decided to assassinate me instead?”

“I-I would never! It was just an accident!”

Good grief—assassinate?

Of course she hadn’t expected it to explode like that. She bit her lip in embarrassment.

“Another mistake like that and you might blow up the whole estate.”

He clicked his tongue and looked at the blackened test tube.

“I heard you got your pharmacist license at the youngest age in the Empire. Must’ve been a lie.”

“…That’s—!”

“They stuck me with a quack.”

It was the second time he’d called her that, and it made Leah snap.

“A quack?! I’ll have you know I’m a properly licensed—”

In a flash, the Duke stepped toward her.

She froze mid-sentence, overwhelmed by the strong lily-of-the-valley scent he carried.

‘When did he get so tall?’

At least two handspans taller than her, he stared down at her.

“So what are you going to do about this mess?”

Following his gaze, she saw the pharmacy wrecked. Tools, rare herbs—everything was destroyed.

‘Oh no.’

Replacing all that would take time. Leah cautiously looked up at him.

“I’ll go to town right away and try to—”

“With whose money?”

“Uh, well…”

Awkward. She wanted to shout, “Yours, obviously!” but she was clearly the one at fault here.

“From the looks of it, the herbs you ruined are worth more than your salary. And these tools? Completely unusable.”

He started tallying the damages one by one.

“Even if the mansion’s old, the stuff inside is all top-quality.”

“Excuse me?”

“That desk looks beat up, but it’s made of walnut. Expensive. And you burned it to a crisp. Definitely needs replacing.”

“What?!”

As the list grew, Leah’s internal screaming got louder.

“And I don’t need to spell out how much those herbs cost—you know better than I do.”

“Wait, hold on!”

“Oh, and these smashed tools? They’re Horlen brand. Limited edition. The price is probably…”

“Duke!”

He tilted his head innocently.

“What?”

“You’re not seriously saying I have to pay for all of this… right?”

Please say no!

Leah looked up at him with pleading eyes.

“I am. Obviously, the one who broke it should fix it.”

“…What?”

As always, the Duke dashed her hopes.

‘You’ve got to be kidding. All this?!’

Leah scanned the damage he had pointed out.

Then, facing the Duke’s smug, towering figure, she tried to reason.

“This all happened while I was working on your project. Technically a workplace accident! It’s a risk of experimentation!”

“Never heard of an antidote exploding before.”

“Well, that’s—!”

“Don’t worry too much. I wouldn’t make you pay the full price.”

But he cut her off before she could argue further.

“I’ll give you a special deal. Half price.”

“Half?!”

“Yep. Half.”

She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or horrified. Leah’s eyes wavered anxiously.

“So how much…?”

“Seventy silver coins.”

‘What?!’

Her jaw dropped. She just gaped at him, stunned.

“Until you pay that back, you won’t receive your contract bonus. Obviously, you can’t quit the mansion either.”

“…”

“Oh, and don’t even think about running away. I’m very persistent.”

He smiled while looking at her stricken face.

It was a rare, oddly gentle expression.

And Leah thought:

This bastard… might actually be broke.

❀ ❀ ❀

Inside Bayern’s office, someone was whispering to him in secret.

“What? Just the two of them?”

“Yes! I saw it with my own eyes!”

Jane, one of the maids, had passed by the pharmacy and seen the Duke and Leah inside together.

It was shocking enough that the Duke left his room—but to meet the pharmacist?

She wanted to stick around and spy, but the Duke came out too quickly for her to see what they were doing.

However—

“Another girl said she saw the pharmacist sneak out of the Duke’s room early in the morning the other day—when he was very ill.”

“What?! Out of the Duke’s room?!”

“Yes! But that was the same day the butler told the pharmacist not to approach the Duke. So we thought it was just a mistake.”

At her words, Bayern slammed his fist on the desk.

So it was the pharmacist who cured him!

Something had felt off. The Duke, who looked on the verge of death, had recovered overnight.

Nervously biting his nails, Bayern unfolded a letter he had received that morning.

“The more I trusted you, the more disappointed I became. If you want the promotion you’re eyeing in the next personnel round, you’d better step it up. —L.R.”

Unable to contain his anger, Bayern crushed the letter in his hand.

He couldn’t stay buried in this rural backwater forever.

“If I just sit back and do nothing, I’ll be finished.”

A sinister gleam flickered in his eyes.