TLDOWN 56

CHAPTER 56……………………

The next morning. As soon as dawn broke, Lea scribbled down a letter of refusal to send to the imperial palace.

“All done. This should be enough, right?”

Folding the letter neatly and sealing it with wax, Lea let out a small sigh.

She had spoken as if refusing to work at the palace was a matter of course in front of Akkia, but to say she felt no regret at all would have been a lie.

For an imperial apothecary, working at the palace was a dream anyone would have at least once.

And rejecting a proposal made directly by the Emperor himself? If anyone heard, they would surely click their tongues and call her mad.

“Well, what can I do.”

Lea asked Rikel to deliver the letter to the palace and returned to her laboratory. Not long ago, Akkia had arranged a research lab within his mansion so that she could work on developing an antidote.

It was a bit smaller than the one at Heidern territory, but it felt cozy enough. Lea liked it very much.

[Stop getting distracted. Focus only on developing the cure.]

“You said so yourself, Your Grace. So I should buckle down and get back to work, right?”

The poison of Polarium had been removed, but side effects had appeared. Embarrassing ones—ones she couldn’t even speak of to others.

From what had happened so far, it wasn’t just a one-time side effect.

‘Because it’s already happened more than once.’

Lea had already experienced that strange heat and those shameful symptoms twice. And Akkia had, too.

‘It might be recurring side effects.’

Which meant she had to hurry and create a proper cure.

‘Ha… just when I thought I’d made an antidote for Polarium, now I have to make something for the side effects.’

It was one mountain after another.

Shaking her head, Lea opened a notebook where she had recorded information she’d read at the Imperial Library.

“Reparatio Tree…”

The Reparatio Tree had long been called a panacea. Grind its leaves and apply them to wounds, and the wounds healed. Boil its roots into tea, and even chronic illnesses were said to vanish.

And according to an old text she found at the library, the sap of the Reparatio Tree was the key to curing side effects.

‘The sap is said to work even better than the roots.’

Other studies she found supported this—remedies mixed with Reparatio sap were effective at treating side effects from various medicines.

But there was only one such tree in the entire empire.

“Hm.”

Tapping her finger against the desk, Lea reached for another stack of books—old tomes on spider venom she’d asked Rikel to procure.

“There might be another way besides the Reparatio Tree.”

Depending on how ingredients were combined, she might create a similar effect.

As she scanned the pages, one particular line caught her eye.

“Priapos Venomspider venom is used as an aphrodisiac?”

It said the venom contained stimulant compounds that enhanced virility. At that moment, a wild idea flashed in her mind.

‘Come to think of it… this world doesn’t have anything like Viagr—, does it?’

And the antidote she had already made for Polarium had a similar side effect—it acted like a virility booster.

Which meant—

“With a little tweaking… I could make a real aphrodisiac.”

If successful, it would earn far more than any nutritional supplement. Lea’s imagination quickly spiraled into visions of owning prime property in the capital.

‘I can smell it—money. Lots of it!’

It was as if steam was bursting from her nose. Lost in her daydream of wealth, Lea suddenly shook herself back to her senses.

‘Wait, this isn’t the time to be thinking about that!’

Maybe she had momentarily lost her reason to greed. What mattered now wasn’t money.

Refocusing, Lea returned her eyes to the books in search of a real cure.

Then—

“Huh?”

She froze at a shocking passage.

[Though usable as an aphrodisiac, the stimulant compounds intensify with repeated use. The strength and frequency of the urges cannot be predicted. Use is strongly discouraged.]

Her hand trembled as she gripped the book.

“Wait… does that mean it will get even stronger than now…?”

If things escalated any further, what would happen?

Struck with sudden horror, Lea dropped the book.

“I—I need to make a cure. Fast.”

If she didn’t, who knew when or where the side effects would strike again. At this rate, she might lose her reason completely and live only by instinct.

So Lea threw herself into research for days on end.

But—

“Another failure.”

She had lost count of how many times it had failed. The ratios of the ingredients were flawless, precise to the last fraction.

And yet, every attempt collapsed. Dozens, hundreds of variations tested—every single one a failure.

“Sigh…”

Lea collapsed into a chair and leaned her head back.

“So in the end, the only answer is that.”

That one tree, the only one in the empire.

‘The Reparatio Tree.’

At present, there seemed no other way.

❀ ❀ ❀

After repeated failures, Lea felt as though a heavy stone pressed down on her heart. The Reparatio Tree was a rare species imported from Arabia.

It wasn’t just hard to obtain—it wasn’t the leaves she needed, but the sap. Worse, the sap had to be used within twenty-four hours of extraction due to volatility.

That meant the cure would have to be made on the spot as soon as the sap was drawn.

She searched for alternatives, but there was no realistic way to obtain it.

Even the Magnolia Trading Company couldn’t deliver it in time. It took at least six months for a shipment to come from Arabia.

And substitutes had already failed miserably.

“Is there really no other way…”

Well—there was one. If she accepted the Emperor’s offer to work at the palace, she could gain access to the tree’s sap, even if she had to sneak it out.

But whenever she thought of entering the palace, Akkia’s face came to mind. That tension between them still lingered.

‘Yeah… working at the palace doesn’t sit right. Feels… off.’

And she couldn’t forget the unsettling gleam in the Emperor’s eyes when they last met, hidden quickly behind his smiling face.

Resolving to find another way, Lea made her way to the Duke’s chambers—only to pause when she heard familiar voices inside.

“Is the situation that bad?”

“Yes. We rushed back to the capital, and the flood relief in Tren was costly as well.”

It was Akkia and Rikel. Lea stopped, about to turn back, but their conversation made her freeze.

“At this point, paying such a large sum seems impossible. The capital we can move immediately is too limited.”

“…”

“As you know, those relief supplies sent to Tren came from your pers—”

“That’s enough. I understand. Liquidate what assets can be converted quickly.”

Though she didn’t know the full details, it was clear funds were short for some enterprise. And hadn’t Rikel just said relief supplies for Tren?

Theo had told her of the large-scale aid sent to Tren. And now she realized—it was Akkia who had done it.

‘Because of me, most likely.’

No other noble with no ties to Tren would have helped.

The thought weighed heavily on her. If things were so dire that Akkia was considering selling off parts of his trading company, then it was serious indeed.

Just as that thought struck, she heard him murmur—

“If worst comes to worst, even the Trading Company…”

Lea burst through the door before she realized it.

“Your Grace!”

“…Lea?”

Akkia and Rikel both looked stunned. But ignoring their gazes, Lea strode forward.

“I’ll take care of it.”

Her leaf-green eyes shone with determination as she faced Akkia. He stared at her, baffled.

“Take care of what?”

“What else? Raising the funds!”

Lea had already thought of the perfect business item.

An aphrodisiac.

The very virility enhancer she’d discovered in her research. That would surely make a fortune.

And it would be her way of taking responsibility, since Akkia had suffered the side effects because of her.

‘This is actually perfect.’

If she could earn enough to help him, she could ease her guilt too.

“So you’re saying you’ll cover the shortfall in funds?”

“Yes.”

Akkia tilted his head, still perplexed.

“…And why would you do that?”

He had been looking at a townhouse property for the Heidern family, a particularly valuable one that had just come on the market at an exorbitant price. Most of his personal assets were tied up in Magnolia Trading, so funds were tight.

He had been about to suggest reallocating company capital—when Lea suddenly appeared, offering money herself.

Knowing her obsession with money, he found it all the stranger.

“I told you—I’ll take responsibility. Consider this an extension of that responsibility.”

She was clearly misunderstanding something… but seeing the unwavering sparkle in her eyes, Akkia decided to wait and see.

That so-called responsibility of hers.

“If you insist that much… I suppose I’ll look forward to it.”

His lips curved faintly as he rested his chin in his hand, watching her.