A Genius Pharmacist Whom the Empress Is Obsessed With

17th painting. The Three-Way Conversation

In front of the intricately carved wooden door, Ridimine had been fiddling with the handle of her walking stick for quite some time.

She had originally planned to go and find Ydeen in a grand manner, but now that she was in front of the pharmacy, she couldn’t muster up the courage to face him.

She had thought that if she started with the ghost, she would be able to work her way up to the actual story, but now that she was here, she felt rather stuck. She was a guest of the city of Umbstendel, after all, and this sort of thing should have been left to the wives of the Loisel baron or the Peniaad count.

What was more, her hesitation wasn’t just due to that.

‘It would be troublesome if I were to cause any misunderstandings…’

Ydeen had refused her invitation twice already. If she went over there and looked up at him from below, wouldn’t it be…

“I might be misunderstood that I’m restless because I want to meet you.”

Just the thought sends chills down Ludymin’s spine, causing her to tremble.

She swore on the honor of the empire, but what Ludymin was curious about was only the treatment method that presses and presses, not the person themselves. It was true.

“Your Highness?”

Ludymin had been standing for quite a while, and Piacca cautiously opened her mouth, seemingly worried.

“You seem unwell. Is there anywhere you feel discomfort? Should I call a pharmacist?”

Piacca was already reaching for the doorknob.

“No, don’t.”

In case Piacca were to open that door, Ludymin hurriedly lifted her head.

She hesitated because she didn’t want the pharmacist to misunderstand, and yet Piacca was calling the pharmacist. It was nonsensical.

“Then, should we just go back? Even if you’re feeling better, it’s not good to stay in such a cold place for too long.”

Without giving a proper answer this time, Ludymin bit her lip. She had come all the way here and it was too disappointing to go back without doing anything.

“This might be the last chance I can talk to the pharmacist…”

Curiosity was the problem, and she was so curious about the treatment method that she couldn’t let Euden leave like this.

“…I’m a mess.”

Maybe it was because she had been stuck in the corner of her room for a long time, but her heart was uncontrollable. As a noble who had to be flawless and rational, it was the worst state.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Ludymin’s hesitation didn’t last long.

“Now-“

Just as she was about to turn her body to go back to the room, the door, which had been closed tightly like a mountain, suddenly opened.

“No, all of a sudden?”

As the beam of light coming through the crack of the door grew bigger, Ludymin’s confusion increased.

The situation was still unclear in her mind. In such a state, if she were to face Euden, she would foolishly blurt out all sorts of things.

But she couldn’t escape in the midst of the door being open.

“This is the worst.”

Unable to do anything in this situation, Ludymin tightly closed her eyes.

-Meow.

A small cat’s cry seeped into her ears.

*

Fortunately, it wasn’t Euden who came out when the door was opened, but a cat.

Shortly after, Euden came out, but by a few seconds, Ludymin managed to hide her disheveled face.

“…Report?”

Although she was surprised, Léodémène remained silent, prompting Piaca, who was next to her, to intervene.

“Hello, Lady Iden.”

“To what do we owe the pleasure, both of you?” Piaca replied with a friendly smile, mentioning that he had come to get a drink, and Iden mentioned that their work was just finished, guiding them.

As Iden and Piaca went to prepare the tea, leaving Léodémène alone on the sofa, she turned her head towards the window.

A cat with fluffy, pale yellow fur was lying on the windowsill.

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“It was called Adra, I believe.”

As peculiar as the name, there was a strange unfamiliarity emanating from the yellow cat Adra that kept tempting Léodémène.

At first, she thought it was a simple illusion. After all, it was a creature not present in the castle until yesterday, and her head ached due to the pungent scent of the alchemist’s potions.

However, even now, with Iden gone, she couldn’t take her eyes off Adra.

Hop.

Whether her persistent gaze was uncomfortable or not, Adra, who was lying by the window, leaped up onto the tall cabinet in one go. From where Léodémène sat on the sofa, she had to lift her head to see.

Having climbed onto the cabinet, Adra briefly glanced down at Léodémène and flicked its tail.

‘You can’t steal anything from here, right?’

Adra’s unusually large reddish-brown eyes seemed to say just that.

However, if there was one thing Léodémène was, it was a curious person. Just because her neck was a bit stiff didn’t mean she would easily give up on something intriguing.

Meow. Meow.

Wherever Adra went, Léodémène stubbornly turned her head to follow.

*

Due to the interruption of his precious sleep, Adrien was in a very uncomfortable state.

“It’s impossible to sleep well when you keep staring at me!”

Not only did someone scratch and tap outside the door, but he had never dreamed of receiving such a persistent gaze.

“If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have opened it….”

Although Iden secretly opened the door, it was definitely not for the princess. Considering the curse that befell him at the tender age of eighteen, there might be some circumstances, but even if it wasn’t the princess’s intention, the one who passed the curse onto Iden was undoubtedly the princess.

Adrien could never look favorably upon the one who ruined his precious belongings.

“I only opened the door to get a good night’s sleep….”

To suppress the red snake coiled around Iden’s arm, he had to continue maintaining the spell.

In a world where pure mana had already disappeared, Adrien could only draw on murky mana. Therefore, even as he struggled with the princess, at this very moment, filthy mana was relentlessly piercing through Adrien’s heart.

As much as it may have piled up like garbage, he wouldn’t get hurt or die just from a little dirtiness. But flipping the water over constantly was not a pleasant feeling.

Feeling as if he had fallen into a swamp, Adrian planned to take a rest whenever he had the chance to soothe his damp and uncomfortable mood. Until the princess appeared, that is.

“I even blocked the flow of mana to a suitable extent, so what was the problem?”

Adrian stared at the princess who was looking at him with narrow, observant eyes.

He had known she was a magician ever since she boasted about it outside the room.

Even if she couldn’t use simple fire magic, she was still a magician. She seemed to be able to feel the flow of mana enough to draw some attention, so he had subdued his energy to some extent before attracting too much attention.

Adrian had prepared himself in his own way before opening the door.

“…I’ve done something unnecessary. I’ve bet my own grave.”

Now, what good would it do to regret it? Exhausted from the continued struggle, Adrian lifted his tail to cover his face.

The princess’s gaze was unpleasant, but the feeling of being covered in sticky water was definitely not pleasant.

***

“So why have you come?”

Eden put down his teacup and asked.

“…The tea is still hot.”

Without even raising her cup, Rud

Judging by the lukewarm princess’s reaction, it seemed like she still didn’t fully believe in Idun’s words.

‘There’s no way she would believe me obediently.’

The princess had been the one who had stared at Idun for a long time even when he said he had no intention of becoming the royal physician.

How can this situation be resolved? As Idun pondered, the princess suddenly reached out her hand.

“…Your Highness?”

“Apart from the ghost incident, didn’t I say there were other matters to discuss? Since the ghost incident is resolved, now we should talk about something else, shouldn’t we? I’ve been feeling a little uncomfortable lately.”

“Huh? You’re feeling uncomfortable?”

“That’s right. So you should take a look at it for me. There’s no one else in the palace who can examine me.”

The flow of the conversation suddenly took a strange turn, leaving Idun momentarily dumbfounded.