A Genius Pharmacist Whom the Empress Is Obsessed With

Episode 10. It wasn’t over yet.

The situation quickly developed.

Elden, who had been eavesdropping from the next room, hurriedly walked through the hallway, afraid that the flustered Countess would come looking for him and get injured.

“Why are you here…”

“Elden! Didn’t I tell you to behave properly? Why didn’t you listen to me!”

“Um, that’s…my apologies.”

While Elden dealt with the bewildered Countess and the shouting Director, Ella, as requested by Elden, secretly escaped and brought Lord Pheniad.

“What are you all doing in the corridor?”

Count Fenyard appeared, his disheveled hair and dusty clothes flipping over.

“It’s me, my lord! Please listen to me!”

As soon as he saw the count, director Estelon stepped forward as if he had met his savior.

“Oh, wait a minute. We shouldn’t talk here, let’s go to that room.”

Maybe thinking that he couldn’t enter the princess’s room with his dirty appearance, Count Fenyard led everyone standing in the corridor towards the princess’s adjacent room.

“Well then, would the countess explain what happened?”

While the count wiped his hands and face with a towel soaked in water, the countess explained the events that had happened so far.

“My lord! You should listen to me first! The countess is trying to intercept my job!”

Of course, Director Estelon didn’t stay silent and raised his voice.

“Her Highness the princess moved her fingers….”

Dressed in clean clothes, Count Fenyard touched his chin lightly and looked at Edun’s eyes, questioning the truth of their words.

“Is what both of you are saying true?”

Count Fenyard’s eyes were asking that.

Instead of nodding, Edun shrugged his shoulders, implying that he didn’t know.

Although the director didn’t know, at least the countess was not someone who would tell lies.

However, he hadn’t seen the patient with his own eyes yet. He couldn’t open his mouth based on assumptions without examining the patient.

“As an expert, I have to take responsibility even for words I say in passing.”

With Edun’s gesture, Count Fenyard seemed lost in thought for a moment, then opened his mouth towards the director.

“It’s good news that Her Highness’s condition is improving. Our esteemed Director Estelon has worked hard.”

“…My lord.”

With a pale face, Director Estelon looked at the count with eyes full of emotion. He had been constantly oppressed by the countess. In the midst of that, it must have been incredibly rewarding for him to be recognized by even the count.

“I will continue to do my best to take care of Princess Her Highness.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know my director’s heart well. So, go inside and rest for now. I’ll call for you again once the situation is sorted out.”

“…Pardon?”

The director seemed genuinely stupid.

“Didn’t you hear me properly? I said go inside and rest since you must be tired.”

Count Fenyard approached the director and whispered something, then took the pale-faced director with him and left the room. In the meantime, he nodded slightly at Edun.

It seemed like he could see through Edun’s thoughts, just as he could see through the count. And Edun also seemed to know the count’s intentions somehow.

“While the director is away, let’s check on Princess Her Highness.”

The marquis clearly said so.

Although he had confirmed it last night, Eden was curious about the princess’s condition. As soon as the footsteps of the superintendent and the marquis grew distant, Eden asked for permission from the countess and immediately headed towards the princess’s room.

The thick door opened, and Eden slowly entered the room.

On the princess’s body on the bed, five strands of red thread were blooming like spider lilies.

The number of threads had clearly decreased compared to the first time. However, as soon as Eden saw those threads, his swollen heart sank in an instant.

“Yes. It’s not over yet.”

Eden wiped his left arm and quietly bit his lower lip.

On his left arm, there were flickering red threads just like the princess’s.

***

“You’ve been through a lot.”

Count Penniad poured wine into Eden’s goblet.

“Thank you.”

Eden accepted the glass without a word.

For the princess. Count Penniad finished a simple toast without hesitation and drank the wine, and Eden also sipped the wine with courtesy.

“I don’t particularly enjoy alcohol, but…”

It wouldn’t be polite to refuse something that Count Penniad brought up, saying that the princess’s symptoms were clearly improving.

After Eden put down his goblet halfway, Count Penniad seemed to have been waiting and lifted his glass.

“… Although I tried not to ask as much as possible, I couldn’t help being curious. Eden, what medicine did you use for the princess? Could it be a remedy that has been passed down through generations?”

Whether it was because he heard news about the princess or because the strong alcohol had spread, Count Penniad’s gaze was more serious than ever.

“That’s not the case. My parents were just ordinary farmers.”

“…Is that so?”

“If you’re curious about what herbs were used in the princess’s medicine, I have written it separately and will bring it to you.”

“Bring it here. I don’t mean that by my words. What is the reason for answering that way even though you know that?”

Count Penniad filled his glass and spoke.

“After the princess fell ill, I also studied a lot of medicine. It might be just a conversation between us, but I didn’t see any hope from what I did. But you, what means did you use to make the princess move in a week?”

“…Although she is gradually improving, she has not fully recovered yet.”

“…I see. Well, that’s true. Then, in your opinion, when will the princess wake up?”

Count Penniad’s deep blue eyes urged Eden to reveal the answer he had hidden.

“Well, you know, as people who have been bedridden for a long time often worsen even after their symptoms improve.”

At the vague answer that he heard for the first time, Count Penniad’s expression slightly twisted. Nevertheless, there was nothing he could do. Eden, who didn’t want to lie just to buy Count Penniad’s favor due to his personality.

“I will do my best just to make sure that Your Highness wakes up.”

Idun looked down at her left arm. Red threads shimmered against the white fabric. They were the curses that Idun had taken from the princess.

Unfortunately, with Idun’s knowledge, she couldn’t determine what exactly the princess’s curse was.

But one thing was certain, the curses, whose names were unknown, were devouring people’s life force through unknown means.

So, judging that she, with her infinite life force, might be able to withstand the princess’s curse, Idun had been cutting off the princess’s curse from herself for the past week.

The result was the red threads sticking to Idun’s arm like sticky tentacles.

But this was not the end.

“The most fundamental curse has not yet been severed.”

Everything Idun had done for the past week had only been preliminary work. The curses she had obtained so far were not the curse that had made the princess submit, but rather the side curses created by the pawns.

The most problematic curse was powerful in itself… So, she had to somehow weaken its power by removing as many other curses as possible.

Now that the preliminary work was done, the curse at issue was scheduled to be transferred to herself today or tomorrow.

“There is no guarantee that the curse will transfer as smoothly as the other curses.”

That curse was clearly aimed at the princess and was performed as such. Therefore, even for Idun, it was impossible to provide a definite answer.

“If this attempt fails, I don’t know how the curse will change, but…”

She could only do her best.

“I understand. I will do my best, and you can trust only me.”

In response to Idun’s answer, the marquis nodded. His gaze and tone had suddenly returned to their usual cheerful state.

“But don’t push yourself too hard. The princess is important, but you should also take care of yourself. Lately, you look much paler, Idun. At this rate, you might end up dying before the princess.”

Even giving life force to the princess consumed a tremendous amount of energy. On top of that, forcibly severing the curses and taking them into her own body had caused exhaustion to accumulate like a mountain for Idun.

“I understand.”

She would definitely succeed. With determination in her heart, Idun emptied the remaining wine in one gulp.

***

Tap, tap.

The sound of sparks from the bonfire filled the cave.

“I slept for too long. There’s so much to do.”

The woman picked up a brush and swept the cave. Every time she moved, a thick cloud of dust and spider webs floated in the air.

“At times like this, Idun should be here.”

Though he was pretty useless, he could at least help with the cleaning.

“Ah, whatever. I’ll do it later.”

The woman threw the brush aside and walked to the bonfire.

Although there is still a lot to do, the smell of grilled fish has been teasing his nose since earlier, driving him insane. The woman took a big bite of the well-cooked fish.

“It’s so delicious now that it’s been a while.”

After eating three fish, the woman finally showed a satisfied expression.

Since Idun left Yuhi, Adrian had been sleeping soundly in their lair.

With nothing else to do and with the world growing dim, even she, a dragon, needed to rest occasionally.

“By the way, I wonder what Idun is doing right now.”

Even though they were both hunters who didn’t mind not seeing each other for a few years, it felt a little lonely for Idun to wake up and find no one by her side.

“I should go visit her, I’m bored.”

High Dragon Adrian muttered as he threw the fish bones he was holding into the bonfire.