A Genius Pharmacist Whom the Empress Is Obsessed With

Episode 4: What’s so great about that apothecary?

Late at night, past midnight.

The Countess Royelle was unable to leave her study.

She had to sort out the overdue accounts and show them to Marquis Penniad in the morning.

The Omstendell castle, where Princess Ludimine was hiding her body.

The owner of this castle was Marquis Penniad, and Countess Royelle and Princess Ludimine were hiding in the castle, avoiding the public’s eyes.

It had been a long time since the Countess Royelle’s husband had passed away, and Princess Ludimine had officially been declared dead to avoid assassination threats.

Since neither of them had anywhere else to go, they had to somehow show their gratitude to Marquis Penniad, who was their only source of help. One of them was managing the castle’s finances, which involved keeping records.

“Countess.”

At the sound of someone outside the door, the Countess Royelle’s eyebrows furrowed. Her concentration had been broken when she was already on edge because the numbers in the records didn’t add up.

“Madam, are you still awake?”

But at the sound of the voice, Madame’s stiff face softened in an instant. The person who came to see her was the owner of this palace.

“No, please come in. Marquis.”

The Countess quickly tidied her tousled hair and replied.

Clack. The sound of the door gently rang out as Marquis Peniad entered the study. Whether he had heard it before going to bed or not, he was quite relaxed in his shirt.

“I heard you were working until midnight, as the maid said.”

The Marquis said, looking at the desk. The unfinished books were piled up in disarray on the table.

“You can take your time, don’t overwork yourself. Taking care of the Princess must be tiring as well.”

As if she had been caught in her embarrassment, the Countess’s face blushed momentarily.

“I was just about to finish and go to bed. Please, take a seat for now.”

Even so, she had to maintain her dignity as the lady of the house. The Countess calmly escorted the Marquis to the sofa.

“By the way, what brings you to me at this late hour?”

“Oh, I wanted to renovate the castle a bit. Since outsiders will be coming in from tomorrow, it’s only natural to inform the Countess as well.”

“…Renovate the castle?”

“Yes. Summer is coming soon, isn’t it? It would be good to renovate it before the heavy rain comes.”

“Exactly which part are you thinking of renovating?”

“We’re planning to renovate overall. If I had to pick, we would pay more attention to the infirmary.”

“Is it because of that apothecary?”

Instead of answering, the Marquis let out a strange laugh.

Seeing that, the Countess suddenly became curious about this person named Edun.

Marquis Peniad had brought numerous people with him, but he had never once shown any consideration for their comfort.

But this time, he not only brought an apothecary but also gave them their own room.

It was understandable to some extent, but to spend a fortune just to renovate the castle for that apothecary.

Now that it had come to this, she felt like she should ask all the questions she had.

“Is the apothecary’s skill that impressive? Is it really worth giving special treatment to?”

“He’s not bad. Thanks to his digestive medicine, I’ve been gaining weight recently.”

“I see.”

“Madam, please visit him someday. If you receive some supplements or something, you’ll understand what I’m saying.”

The Countess knew that Marquis Peniad had some knowledge and skill in medicine too. He had started studying on his own as the Princess started to fall ill.

If he was recognized by the lord of the castle and the master of the water, then there was nothing for the Countess to say.

“Anyway, please go to sleep soon. You can take your time with the accounting.”

As soon as his duties were done, the Marquis left the study with a casual farewell.

“A pharmacist…”

The Marquis coming out like that piqued her curiosity for a moment, but now the accounting was the priority.

The lady sat back at her desk and glanced at the accounting book. Exhaustion rushed over her like a flood, but she had to finish the accounting before morning, by any means necessary.

***

The next morning, Edun had to be dragged out to the garden as soon as he finished breakfast.

“Marquis, what’s going on?”

In the garden, Edun came face to face with the Marquis wearing work clothes more suited for commoners, holding a pickaxe in one hand.

Behind the Marquis, people he had never seen before were diligently carrying stones and wood.

“No matter how you think about it, the lab is a mess, so I thought I’d lend a hand.”

“Suddenly?”

“Suddenly? Isn’t it the duty of a lord to repair the castle?”

The Marquis, speaking with a booming voice, suddenly approached Edun and whispered.

“It’s the noble’s duty to provide suitable tools to those with talent.”

“Are you talking about Director Estelon?”

The Marquis burst into laughter at Edun’s response.

“Director Estelon is quite talented. When the repairs are done, I plan to treat the director well, too.”

From the way he spoke, it seemed that the Marquis had caught onto Edun’s thoughts.

“I see. The director will probably be very pleased.”

“Yeah. So don’t worry about anything and just tidy up the herbs over there.”

Edun’s gaze followed where the Marquis pointed. There, a pile of herbs taken from the lab had piled up.

“I was planning to tidy them up myself, but I’m so ignorant of herbology that I felt like I would only make things worse. If you find it difficult to tidy up, let me know. I’ll find someone suitable to assist you.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I think it would be better for me to tidy them up myself.”

In truth, Edun had been thinking that he should also tidy up the lab.

“Yeah. Then go take a look right away.”

Satisfied with Edun’s answer, the Marquis spoke with a content smile.

Edun bowed his head to the Marquis and then headed towards the pile of herbs that looked like trash.

*

“How am I going to do this?”

“That should be thrown away. The medicinal effect is useless because the essence inside has died. It looks like it can be used as firewood.”

“I see.”

Without hesitation, Ella threw the tree bark she was holding into the sack and tightly tied it with a red string.

Since there were so many medicinal ingredients that needed to be discarded, they had decided to mark them with a red string before throwing them away all at once.

“Is this one alright then?”

“Oh, the bark hasn’t been peeled yet. It can be used if you wash it with clear water.”

In response to Itaewon’s answer, Ella’s nanny marked the sack with a blue string.

Although Itaewon had started organizing the medicinal ingredients alone, Ella appeared just when she was feeling bored and offered to help.

“Are you sure you’re not tired? You don’t have to help me.”

Although Itaewon was grateful for Ella and the nanny’s kind intentions, she felt uneasy about burdening them unnecessarily.

“It’s okay. Just think of it as me also studying about medicinal herbs!”

With a sincere expression, Ella untied the tightly bound string of the sack.

“Ugh! It stinks!”

However, as soon as she opened the sack a little, the rotten smell made Itaewon recoil and cover her face.

Seeing her reaction, Itaewon handed her a red string without saying a word.

“But why are these herbs so rotten? Didn’t Father buy them with money?”

Annoyed by the foul smell, Ella puffed up her cheeks and asked.

“It’s probably because they’ve been passed through many hands.”

From harvesting to storage, none of the herbs could be neglected. Even a slight negligence could completely change the effect or nature of the medicinal ingredients.

Improperly managed herbs could become poison instead of medicine, and that was the case with the herbs from Umstendell Castle.

The doctors brought by the Marquis were not all competent, and there was likely no proper transfer of information on who, when, and how the medicinal ingredients were stored.

So even though they were in good condition when purchased, the medicinal ingredients couldn’t be considered reliable.

“After organizing the herbs, we need to examine the medicines as well.”

The medicines made from these herbs were not proper medicines. Continuously feeding the Princess with deteriorated substances that were hardly different from poison was practically wishing for her death.

“That’s why you’ve been bedridden! You’ve been taking this rotten stuff.”

While kicking the sack with the red string, Ella spoke.

“If we properly organize this time, it’ll be fine. By the way, Miss, how is Lady Rudimine feeling today?”

Itaewon hadn’t been caught by anyone else, but she had suffered from severe fatigue all night.

It was the aftermath of injecting more vitality into the Princess than she had expected.

It was astonishing how strong the instinct to live was. The moment Itaewon held the Princess’s hand, the golden sphere emitted a dazzling light and absorbed vitality as if going crazy.

The intensity of their momentum was so fierce that it was impossible to let go carelessly.

“It was the first time that so much vitality had been shared.”

Having taken so much vitality, there was a slight expectation that the condition of Princess Ludimine would improve at least a little.

“Princess Ludimine? In the morning, no one can enter your room except for the Countess. Morning is your mealtime. So, I haven’t seen you yet.”

“Ah….”

Seeing Edun disappointed, Ella came closer and whispered in her ear.

“Let’s go together when the Countess is not there. You have to hold her hand again this time.”

Edun gently wiped her dusty cheek, marveling at how her sparkling eyes were so adorable.

However, it didn’t take long for Edun to find out about Princess Ludimine’s condition.

“I heard that there is a pharmacist named Edun here.”

Not long after, Lady Royelle’s stern voice resonated throughout the garden.