Episode 22
I beamed at Grandfather and spoke cheerfully.
“Remember the favor I asked you yesterday? Where is it?”
“I’ll bring it now.”
Grandfather replied warmly, then gave a subtle glance toward the researchers.
Immediately, as though waiting for his signal, they began approaching me—each of them carrying something in their hands.
“This is the Tear of an Imp.”
They carefully set the ingredients down on my worktable, explaining one by one.
“Powdered wings of a magic-infused black butterfly.”
“Crushed powder made from a hippogriff’s feather.”
“This one… dried powder of a specter’s hide, left under sunlight. But… are you truly giving her something this rare?”
The last researcher, setting down his ingredient, whispered in shock to the colleague beside him.
That colleague jabbed him in the ribs and hissed back.
“Just do as you’re told.”
Sorry, but I heard all of that.
It really did sound like a conversation between my parents, so I didn’t mind much.
‘Well, they are rare ingredients, that’s for sure.’
Especially since Mother had purified the entire land of the demons, they’d become even harder to obtain.
But this was all for the sake of protecting the very person who had made that possible.
So it should be fine.
I smiled brightly and said aloud.
“Thank you very much!”
Then I turned my eyes to the worktable where the colorful ingredients lay neatly arranged.
Looks like I’d managed to gather nearly all the items mentioned in the main story…
‘Ah, wait!’
Right. I almost forgot the most important part!
I quickly rummaged through my pouch. Inside were all sorts of inventions I’d snuck out of Dad Kyle’s laboratory.
Until now, I hadn’t really found a chance to use them.
Anyway—
‘Perfect.’
I placed a single strand of fine, threadlike hair beside the ingredients, smiling with satisfaction.
This powder worked by mixing in a part of someone’s body; if that person ever faced danger, it would trigger a sneeze.
Which meant, of course, that this hair belonged to none other than my mother.
‘A fresh strand I picked up from her pillow this morning.’
I even took a few extras, just in case.
I’m nothing if not a well-prepared child!
“Hmmm.”
Now the ingredients were ready. Next, I just needed to mix them according to the instructions in the story.
“Oh, there’s the scale.”
The Tears of an Imp were always fixed at five drops. For the rest, I’d just need to match the proportions exactly as written.
I carried over the scale sitting at the edge of the table and began weighing each ingredient carefully.
Grandfather watched me in silence, then suddenly muttered.
“…She’s my granddaughter.”
The researchers, who had been observing curiously, froze with their mouths wide open.
I blinked, startled, halfway through measuring a powder.
That came out of nowhere.
‘Was that… bragging? He must mean it as bragging, right?’
But he didn’t even know who my real father was yet. Was it fine for him to say that so casually?
“They say she even knows how to write.”
Grandfather went on, ignoring my doubts, piling on the praise.
“…She takes after me.”
He even claimed I resembled him—not Dad Kyle, not Dad Harzen, but him!
I silently clicked my tongue. Clearly, he’d decided to distract me on purpose.
But I wasn’t the type to lose focus so easily.
Ignoring the bragging machine behind me and the anxious, wide-eyed researchers, I calmly finished mixing the ingredients.
Phew, done.
There had been a little trial along the way, but nothing serious.
‘Now all that’s left is to add everything together and stir…’
I placed the powders into a bowl in order: specter dust, hippogriff feather, butterfly wings, and finally, five drops of Imp’s Tears.
“Wow…”
As I stirred slowly with a stick, I couldn’t help letting out a breath of awe.
Despite having only a few drops of liquid, the ingredients blended as though they had been water all along.
“So pretty…”
Finally, when I added Mother’s strand of hair, the clear mixture turned into a mysterious pink hue.
It was exactly as described in the story—the liquid glowing with the color of the hair it contained.
‘Success!’
I clenched my fist in triumph, then quickly shook my head.
No, not yet. I had to stay calm.
It wasn’t finished until the mixture dried under the sun and turned into powder.
‘If I made it properly, it should take about three hours.’
It was supposed to dry faster than ordinary liquid. So I just had to wait.
“Hehe.”
I carefully set the bowl where sunlight streamed down. Luckily, the sun was shining high and bright today.
Perfect.
I admired the shimmering liquid proudly—until Grandfather finally spoke up, unable to contain himself any longer.
“…Child, what exactly are you making?”
“Oh, this?”
I couldn’t exactly say, It’s sneeze powder to protect my mom.
So instead, I tilted my head and answered innocently.
“It’s sparkly powder!”
“…?”
Grandfather and the researchers stared at me with even rounder eyes.
“With such precious ingredients… you’re making…”
“…sparkly powder?”
Someone muttered in utter disbelief, their voice sinking into my ears.
I just kept smiling sweetly, letting their words drift out the other side.
Anyway, thank you all very much!
Several hours later.
“Whoa…”
I stared at the now fully dried contents of the bowl, eyes shining.
It was real. The genuine sneeze powder.
‘Though… the quantity is smaller than I expected.’
I had hoped there would be enough to keep some aside for later, but at best, it seemed enough to cover just Mom and Dad.
I tilted my head, then put my hands on my hips with a huff.
No matter. For a first attempt, this was an amazing success!
With this, if anyone even thought of killing Mother, I’d know right away!
‘Bertolt probably wouldn’t try to kill her himself.’
With his personality, he’d almost certainly order someone else to do it.
But since Mother already had Grandfather’s trust, the nobles’ schemes wouldn’t work anymore.
‘So assassination is the only option left.’
But with this powder, we could react before an attack landed.
‘That alone is enough to protect her, at least a little.’
Satisfied, I carefully transferred the powder into a vial. This much, I’d sprinkle over Mother and Father.
As for me? Naturally—
“Yah!”
I lifted the bowl over my head and shook out the last bits of powder onto myself.
Mother always said: Even scraps can be useful!
But unlike my proud grin, the researchers looked at me with dead fish eyes, gasping like fish out of water.
Until just now, they had been watching blankly with the expression, Where am I? Who am I?
“Wait—did she just…? Did she shake it out?”
“She didn’t spill it by accident, did she?”
“Is that… allowed?”
Knowing exactly what ingredients went into it, they were utterly horrified by my little stunt.
“There was specter hide in there! Is that safe?”
“But it was sun-dried. Doesn’t that make it harmless?”
“Specters lived without sunlight. Drying it doesn’t erase the danger!”
“But she called it sparkly powder. And nothing’s happened yet, so maybe it’s fine?”
“We don’t even know how the ingredients react together. What if something goes wrong?”
Wow. So noisy.
‘This is the first time I’ve met people louder than my parents.’
Good thing Grandfather had left earlier for work. Otherwise, he would have witnessed the true chaos of this ragtag bunch.
“Shouldn’t we wash her off?”
“Call a maid?”
“Or maybe just shake it off quickly?”
“But she’s His Majesty’s granddaughter. Can we even touch her?”
Their confused gazes bounced between me and each other, over and over.
Finally—
“Still, a child’s life comes first, doesn’t it?”
“His Majesty will understand…”
Having reached a conclusion, they all turned their gazes back to me.
And then, like hunters approaching a skittish kitten, they crept toward me step by step.
Oh no. This didn’t look good.
‘I don’t want to be shaken down like a rag doll!’
I immediately shouted.
“I’m fine!”
“Yes, yes, you’ll be fine. Just let us shake you a little—”
They weren’t listening to me at all!
So this was the moment.
I shut my eyes tight and yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Do you know Kyle Blake?!”
