Fresa did not hesitate and helped her to her feet with an arm around her.
“Are you alright?”
“Ah… I’ve been lacking proper sleep lately because I’ve been worrying about His Majesty the Emperor, so I’m a little tired.”
Iris smiled with a pale, thin look.
When someone precious fell ill, those around them inevitably endured a lot of stress as well.
Fresa understood Iris’s feelings well.
“If you drink this, you’ll feel a bit better. Next time I’ll brew you a soothing medicinal tea good for sleep.”
Fresa rummaged through her bag and handed Iris a bottle of peppermint water.
Iris stared at the peppermint water with curious eyes, then expressed her gratitude and tucked it away.
Iris looked frail at a glance, and Fresa couldn’t help but worry.
“Would it be okay to leave her alone at the store?”
Fresa stood there until Iris’s figure disappeared from view, then, a sudden thought striking her, she hurried her steps.
“I was supposed to meet Mr. Lycaon, but I completely forgot.”
She had forgotten that after work she would meet Lycaon and go back together.
As befits the master of the Mage Tower, Lycaon could open the door to the Tower without using a coordinate scroll.
That meant if she went with him, she wouldn’t need to use a dizzying scroll at all.
Fresa hurried through unfamiliar corridors, then finally arrived at the place they had agreed to meet.
It was the small door they had used when they first arrived at the royal capital.
“Mr. Lycaon!”
Lycaon stood in front of that door.
Fresa wagged her hand widely and called his name.
Lycaon slowly turned his body to face her and smiled.
“Why did you run here in such a hurry? It’s already late as it is.”
Lycaon often spoke to the point, cutting through like this.
Fresa sheepishly scratched her cheek and spoke.
“…I ran into the Lady of Orien on the way, so I’m a little late. I’m sorry.”
“The Lady of Orien?”
“Yes, I heard thanks were given to her. For making the Emperor’s medicine. But does the Lady of Orien have any chronic illness?”
In response to Fresa’s question, Lycaon paused for a moment and answered.
“As far as I know, she doesn’t. Why?”
“Ah, I was told she must have been stressed by the Emperor’s issue, and I heard she hasn’t slept well lately. I decided to prepare a medicinal tea for her.”
“Even more people to look after, huh,” Lycaon muttered rather roughly, then, before Fresa could answer, he raised his right hand into the air.
A small circular space appeared and slowly grew to a size large enough for Lycaon to enter.
Fresa blinked at Lycaon’s reaction.
“Lycaon, are you upset?”
Lycaon hadn’t been able to look at Fresa while creating the space, but he wasn’t too busy to respond.
“Not upset, just concerned, because you’re taking on too much work.”
“Just giving a few medicinal teas doesn’t mean more tasks are coming.”
“Things can invite more work. As always. You should go in first, Resa.”
Lycaon spoke firmly and stepped into the space.
Fresa took a step forward, about to say more, and then moved ahead.
The familiar scenery of the Mage Tower filled her vision.
Fresa turned her body toward the place from which she had just left.
Lycaon had just walked inside, and the road linking the royal palace to the Mage Tower closed as soon as he passed through.
Fresa stared at Lycaon intently and smiled.
“You like me too much, you know. If you like me you’ll worry about me.”
“Did you just realize that now?”
Huh, I didn’t expect that reaction.
Fresa was momentarily flustered, when suddenly someone appeared and hurried toward her, reaching out a hand.
“Fresa.”
“What are you doing, Cloe.”
But Lycaon intervened first, preventing any contact, and they could only touch the air.
“Cloe?”
Fresa stepped lightly aside from Cloe, who was completely hidden behind Lycaon’s body, and looked at Cloe.
As Fresa acknowledged her, Lycaon’s expression hardened slightly.
Over his purple eyes there was a strange emotion.
“How do you know each other?”
“Oh, it happened because of a thing or another.”
Fresa replied as if it were nothing important and stepped closer to Cloe.
“What’s the matter?”
“That medicine, give me more of it.”
“Medicine?”
“A medicine that makes the body feel lighter.”
“Oh.”
The medicine Cloe spoke of was none other than the peppermint water.
There are people who have never drunk it, but none who have drunk it only once—a remarkably nourishing tonic.
Fresa did not hide her pride and nodded.
“Right now I don’t have it with me, come back later to get it. But from now on you’ll pay for the medicine, so bring money as well.”
“Money?”
Cloe looked a little flustered at the word money.
Surely she hadn’t thought it would be free forever.
“Yes, money.”
Fresa narrowed her eyes and fixed her gaze on Cloe’s face.
After a moment, Cloe asked in a slow tone.
“How much?”
“Not expensive. About the price of a loaf of bread?”
“…Okay.”
Hearing that it was the price of a loaf of bread, it seemed fine.
Cloe answered cheerfully, alternately glancing between Fresa and Lycaon, then slowly moved away in the opposite direction.
“I’m telling you this in case you misunderstand, but it’s not that Cloe came to see me first. Cloe’s pet wolf Chimmy was injured and needed medicine.”
Fresa, who had been watching Cloe’s back, glanced at Lycaon with a sidelong look and spoke.
Lycaon’s face was oddly serious.
“Was he someone we shouldn’t meet?”
After Fresa’s words, there was a long silence.
Seeing this reaction, Fresa also grew uneasy.
Is there some bad blood between them, or is there some other reason?
Then Lycaon spoke first.
“From now on, do not meet with Cloe alone, Resa. Promise me. I will also tell Cloe.”
She wanted to ask for the reason, but Lycaon’s expression was colder than usual, so Fresa could only promise.
~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~
The medication office’s daily routine was almost the same.
In a few days, Elliott’s bullying persisted, and other apothecaries who didn’t want to offend Elliott naturally kept their distance from Fresa as well.
The only person who spoke to her occasionally was Carla.
But even she would hurry away whenever Elliott appeared.
Of course, she hadn’t come here to make friends, so Fresa didn’t feel particularly disappointed or upset.
Fresa had a clear goal of becoming a formal apothecary, and there was no time to grieve over petty harassment.
From her very first day at work, Fresa had steadily avoided Elliott’s gaze and started her work in the apothecary division.
She took notes on new ingredients she hadn’t seen before and began to learn the locations of the tools used for medicines.
Elliott, as the head apothecary, seemed busy and often away for long periods.
That was the moment Fresa moved.
Of course, she still had to be mindful of avoiding the other apothecaries’ gaze.
Elliott’s son Jen was especially vigilant.
“Shall I check the documents today?”
Fresa pulled out the documents recording ingredients and preparation methods and returned to the sofa behind the medicine cabinet.
Documents that recorded which ingredients were used to make which medicines.
Most of them were managed by Elliott, so the other apothecaries didn’t seem to touch them much.
“Quite a variety of medicines they’re making.”
Fresa read the documents carefully.
Most of them were medicines and ingredients she already knew.
Even the royal pharmacology division didn’t seem particularly special.
But not long after, she found something odd and paused.
“What is this?”
Based on the name and appearance, it was clearly a herb Fresa knew, but its efficacy was recorded completely differently.
Not just different, it was written as a complete fraud—completely false.
When she checked the name of the record-keeper, it was Elliott Rupert again.
“This herb is usually used to make simple nutrients, so why…”
Why would it be recorded as slowing aging and improving skin beauty?
Unless someone intended to deceive, the medicine’s effects should be recorded accurately.
Moreover, this place was the royal court’s pharmacology division.
“Is Elliott Rupert running a scam?”
But now there were only records left, and there was little evidence.
Even if Fresa confronted Elliott, he could just claim that it was confused with another herb.
It was certainly suspicious.
“What are you doing here?”
A sudden voice startled Fresa, who hurriedly folded the documents and tucked them into her robe pocket.
Elliott’s son Jen Rupert stared at her with suspicious eyes.
~·~·*· . ·**##^^##**· . ·*·~·~
Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉
Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~~~Next Chapter~~~
Next chapter will be released on October, 14.
See you then!!
Ah Lycaon, you are jealous huh 😂