IAYA 04

Chapter 4

Through the glove, I could feel the touch of Teansis’s hand—it was rough, covered in calluses, far harder than I expected.

The hand of a perfect man.

His face was so delicately handsome that I sometimes forgot, but he was one of the most outstanding knights in the Empire.

As Teansis examined the sole and ankle of my foot, he withdrew his hand and spoke.

“Strangely enough, there’s nothing wrong.”

“Th-that’s a relief.”

With a serious expression, Teansis asked again,

“Has there ever been a time when a monster charged at you like today?”

“Like today?”

I thought carefully, but no such memory came to mind.

That day in the Taran Forest was the first time I had ever seen a monster, and it was also the first time I had experienced something so terrifying.

“No. That was my first time seeing a monster, and I’ve never gone through anything like this before.”

“I see…”

Teansis wore a somewhat troubled expression. But soon, as if shaking off his worries, he erased the shadow from his face.

“…It seems it was just my imagination.”

“Is there some kind of problem?”

“No. As I mentioned earlier, this accident happened due to negligence on both our part and that of the Kamar Academy. If you require treatment later on, please charge it to the Academy.”

With that, Teansis stood up, as though his business here was done.

Watching him rise, I suddenly remembered the words of gratitude I had yet to say.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Thank you for saving my life. I should’ve said that first, but I was too shaken to think straight.”

“I only did my duty. The chains restraining the monster broke while it was being transported, and that was our mistake.”

Thinking about it, that was true. But if Teansis hadn’t been there, I would have been as good as dead.

It didn’t matter why the accident had happened if I was already gone.

Even if it was their fault, the fact remained that I was alive only because Teansis stepped forward against the monster without a moment’s hesitation.

“Still, the fact remains that I survived thanks to you, Duke.”

“It was my duty. Whether it had been you or anyone else, I would have saved them.”

For some reason, those words felt terribly impersonal. It was made painfully clear that it wasn’t because I was special.

It stung a little, but since it was the truth, I wasn’t hurt by it.

“Even so… I wanted to say thank you.”

At that point, it felt natural that we had nothing left to say to each other.

From the start, I had worried about troubling him and had even asked the maid to pass along my thanks.

This much of an unexpected encounter was enough.

After all, Teansis and I lived in completely different worlds.

It was embarrassing enough that he had seen me faint from being hit by fruit, but being able to speak with him, even briefly, felt like good fortune.

A meeting like this would never happen again in my life.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

With those words, I quickly turned away. After a few steps, however, a lingering regret stopped me.

To me, he was like a star in the night sky.

A cliché expression, perhaps—but a star is something you can never reach, yet so dazzling that your eyes can’t help but be drawn to it.

If this really was the last time…

There was at least one thing I wanted to say to him.

When I turned back, Teansis was still looking at me with those captivating violet eyes.

His features were so flawlessly sculpted that any woman in the world would likely fall in love at first sight.

Thinking that this would be our final meeting gave me courage I never knew I had.

“Your Grace.”

At my call, Teansis gave me a questioning look, as if wondering what was the matter.

“I wish you no illness and continued good health, always.”

It wasn’t the sort of thing you said to someone you had just met. He might think I was out of my mind, but those were truly the words I most wanted to say.

Please always stay healthy.

Don’t ever fall ill.

You don’t know me, but thanks to you, so many of my days were happy.

I swallowed the rest of those words, turned, and quickly left the room.

Because I didn’t look back as I hurried out, I didn’t see his final expression. But my steps felt light.

Teansis’s quarters weren’t just luxuriously decorated—they were practically an entire mansion transplanted whole.

Leaving behind his vast residence, complete with its own grand garden, I headed toward the main gates of Kamar Academy.

The Academy was so large that I had to check the signposts along the way, asking students for directions as I went.

It was then that I noticed a group of men in guard uniforms. When they spotted me, they muttered among themselves, then started walking straight toward me.

At first, I thought I must be imagining it—why would they come to me? But no, they were clearly heading my way.

“Huh?”

Before I knew it, two of them had grabbed me by the arms and began dragging me off. With no explanation at all, I was utterly bewildered.

“What do you think you’re doing? Where are you taking me?”

I couldn’t make sense of it, so I had no choice but to protest.

But no matter what I said, the guards didn’t respond. They simply forced me along.

“Let me go!”

I struggled, but their iron grips didn’t budge.

Soon, we arrived at an ornate wooden door.

Finally, one of the guards spoke.

“We’ve brought her, Professor.”

“Let her in.”

At the curt command from inside, they pushed me into the room. Stumbling forward, I frowned as I looked at the man before me.

Inside stood a stranger—wearing a white lab coat, silver-rimmed glasses perched on his nose.

His unkempt hair and plain demeanor made him look a little shabby, but when I looked closer, his features were actually strikingly handsome.

“Who are you—?”

“You. You’re the one who came for the assistant apothecary interview a few days ago, right?”

He cut me off and questioned me sharply. Then I noticed the embroidered title on his coat: Professor of Alchemy.

Thinking back, I might have glimpsed him when leaving after the interview. And just now, the guards had called him “Professor.”

“Are you… the alchemy professor I was supposed to interview with?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m so sorry. I left suddenly because I urgently needed to check something—”

“Enough. You drank my experimental potion, didn’t you?”

Once again, he cut me off, blurting out what he wanted to say.

I disliked the way he spoke so rudely despite it being our first proper meeting. But since it was true that I had broken my promise to meet him, I held back.

“Professor… are you talking about that pink—”

“Yes. The one you shattered and left behind. Judging by your face, I hardly even need to ask.”

I could no longer stand his constant interruptions.

“Yes, I did drink it, mistaking it for a beverage. And I realize I left without even cleaning up the shards—so if you’re angry, I apologize. But speaking so informally the first time we meet is uncalled for. I had intended to come back and apologize properly—”

“Apologize? Do you have any idea what that potion was? Did you think a simple ‘sorry’ would be enough?”

This time, I had no retort.

The truth was, I didn’t know what it had been. If compensation was needed, it might cost more than I could ever afford.

With everything that had happened—the monster attack, meeting Teansis—I had been too distracted to think. But in reality, my home and even the title of “noblewoman” were precarious.

“I hadn’t thought that far. If I need to compensate you, I’ll do my best, though it might take time since my situation isn’t good—”

“You really don’t get it. I’ll show you. See for yourself.”

He strode into the adjoining lab and returned with a small cage. Inside was a lab mouse.

Placing the cage where I could see it clearly, he unlocked a drawer and pulled out a vial of pink liquid.

Even at a glance, I knew it was the same potion I had mistakenly drunk.

He dropped a bit of it into the cage.

Chiiik! Squeeeek!

The mouse squealed violently, then collapsed. Not even a twitch afterward.

It was dead.

“…!”

I stared in disbelief.

I knew—it was the exact same potion I had drunk.

But he, unsurprised, spoke calmly.

“Most of the animals I tested it on died. But on rare occasions, a few showed strange reactions. After long study, I realized this potion reacts with a creature’s unique life force—sometimes producing unexpected results.”

“Unexpected results…?”

I looked at him, confused.

He sighed, as if exasperated, then explained.

“Have you checked the mirror since leaving the lab?”

“No…”

“Then look. See what you look like now.”

He handed me a desk mirror.

Suddenly, I remembered. While waiting for the interview, I had thought I looked younger. That was why I had rushed out of the lab—to check a mirror.

My hands trembled as I slowly raised the mirror.

“Ah!”

The reflection staring back at me was shocking.

It wasn’t an illusion from the glass wall of the lab earlier—my face had truly returned to how it looked in my early twenties.

Unbelievable.

How could this happen, just from drinking that potion?

But the mirror’s image was too clear to deny.

I set down the hand mirror quickly and rushed to a full-length mirror in the room, suspecting he might have tampered with the first.

But no—it was real.

Not just my face—every trace of age, every ounce of weight had vanished. The dress that had fit me snugly this morning now hung loose.

It was too shocking for words.

As he approached behind me, he asked,

“Now you see?”

His reflection in the mirror was unchanged. Proof there was no trick.

“How… how is this possible…?”

I touched my smooth skin, still unable to believe.

“I always thought it was only a theory. But seeing it happen before me—it feels like admiring my own masterpiece.”

With a dry laugh, he gestured toward the sofa.

“Sit. This will take a while to explain.”

I nodded and sat, though inside I was trembling.

My heart pounded wildly, filled with fear, excitement, and confusion.

But he was the only one who could explain.

He sat opposite, scrutinizing my face.

“What’s your name?”

The question caught me completely off guard.

“…My name?”

“Whose else would it be?”

Annoyed, he urged me to answer.

Since hiding it would do no good, I replied firmly,

“Velia de Ferington.”

“Ferington? Never heard of that family.”

“We’re a small barony, so you wouldn’t have. And I’ve never participated in society.”

My baron father had passed away, my sisters had married into other families, and only I remained to carry the name. But since I’d spent years nursing my ailing mother, I had hardly ever appeared in noble circles.

“Hmm. So you are a noble. Judging by your appearance, I thought you might be a commoner.”

He muttered it almost to himself, but the tone felt condescending. I bit my lip.

Admittedly, my dress and jewelry were plain—hardly the attire of a wealthy noblewoman. To nobles, such things were symbols of status, and mine betrayed my poverty.

“Alright then, Lady Ferington. Earlier, you said you’d compensate me for the potion, didn’t you?”

“…Yes.”

“If I put a price on it, hmm… probably equal to Kamar Academy’s entire annual operating budget.”

“Wh-what?”

I nearly leapt from my seat.

The Academy’s tuition alone was beyond what most nobles could afford. Its operating costs for a year… that was astronomical.

Given my dire circumstances, it was a devastating number.

“That’s absurd!”

At my protest, he scoffed.

“Absurd? Look at yourself. What do people desire most? To never die. To become young again. Do you think that’s worth any less?”

“That… that’s…”

I faltered.

True, to a wealthy noble, such a miracle was worth mountains of gold.

As I hesitated, he smiled knowingly, as though waiting for this moment.

“Of course, you don’t have to repay me with money.”