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Chapter 47
“Hmm?”
“Lady Litricia, is something wrong?”
Litricia, who had returned to her room and was talking with Piril, suddenly shivered. She had the strange feeling that someone was talking about her somewhere.
“I just suddenly got a different thought… Anyway, where were we?”
“You were asking how much antidote could be made with the tetrad that the young duke left.”
“Oh right. So how much exactly can be made?”
Shaking off her wandering thoughts, Litricia refocused on her conversation with Piril.
“Well… it’s an estimate, but…”
Having completed his twice-daily health check on Litricia, Piril stroked his beard thoughtfully.
“First, if we exclude the amount used for the test antidote… Lady Litricia, may I use a sheet of paper?”
He tried to calculate mentally but gave up with a sheepish smile and uncapped the fountain pen clipped to his gown.
“Of course. Here you go.”
Litricia handed him a sheet of scrap paper, which she had tucked between some fairy tale books from the study for doodling.
Piril glanced at the books over his glasses for a moment but soon turned his full attention to the paper, practically burying his nose in it.
After calculating fervently for a while, he finally reached a conclusion, drawing a long line under a large number before capping his pen.
Litricia pushed her chair forward and moved the fairy tale book aside to see the number clearly.
From the amount Piril had calculated, it wasn’t much, but it looked like it would be enough to treat a small village.
“There’s more antidote than I expected.”
“Yes. Since the knights recovered well enough not to need the antidote anymore, we have a surplus. But why are you suddenly asking about this?”
“Well…”
Litricia, just like Killian, bit her lower lip out of habit.
“Piril, have you heard? That the atmosphere near the border has become noticeably tense these past few days.”
“Ah, yes. I heard about it when I visited the knights this morning.”
The northern border was marked by a narrow stream, no wider than a step across, and it bordered the small village of Telsi on the capital’s side.
Normally, no one would settle so far north, but the village of Telsi was formed by those driven out of the capital, unable to bear the heavy taxes, with nowhere else to go.
On top of that, several orphanages in the capital had closed last year due to financial difficulties, and the children with nowhere to go ended up in Telsi.
“As you know, that village has a high proportion of children. So, the damage from the poisoning seems to be quite severe compared to other areas. Because of that, hostility toward northerners is getting serious.”
Piril added that while it might be exaggerated, some in the knight order even joked that a riot might break out.
Apparently, a few from the Silvano Knights had already been deployed to support border defense.
“Ah! So you’re thinking of sending the antidote to that village!”
Piril quickly caught on to Litricia’s intention.
“Are you worried that a riot might really happen? Come on, it’s not that easy to incite one.”
“You never know, Piril. And even if it’s not because of that, just waiting idly takes too long.”
It would take Peter three or four days just to reach the capital. Even if he were lucky and could talk directly with Esta, it would take another five days to make the antidote.
And then another four days to deliver it back to Telsi.
Children react more severely to even small doses of poison. Unlike adults, their symptoms progress rapidly and unpredictably.
To leave them untreated for nearly two weeks more—
It didn’t seem like a good decision. No one knew how much worse things could get.
“Anyway, that’s a relief. With the amount you mentioned, we should be able to treat the entire village.”
“But will they even accept what we give them? I imagine they’re extremely wary.”
“I do have an idea for that… Ah…!”
“Lady Litricia!”
Half-asleep from several sleepless nights, Piril jumped up in alarm.
Clatter!
The loud crash of the chair falling echoed in the room, making Litricia cover her ears.
Warm blood trickled down her chin.
It was the first time Piril had seen Litricia suffer a nosebleed. Forgetting his usual composure as a doctor, he rushed toward her in panic.
“Wh-Why is there so much blood…? Why won’t it stop…?!”
Seeing the blood pooling in his palm, Piril practically tore open his medical bag.
“Piril, calm down. This isn’t the first time. Why are you so shocked?”
“You never said your symptoms were this bad!”
“They’re not that bad.”
Litricia remained calm, while Piril looked like he was about to explode.
“With you in this condition, how can you talk about treating others?!”
He grabbed a thick wad of gauze and held it against her nose.
“That’s it. I’m not making any antidote. I’m your doctor, not the empire’s physician. My priority is treating you.”
“Wow… Piril. Do you know how rude that sounded?”
“Is now really the time to joke?!”
“But Piril… can I even get better?”
Thud. Piril froze, as if he’d been struck in the heart.
He didn’t need her to explain what she meant.
“Don’t waste your strength on something hopeless, Piril. So just make the antidote. Those people can be cured just by taking it.”
“Why are you saying things like that…? Lady Litricia, you can still get better.”
“Hm… do you really think that’s possible…?”
Litricia didn’t say anything more. She just quietly nodded.
In truth, her mind was preoccupied with something else—how to deal with the blood-stained clothes.
I think I heard daikon juice works well on bloodstains… ah, right.
She sighed as she wondered how to sneak a radish into her room.
It didn’t look like today’s symptoms would end with just a nosebleed.
Her vision blurring, Litricia closed her eyes.
It’s okay. I’ll be fine again after this passes. I’m okay.
***
“Let’s adjourn the meeting here.”
“Finally…!”
After the minute hand circled the clock three times, the meeting finally ended, and the retainers stretched with groans.
Cracking noises echoed from every direction.
In the midst of the exhausted room, only Killian maintained a flawless posture.
Mark, hiding a yawn and pretending to be alert, quietly approached and stood behind him like a shadow.
“My lord, shall we head to the office?”
“Yes.”
Killian was about to head off to deal with the mountain of paperwork stacked on his desk when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He had seen a brooch made of rose quartz pinned to a retainer’s chest and it reminded him of someone.
“No. I need to go see Litricia.”
“Now, sir? Weren’t you just with her a few hours ago?”
“I’ll just stop by briefly. If she doesn’t hear from me for too long, she might worry.”
It was barely a few hours, not even a full day, so surely she wouldn’t worry that much… Mark desperately wanted to say that.
But Killian looked so happy, Mark swallowed the words that rose to his throat.
“Since it’s on the way, I’ll stop by the kitchen too.”
“Are you hungry? If so, I’ll have the chef send food to Lady Litricia’s room.”
“No need. I just heard they made lemon sherbet. I’m going to pick some up. Litricia will love it.”
Unsweetened lemon sherbet, topped with a pinch of salt, four drops of lime juice, and a mint leaf.
If nothing else, Killian knew Litricia’s sherbet preferences perfectly.
Not only because it had been her favorite during tea time before the regression, but also because, when her illness worsened, it was the only thing she could keep down on some days.
She once said it helped ease her nausea and headaches.
In the end, she couldn’t even take a bite of the sherbet she loved so much.
Out of curiosity, Killian had tried it once, wondering what made it so special—but to him, it was just a sour, bitter lump of ice.
Even after Litricia was gone, he couldn’t forget that bitter taste, and he even had his anxiety medication flavored to resemble it… but regardless—
“I can finally see her enjoy sherbet again, without pain.”
Imagining Litricia happily nibbling the tart, cool dessert, Killian quickened his pace.
Since it would be her first time tasting sherbet here, he wanted to bring it to her himself.
Despite the attendants’ and Mark’s objections, Killian insisted on carrying the tray with the sherbet himself.
But what greeted him in front of Litricia’s room was not Litricia, but Piril and the maids nervously pacing in front of her door.
“What are you all doing out here? Explain why no one is inside.”
“Your Grace. It’s… Lady Litricia…”
