URL~10

CHAPTER~10

The journey had been full of twists and turns, but at long last we arrived at the Jonas estate, where the weather remained pleasantly mild despite it being winter.

‘I’ve missed this place.’

I looked up at the old mansion standing before me.

It was the place where I had spent my entire childhood after reincarnating.

“Good heavens, Fidelia!”

The Marquis and Marchioness Jonas hurried out to greet us.

“It’s been far too long!”

The Marchioness Jonas looked ready to hug me and spin me around on the spot.

A middle-aged man of similar age appeared behind her.

“What kind of manners are those, saying you’d come home and then suddenly changing your mind?”

It was Marquis Jonas.

He glared at me with obvious displeasure.

It wasn’t frightening.

The head of the prestigious House Jonas was simply expressing how hurt he had felt.

‘He’s honestly hilarious.’

“I’m sorry.

We were about to leave the train station when something unexpected happened, so we couldn’t help it.”

“Oh?

Then let’s hear exactly what that unexpected situation was.”

Crossing his arms, the Marquis looked down at me.

Fidelia’s tall height had undoubtedly been inherited from the broad-shouldered Marquis.

I gestured toward Sanna and Kiara, who were standing awkwardly behind me.

Kiara immediately came running over and stopped beside me.

“Hello.”

She even remembered to bow politely.

She knew proper manners without anyone teaching her, and I’d worried she might be frightened.

I couldn’t have been prouder.

‘Come to think of it, I should arrange etiquette lessons for her.’

And history, mathematics, science, the Corval language…

I made a mental note to hire a private tutor soon before turning my attention back to the Marquis and Marchioness Jonas.

Both of them were staring down at the tiny child with their eyes so wide they looked ready to pop out.

“This is Kiara, my ward.”

“Lady Fidelia is my guardian.”

Somehow, this felt strangely familiar.

The only difference was the word guardian.

Since I would probably be acting as her guardian from now on, it suited our relationship better than patron.

For the record, I’d told Kiara that I was a member of House Jonas before we reached the estate.

Contrary to my expectations, she hadn’t been particularly surprised or intimidated.

<All nobles are pretty much the same.>

Why was this child so cynical?

“I found her at the train station.

A skinny little girl was shivering in the middle of winter.

There was no way I could just walk past her.”

“Good heavens…”

Marquis Jonas covered his mouth.

“And here I was, not knowing any of that!”

“Oh, honestly!”

The marchioness sharply scolded him after he shouted.

Faced with her glare, the marquis quietly shut his mouth and turned his head away, clearing his throat awkwardly.

Even he seemed embarrassed.

Shaking her head, the marchioness led us into the mansion.

“Your father has become even more dramatic with age.

One moment he’s sulking, the next he’s overwhelmed with emotion.

He goes back and forth several times a day.”

“…”

‘That sounds suspiciously like male menopause.’

Of course, this world had no concept of menopause.

Keeping my thoughts to myself, I quietly followed the Marchioness Jonas and the not-particularly-dignified head of the household who had somehow ended up walking beside her.

“Sanna can use the room next to Fidelia’s like she always does.

Now then… what about Kiara?

Oh dear, there aren’t any spare rooms left.”

Standing in the third-floor hallway where my room was located, the marchioness suggested several alternatives.

“How about another floor or the annex?

Since you’ll need to look after her, it’d be best if the three of you stayed close together.

Or perhaps Kiara could stay with us while you two keep using your usual rooms.”

In the end, Kiara decided to share a room with Sanna.

The marchioness had offered several other options, but Kiara insisted on staying with Sanna because she didn’t want to inconvenience anyone.

Sanna happily welcomed the idea.

“This is what best friends are all about!”

“Best friends!”

The two of them excitedly clapped their hands together.

Incidentally, Sanna still hadn’t started speaking casually to Kiara.

She claimed she wasn’t mentally prepared yet.

<You know how bad I am at dropping honorifics.>

<It’s not that you’re bad at it.

You just can’t do it.

You still speak formally to me even though we’ve known each other for years.>

<You’re the same.

Formal speech has become second nature to you too.>

<Even so, I’m nowhere near as bad as you.>

<Have you never heard the phrase “a matter of degree”?

Let’s just accept that it’s part of our personalities and stop arguing about it.>

Only then did I finally understand.

It definitely wasn’t because Sanna was intimidating.

After our rooms were assigned, peaceful days followed.

Since I was terminally ill and also had to treat myself, I used my “final vacation” as an excuse to spend an entire week doing absolutely nothing.

I enjoyed myself so much that I almost forgot Hernan existed.

Then, one week later…

I finally began making medicine in earnest.

When I asked whether I could use one of the annex rooms as a laboratory, the Marquis and Marchioness readily agreed.

Before long, willow leaves, yew branches, coptis, Madagascar periwinkle, and countless other medicinal herbs filled one corner of the Jonas estate.

There was just one problem.

‘I’ve gathered the ingredients, but I have absolutely no idea where to begin.’

I absentmindedly plucked leaves from the willow branch while staring at the beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks, tripod stands, and other equipment scattered across the desk.

‘What exactly am I supposed to extract?’

Extracting compounds from plants wasn’t the difficult part.

I held a doctorate in biology, after all.

I knew exactly what substances could be extracted from which organisms.

I also knew what compounds would result from combining specific ingredients.

The real problem was that I now had to combine them into something that could either become medicine… or poison.

In other words, I needed to discover combinations that actually produced medicinal effects.

That meant extracting compounds from hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of herbs until I found something useful.

Considering penicillin could be extracted from blue mold, I might even have to start experimenting with fungi instead of just plants.

The greatest tragedy was that I’d have to test everything on myself.

I couldn’t experiment on someone else.

If I died during clinical testing, I’d simply end up dead.

“…”

‘Maybe I should just die.’

That honestly sounded far more efficient.

Still, I was the kind of person who couldn’t rest until I’d accomplished what I’d set out to do.

I pushed myself up from the floor and slowly began preparing my research.

A biologist trying to create a cure for a rare disease with no existing treatment despite not being a pharmacist.

That was the reckless challenge I had willingly chosen.

I badgered the director of the Academy until he sent me every pharmaceutical paper they possessed.

The letter tucked between the papers contained a single sentence.

[You really do come up with the strangest ideas.]

I couldn’t even argue with that.

‘I’m really going this far just because I refuse to die.’

But anyone would have done the same.

Hernan was proof enough.

‘His study had an entire wall filled with pharmacology books…’

Thud!

I slammed my forehead onto the desk.

‘I’m thinking about Hernan again.’

Pull yourself together.

Rubbing my aching forehead, I turned another page.

Lately, I’d been reading ancient texts.

My cursed hereditary disease had existed for generations.

Naturally, I believed there had to be old records about it.

I collected every book, paper, and document I could find and read through them one by one.

None of it produced any meaningful results.

If anything, the childish-looking Encyclopedia of Rare Diseases contained more practical information.

‘Nothing’s working.’

I knew that taking a walk was usually the best remedy at times like this.

I stepped outside into the rear garden for some fresh air.

Crossing the nearly barren winter garden, I followed the winding path beside it.

The grounds surrounding the mansion were vast enough for someone to get hopelessly lost.

Fortunately, the twisting trail always guided wandering visitors back to the Jonas estate.

Sure enough, after walking aimlessly, I eventually arrived somewhere.

It was the training grounds on one side of the Jonas mansion.

Hardly anyone used them anymore.

Only dust drifted across the empty field.

After the nations of the continent signed a peace treaty, the Emperor had forbidden private armies.

Maintaining private troops had become illegal for every noble house except for a minimal personal guard.

The treaty had been signed more than thirty years ago.

The training grounds had already been abandoned by the time I was born.

A thought suddenly struck me.

‘…Did I turn off the lamp before I left?’

The small laboratory lamp.

For all I knew, it could already be burning away unattended.

The thought made my stomach drop.

If a fire broke out, this mansion and the surrounding forest would…

‘No.’

I started across the deserted training grounds toward the annex.

Then something entered my field of vision.

‘What’s that?’

I narrowed my eyes and looked toward the bushes at the edge of the training grounds.

Rustling leaves.

And beside them, an unfamiliar lump.

‘Pink.’

The first thing I noticed was that half of the lump was pink.

‘A child.’

The second thing I realized was that what I’d mistaken for a lump was actually a human child.

‘…The original heroine?’

And finally, it dawned on me.

That child might just be the heroine of the original story.