Chapter 50

Two weeks had passed since Penelope began drinking Lia’s magical potion.  

Lia climbed up to the fourth floor today as well to check on Penelope’s condition.  

“The condition of your tongue has improved a lot.”  

“Really?”  

“Yes. Now, unless you look closely, you can’t even tell there’s any bluish discoloration on your tongue.”  

Penelope held up a mirror and inspected her tongue from various angles.  

“I was too scared to look because I thought it might come back….”  

“Don’t worry. It will never come back.”  

“Thank you so much.”  

Penelope set the mirror down on the bedside table and bowed her head to Lia while sitting on the bed.  

“I can’t believe you are bowing to me, my lady!”  

“Lia, you deserve Penelope’s gratitude.”  

“Of course, you’re a lifesaver not only to my brother but also to me.”  

Penelope rolled up her sleeve and showed Lia her wrist.  

“I was wasting away, but look at this—I’ve even gained weight!”  

The once skeletal wrist was no longer there.  

Penelope even pinched her cheek to show how it had plumped up.  

“I used to feel like I was just skin and bones, but now I can even do this.”  

“If you gain more weight, we’ll have to call the madame from the dress shop to have all your dresses refitted.”  

Isabella smiled softly as she looked at her recovering daughter.  

“I’ll have them tailored to the latest trends.”  

“Alright, let’s get everything you want.”  

At this rate, Penelope would soon be able to leave her bedridden life and start engaging in outdoor activities.  

She would be able to roam around the ducal estate as she used to, ride carriages to explore the capital, and even travel to other cities.  

‘Healing someone feels this good, doesn’t it?’  

Lia was overjoyed that she could cure both the village child and Penelope with the magical potion she had made.  

She felt grateful that she had learned how to make potions from her grandmother.  

“Duchess Dowager, I….”  

“Do you have something to say?”  

“You mentioned before that there were other people who had been bitten by magical fish like Lady Penelope and fell ill.”  

“Ah, yes, I did.”  

“Are there many patients?”  

“Thanks to purification mages working hard every spring, the number isn’t large, but I’ve heard that new patients appear every year.”  

Magical fish were small, resilient creatures that hid deep in the water, making them resistant to purification magic.  

Since the empire didn’t have many purification mages, it was impossible for them to purify all the lakes and rivers in the northern region and its surroundings every year.  

As a result, accidents involving magical fish bites occurred annually.  

“I want to distribute the potion I made to the patients for free.”  

“For free?”  

“Yes, I didn’t make it to earn money. I just want everyone to be cured with this potion.”  

Besides, what could she do with money anyway?  

By next summer, she would be wasting away, gravely ill.  

Money was only useful when one had a long life ahead.  

Leaving it as an inheritance for Rafaella would be meaningless, as the wealth of the Blumhart family far outstripped whatever modest sum she could leave behind.  

“…That’s a noble thought. If you do that, the patients and their families will be very grateful.”  

“Do you think so?”  

“But this matter should be discussed with Johann rather than me.”  

Just because she wanted to distribute the potion for free didn’t mean everything would proceed smoothly.  

They needed to assess how many patients there were in the empire, find mages capable of producing large quantities of the potion, and figure out how to transport the potion to the patients.  

Since it was a complex matter requiring careful handling, Johann, as the head of the family, was more suited to oversee it than Isabella.  

Thus, Lia left Penelope’s room and headed to Johann’s office.  

Knock, knock, knock.  

“It’s Lia.”  

Samuel opened the door and greeted her.  

“Hello, Miss Lia.”  

“I came to discuss something with the Duke.”  

“Please wait in the parlor. His Grace will be with you shortly.”  

While she waited in the parlor, a maid brought her a steaming cup of tea.  

As she took a sip of the tea brewed with dried flower petals and set the cup down, Johann entered the room.  

“What brings you here?”  

For some reason, he seemed to be in a worse mood than usual.  

Although his tone and expression were the same as always, she could sense it.  

“…Is something wrong?”  

Lia couldn’t help but ask.  

“…What?”  

“Sorry. You seem upset.”  

“……”  

She was right.  

He was in a bad mood because of news he had received earlier.  

His aide had informed him that the Princess and the Prince would arrive in the capital later that afternoon.  

The thought of dealing with the self-centered Princess Patrizia, who believed the world revolved around her, gave him a headache.  

Moreover, once she heard about Rafaella, she would undoubtedly throw a fit and insist on coming to the Blumhart Ducal Estate.  

He was contemplating whether he should temporarily send Lia and Rafaella elsewhere when Lia arrived.  

“…It’s nothing.”  

Not knowing how to bring up the topic of the Princess, he brushed it off.  

“More importantly, what brings you here?”  

“Oh, I wanted to discuss distributing the potion I made to patients for free.”  

“You want to give it away for free?”  

He looked at her incredulously.  

“Yes.”  

“Why? If it’s a cure for a rare and incurable disease, you could patent it and make a significant profit.”  

“I didn’t make it to make money; I made it because I wanted to help sick people recover.”  

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason, but he didn’t know that.  

To him, Lia seemed like a naive country girl who didn’t understand the ways of the world.  

Even so, giving away the potion for free, not even at a low price, seemed absurd.  

“Are you serious?”  

“Yes.”  

“That’s a commendable decision, Miss Lia.”  

Her firm answer left Johann speechless, while Samuel looked at her with admiration.  

“…If that’s what the creator wants, then so be it.”  

He beckoned Samuel over.  

“Samuel, you’ll oversee this matter.”  

“Yes, Your Grace. First, we’ll need to apply for a patent for the potion.”  

“Is there anything I can help with?”  

“Not much. If you could assist us with the location of the Dewflower colonies and how to harvest them, that would be enough.”  

Samuel had already organized the tasks in his mind in that short time and responded promptly.  

“And later, you’ll need to demonstrate the potion-making process to the mages who will produce it.”  

“Is that all?”  

“Yes, for now. I’ll start preparing the patent application right away.”  

“Thank you, Sir Samuel.”  

“It’s an honor to contribute to such a good cause.”  

Having finished her business, Lia stood up to leave.  

“…Wait.”  

“Yes?”  

Johann, who had called out to her, hesitated to speak.  

“…Never mind, you can go.”  

He let her leave without saying anything.  

‘…What should I even say?’  

Should I warn her about my fiancée?  

Or suggest that she and Rafaella stay at the Blumhart family’s villa for a while?  

Certainly, he had intended to use Rafaella to provoke the Princess.  

To introduce Rafaella as a tool to break off the engagement and now to advise caution seemed laughable even to himself.  

‘I find it amusing myself.’  

***

As the sun began to set, Princess Patrizia and Prince Florian arrived at the royal palace.  

After unpacking their luggage in their respective palace quarters, they headed to the Empress’s palace to have dinner with their mother after a long time.  

The Empress, who had been waiting in the spacious dining room, welcomed her children returning from their travels with a hug.  

As Narcissa, the Empress, took her seat at the head of the table, the Princess and Prince followed suit and sat down.  

“Did you hear, Sister?”  

As the appetizer was cleared and new dishes were served, the Prince spoke up.  

“Hear what?”  

“What, you haven’t heard?”  

Florian’s cheerful face, as he smiled at Patrizia, showed he was quite pleased.  

“Stop teasing and tell me, what’s the news?”  

“The news that the Duke of Blumhart has a daughter.”  

“…What, a daughter? An illegitimate child?”  

Patrizia was so shocked by the news that she dropped her fork.  

A waiting servant quietly replaced it with a new one.  

“I heard she was formally adopted last winter.”  

That she had not known this until now was surprising.  

During her travels, no messenger from the empire had brought such news.  

It was clear someone—her mother—had deliberately withheld the information.  

“Mother!”  

“Why is that so surprising?”  

“This isn’t surprising?”  

“Yes, Patrizia.”  

Narcissa elegantly lifted her wine glass to her lips.  

She appeared calm and composed in stark contrast to her daughter, whose face was flushed with indignation.  

“The more you fret, the more the Duke of Blumhart will enjoy it, dear.”  

“…I can’t help but fret right now!”  

Tears welled up in Patrizia’s eyes.  

“You said, Mother, that you would always give me the best!”  

“I did. And ‘Blumhart’ is still the best, so don’t worry.”  

“How is a man with a child the best? How dare he do such a thing when I, the Princess, is his fiancée!”  

“That child is nothing; you can simply get married and have your own soon.”  

“……”  

Patrizia was at a loss for words at her mother’s comment.  

Her dream since childhood had been to marry the empire’s most distinguished man, but if that man had a child, he was no longer the most distinguished.  

No matter how exquisite a dish, if someone else had tasted it first, how could it still be considered exquisite?  

But that was her thought, not her mother’s.  

“Patrizia, don’t act like a child. Look at the bigger picture.”  

Narcissa put down her utensils and gently grasped her daughter’s trembling hand.  

“Have I ever given you anything bad?”