“She’s like a little mouse.”

Victor tilted his head in confusion.

What? What does that mean?

Victor rolled his eyes, searching for the answer.

Ah, does he mean she’s like a spy?

“That’s why she’s cute.”

“Pardon?”

Kaisel let out another amused laugh and vanished into the mansion in an instant.

Victor shouted after him, unable to decipher the truth behind the answer, but no response came back.

❀❀❀

Contrary to her worries, Kaisel quickly recovered after drinking the bushclover tea. Cynthia breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Thank goodness.’

While he was resting, Cynthia returned to her cottage. Now that she had an herb garden, she was bubbling with enthusiasm about making medicine to restore Kaisel’s health.

Cynthia’s new home, the cottage, was cleaned and refurbished in just half a day. It had transformed so completely that it was hard to believe it had been abandoned.

“Mila, thank you so much for helping. I know you’re busy.”

Mila responded to Cynthia’s gratitude with a faint smile.

“The maids said it was more fun than cleaning the mansion. They enjoyed it because they didn’t have to apply wax, and they said it felt like a treehouse.”

“I enjoyed organizing together and getting to know everyone. Mila, you’re welcome to come here and rest anytime.”

“Me? Really?”

Mila met her eyes with a somewhat bewildered expression.

“Of course. There are two rooms here. And this is a gift for helping me. It’s nothing special.”

Cynthia held out a pouch with a blue ribbon tied around it. She had borrowed the ribbon from Hannah.

Not expecting a gift, Mila stared at the pouch with an awkward expression.

‘How cute.’

Cynthia watched her with satisfaction and added:

“I made these myself with help from Head Chef Hannah. They’re candies made from herbs and egg whites.”

The stiff Mila untied the ribbon and opened the pouch. Inside were what looked like snowballs covered in white powder.

“These are called ‘marshmallows,’ a foreign confection. They might look strange, but they’re fluffy and sweet. Try one.”

Mila carefully took out a marshmallow. Unlike hard candy, it was soft like a baby’s skin.

She remained silent for a while, staring at the marshmallow.

Since the time she was a dying beastkin covered in blood after being stoned, this was the first time anyone had given her sweet food since Kaisel had offered her chocolate.

Mila, who loved sweets, couldn’t resist and put the marshmallow in her mouth.

“……!”

How could something taste like this? If eating clouds, would they be this moist and soft?

As the sweetness and pleasant texture spread in her mouth, Mila’s stiff face relaxed, and her black ears popped out with a “poing.”

Seeing this, Cynthia expressed her embarrassment with a surprised face.

“Mila, I know it’s rude but… you’re just too cute.”

Mila’s face flushed at the unfamiliar words. Working in the back alleys had dulled and made her forget such emotions.

The kind words her mother and father used to say when they were alive.

“My lovely daughter Mila.”

Strangely, she felt warm and fluffy inside. Like this sweet candy.

She shouldn’t feel this way. She should remain guarded. Yet she couldn’t help smiling, happiness welling up inside her.

“When you finish those, I’ll make more. Or we could make them together here?”

Mila put another marshmallow in her mouth as she watched Cynthia laying out future plans with a kind face. The soft tenderness made her heart tingle strangely.

❀❀❀

Before long, a peaceful night settled over the cottage.

“This is amazing!”

Cynthia rolled around on the bed, letting out happy screams.

The freshly cleaned cottage smelled of fragrant wood, and the sun-dried bedding was fluffy.

It was heaven. Her heart raced at the thought of handling herbs without having to worry about anyone’s judgment.

“I’ll sleep now and tend to the herb garden tomorrow.”

She yawned slightly, feeling the cool breeze through the open window. Having barely slept the night before, she expected to fall asleep quickly.

Slither. Slither.

How much time had passed?

Cynthia raised her upper body, rubbing her eyes at the strange sound.

“What is that sound……!”

Seeing a long shadow in the darkness, Cynthia swallowed her scream. Her body froze as if paralyzed.

“S-snake! Snake!”

Incomprehensible words tumbled from her mouth.

It was a peculiar snake with a pitch-black, long body and blue eyes.

She had seen snakes occasionally while growing herbs, but never one this large.

Slither, the black snake rubbed against Cynthia’s feet and slid up to her waist.

“……!”

As soon as she saw the black forked tongue flickering, she fainted without even managing to scream.

❀❀❀

Sunlight streaming through the window announced a peaceful morning.

“……I need to get curtains.”

Cynthia muttered in a cracked voice, squinting her eyes. Suddenly remembering the long shadow, she rolled her eyes with a frightened face.

“What? Am I still alive?”

Heaven? It couldn’t be, as she recognized the familiar cottage ceiling.

Cynthia quickly raised her upper body and yanked back the blanket. Thankfully, there was no sign of the snake anywhere, and she sighed with relief.

“Maybe I had a nightmare because I was tired.”

They say dreaming of a snake is a good omen for wealth.

“Ah!”

Perhaps her conversation with Kaisel about the Blewitt viscounty had manifested in her dream.

Haah.

She sighed with relief once more. How fortunate that the terrifying snake that felt so real was just a dream.

Cynthia stretched her arms wide, inhaling the fresh air.

Although she had fallen asleep as if she’d fainted, since snake dreams supposedly brought good fortune, it felt like a morning when something good might happen.

After a simple breakfast, she began the task of tending to her herbs in earnest.

Cynthia’s daily routine was relatively relaxed.

She spent most of her time caring for herbs, delivered bushclover tea to Kaisel at teatime, checked his condition, and then her duties were done.

Things might get busier when the petrified herbs arrived, but for now, her job satisfaction was rising naturally due to the comfortable and easy work.

That night, after finishing all her tasks, Cynthia locked the windows and doors tightly just in case.

“……I’m not scared. It’s just that the dawn breeze is cold.”

Making an absurd excuse, she soon went to bed. About an hour later.

Slither. Slither.

Cynthia’s eyes snapped open at the strange sound again.

It can’t be.

After swallowing hard, she inevitably pulled back the blanket and looked at her feet. Once again, the black snake was climbing up her leg.

“Aack!”

Cynthia was so startled that she fainted again.

The next day, and the day after that.

The snake unfailingly appeared by her side.

❀❀❀

The private beach with its cobalt sea shimmered with brilliant light even at night.

Crash.

The sound of raucous laughter fell silent at the loud shattering noise.

“W-what? A dismissal notice?”

Istad’s hands trembled with shock. He double-checked the seal bearing the dragon emblem and the sender’s name.

Though the letter was written by the aide, the seal undoubtedly belonged to Grand Duke Kaisel.

“A dismissal notice because he found a new apothecary… What nonsense is this!”

Istad, his robe not properly fastened, was furious. The courtesans who had been splashing around fell silent, reading the atmosphere.

He was Kaisel’s physician, Baron Istad Solta.

After becoming the grand duke’s doctor through connections, Istad’s life had changed completely from his days as an ordinary imperial physician.

The enormous compensation from both the imperial palace and the grand duke, the reverence of being a royal physician, and a comfortable, luxurious life where he only needed to occasionally prepare headache medicine.

Moreover, Kaisel was destined to die soon because of his curse.

When Kaisel died, the emperor, who cherished him more than his own son, would inevitably fall into deep despair.

While a royal physician would typically be beheaded for failing to cure a royal family member’s illness, Kaisel’s predetermined lifespan meant Istad faced no repercussions.

Rather, he could expect a massive retirement package just by standing beside the emperor, adding a few words of remembrance for the grand duke, and playing the role of a sympathetic figure.

Even to the cold emperor, Kaisel was like a sore finger. Both wealth and honor would have been his. That was certainly the case, but…

Istad felt like he was falling. His arrangement with the empress was still ongoing.

It would be extremely troublesome if this story reached the imperial palace. This was no time to be idle.

“Butler!”

“Yes, master.”

“Prepare to return to the capital immediately!”

The butler quickly bowed and disappeared at his master’s fiery rage.

‘You dare ruin my vacation and covet my position?’

Istad’s eyes bulged with the thought of strangling the unknown apothecary.