Rose couldn’t take her eyes off Theo, looking envious. Ben noticed Rose’s gaze and then chided Theo.

“Hey! The teacher said we should share what we get.”

“How can you share something this small?” Theo asked, genuinely curious, as he continued to chew on the chocolate. Ben raised his voice in frustration.

“You could have asked Uncle to cut it!”

“But I’ve already eaten it all.”

“That’s why I’m asking why you ate it all by yourself!”

“It was given to me.”

“Ugh, but the teacher said to share with everyone!”

Although Theo didn’t mean to be annoying, his responses were quite frustrating. Eventually, Ben shouted, and Stefan hurried to mediate between the children.

“You rascals, stop it. We have a guest, so behave yourselves. Here, Ben, Rose. Have one each.”

He reached up to the cupboard, retrieved a small cloth bag, and handed out chocolates identical to what Theo had eaten to Ben and Rose.

“Wow! Thank you, Uncle!” Rose’s eyes sparkled as she gratefully accepted the chocolate. Ben, however, seemed a bit downcast and said,

“I don’t need it. I just thought Rose wanted it…”

He seemed unhappy about the situation, as if he had been the one making a fuss. The child extended his arm towards his uncle, with the chocolate still resting on his hand, as if to return it.

Finding his gesture endearing, I picked up the chocolate instead of Stefan and unwrapped it for him.

“Don’t you think it’s more fun to eat together?”

Ben hesitated for a moment, unable to resist the round, black snack in front of him, and finally opened his mouth. The smile that spread across his face at the sweetness was simply adorable.

“I loved this chocolate when I was a child too. Mrs. Lawrence, my guardian, used to send it to the academy I attended. It’s nice to see it again after so long. I had forgotten it even existed.”

I found myself reminiscing aloud. Most of my academy days were good, but it wasn’t easy to adjust at first. At a young age, the chocolate my mother lovingly sent was my only comfort—not just because of its sweetness, but because it felt like a token that someone was thinking of me.

“Is that so,” Stefan replied as he placed the tea leaves in the infuser, indicating he was listening.

“But Theo, did you say that person gave this to you?”

The child, who had been watching Stefan intently, nodded absentmindedly.

“When did you get it?”

“I don’t know. A long time ago?”

“A long time ago… I see.”

Theo tilted his head and answered vaguely. Not wanting to press the child further, I accepted his answer and let the subject drop.

According to Peter, Leopold had never been fond of eating, even as a child. Snacks were no exception. It was strange that someone like him would give chocolate to a child. It seemed out of character. Perhaps, being someone who knew everything, he had anticipated what snacks would be popular with children and prepared them in advance.

Did he buy it when he went alone to Mr. John’s to get groceries? Maybe he intended to give it to Rose, who trained with us every day, and happened to run into Theo.

Whatever his intention, I couldn’t believe he had bought chocolate to win the children’s favor. And yet, he claimed to dislike children. Even thinking about it again, it was an incomprehensible confession. Unless it was just a cover story.

I felt a renewed sense of bitterness at the realization that I was someone with whom Leopold couldn’t share genuine emotions. So, it was for the best that it ended this way. We were never meant to be, and it was a relationship that couldn’t have worked out.

“Healer, it’s ready,” Stefan said as he removed the infuser and handed me a cup. The children, complaining about the strong smell, fled from the pervasive aroma of the tea throughout the house.

“Thank you. But have you had Canua tea before? Alisa didn’t seem to like it at all.”

“Yes, I like this tea. It’s hard to come by, isn’t it?”

He smiled as he pulled out a chair for me at the table. I thanked him for his kindness and took a seat.

The rain began pouring heavily again, loud enough to hear it pounding on the roof. I quietly listened to the sound as I savored my tea. The darkened atmosphere, due to the lack of sunlight, reminded me of late autumn at the Lawrence estate.

“Does it usually rain this much here?” I asked.

“Yes, around this time of year, it always does. It will probably stop in three or four days,” he replied.

“I see.”

I resumed drinking my tea quietly. Stefan didn’t feel the need to start a conversation, and I appreciated his consideration, which allowed me to sit there comfortably.

Even after Leopold had left, I found myself thinking of him constantly, as naturally as breathing. I knew that erasing Leopold from my life would take a lot of effort and time, so I didn’t force myself to stop thinking about him.

I didn’t deliberately try to comfort myself, but I also guarded against becoming deeply immersed in the pain. I figured if I left things as they were, his traces would eventually fade.

When I was still a student, I had a friend who was engaged to a baron’s son. However, for some reason, he abruptly broke off the engagement just before our graduation exams. Failing the exams would not only mean repeating a year but also bring great dishonor, so our teacher often called my friend in, half-scolding and half-consoling her.

‘There are separations even between friends, and between parents and children, so why wouldn’t there be separations in relationships between men and women? Although the way he ended it wasn’t gentlemanly, that’s not your fault. Pull yourself together. You need to live your life.’

To me, who was comforting my friend, the teacher’s advice sounded harsh. It felt like cold comfort. But looking back now, there wasn’t a single wrong word in what she said.

Just as she had said, I too had merely gone through a common breakup. No matter how long it might take, I just needed to gather myself and live my life.

***

As Stefan had predicted, the rain completely stopped after three days. The grass and trees, soaked with moisture, turned a vivid green, and the village became bustling again.

I also started on tasks I had postponed. After completing unfinished potions, I began the most daunting and tedious task.

It involved writing personalized potion recipes and usage guides tailored to each patient’s condition, which was essential for anyone who couldn’t meet with a healer regularly, unlike high-ranking nobles.

Custom potions were made solely for one person, so even if symptoms were similar, no two guides could be identical. Moreover, even if a specific recipe worked for someone, it wouldn’t necessarily produce the same effect for another, making it impossible to share recipes.

This task inevitably required a lot of time and was expensive. Yet, paradoxically, those who needed these guides were often commoners who might only see a healer once in their lifetime.

Since I couldn’t afford to hire an artist right away and had no intention of charging the villagers, I diligently began drawing herbs.

I depicted them in detail and added colors so that patients could identify and collect the herbs on their own. Since some people couldn’t read, I illustrated every step of the process, from gathering to completing the potion, so they could understand just by looking at the pictures. Whether it was the roots, leaves, or flowers, I detailed whether only the petals should be used or if they should be crushed. The problem was that my drawing skills weren’t particularly good, so completing even one page took almost a day.

I spent all day cooped up in the annex, taking a break only to train Rose in the evening, then staying up late into the night. Though tiring, having something to focus on wasn’t bad.

About two weeks later, Alisa asked me with concern.

“Healer, are you taking walks? Staying indoors too much isn’t good for your health. Of course, you might think it’s presumptuous of me to say this.”

She seemed to have thought long and hard before speaking, given the fact that I’m a healer and unlikely to fall ill. At the academy, where there was always so much to study, it was a common occurrence, so I didn’t think much of it. But seeing her expression, I realized I shouldn’t just brush it off.

“Presumptuous? Not at all! I’d never think that. I’ve been so busy I hadn’t thought of going out, but I’ll definitely take a walk tomorrow. I’m sorry for making you worry.”

“Then you should visit the stream! Stefan built a big bench under the bridge, and it’s perfect for relaxing in the shade of the trees.”

Alisa’s face brightened instantly as she spoke.

Following her kind suggestion, I went outside right after lunch the next day. The sun was blazing. I regretted not wearing a bonnet and hurried toward the water.

When I reached the bridge, I saw wooden steps that hadn’t been there before. In front of them was a long bench that could easily seat three or four adults. The lively sound of the water flowed like background music.

The Lawrence estate only had snow-covered white forests worthy of being called beautiful, and the capital was always bustling with people, so this unfamiliar scenery was new to me. It was like a moment of summer I’d only seen in paintings.

Feeling a bit excited, I quickened my pace and headed down. Then I sat on the bench and slowly watched the flowing river. Leaves that had fallen on the water were bobbing up and down, drifting away. The trees reflected on the water looked like a watercolor painting. It was a beautiful green, reminiscent of Leopold’s eyes.

…It seemed this would be my first and last visit here. Because I’d keep thinking of him.

I thought I had pulled myself together relatively quickly, but it was clearly a misconception. It wasn’t that he no longer dominated my thoughts; I just hadn’t given him the chance because I was so engrossed in other things.

“Healer!”

While I was debating whether to get up, someone called out to me. I turned around to see Stefan coming down the steps with a welcoming smile.