Arsen was curious about why she wanted to buy it. And also why she was taking him along to buy it, incidentally.

“I don’t want to buy that, I want to buy that person.”

“……Pardon?”

Why that man? From any angle, he was just a peddler, nothing more. Why?

The thought briefly crossed his mind that such a man might be her type, but it disappeared as Richard’s face came to mind.

Then why did she want to buy this man?

“That person is a physician.”

“A physician, you mean the kind that treats illnesses?”

“Yes. That kind of physician. Though he’s using his medical skills in a rather strange way.”

Lydia dragged Arsen along and approached the man. Seeing a couple actively approaching him, the man smiled broadly, probably thinking he might finally make a sale.

“Are you two planning a hot night? This scented candle will help you.”

“Exactly how?”

“First, when you inhale this smoke, your body relaxes. Tension eases, a languid atmosphere surrounds you, and the bedroom doesn’t feel like a bedroom anymore, it’s like you’re wandering across a vast plain while doing……”

Not understanding why one would want to feel like they were wandering across a vast plain while doing it, and feeling there was no value in hearing more, Arsen raised his hand to stop the man’s words.

However, the priestess beside him, who had taken a vow of chastity and should lead the most wholesome life, clearly looked disappointed that she couldn’t hear more.

“You’re really so conservative, Sir. So uptight.”

“I’ll report today’s events to your teacher.”

Arsen had now decided to counter Lydia’s words by mentioning Byron instead of saying “I’m not uptight” or “You need to be less open-minded.”

He had realized that Lydia was very vulnerable to the names Nella and Byron.

It was working now too. As soon as he mentioned Byron, a troubled expression crossed Lydia’s face.

“Tsk, using such underhanded tactics.”

After trying to find a comeback but giving up, Lydia glared primly at Arsen, then turned the same gaze to the man.

“Wellington Bern.”

“My, my name? How do you know that?”

“I know more than just your name. If I tell you I also know that this scented candle contains drug components, will you run away?”

Her guess was correct. Lydia’s finger tapped the scented candle the man was holding. Instantly, the man’s face turned pale, his eyes darting around before he threw the candle and tried to escape, but—

“Aaagh!”

Unfortunately, Arsen was standing in front of him. Without even drawing his sword, Arsen simply tripped Wellington with a slight movement of his leg.

“I, I’m sorry, sir. Please, just this once, please let me go.”

“I’m not trying to do anything to you. I just want to talk. If you get up, gather your things, and quietly follow us, nothing will happen.”

Lydia tried to use a relatively friendly tone, but given the situation, it sounded like a serious threat.

Well, that couldn’t be helped.

* * *

Wellington Bern. Once a successful physician in the capital, his life went downhill after he got involved in gambling.

To pay off his debts, he recklessly sold herbs used as painkillers and was expelled from the capital. Then in the territory he fled to, he was caught secretly making hallucinogenic herbs and was expelled again.

He continued wandering from territory to territory until he arrived at Count Brastelma’s territory. There, Wellington, who continued to make and sell drugs, met the worst end.

He was dragged to the labor camp.

There, he would labor, then examine patients when they appeared, labor again, go pick herbs, labor again, create bad relationships with the guards, and eventually die from the plague.

‘At least he died like a proper physician in the end.’

In that living hell where dozens of people contracted the plague each day and dozens died, Wellington was the only physician.

He could have abandoned them and looked after only himself, but he didn’t.

He ran here and there trying to save even one person, reducing his sleep to care for patients.

Thanks to him, Violet, the youngest in the labor camp, survived.

Wellington played a significant role in helping that young girl escape the plague that had killed even her mother.

‘So Wellington also deserves a chance, at least one chance, to live a new life.’

She had been planning to find Wellington someday anyway. Wellington had entered the labor camp more than two and a half years after Lydia, so she thought there was still time.

Currently, she had no idea where he might be wandering.

And yet he was in Count Wonde’s territory.

It felt like fate in its own way. Of course, Wellington, who knew nothing of the circumstances, was trembling as he was dragged to the inn.

“Wellington Bern, that name sounds like an old nobleman.”

Kedrick, who was introduced to Wellington at the inn, remarked thoughtlessly.

“Oh my, this is, in front of the person himself, I’m sorry.”

As the large-framed Kedrick apologized while patting his shoulder, Wellington shrank his neck like a turtle and mumbled that it was fine.

“He probably doesn’t mind since it’s not his real name but one he deliberately chose to sound sophisticated, Sir Kedrick.”

The explanation came not from Wellington but from Lydia.

“Are you two well acquainted?”

Kedrick looked back and forth between Wellington and Lydia. However, the kneeling man seemed surprised himself, staring at Lydia with wide eyes.

“I know him well, but he probably doesn’t know me. But from now on, we can get to know each other through conversation.”

Lydia smiled at Wellington. She meant it as a friendly gesture, but to Wellington, it looked like the smile of a condemned prisoner just before execution.

“We have things to discuss, so could you give us some privacy?”

“It’s dangerous.”

Arsen stepped forward in opposition. Wellington might be trembling with fear now, but who knew how he might change if left alone with Lydia.

“It’s not dangerous. He’s not an aggressive person. If you’re that worried, you can wait outside the door.”

Lydia pushed Arsen’s back as he tried to stay. Reluctantly leaving, Arsen gave Wellington a look.

A look that said, if you try anything foolish, I won’t let it slide.

Wellington flinched and kept nodding his head.

“Why do you keep nodding?”

“I, I had my reasons, Miss.”

“Not Miss, but Priestess.”

Lydia said as she offered him the chair across from her. The information Wellington had provided in the labor camp had been quite useful in this life.

At the very least, she had saved the Marquis by treating his serfim poisoning with yellow mountain dandelion, which was incredibly helpful information.

“How do you know me?”

“That’s a secret. It’s not important between us.”

It was important to Wellington, but unable to argue that point here, he closed his mouth and just nodded again.

“What’s important is the proposal I’m about to make to you.”

Lydia can only offer an opportunity. Whether Wellington wants to live a new life or not is his decision.

“Stop selling drugs from now on. I’ll also pay off your gambling debts from the capital.”

“Is, is that true?”

“Yes. It’s not free. In exchange, I need you to come with me to the borderlands.”

There was a doctor in the borderlands. Just one, that’s all.

Having only one physician in a place where battles with demonic beasts frequently broke out was truly fatal.

Folk remedies were used for treatment, but they had their limitations.

“I’ll hire you at my temple, and pay you a separate salary. So from now on, be a proper physician.”

“…Priestess.”

Is this a dream? Wellington felt dazed, unsure if this was a dream or reality.

“Why are you doing this for me?”

“Hmm, just because I want to? Also, the borderlands need a physician. Who else would work as a doctor there if not someone in desperate circumstances like you, right?”

There was something else Wellington needed to do. But she planned to ask him once she determined he was completely trustworthy.

For now, it was important to observe him.

“Ah, before we go to the borderlands, let’s set up a business.”

“Business?”

“I know how to cure the White Ghost disease.”

The plan was to gather lots of yellow mountain dandelions, make a cure for the White Ghost disease, and sell it in the Count’s territory.

Once word spread, people from other territories would come to buy it, and then they could sell the medicine to other territories through the Count’s territory.

That would surely bring in a lot of money.

Lydia dreamed of filling the temple’s vault with gold coins.

“You mean the yellow mountain dandelion?”

“Huh? How do you know that?”

“The news that Marquis Evansi recovered after taking it has already spread everywhere.”

* * *

Lydia’s sweet dream was shattered because of one tiny mistake.

She saved the Marquis, made sure the news of the Marquis waking up didn’t reach Devon’s ears, and drove a wedge between the Marquis and Devon, but she forgot to silence the personal physician.

Until she heard from Wellington that the news had already spread everywhere, Lydia had completely forgotten that she hadn’t silenced him.

Lydia, who had planned to make money from this, resigned herself to being satisfied with just having been able to save her father.

At the same time, in the capital, there were three people troubled by the Marquis’s return.

Devon, Richard, and Giselle.

“The yellow mountain dandelion is definitely effective.”

Giselle wasn’t just troubled. She first began to verify the rumor that the Marquis had cured the White Ghost disease with the treatment Lydia discovered.

“I see. Good work.”

“How did the lady discover this?”

The royal physician who had been treating White Ghost disease patients with yellow mountain dandelion at Giselle’s request muttered in amazement.

Giselle too was dying of curiosity about where Lydia had obtained such a secret remedy.

However, before satisfying her curiosity, she needed to ensure that Lydia wouldn’t take all the credit for this great achievement.

“Make a cure for the White Ghost disease and distribute it throughout the capital. Give it out for free regardless of status. So that no one suffers from the White Ghost disease anymore.”

And make sure the Empress’s name, not Lydia’s, appears next to the name of the White Ghost disease cure.