Chapter 4

“Fortunately, I happen to work in that field. Did you know I’m originally from the Mage Tower, and I was an alchemist?”

“Hm?”

Not knowing exactly what Lucy invented, Aicel raised an eyebrow with slight interest.

Lucy belonged to the alchemy and pharmaceutical department at the Magical Engineering Tower. She aimed to create things helpful in daily life by delicately combining all sorts of substances, but her ultimate goal was money.

Even after leaving the Tower, Lucy developed quite a few drugs. Some even received certified safety marks and sold exceptionally well.

Among them, the bestsellers were delay pills, body-safe love gel, and drugs that heightened sensitivity.

She hadn’t made an erectile dysfunction cure, but there was a drug that boosted weak performance.

Lucy suggested trying that first. She also gently recommended something to help with insomnia.

Before she knew it, Aicel had sprawled out again on the single sofa, spinning his pistol indifferently.

“My insomnia can’t be fixed with sleeping pills.”

“Oh, then I’ll skip the sleeping pills…”

Aicel clicked his tongue.

“Are you stupid? You should at least say you’ll bring it. You’re kind of slow.”

Ouch…!

Aicel’s ambiguous words triggered a latent violence in Lucy, who lived by “yes or no.” But her violence was reserved for the right people, so she wouldn’t explode here. At least not now.

Lucy sighed inwardly to calm herself, then said,

“To get the medicine, I need to go home.”

“Go and come straight back. I really hate being kept waiting.”

Lucy nodded enthusiastically.

“I hate people not listening even more. Actually, I just hate a lot of things. If one thing bothers me, I end up hating it all…”

He sure managed to live in a world full of dislikes.

While Lucy was inwardly mocking, Aicel gave her a grim warning. Don’t run off, don’t talk too much, don’t even think about going to the city police.

“Um, but Young Master.”

“What.”

“It’s not like I’m digging up things for charity…”

Oh no! While she let her guard down, Lucy’s merchant persona—one of her personalities—overrode her survival instinct.

Ever since opening a shop with Cassia and handling money, Lucy hated taking losses. Except for charity, she wanted to extract as much as possible from those who could afford it—thus, the birth of her merchant persona.

At Lucy’s bold words, Aicel made a “huh?” sound, then stared at her as if she was absurd. It wasn’t begging, it was a fair demand, so technically she wasn’t at fault.

Lucy, thinking of herself as a tiny, cute squirrel living in a beech and fir forest, met his gaze softly. As if to say, “It’s no fun hitting a cute squirrel like me.”

The tense standoff between the two lasted for a moment.

“I’ll pay for everything up to four hours. How much?”

Surprisingly, Mad Dog Aicel asked in a rather gentle voice, and Lucy, spirits lifted, listed the prices for each item. Listening quietly, Aicel rang a bell and summoned Ulysses.

Ulysses, who had entered prepared to clean up a corpse, was relieved to see Lucy smiling. Aicel, with his head tilted, pointed to Ulysses.

“Get the payment from that one.”

A Young Master who refers to people as “that one” really has rotten manners—

“Don’t bother bringing it to me for review. Set your own limit. As long as it’s not outrageous, I don’t care how much you ask for.”

…So he takes his rotten morals, composts them, and somehow grows a decent streak of generosity with it!

Positive Lucy thought about charging this wealthy Young Master five times the price, bowing at a full ninety degrees.

“Thank you!”

Aicel seemed pleased by Lucy’s formal greeting, letting out a light laugh. Just that light laugh made Lucy dazed for a moment.

She’d never met a prince, but now she understood the phrase “princely smile.” His nearly white hair made him look mysterious.

Then Aicel beckoned her, as if to share a secret. Mesmerized by his appearance, Lucy glided over and bent slightly at his next request.

Up close, even while sitting, Aicel’s large frame was apparent. With his nasty personality, he deliberately whispered into Lucy’s ear, his breath tickling.

“You know…”

“Eek.”

“I have a weakness for reddish-brown hair.”

Lucy’s hair was a reddish brown. So was Sybil’s, of course.

Lucy guessed that Aicel’s first lover (or perhaps boyfriend) had reddish-brown hair like hers. For a man as good-looking as Aicel Penden to have a physical preference, his first love must have been truly beautiful.

“Ulysses calls it a ‘patissier,’ or something.”

“…Did you mean ‘f*tish’?”

Lucy gently corrected Aicel’s vocabulary mistake.

His amber eyes flicked to her. He was just looking, but with his decadent eyes, it felt like he was staring with deep meaning.

It was quite burdensome, so Lucy averted her gaze and straightened up.

Moody Aicel waved his hand. It meant she should leave. At least he wasn’t hitting her.

As soon as Lucy and Ulysses stepped out into the hallway and the door closed, Ulysses spun around and exclaimed brightly,

“You’re safe!”

His cheerful face, like someone greeting a returning warrior, left Lucy dumbfounded.

“Did you think I wouldn’t be?”

“Not exactly… It’s just, Young Master is a bit moody. The atmosphere was pretty good just now.”

‘If your life is in question, that’s more than just moody!’

A nervous bell rang from beyond the door, and Ulysses said, “Just a moment,” then went back into Aicel’s room, returning soon after.

“Oh, Lady Lucy. It’s not over yet.”

Apparently, he’d been ordered to bring Lucy back after she visited her home, and his voice was twice as sympathetic.

“I’ll see you to your residence by carriage. Ladies first.”

On the way to Lucy’s house in a powered carriage, he formally introduced himself.

“I’m Ulysses.”

“Yes, I heard earlier.”

Ulysses, affiliated with a family under the Penden Duchy, was officially Aicel’s aide as an honorary officer. But his actual job was more like bomb disposal, cleaning up Aicel’s messes.

“My name is Lucy Noctus. As you know.”

After a brief exchange of names, Lucy asked Ulysses about her brother.

Ulysses explained that Sybil Noctus, whom Young Master Aicel had met at an upscale bar, had stayed at the mansion for about a month.

Lucy, excited, asked many questions, but Ulysses said he didn’t know Sybil well. In fact, he hadn’t spoken with him much and knew almost nothing about him, nor did he know of Lucy’s existence.

Lucy was greatly disappointed, but quickly shook it off.

“How long have you worked under Young Master Aicel?”

“Actually, not long. I was originally assigned to the eldest Young Master.”

He spoke as though working under Aicel wasn’t his choice.

“I heard the Penden Duchy’s mansion is in the Capital, so why does the youngest Young Master live alone in the suburbs?”

“Oh, well.”

Ulysses smiled awkwardly, trailing off. Apparently, as the family’s troublemaker, Aicel didn’t live with them. Owning multiple homes—how enviable.

“How much do you know about the Penden Duchy?”

“Just as much as anyone else.”

All four Penden siblings were of marriageable age but unmarried. Naturally, there was a lot of gossip, but Aicel Penden was a bit removed from the most eligible bachelors, so aside from his looks and personality, he wasn’t mentioned much.

“Do you know why Young Master Aicel returned from the battlefield to the Capital?”

Aicel, who had excelled in the shooting corps from a young age, was dispatched to various military operations by imperial command. In an era where securing magic stones meant national power, he had many deployment records.

“I heard he was dishonorably discharged…”

That too was insubordination. In the corps, insubordination is punishable by execution. However, because the Duke’s family was so powerful, rumors said it was barely hushed up.

“The rumors going around are a bit different. It’s best not to believe them too much. And whatever happens from now on—”

“You mean, watch my mouth? Young Master Aicel said the same earlier. Don’t worry, Aide Ulysses. For a merchant, trust is everything.”

Lucy smiled, and Ulysses parted his lips slightly.

“…Miss Noctus, you’re quick-witted, that’s convenient.”

“You can just call me Lucy.”

The two shared light conversation along the way. Ulysses learned for the first time that she had been fired from the Magical Engineering Tower.

Since the Tower always lacked talented people for inventing and managing dangerous substances, it rarely fired anyone.

Curious, Ulysses asked Lucy why she had been dismissed. Not thinking of it as a disgrace, Lucy answered confidently.

“I got caught selling a men-only stamina booster without registering it as a new drug—”

“Aha! So you were fired for that?”

“No. I developed a perfectly harmless love gel and, high on success, staged a one-person protest to the Mage Tower Lord, asking for an official label award—”

“And then… you were fired?”

“No. I submitted a thesis proving incubus existed, but it got classified as illegal obscene material—”

“Please just say you were fired.”

“Not yet.”

Ulysses sighed.

“That’s enough. I think I know why you were fired now….”

After that, conversation ceased between the two.

Ulysses glanced at Lucy, who was looking out the window.

When Young Master Aicel had suddenly demanded Sybil Noctus’s younger sister be fetched, Ulysses had worried a lot. He’d imagined a pitiful, deer-like girl (since Sybil had a gentle face) trembling before Aicel.

With Aicel’s temperament, which felt only annoyance at weakness rather than chivalry, Ulysses feared what trouble might happen. But it seemed those worries were unnecessary.

Ulysses observed Lucy’s unusual composure.

‘With her, Young Master Aicel’s temper won’t be provoked. She’s quick-witted and seems strong-willed.’

Meanwhile, Lucy was filled with worries and anger crowding her mind.

‘As the saying goes, medicine for the pharmacist, illness for the doctor…’

Strictly speaking, erectile dysfunction wasn’t her specialty. In this vast empire, was there not a single related clinic? Why did the troublemaker Young Master Aicel of Penden Duchy have to seek out Lucy Noctus?

…It must be for venting his anger. Considering Aicel’s infamous personality, he probably wanted treatment elsewhere and just wanted to torment Lucy as Sybil’s substitute.

‘This is a total disaster…!’

To think she’d have to clean up the mess her own family made. Grinding her teeth at her runaway brother, Lucy cursed him inwardly.

Ulysses glanced at Lucy, thinking,

‘She’s grinding her teeth… Is that responsibility?’

‘For a merchant, trust is everything.’

Lucy’s eyes sparkled with determination. Seeing her calmly walk into and out of that room, Ulysses thought she was truly an extraordinary and strong lady.

Secretly impressed, Ulysses reflected on his own disillusionment with cleaning up after Aicel, or rather, his role as aide.

Thus, Lucy and Ulysses, unaware of each other’s thoughts, kept silent as the mechanical carriage rattled along the road.