Chapter 4

Anyone could tell that he looked displeased.

Seeing his expression, a rumor suddenly flashed through Kassia’s mind.

Wasn’t he the kind of man who threw a tantrum over anything that didn’t go his way?

‘Oh no! He might change his mind!’

This was no time to hesitate.

Kassia bowed again, then hurried out of the study as fast as her legs could carry her.

She had managed to escape the Grand Duke’s residence with her head still attached to her body!

In any case, she had achieved her goal.

Hooray!

After Kassia left, celebrating her victory, the silver-haired elderly gentleman approached the Grand Duke, who was still holding his temple.

The old gentleman looked deeply worried.

“If you let Miss Talpiot leave like that…… I don’t know how much time she has left.”

“You have to corner a rat carefully. Otherwise, it might turn around and bite the cat.”

The Grand Duke smirked and shook the yellow vial.

It was what she had left behind instead of a glass slipper.

He examined the vial with the same interest one might show a fascinating toy.

“Even though she was trembling with fear, she still managed to say everything she wanted to say.”

“She certainly was brave. Everyone else is too afraid to even look us in the eye because they think we’re the Demon King’s servants. But that young lady actually met your gaze. She even greeted you.”

“‘I hope you enjoy excellent health’ and ‘May peace fill your household.’ Hahaha.”

The Grand Duke spun the vial around in his fingers and laughed darkly.

He seemed to be enjoying himself.

The elderly gentleman—or rather, the old butler—could only be happy to see his master in such good spirits.

Someone who could make his master happy.

A fearless rabbit putting on a show in front of a lion.

The loyal butler made a small wish in his heart.

May that rabbit, Miss Kassia, visit the Grand Duke’s residence often. Very often.

If Kassia had heard the old butler’s wish, she might have had a fit.

The fearless rabbit had no idea what was going on behind the scenes.

“Lavender’s blue, dilly dilly, Lavender’s green.”

She hummed cheerfully as she walked.

‘I’m in such a good mood!’

Just how good was her mood?

Even the blazing sunlight of a summer afternoon felt refreshingly pleasant.

And why wouldn’t it?

Three days had passed since she negotiated with the Grand Duke of Penminid.

A whole three days!

To be honest, she had been on edge ever since leaving his residence.

After all, he had already caught her off guard once by showing up after letting her relax for a day.

So even after she watched those damned knights withdraw, she had remained nervous.

But now, a whole three days had passed.

Since everything had been quiet, that meant her negotiation with the Grand Duke had worked.

She would never have to cross paths with him again.

How could she not be happy after saying goodbye to a walking disaster?

‘Ah, the fresh outdoor air!’

Kassia skipped along Talpiot Street.

Of course, it wasn’t just because she was in a good mood.

She was also inspecting the potion shops to see how they were doing.

She turned right at the intersection and stopped in front of the first shop, which had a yellow roof.

“Hello, Aunt Barbara!”

Kassia greeted the shopkeeper cheerfully.

Aunt Barbara had known her since the day she was born.

Now in her early forties, Barbara had a curvy figure.

She was also quite beautiful, except for a crescent-shaped burn scar on her left cheek.

Barbara had been standing absentmindedly, but her face brightened when Kassia arrived.

“Oh my, Miss! You look happy today.”

“Yes! The weather is so, so lovely. Has Bebe stopped coughing?”

“Yes. Thanks to the potion our genius little pharmacist gave him.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I’m less worried about my son now…… but, goodness, what am I supposed to do about my other worries?”

Aunt Barbara sighed deeply and looked toward the inside of her shop.

Following her worried gaze, Kassia looked around too.

The shop was far too quiet.

Wasn’t this just as bad as things had been before she met the Grand Duke?

No, things were actually getting worse.

Feeling uneasy, Kassia narrowed her eyes.

“Are fewer customers still coming in to buy potions and herbs?”

“Fewer? It’s worse than that. I’m not even earning thirty percent of what I usually make during the social season each year.”

“Thirty percent……”

In peaceful times, those numbers would have been unthinkable.

A chill ran down the back of Kassia’s neck.

What was this unpleasant feeling?

It was as if something damp and slimy were wrapping itself around her ankles.

What was this terrible sense of foreboding……?

Kassia shivered.

When she wrapped her arms around herself, Aunt Barbara looked concerned.

“Oh dear. Have you caught a cold?”

“……N-no, I haven’t.”

She had come to encourage the shopkeepers. She couldn’t make them even more worried.

So Kassia put on a cheerful expression and focused on her original purpose.

“The number of customers will gradually recover. Please don’t worry too much.”

“If our young lady says so, then I’ll believe you.”

Even though Kassia’s words were only meant to comfort her, Aunt Barbara trusted her completely.

With such a heavy responsibility on her shoulders, Kassia had no time to worry about the chill running through her body.

The worse a crisis became, the more important it was not to lose heart.

Kassia visited not only Aunt Barbara’s shop but also Uncle Jean’s shop next door, with its amber-colored roof.

Then she went to Sarah’s shop beside his, with its green roof.

She rushed from shop to shop, encouraging the potion makers.

She was doing it of her own free will, but as the heir of the Talpiot family, it was also her duty.

Several hours later, after faithfully carrying out that duty, she finally headed to her favorite tavern in the late evening.

“Good grief…… I’m exhausted.”

Completely drained, Kassia practically collapsed across a chair.

Just as she was slowly melting into a puddle of exhaustion, a shadow fell over her.

“Hello.”

“……”

“Miss Pharmacist. You’ve been working hard.”

The voice of the person standing over her was warm and friendly.

It carried both affection and sympathy.

Kassia barely lifted her head in the direction of the voice.

A handsome man stood before her, smiling brightly.

He had platinum-blond hair, friendly blue eyes, and a pleasantly tanned complexion that gave him a seductive charm.

This handsome man was none other than the owner of the tavern, The Joy of the Oak Barrel.

Doesn’t this man have anything better to do?

He always found time to come and talk to her.

It seemed to be a long-standing habit of his, so Kassia continued the conversation without much reaction.

“Yes, I’ve been working extremely hard.”

“I heard the number of customers visiting Talpiot Street has dropped sharply since the Grand Duke of Penminid issued his threat.”

“We won’t go bankrupt. Potion makers are the only ones who can make healing potions.”

“That’s true. On the continent of Shardenya, the only thing that can replace divine power is the potions made by pharmacists.”

He was right.

On this continent, pharmacists performed the same role that priests did elsewhere.

They handled all kinds of tasks, including treating diseases, lifting curses, and even restoring severed body parts.

They were responsible for a surprisingly wide range of things.

And at the very top of their profession stood the Talpiot family.

The Talpiots’ duty was to protect and supervise all pharmacists.

That meant any trouble caused by pharmacists became the responsibility of the Talpiot family.

That was why Kassia was running around everywhere like a wild boar that had been shot in the backside.

Of course, duty wasn’t her only reason.

The street where she had been born and raised was home to the pharmacists she had known all her life.

To her, they were family.

She couldn’t just let her family go hungry, could she?

Still, she needed to find a way to solve this problem of dwindling customers……

But thinking could wait until after drinking.

She felt as though her brain wouldn’t start working properly until she had some alcohol.

Still feeling drained, she poured vodka into a glass and downed it in one go.

“Ahhh~! That hits the spot!”

“It’s free today. Drink as much as you like, you little drunkard.”

What’s gotten into him? The stingy old man is giving me free drinks?

“Thank you!”

Whatever the reason, she wasn’t going to turn down free alcohol.

Without a single refusal, Kassia gulped down drink after drink.

Her refreshing enthusiasm was enough to quench the thirst of anyone watching her.

The tavern owner smiled at the sight, ruffled her hair affectionately, and stood up.

“Cheer up.”

After offering her those kind words, he disappeared into the tavern.

It wasn’t as if they would never see each other again.

So Kassia didn’t bother watching him leave. She simply focused on her drink.

“You really are the only one who knows how to comfort me. Oh, you lovely thing!”

Hugging the vodka bottle and rubbing her cheek against it, she poured herself another drink and swallowed it in one go.

She drank one glass, then another.

She kept filling herself with alcohol until her body seemed as if it might as well be an oak barrel itself.

And that was when a man sauntered toward her.

He walked at a leisurely pace.

The sight of the man, whose face resembled that of a predator, made Kassia choke on her drink.

“Keheek!”

Why is that man here?!

Wondering whether he might have come with someone else, she looked around.

She twisted her head this way and that, nearly enough to break her neck.

But, unfortunately……

She was sitting at the very end of the tavern, and, by a cruel twist of fate, she was completely alone.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Kassia tried desperately to ignore him, but……

With long, confident strides, he closed the distance between them.

The man—or rather, the Grand Duke.

And who was he approaching?

Her.

The woman who was beginning to feel pleasantly tipsy from all the alcohol.

Step. Step. Step.

The closer the Grand Duke came, the more the warm, heavy air around her seemed to turn cold.

Just go away.

Please, just go away!

Using the bottle as a shield, Kassia lowered her head and muttered under her breath.

But God must have abandoned her.

Damn it!

The Grand Duke walked straight toward her without hesitation and sat down opposite her, his posture as arrogant as ever.

Then he bluntly announced,

“Date me.”