Chapter Twelve: A Midnight Resolve
“Lady Karen, I apologize for disturbing you so late at night. Master Sieg has developed a fever again,”
“No, it’s fine. After all, I was the one who said to wake me…”
Karen rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat up, drinking the tea she had prepared in a pitcher by her pillow. It was peppermint tea. The sharp flavor jolted her awake. Though she hadn’t confirmed it with an appraisal mirror, it was likely a wake-up potion.
“Would you like a wake-up potion as well, Ms. Sara?”
“I’m fine. Please hurry.”
“Understood.”
Urged on by the anxious Sara, Karen put on her gown and followed her.
Being an outsider, she tried to maintain her composure as much as possible. When it was Lyos, she had panicked together with Frieda, and Lyos had been driven into a dangerous situation. If Sara was becoming flustered and losing focus, then Karen had to stay composed.
Karen was staying in a room in the Ehlertt manor. She was scheduled to live there for a month to treat Sieg.
Following the light of Sara’s candlestick, she entered Sieg’s room and heard rough breathing.
“Master Sieg, I’ve brought Lady Karen.”
“Do you know around what time his fever rose?”
“I believe it was around one hour after the sixth bell rang.”
The sixth bell rang around nine at night. So one hour after that would be around ten.
Sieg was lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling while breathing heavily. It seemed the sleeping potion’s effect had worn off, or he couldn’t overcome the magical fever and had woken up.
“First, I’ll try the same fever-reducing potion as last time.”
Potions have a cool-down period. For example, someone cuts off a finger and drinks a potion to regenerate it. If they cut the finger again and drink another potion, it won’t grow back. The effect returns if you wait some time, and the more potent the potion, the longer the cool-down period. If the body recognizes the severed state as normal, even drinking a recovery potion won’t make the finger grow back. It’s a race against time before that happens. For more severe injuries, even a mid-level healing potion may not suffice. If a high-level potion is needed but the cooldown from the mid-level one hasn’t passed, nothing will work, and the person might die.
“Master Sieg, the fever-reducing potion is here. I’ll cool it, so please wait a moment.”
Sara quickly tasted and appraised the potion, confirming its fever-reducing effect, then impatiently poured the steaming potion into a pitcher. After checking to make sure it had cooled, she gently placed the pitcher’s mouth to Sieg’s lips.
“So this was a potion? I can taste ginger…”
“It’s quite delicious, isn’t it?”
“I can’t really tell…”
Saying this, Sieg closed his eyes weakly.
“Lady Karen! The potion isn’t working!”
“Continuous use seems impossible. Then, let’s try this.”
“Isn’t this a potion that boosts the immune system?”
“The ingredients are the same, but the effect is different.”
When Karen prompted an appraisal, Sara took the appraisal mirror.
Honey Lemon
Fever Reducer
“Despite the same name, the effect is different.”
Because the immune-boosting version required permission to use, she made this one with leftover ingredients.
“It seems the potion focuses on one effect out of many. Please dissolve it in hot water and give it to him. Since it’s a different potion, consecutive use should be fine even if the effect is the same.”
While a healing potion immediately after another healing potion has no effect, a magical recovery potion after a healing potion does work.
Sara moved a piece of honey-soaked lemon from the jar to a cup, added hot water, stirred it with a spoon, and brought it to Sieg’s lips. Sieg, with the honey lemon liquid, poured between his cracked lips, inhaled sharply, and then exhaled in relief. His expression visibly softened.
“…Sorry for disturbing you so late at night.”
Sieg said this, pushing his eyelids open and smiling faintly.
Karen caught a fleeting shadow in his crystal-clear blue eyes, while Sara looked on the verge of tears as she spoke.
“Please don’t say such things, Master Sieg. We would give our lives for you. You’ve sweated a lot. I’ll bring a cloth to wipe your body right away.”
“Thank you, Sara, and Karen, too… what’s wrong?”
Left alone in the room, Karen stared intently at Sieg, making him tilt his head in confusion.
“…Why did you apologize? It’s just a fever.”
“I felt bad for waking you up in the middle of the night. By the way, your potion seems quite effective. It feels like I might actually recover.”
“Feels like?”
“Oh.”
Sieg immediately shut his mouth.
Looking up at the stunned Karen, he smiled brightly.
Seeing his angelically perfect smile, Karen became certain. Sieg had never believed from the start that her potions would completely cure his Bloodline Blessing. He was just acting like he felt, probably for the sake of those around him.
“…Was everything about the potions working a lie?”
“Well, your potions are working. The fever’s going down, and I felt some appetite.”
“But you saw no prospect of being cured by my potions?”
“Isn’t this potion just a kind of narcotic? A doctor once prescribed something similar, calling it medicine.”
Karen was speechless.
Had he been obediently drinking it, thinking it was like that? It was the reckless behavior of someone who had already given up on being saved.
“I’m grateful for medicines that make me feel better and keep others from worrying. But the last person who used such medicine on me was severely punished by my father when it was discovered, so be careful, Karen. Also, can you make sure Sara doesn’t consume anything harmful?”
“It’s not a narcotic.”
“Oh, really?”
When Karen spoke in a trembling voice, Sieg responded indifferently.
She had been confident. Turning tea and food into potions, confirming with the appraisal mirror, applying them to Sieg effectively, being thanked by Sara and other maids, while secretly fearing what would happen if they found out about Julius’ case. She had been riding high, thinking, “This will work, just like with Lyos!”—and now, here she was.
He had completely given up.
She had thought she could give him a bit of hope for the future.
She had thought he believed in her.
It was all just her own self-satisfaction.
Her throat felt hot.
Her meager pride as an alchemist was bubbling and about to explode.
“Heheh… hahaha!”
“Karen, what’s wrong? Sara will be back soon, so let’s end this conversation.”
When she opened her eyes again, they were filled with determination.
“Master Sieg, to save you, I’ve decided to stop compromising.”
The brilliant young heir of the Ehlertt family looked at her with wide, puzzled eyes.
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