Chapter Thirteen: The Alchemist’s Temptation
After that, Karen had shown Sieg her potion and its appraisal results, but Sieg’s cloak of resignation remained unshaken.
“By the way, Karen, did you know? The most famous potion made from non-magical ingredients is poison.”
Sieg said that, looking at the appraisal results Karen showed him.
“Look, in alchemy, you can’t create potions without understanding the ingredients. Unlike magical plants whose names can be seen through magic when appraised, understanding non-magical plants is difficult. But with poison, if you give it to a beast and it dies, you know what it is.”
Karen hadn’t even known potions made from non-magical ingredients existed. She had thought this was just her cheat-like advantage from remembering her past life, but it seemed she had simply been information-restricted.
“You can classify them by how they cause death, and in doing so, gain understanding. As understanding increases, you can create potions. If you stop generation before it becomes a full potion, you can even create poisons that don’t get detected in appraisal… and strangely, potions made from non-magical ingredients can hide poison within them while masquerading as potions with beneficial magical effects.”
Looking at Karen’s potion, Sieg seemed to believe it was a powerful narcotic disguised as a potion with a “fever-reducing” effect.
Karen quickly understood the structure of his reasoning. For instance, belladonna is a neurotoxin that causes paralysis and delirium. But when applied as eye drops, it enlarges the pupils, which is why, as she read in a romance novel from her past life, noble ladies used it as a cosmetic to make their eyes appear larger. If only the “pupil-enlarging” effect was turned into a potion while the neurotoxin remained as a plant component rather than a magical one, it would become the kind of poisonous potion Sieg described.
In other words, even if you make honey lemon into a fever-reducing potion, other effects remain, and it can also be nutritious.
The thought of how useful this could be crossed her mind, but only fleetingly. For anyone other than Karen, who understands the ingredients, potions made from non-magical materials were a terrifying gamble.
Karen wondered how they had dared to give Sieg such a potion—moreover, made by an F-rank alchemist—but given the circumstances, they had no other choice but to try.
Karen didn’t fully grasp how desperate the people of this household were.
She spent the next few days mulling it over, clutching her head in frustration.
Having resolved not to compromise, Karen knew she would have to confront Sieg.
Karen waited for Sieg to finish his breakfast before broaching the subject.
“May I have a moment of your time?”
“Sure. Thanks to your potions, I’m feeling better.”
Sieg responded with a faint smile.
Waiting for Karen with a somewhat relaxed expression, Sieg seemed curious about what she might say. After taking a breath, Karen spoke:
“Master Sieg, you believe you’re useless because the Bloodline’s Blessing prevents you from doing anything, don’t you?”
“Lady Karen, what are you saying?!”
Sara was the first to cry out.
Sieg’s smile stiffened, and he froze.
“You think you’re useless, which is why you apologized for something as trivial as waking us commoners in the middle of the night.”
“That’s because Master Sieg has a kind heart!”
“That might be true, but that’s not how it sounded to me.”
The apology Sieg had uttered that night carried the weight of suppressed emotions, soaked in a sense of helplessness. It was so shocking that for a moment, she was stunned by how a child could apologize like that. That’s when Karen realized Sieg had lost the will to survive.
Sieg erased his smile and looked up at Karen.
“Karen, even if I truly felt that way, if you openly insult me, the next heir of the Ehlertt Earldom, you won’t get off easily, do you understand?”
“So you do intend to become the heir of the Ehlertt Earldom, even though you don’t believe you’ll survive.”
“Karen.”
Despite his youth and frail body, his voice carried a commanding presence. It implied that if she said more, he would show no mercy.
At that moment, Sara stepped between Sieg and Karen.
“Lady Karen, you have been a great influence on Master Sieg, but as a servant of the Ehlertt Household, I cannot overlook this further. You are an F-rank alchemist. Please know your place.”
Sieg muttered "F-rank…" in a daze.
He seemed to have been unaware until today. In this world, F-rank was equivalent to trash.
That is why, initially, Karen was willing to compromise.
“I didn’t mean to say such things, Ms. Sara. After all, he’s a nobleman. I planned to quietly fulfill my duties without causing offense and then leave.”
“You should have done just that.”
Sieg spat out the words.
Looking down at him, Karen said:
“To help you, Master Sieg, I’ll first correct your misunderstanding.”
“…Misunderstanding?”
There was Lyos’s example. From eight to fourteen years old. Six years of trial and error. Karen was confident that if she followed the same approach, Sieg could be saved. However, Sieg lacked the fierce determination to survive that Lyos had. Six years was far too long to remain in despair.
“No matter how much I tell you that you’re not useless, you probably won’t believe me. Perhaps not even if Sara says it, or even your parents.”
It was the same with Lyos, and Sieg was no different. He glared at her with dark eyes. Thinking about him being a high-ranking noble’s child sent a shiver down her spine, so she tried not to dwell on it.
“So, Master Sieg, I will prove that you can do something.”
Karen spread documents on the desk beside Sieg’s bed. Sara watched her with a vigilant eye but did not interfere.
“This is a list of paper titles from past alchemists, sent to me by a guild member. As an F-rank, I don’t have permission to view the contents, but I can see who conducted what research and what honors they received.”
Karen had sent a letter to Natalia a few days ago to prepare this list.
Sieg picked up one of the papers, looking at Karen with a puzzled expression.
“’Cultivation of Herbs Outside Influence Zones’, ‘Utilization of Monster Materials in Potions’, ‘Experimental Use of Magic Stones to Improve Potion Quality’… What is this? It seems to have nothing to do with me.”
“The list includes the names of the nobles who supported each study. Do you recognize them?”
“Of course. These are renowned families whose achievements are recognized even in the noble society. Did you think I know nothing because I’m bedridden from the Bloodline’s Blessing? Back when I could still get up, I even received successor education.”
Sieg spoke with a biting tone. Karen smiled subtly.
Sieg flinched.
If he had been educated on these matters, he would understand their significance even more.
Karen whispered sweetly to the bewildered Sieg:
“Wouldn’t you like to have your name listed alongside these distinguished individuals?”
“Huh?”
“How about a title like ‘Research on Effective Non-Magical Ingredient Potions to Suppress Side Effects of Bloodline Blessing’? Of course, with you, Master Sieg, as a cooperating contributor who tests the potions. How could you be useless then?”
She had always intended to publish her findings on potions as a formal study. It would become one of Karen’s achievements as an alchemist. But she had never intended to request research cooperation from a noble like Sieg. An F-rank asking a noble for research collaboration…? Impossible.
She hadn’t hesitated out of concern for Sieg. Karen was simply convinced that such a request would be rejected outright. In short, Karen was about to compromise again.
But seeing Sieg like this, she realized she could present it as something beneficial for him. If Sieg’s name were associated with research that might save countless lives, he would no longer see himself as useless. Using a noble’s name like Sieg’s would also make her research more likely to be recognized.
“Don’t you want to be a proud figure in the Ehlertt Earldom’s history as a collaborator in national research?”
Karen made her invitation with all her might.
Because this was something Karen genuinely wanted to achieve, it gave Sieg a reason to invest in it as well.
And because Karen, for once, refused to compromise for her own sake, Sieg found himself captivated, swallowing hard.
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