Chapter Five: A Gift for the Future
“I am Sara, one of the maids attending to Master Sieg. I’ve been assigned to assist you for the next month, Lady Karen. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
“Please, let me guide you to Master Sieg.”
When Karen visited the Ehlertt family mansion in the royal capital, a maid greeted her at the entrance. Sara, the silver-haired girl with purple eyes who had introduced herself, guided Karen without changing her expressionless face. When she opened the door to the room, a cloud of smoke billowed out.
“Master Sieg, this is Lady Karen, the alchemist who will be working for you over the next month.”
“I’m Karen. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to working with you.”
Following Sara’s introduction, Karen said cheerfully with a smile.
Though her client was a noble child, being too formal wouldn’t be good for their future interactions, but being too casual wouldn’t be appropriate either.
The room smelled of medicine and was filled with smoke—likely from a healing potion. It was a type of potion with continuous healing effects.
In the center of a large canopy bed at the far end of the smoky room lay a small child, nearly buried in the bedding.
Sieg Ehlertt.
Though he was said to be nine years old, his body was so small he looked no more than six. Around his neck hung a golden necklace. It must be a magic-sealing artifact. Karen had never seen one in person before, but she knew of their existence from her research into the Bloodline Blessing for Lyos.
It was an incredibly expensive and rare artifact, far beyond what common people could afford—a dungeon drop item, consumable. Magical items had ranks, and the lower the rank, the weaker the effect and the more easily they broke.
He had golden hair and blue eyes similar to Julius. His face was pale and his body thin.
He turned empty eyes toward Karen as if looking at nothing.
“…Right, nice to meet you.”
Sieg spoke as if uninterested. Perhaps even speaking was tiring for him.
Besides, he had probably seen many people like Karen come and go, so it was no wonder he showed little interest.
The one-month period was essentially a trial period. During this time, they would apparently let Karen do as she pleased. If there were no results during this period, Karen would be dismissed.
“First, as a token of friendship, I brought a gift for you.”
Sieg showed no reaction.
He was clearly different from ordinary children who would be delighted by presents. But that was fine, as the purpose of this gift wasn’t to make him happy. It was merely a setup to start a conversation.
“I apologize that it’s used—it belonged to my childhood friend who also had the Bloodline Blessing. It’s handmade, and it’s all I have, so I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“…A childhood friend with the Bloodline Blessing?”
The existence of another person with the Bloodline Blessing seemed to pique his interest.
Karen successfully weaved the topic into the conversation to catch his attention.
Smiling and saying "Yes," Karen unwrapped the package she was holding onto the desk.
“The most boring time is when you can sit up but still can’t leave the bed. So, these are toys you can play with while in bed.”
She spoke naturally about a future where he would be able to sit up. From her experience with Lyos, she knew that despair was the worst thing for the body.
“…Is your childhood friend still alive?”
As expected, Sieg had been imagining a future of death. That’s why such a question came up.
“Yes, he is! He’s doing so well that he recently became a knight!”
And after that, he dumped Karen.
Karen took one of the toys she had made for Lyos and approached Sieg, placing it on the bedside table.
“This is called Reversi. I made it myself.”
“Reversi…?”
“You take turns placing black and white pieces like this. When you sandwich white pieces, they turn white, and when you sandwich black pieces, they turn black. Whoever has the most pieces of their color at the end wins. We’ll play once you can sit up.”
“…Once I can sit up…”
She continued to speak naturally about the future. The important thing was to make this child believe. To make him hope that if he entrusted himself to Karen, he would definitely have a future.
“May I make some tea? I’m feeling thirsty.”
“Sure.”
Leaving behind a puzzled-looking Sieg, Karen stood up, but Sara stopped her.
“If you need tea prepared, I can do that for you, Lady Karen. Please focus on Master Sieg’s treatment.”
“No, this is part of the treatment.”
Karen whispered.
“I think he’s tired of taking medicine, so I want to give him medicine without calling it medicine.”
Even Lyos, who was patient and persistent, had grown tired of the bitter medicines he had to take for treatment. If even he struggled with it, an ordinary child wouldn’t be able to endure it. Besides, what Karen wanted to give him was just an unusual-tasting tea if you didn’t call it medicine.
“…I see.”
“Could you just prepare some hot water for me?”
“Certainly. However, I must taste-test anything that Master Sieg consumes. Please understand.”
“Of course.”
Karen nodded.
Even though the request came through the Guild, they would naturally be afraid to let a stranger give something to the child.
Moreover, what Karen intended to serve was tea made from what people of this world would consider an ordinary plant.
In the waiting room that doubled as the maids’ night duty room, Karen took out her tea leaves and began preparing tea with the hot water Sara had provided, all under Sara’s watchful eye.
“I heard that Master Sieg suffers from constant high fever because his internal magical power turns to heat and that this affects his appetite. Is this correct?”
“Yes, that’s exactly right.”
It was a typical symptom of the Bloodline Blessing that Karen was familiar with. In that case, she wanted to start by having him drink this special blend of tea and observe his reaction.
As Karen poured tea into two cups, Sara took one and said:
“Then, I shall taste-test it.”
As Karen watched Sara take a sip of the tea, thinking what a difficult job it must be, Sara tilted her head curiously.
“I taste ginger.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“…This is medicine, right?”
She gave Karen a suspicious look. But at least she could tell it wasn’t poison.
“Now, I shall perform an appraisal.”
“Is that an Artifact Appraisal Mirror?!”
Karen leaned forward excitedly as Sara pulled what looked like a large magnifying glass from the desk drawer. It was an ornate magnifying glass with gold geometric patterns on a black background. It was an extremely rare magical appraisal tool that Karen had only seen in books during her time at the commoner’s school.
“Yes. Master Julius obtained it this spring while conquering a dungeon in our territory. Everything that Master Sieg consumes must be appraised with this.”
“Could I borrow it later?”
“If it’s necessary for Master Sieg’s treatment, I suppose…”
Though Sara maintained her expressionless face, her eyes clearly showed she was looking at a suspicious person.
She probably thought Karen wanted to use the appraisal mirror for personal gain. There was a mountain of things Karen had long wanted to appraise. You could rent one at the Alchemist’s Guild for a fee, so she had been saving money to do so. The tea she just brewed was one of those things.
“…Ah!”
Sara’s eyes widened as she held the appraisal mirror over the tea.
“This is a potion.”
Karen grinned at Sara’s words.
Recovery potions were typically made with magical herbs and water. Other types of potions were also made using magical plants. However, at some point, Karen began to suspect that even simple dishes made without a trace of magical power were becoming potions. Until today, she had no way to confirm this, but it seemed her suspicions were correct.
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