Translator: Yonnee

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Chapter 41

Sierra tried to read Andante’s reaction, but the best thing she could do right now was to bow deeply while apologizing.

“…I apologize for not revealing my identity. You must be terribly offended.”

Andante looked at Sierra with a strange gaze and murmured softly, as if she were considering her words carefully.

“You’re the one who discovered that someone’s making me addicted to poison and that my doctor was being manipulated…”

Sierra couldn’t tell if Andante was holding her temper or not. What was clear however was that the Marchioness’ cheeks were flushed and her voice was trembling.

‘I don’t think she finds it pleasant that I treated her, especially because she’s a noble…’

And apart from that, Andante was wrongly accused of attempting to throw water at Sierra.

‘Let’s just smile. Even if the other person doesn’t like it, they won’t be able to spit on a smiling face. …Maybe?’

Sierra curved her eyes and looked at Andante with a bright smile. Andante stared blankly at her, staggered to her feet, then grabbed Sierra’s hand.

“Sierra.”

“…Yes?”

The hands that were clasping over Sierra’s were full of strength.

“I’ve troubled you greatly. Ever since that time, I’ve done a lot of damage to your personal life.”

“No no, I’ve been living a good life without any problems.”

Andante’s eyes teared up at Sierra’s words.

‘…What’s she talking about? I’m totally fine?’

Sierra held no particular enmity towards Marchioness Andante Mails. But according to Andante’s continued babbling, Sierra had been severely harassed by her…?

“You’ve been through a lot at the teahouse.”

‘No, that’s really not it…’

If they continued to talk like this, Andante would just become like Cassius and his Godmother. Sierra thought it’s already like that right now, but…

“You don’t have to be sorry.”

“…And even after everything, you saved my life, just like an angel. I can’t ignore this.”

Sierra wasn’t exactly an angel, but praise made even whales dance—frankly, Sierra was a little happy hearing it. She saved a patient who was almost poisoned to death, and she stopped this through her own abilities as a pharmaceutical genius. And now she heard from the patient that she was grateful.

‘This is the life I’ve been wishing for all along.’

Sierra stared at Andante, her eyes shining brightly, In return, Andante studied Sierra’s expression and shook her head.

“I can see why Mother-in-law thinks I’m pitiful.”

She let go of Sierra’s hand, then sat back down on the seat opposite Sierra. Andante took a few deep breaths until her emotions calmed down somewhat, then she spoke once more.

“That’s right, I still have something to tell you, about what I mentioned a while ago. The one who’s scheming.”

“Yes.”

“You must think badly of the Imperial Palace to have saved me. Because…” Andante paused, then said bitterly, “That doctor is an Imperial doctor. There’s a possibility that he was bought off, but I think he’s trying to kill me under the palace’s orders.”

What she just said raised a lot of questions. Who was it from the palace who wanted to kill the Marchioness?

Andante smiled when she saw how Sierra frowned.

“This is normal among the nobles. Anyway, from now on, I intend to help you with everything I can. I’m afraid they’ll hurt you as well.”

It was definitely going to be a disaster if this was all a part of a power struggle within the nobles. Of course, even if Sierra knew that the opponent was the palace, she still would have saved Andante. That was Sierra’s mission as a pharmacist towards a patient.

‘This is going to be more troublesome than I thought.’

When Sierra furrowed her brows, Andante lifted her index finger and ironed out the younger woman’s wrinkled forehead.

“If you make that face, you’ll get old faster. You’re pretty, so take care of yourself.”

“Ah, yes…”

“When my husband comes, I will ask him to bestow upon you a title of nobility.”

“Um, more than that, I would appreciate it if you acknowledge that I’m more competent than Hippo Kingdom’s doctors. As a witness of today’s events.”

“Oh, that’s already been done.”

“…?”

Andante laughed and pulled on the rope to notify her servants.

“Sierra, word of your astounding skills had already been sent by the Hippo Kingdom’s doctors.”

“Huh? To whom?”

“The doctors have sent a message to the Duke of Ideos.”

Sierra bit her lip when the door burst open, and through it, Cassius practically ran inside the room. Looking as though the world had collapsed, Cassius rushed to Sierra’s side, then shouted.

“Why are you here… I thought you’ve been hurt…!”

“I’m not hurt at all.”

“That wicked bastard could have killed you, Sierra.”

…Not at all. That doctor didn’t even care about a lousy assistant like Sierra until the end.

Sierra rose and stood in front of Cassius. Now that her competence had been proven, she could now contest the credibility of the paternity test kit that doctors—who were worse than Sierra herself!—had made.

“Before that, the paternity kit—and the Prime Minister…”

“Sierra.”

Cassius hurriedly wrapped his arms around Sierra’s waist.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of paternity test it is.”

His loud voice echoed in Sierra’s ears.

“…I’m so afraid that you’ll be gone.”

Come to think of it, he smelled like the cold air outside. Sierra breathed in.

“Do you… know how much I…”

‘At this rate, I’ll have to mention the paternity test a little later.’

Anyway, there was a recording artifact in her pocket that had been recording everything so far.

“I know. It was dangerous, so you must have been worried a lot… I know.”

Sierra nodded awkwardly while patting him on the shoulder.

“If anyone bothers you, I’ll kill them right away. The same goes for the doctor.”

‘…Why does hearing him threaten to kill someone sound so sweet……’

Even as dense as Sierra was, she was faced with a crying Cassius, so for now she decided that she should soothe him first.

‘It’s the first time I’ve experienced anyone being this worried about me.’

She mostly lived in this world being alone. She had an older sister, but they never met often, and their parents died early.

Strangely, whenever she saw Cassius, she wanted to lean on him.

Sierra raised a hand to push him away, but she paused. She didn’t know why, but she was unwilling to push him away, and so she only looked at his shoulder.

His arms… being in his embrace was warmer than she thought.

* * *

After embracing so fiercely even in front of Andante, Sierra and Cassius returned to the Ducal estate with a cloud of awkwardness hovering around them.

They stood together then for a few minutes—while Cassius’ arms were firm and warm, Sierra eventually came to her senses after having been possessed for a moment.

‘Don’t forget your goal!’

Aside from Sierra being swayed by Cassius, Hanael really wasn’t their daughter.

As soon as they returned to the estate, Sierra called for the doctors and met them together with Cassius.

Sierra had already proved to them what she could do after saving the Marchioness, even when the doctors themselves couldn’t, so she raised questions about the paternity kit.

“I’ve examined the paternity kit, and it seems like there’s a flaw to the first stage of the test.”

Hentel had already been convinced of Sierra’s abilities after hearing about what she did at the Marquis’ mansion, and so he nodded in agreement.

“I am aware that the first stage is not decisive.”

“There’s only about an 80 percent chance that the results are accurate.”

“Let’s put a tentative hold on determining Hanael’s identity right away. For now, let’s speed up the paternity test so it doesn’t leak out.”

Sierra was able to reach an agreement with Lanya and Kilo. It was still not sure that Hanael was Sierra’s daughter, so Cassius’ proposal had been averted.

But the Godmother…

“Child, you saved my daughter-in-law. I’m so proud of you. You’re an angel…”

…The Godmother was acting like she would never stop loving Sierra. Right now, Sierra was trying to stop her from trying to hold a festival throughout the entire capital. Fortunately, she managed to convince in the end.

However, a few days later Sierra heard something upsetting.

“My sister’s missing?”

“Yes! The last place where her trail got cut off was at the town of Sebor, where the Crown Prince’s official residence is.”

Under normal circumstances, anyone would be frantic at the news that their sister was missing, but Sierra’s sister was the eccentric archmage Amil. In fact, this was more of a case of ‘hiding’ than ‘disappearing’.

Clenching her teeth hard enough that the sound was audible, Sierra sprang up from her seat and clenched her fist.

“Let’s go to Sebor and catch that trail.”

A rare, eccentric expression crossed Sierra’s face. She took out the blue potion that was in her pocket. It was the ‘Trail Distinguishing Potion’ that she made.

“What’s that?”

Hearing the curiosity behind Abel’s voice, Sierra hastened her steps and responded solemnly.

“It’s a potion to catch my sister’s tracks.”

Until now, Sierra had endured it all somehow and stayed considerate of her sister. It went until the extent that she did not openly show her own abilities because it might bring harm to her sister.

But she couldn’t stop now.

“I’m going to find my sister with this. Then, of course, I’ll drag her here.”

She couldn’t take it any longer.

She liked this mansion. She was happy that Hanael could live comfortably, and she liked the people here very much. But she wasn’t sure if she could like Cassius in that way.

‘Life isn’t a romance novel. There’s no happy ending where both people aren’t on the same page.’

Sierra closed her eyes tightly, then opened them.

‘And my parents…’

Sierra’s eyes, which reminded herself of her parents who died too early, shone beautifully. After thinking of her parents, she felt more determined.

“How long does it take to go to Sebor?”

Abel counted on his fingers and mumbled to himself as he calculated the distance, then soon clapped and answered cheerfully.

“It won’t take long. We can get back in a day.”

Sierra’s expression became twisted.

That sister of hers. She’ll be caught alive, at least.

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