Chapter 50 – Torment As Much As You Want

Translator: Yonnee

Chapter 50 – Torment As Much As You Want

“Don’t go.”

“……”

The Princess blocked his way.

“Your Highness said you love me.”

Cassius took the Princess’ unimpressively wrist as he said this dryly, more matter-of-fact than a doctor’s diagnosis. She smiled up and stared back at him.

“I love you so much. I’ll give you everything.”

It was a low, crooked voice that was dour to his ears. The Princess’ eyes shook as she couldn’t guess Cassius’ intentions. He slowly let go of her wrist, then whispered.

“But why is your pulse so calm?”

“Duke, that’s…”

“You must have thought that I’d be foolish enough to fall for your schemes.”

“…Duke Ideos.”

Cassius quietly, clearly said one thing in response to her words as he looked down on her coldly.

“You’ve underestimated me.”

“Fine, I’ll be honest with you. I… covet you. But of course, it’s true that I like you.”

The Princess’ ears turned red as she said this. Cassius looked at her inquisitively, waiting for her to continue, but his patience was slowly reaching its limit.

Soon, it was going to be time for Sierra to leave the Imperial Palace’s pharmacy. He didn’t tell Sierra to wait for him, but if she left now, she’d already be on her way home.

He didn’t want to waste any more time listening to the Princess’ dull excuses.

“And if we join forces…”

As Cassius continued to look at her with indifference, the Princess’ voice became hushed.

“Just as it is right, I can become your Duchess as I leave the Imperial Palace.”

“I have no interest in your plans for the future.”

Cassius turned disinterestedly, and the Princess’ expression collapsed at the firm rejection.

“I’ll give you a peninsula in the Lenc region. Perhaps even the Imperial scepter.”

There was still a glimmer of hope in the Princess’ eyes as she mentioned the peninsula in the Lenc region, anticipating that Cassius would want it.

“Unfortunately, I am not interested.”

However, Cassius had no intention to listen to her any longer, and turned around fully. Noticing that this was truly her last chance before he left, she hurriedly hugged Cassius’ back and whispered.

“Just why must it turn out like this. That Sierra is only a commoner.”

Cassius removed the Princess from him sharply. At this, the Princess laughed as she looked at his back, then murmured.

“It’s not like I don’t know why you’re crazy for her, Duke. She’s beautiful.”

The Princess swallowed a bitter smile. She also saw that Sierra was a bright and lovely woman, despite being a willow tree in her eyes. She certainly had a different appeal compared to the Princess as she was called the most beautiful woman in the Imperial Palace.

But it was still so hard for her to believe that the Duke right in front of her fell for that person rather than her. There were so many other women with Sierra’s level of beauty.

“But you know this, too, don’t you, Duke? There are a lot of people going after her as well.”

Cassius was already by the door, which was halfway open, then he turned slowly towards her.

“None of them would have the power to do so.”

And at this, the Princess’ eyes darkened.

“But if it’s a son of the Imperial Family…”

“……”

There might be a way to introduce that girl to my brother. Would you be able to stop that?”

Cassius looked at the Princess, his lips in a straight line. She may think that they were a good pair together, but Cassius thought differently.

“It doesn’t matter who it is.”

“…What do you mean, Duke?”

“If anyone touches Sierra, regardless of who it is, I mean that they would all lose to me.”

Cassius looked as though he was ready to do anything, even treason, and turned away. He looked even colder, but the Princess continued talking.

“Remember. You join hands with me anytime, I don’t mind the situation.”

Cassius spoke in a low, mocking tone.

“No, you won’t even be able to touch it.”

Cassius felt responsible for Sierra’s safety, like a bird that had flown into his hands. He bit the flesh in his mouth. He regretted that Sierra started getting unfavorable attention because she was caught up with him.

‘I’m sorry, Sierra.’

On the outside, he looked calm, but his mind was in turmoil. Cassius recalled how Sierra had suffered all kinds of humiliation ever since she entered the Duchy. He hated himself even to the point of vomiting…

Nevertheless, he couldn’t let her go. He once again vowed to make her happy while she was with him.

‘I’ll need to strengthen the security around her. And block all contact with the Crown Prince.’

Seeing the Princess’ crazed eyes left a deep impression on him. She said it was love, but that couldn’t possibly be it. There was no reason for someone to be that obsessed.

‘I need to find out what the Princess is scheming.’

No matter how he looked at it, the Princess didn’t seem to have given up on him yet. Cassius bit his lower lip as he headed towards the Imperial Palace’s pharmacy, thinking about how he could make the Princess surrender.

* * *

At that time, Sierra had returned after finishing all the requests asked of her at the Imperial Palace’s pharmacy. Of course, she had been subjected to countless tricks by the other resident pharmacists that looked as though they hated her to death.

Even so, Sierra didn’t care about anything like that. She was just excited that she could fulfill those prescriptions after a long time.

‘I have to gradually prepare and look for an informant who could gather rumors circulating in the palace.’

It was a full week of keeping her eyes and ears out for news about her older sister. Meanwhile, Cassius went with Sierra to work on the same carriage. He gave her something like a cloth doll whenever he went with her to work as though it was an allowance—the cloth doll was full of money. It was the same today.

“Take it.”

Sierra, who couldn’t stand the same routine throughout the week anymore, carefully opened her lips and asked.

“Um, thank you. But may I ask why this doll has money?”

In the rattling carriage, Cassius leaned forward and their knees touched for a moment.

“Don’t you remember five years ago? You said you liked it.”

‘Just because I said I liked something, he even put money inside like it’s a money envelope.’

Listening to Cassius’ gentle voice, Sierra looked back at her memories. Come to think of it, in the spring of her 19th year, Cassius often gave her flowers and dolls. And then, her cheeks reddened.

’That…’

‘Huh?’

‘I thought you liked this…’

‘Listen, Cassius.’

‘Yes?’

‘I like money. A lot of it.’

Thinking that she was still very much a consistent person as with the past, she touched the doll with frustration. Then, Cassius leaned in carefully and whispered into her ear.

“If someone bothers you, buy them off with this money.”

“Buy?”

“The knights will protect you, but I’m still worried.”

“Well… Thanks.”

She didn’t know what could happen, and her own safety was the most important to her. Sierra nodded vigorously because Cassius was a hundred times right. Even though he was being overprotective, it was only because it’s true that he had a lot of enemies that could also harm her.

After organizing her thoughts, Sierra got off the carriage and entered the palace’s pharmacy. Over the past week, Sierra had been trying to uncover all kinds of rumors, but then again, no one talked to her, so there was only so much she could hear. Apart from that, since Sierra didn’t retaliate, the bullying got worse and worse.

‘Because the pharmacists here can’t be bought with money.’

Unfortunately, Cassius’ method could only go so far with the pharmacy. Still, as Sierra came for work today, she greeted them brightly.

“Good morning.”

But as usual, there was no one who greeted her back. Of course Sierra, whose nerves were like steel, entered the pharmacy with a spring in her step.

‘Today, I need to sort and trim the medicinal herbs.’

After changing into the uniform provided by the Imperial Palace, she went into the pharmacy’s preparation room and looked around. There, she saw three pharmacists together giving her the stink eye. They were the ones who were bothering Sierra the most these days.

When Sierra went next to them to check the herbs, not paying their glares any mind, they could be heard gossiping about Sierra herself right there.

“…I heard that she graduated from the Imperial Academy with only mediocre grades.”

“What has happened to these nobles, have their eyes gone blind?”

“I know right.”

“Hmm.”

Sierra frowned at the low quality medicinal herbs gathered in front of her. Jenny, the one standing next to her, pushed a flask next to her and muttered.

“Even if you make a pitiful face, I w-won’t help you at all.”

Jenny was the one that Sierra had confronted on her first day of work not too long ago. Snatching the flask from the girl’s hand, Sierra replied.

“Ah, thanks. I needed this.”

“…G-Goodness.”

The pharmacists, including Jenny, quickly frowned and went back to murmuring as if they really believed that she couldn’t hear them.

It was like back stabbing, yet right in your face.

‘Oh well, the bullying hasn’t changed much from when I was a student.’

Honestly, Sierra wasn’t really self conscious. She was the type of person who thought, ‘If the world throws punches at me, then I’ll punch right back.’ But at this moment, the only problem she could see was this—the rotten hemp roots that they had given her.

Sierra frowned as she looked at the hemp root in front of her, the sound of their whispering passing through her ears.

“Is she even capable of seeing if it’s cheap medicine or what?”

“I heard her academy grades weren’t that good either.”

“Mid-level grades. I heard her nickname was Bee because she always got Bs.”

Sierra had followed her sister’s words and hid her abilities at the academy. Thinking that receiving even only Bs would be good enough, Sierra sighed heavily as she looked down at the rotten hemp roots, a sarcastic smile on her lips.

‘I don’t care if they give me lower-grade herbs because there are times that they could make better medicines as long as they’re handled properly through mana. But they gave me rotten herbs even though it would be used to treat patients?’

She frowned and crinkled her nose. Until now, she wasn’t interested in how they were coming for her, but now that they were going to affect even patients and the medicine they’ll take, Sierra felt that she had to draw the line here.

‘I can’t stand this.’

Apart from that, she also had to check if these pharmacists would be useful or not. She looked to the side.

“Hey.”

When the course tone spilled through her lips though her expression remained soft, they seemed surprised by Sierra’s unexpected call.

“You all seem to be looking down on me as a parachute appointee.”

“I’m not ignoring you because you got in through connections. It’s just because I think you’re pathetic.”

Perhaps they thought that her pride might be hurt by admitting that they thought of her as nothing but that, however, Sierra shrugged and asked back.

“Pathetic?”

“Yeah! Even though you got bad grades at the academy, you entered the pharmacy through the favor of nobles. Isn’t that right?”

“The people here are from families who have served at the Imperial Palace’s pharmacy for generations.”

“And the pharmacists are also all top students during their time at the academy. That’s the only legitimate way of becoming an Imperial pharmacist.”

“Your position was supposed to be filled by the next top student of the academy, but you ruined everything!”

Sierra crossed her arms over her chest and smiled proudly at them for speaking so boldly.

“So what you’re saying is that most of the pharmacists in the palace were top students of the Imperial Academy?”

‘It’s a reasonable selection method… but why did you have to make a job listing? The people in the palace are laughable, too. They’re all staying here with connections anyway.’

As she swallowed the word ‘pathetic’, Sierra smiled and looked back at them.

“Then you’re confident that you’re better than me, right?”

While she was still in Supe village, Sierra once read a book about mercenaries. Surprisingly, there was a twist that the people who were at the main mercenary’s side easily from the start would likely hit him from the back, while the ones he found to be hostile at first turned out to be more loyal in the second half of the book.

‘Despite yawning while reading it, I didn’t know I’d actually use what I learned in that book.’

Sierra turned to them. She could see their eyes burning with passion for the pharmacy. In order for her to find her sister more quickly, it was necessary to have minions—ah, no, close aides at the Imperial Palace.