Translator and Editor: Lea and Aki

Chapter 6

Klaus sent an invitation at Ian’s command, and the reply arrived very quickly, as if Count Rose had been waiting for it. Thanks to this, Ian was able to meet Fiora again within a few days.

“Sorry for the sudden invitation, Lady Rose.”

“No. Thank you for inviting me, Marquis.”

Fiora answered awkwardly while she kept avoiding Ian’s eyes.

As the only daughter of Count Rose, she became aware of many people. From the moment she received the invitation, she knew that this was nothing special. Otherwise, he, who had never let a woman into the house before, had no reason to invite her.

“Do you mind if we talk alone? There is something I need to ask you.”

“Ah, yes….sure.”

On Ian’s gesture, Klaus tightly closed the door of the drawing room so as to make sure no words would ever leak out. Ian’s expression became cold as the two panels touched each other.

“Did Count Rose want this to happen?”

“What do you mean….”

Fiora flinched at the sudden change of his behavior. Ian stared at Fiora with assured eyes.

“I am asking you because I thought you knew what kind of alcohol it was.”

Fiora bit her lips and dropped her gaze. But Ian kept looking at her with a motive that he would not move a bit until he heard the answer, let alone draw his gaze. Simply, it was an interrogation, not a conversation.

“I just brought you the drink that my father told me to. I was embarrassed too!”

Fiora answered in a shrill voice, as if she wanted to complain of his injustice. Ian, who did not want to be in any more trouble, looked at her with a more fierce look and began.

“I didn’t invite you to speak ill of you. I just wanted to know what was mixed in the liquor and from where was it obtained.”

“Why?”

“I have a reason to meet the person who made it.”

Fiora crooked her head, seemingly incomprehensible while waiting for Ian to respond. However, he did not make any additional explanations or excuses.

“If you are a born businessman, you should know which option is the most reasonable.”

“What does that mean?”

“I never forget the people who help me.”

Ian’s words hit her. Unlike her father, who was eager to find a husband for her, she wanted to focus on the family business herself.

“….I had never been to those places before. My father usually goes there.”

Fiora paused and looked at Ian’s countenance. A strain was felt in her hand, that was tightly clasping the handle of the teacup.

“Continue. Whatever your father’s intentions are, I will never harm you.”

“Really?”

“If I had a cruel heart, would I have invited you like this?”

Fiora, a little relieved by his words, began to talk quietly with her eyes still down.

“My mother was suffering from dermatitis, and she was advised to use red cosmetics. The ones that my father ordered from the pharmacy were very effective.”

“Cosmetics from a pharmacy? Is the information correct?”

“It is an expensive material that ordinary people can never use. I have heard that the place also trades many other interesting things.”

“In a pharmacy like that?”

“Yes, and it has been doing a steady business with the nobles for a long time.”

Fiora’s words were exactly in line with Ian’s idea. Whenever he was on the right track, something seemed to hold him back. Ian gently rubbed his temple and fell into deep thought. He soon remembered the scenery of the day of his return to the capital.

‘Yes, it was then too.’

All of his thoughts began to converge around April. That day, April, who was pushed by the people, fell in front of him with an armful of red petals.

“I’m sure that my father bought something from there, but I don’t know about the details. When we had an argument after the banquet, he said nothing but that it was a pharmacy.”

“That will be enough. Thank you.”

On thanking her, Fiora immediately rose from her seat, as if she could not stay there any longer. Ian ordered a maid to escort her to her wagon so that she would not feel uncomfortable, and then he returned to the Oval Office to call Klaus.

“Klaus. Check if any of the pharmacies in the market makes red cosmetics. If they say they don’t know, search for the lady named April.”

“Ah, It must be the person who helped you. All right, Master.”

“If you find a lady with silver hair and purple eyes, will you give this to her?”

“I will, Master.”

Ian held out the envelope, stamped with the seal of the Marquis of Reykis to Klaus.

Despite his abrupt request, Klaus took it with no sign of embarrassment and left. He had to act immediately.

‘Was it a coincidence?’

His thought, that had been swirling in his head for quite some time, returned back to the lady with the silver hair. His thought averted from her fingertips to her lips, that were unnaturally energetic that night.

For him, who lived a life that had nothing to do with women, he had no choice but to think about the woman, with whom he got intertwined so often.

***

April, who habitually opened the back door and came out of the pharmacy, was speechless at the unexpected sight. She thought there would be no more customers as it was the time to prepare for dinner, but there was another customer whom she had not met before.

“Ah, Rill.”

As the gaze of the man facing Dalia turned to April, her hand holding the doorknob tightened. With his hair neatly combed back, it seemed he was a servant from a noble family.

“Please forgive me for the late introduction. My name is Klaus Hall. Excuse me Lady, is your name….”

His voice was calm, but his dark brown eyes shook violently, as if he had seen a ghost in the middle of the night. April was thinking about pulling the door close after going in, but it was too late.

“She is my cousin, April Quen. She is helping me out with the pharmacy.”

Dalia replied hurriedly before April could even shut her mouth. The surname “Quen” was used to conceal April’s clan.

Of course, no matter what surname April used, Klaus was not interested in it. He was only relieved that she was the woman his Master was looking for.

“I’m here to request for red cosmetics.”

“It’s only known to some noble families, how did you know about this place?”

“I have heard it from Count Rose, of course.”

April, who became sensitive after Count Rose’s case, asked if he was interrogating her. He gave an immediate answer, as if he was prepared.

Unlike his smile, the words coming from his mouth poked April in the back of her head. It was natural for her to think about Ian when she heard that she had been introduced by Count Rose. She pretended to act calm even when she was experiencing a bad headache.

“Dalia, can you step aside for a second? I need a place to talk with him, but I can’t take him into the lab.”

“Sure. Talk slowly. I’ll go into the lab.”

Dalia, who was reluctant to leave April alone with a stranger, hesitated before walking back inside the lab. April locked the pharmacy door and drew the curtains as soon as Dalia entered the room.

“You are looking for something, aren’t you?”

“You’re quite quick-witted, Lady. I actually came looking for someone, and fortunately, you were here.”

“Pardon?”

“My Master wants to meet you.”

At the stern words of the man, whom she had never seen before, April lamented briefly. As Klaus handed over the white envelope, April accepted it before searching for the sender’s name.

‘Are they trying to kill me?’

There was no name of the sender anywhere on the envelope, but she could tell at once what was the source of this letter from the black seal. It was from Ian Reykis. The crest of a black wolf depicted the Marquis Reykis, and that the letter was sent through the hands of a servant.

“I just did what I was asked to do. And I think you have your own responsibility.”

“The Marquis must have heard about this place from his doctor. So, I can’t blame you.”

She knew that there was no guarantee that she would not get caught. This was the only pharmacy that traded special kinds of drugs and potions. So if Count Rose had confessed it all, she would have just one day to stay at this little market. People could have found it even if they just walked around. However, she did not know that she was going to run into someone in just a few days.

“Then why are you here?”

“My Master wants to have a benefactor. Don’t worry, Lady. He wouldn’t care what you used to do before.”

“You’re getting on my nerves, you know.”

“I thought I would have to be sure. Please visit him whenever you like, Lady.”

Klaus bowed and left after finishing his words politely to the last minute. April opened the envelope and scanned through the page. She could not understand how someone could deal with her like this when she only helped in reducing his fever. She was even invited to the Reykis Mansion as a benefactor of Ian Reykis.

“Rill?”

When April sat still, making all kinds of presumptions in her mind, Dalia called her carefully. Her face did not seem as bright as it was. It was quite outlandish for her to have a sudden invite from a nobleman following Count Rose.

“Who the hell was he, and why did he come to visit you? Something is wrong, right?”

“It’s….”

April confided to Dalia about the details of the incident that had happened a few nights ago. Ian suffered from a high fever because of the potion, and after treating him, she had to run away from the place.

But her guess on Ian’s identity was not clear, so she decided not to mention him.

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