A Genius Pharmacist Whom the Empress Is Obsessed With

Episode 25. It Shouldn’t Have Been Done. (6)

Rhediminé leaned her head out the window and looked up at the castle. Fortunately, there was light in Edain’s room.

“He must still be awake!”

If by any chance Edain was sleeping, Rhediminé had no intention of going to see him. As the Marquis of Pheniard said, Edain needed rest.

“Now, all that’s left is…”

Rhediminé quickly turned her head and looked behind her. It seemed like the time to finish work, as there was no servant in the corridor.

“Now is the time…”

She could quietly go to Edain.

With that thought, Rhediminé walked towards the stairs. In case her footsteps made too much noise, she also didn’t forget to tread lightly.

She did not mean to do anything wrong, but it was difficult to tell the Marquis of Pheniard or the maids that she was going to see Edain.

The Marquis of Pheniard would surely interrogate her on why she was looking for Edain, and the maids would report her every move to the Marquis of Pheniard.

“I can’t tell them that I want to confirm whether Edain has taken the curse upon himself.”

If she did, the Marquis of Pheniard would definitely find a way to prevent Rhediminé from meeting Edain.

Edain’s room was at the very top of the castle. It was thanks to the request of the blonde girl who brought Edain.

“He fainted outside the castle. It would be nice if you could take care of him in this situation. From the looks of it, it seems like he’ll need to rest for quite a while. Oh, this room should get plenty of sunlight and be warm, and it should be well-ventilated. Finally, it should have very few disturbances.”

The girl who suddenly appeared in the courtyard pointed at the unconscious Edain and said so, and as a result, Edain ended up occupying Lord Pheniard’s room.

Lord Pheniard never uttered a word about who the girl was, but Rhediminé, who had a keen sense, felt like she knew who that girl was.

“She must be a dragon.”

No matter how much she thought about it, there was no one other than a dragon who could move an adult man alone and have Lord Pheniard grant her request without asking anything. Lord Pheniard had actually had conversations with the dragon.

“Ugh, why are there so many stairs?”

Rhediminé furrowed her brow as the stairs she had climbed up and down several times looked unusually long today. Didn’t she get caught trying to sneak to Edain before and had to turn back because she was spotted by the cat?

This time, she absolutely didn’t want any disruptions.

Was her desperate wish granted? Fortunately, Rhediminé didn’t encounter anyone on her way to Edain’s room.

“Phew.”

She should start by thanking him for saving people. Rhediminé quietly knocked on the door.

But no matter how long she waited, she didn’t hear any response from inside the room.

“…Didn’t he hear me? Or is he sleeping?”

I saw the light on earlier. Rhediminé knocked on the door again, but once again, there was no answer.

“Could he have fallen asleep again?”

Ludimine swallowed her saliva and gently opened the door. Under the flickering candlelight that seeped through the narrow door crack, Eden was sitting on a rocking chair. Judging from the fact that the rocking chair was still, it was clear that Eden was asleep.

“…In that case, I should just go back.”

No matter how much she wanted to ask about the curse, or express her gratitude, Ludimine had no intention of disturbing Eden’s rest.

Trying to calm her disappointment, Ludimine quietly attempted to close the door, when she noticed that the window was open.

A sudden gust of wind blew and disheveled Eden’s black hair. The wind seemed quite strong, as even the blanket covering her knees and the book in her hand were about to fall.

“Didn’t you say that you were feeling unwell? Even though it’s summer, it’s not good for your body to sleep while being exposed to the wind like that.”

Alright, since it’s already like this, I should just close the window. Although I’m concerned about the curse, it should be fine as long as I don’t get too close, right?

With that thought in mind, Ludimine stepped into the room. Even though the wind blew a few more times, fortunately, Ludimine couldn’t sense any foul odor. It seemed that with Peniade’s words and Rademus’s injury, his curse had weakened.

“But just in case, let’s quickly close it and leave. Don’t forget to keep a distance.”

Once again, Ludimine couldn’t bring herself to trouble Eden any further.

As Ludimine approached the window, the closer she got, the clearer she could see Eden’s face, who was still asleep.

“…Looking at her like this, she’s quite attractive.”

As if the fatigue hadn’t entirely left her yet, Eden’s slightly tired eyes seemed to make her even more charming.

Thunk.

Carefully passing by Eden, something brushed against Ludimine’s ankle.

“Huh?”

Could it be that she accidentally touched something important? Ludimine quickly stooped down and anxiously looked at the ground.

“There’s nothing here….”

Thinking it might have been an illusion, as Ludimine was about to take another step, Eden firmly grabbed hold of her arm.

“…Eden?!”

Surprised, Ludimine lowered her gaze and spoke. It would be troublesome if Eden had any strange misunderstandings, such as thinking that she was spying on her.

“I, I came to ask something, since the window was open. I was trying to close it, th, that’s all there is to it.”

“….”

“Really. I wouldn’t lie-.”

Ludimine couldn’t finish her sentence. The foul odor that she hadn’t sensed until just now suddenly enveloped her entire body.

“…Come to think of it, this hand that’s holding onto me, isn’t it the left hand?”

As Ludimine’s spine chilled in an instant, she hastily tried to shake off Eden’s hand.

However, the more she tried to escape, the tighter Eden’s hand gripped Ludimine’s wrist.

*

“Hmm?”

In someone’s desperate cry, Iden opened his eyes. Quite surprisingly, the first thing he saw as soon as he opened his eyes was Lady Ludimine’s pale face.

“Your Highness, why…?”

“I-Iden. Q-Quickly. Do something with this hand! I-I’m certain I didn’t go near it!”

As Iden bowed his head, an indescribable sense of confusion passed over his face. A red snake gleaming brighter than ever was sinking its fangs into the princess’s wrist. At the same time, a very sharp and unpleasant sensation pierced Iden’s left arm.

Startled, Iden tried to move his arm several times, but his arm, as if corroded by a curse, showed no signs of movement at all.

“…I let my guard down too much.”

I thought she had remained silent for a few days, so I thought the curse had lost its power. But I was wrong. The mystic had been preparing for one last blow, while trying to flatten her body as much as possible.

Damn it, damn it. Iden bit his lip and quickly wrapped his forearm with the blanket on his knee. Then, he took out a bookmark from the book he had been looking at.

“It’s a crude method, but it’s the only way right now.”

To neutralize a strong impact, an equally strong impact was needed.

Using the sharp part of the bookmark, Iden struck his inner forearm. As a precaution, he took great care not to let any blood splatter on Ludimine.

After striking three times like that, his arm began to move little by little, accompanied by intense pain.

“What… what on earth is this…”

When his five fingers came under his control, Iden quickly got up from his chair and stumbled backward. His rough movements caused the rocking chair to collapse with a thud.

The red snake resisted fiercely, but it had assimilated considerably with Iden’s body. As Iden forcibly distanced himself from the princess, the red snake had no choice but to separate from her.

“Iden, we must… we must treat it right away…”

Ludimine trembled as she held onto her wrist.

“…Don’t come any closer.”

Iden said, suppressing the pain he felt in his arm.

“…This is truly the worst.”

The red snake was baring its fangs at the princess from Iden’s left arm, and the yellow blanket wrapped around his forearm had turned scarlet as if blood would soon drip from it.

“…Your Highness, my blood is toxic. So please, never touch it.”

As he spoke, Iden wrapped the injured area with a massive blanket on the bed.

“If by any chance, my blood spills on the floor or anything, it must be burned.”

“…Toxic? Could it be because of the curse that was put on me? Then what should I do now?”

What should I do? I should disappear from this room right now.

Iden smiled faintly and threw himself out the window.

***

“….”

I was only temporarily absent to search for pure mana, but just a few minutes made such a difference.

Adrian silently looked at Idun, who was floating on the water. The red snake that had been corroding Idun’s left arm was choking his neck, apparently enraged.

In the river used by pirates, his blood seemed to have spread, as larger and smaller fish were floating upside down.

“… You came?”

After Adrian cast a spell to suppress the red snake, Idun greeted him with a hoarse voice.

“Did it have to come to this?”

“My condition wasn’t good enough to suppress the red snake with my life force. We couldn’t escape from the princess immediately, so this was the only option. I can’t run inside the castle while sprinkling my blood. If we’re going to cause an accident, we have to do it cleanly.”

“Can you climb up from there?”

“Um, maybe?”

Idun crawled up the riverbank in a very uncomfortable position. Due to the impact of the fall, his whole body was literally in a mess.

Adrian could only watch that sight. He wanted to support Idun, but he couldn’t touch him carelessly in case he still had some of his blood left.

“From here, I’ll ask you for a favor.”

Where Idun pointed, the grasses that had been lush just yesterday had turned yellow. Following the yellow grass, there was a long streak of blood on one side of the castle wall.

Adrian quickly burned the castle wall, the grass, and the dead fish. It wasn’t perfect, but he could neutralize Idun’s poison to some extent using fire. Otherwise, he would have to wait until they dried up completely.

After tidying up, Adrian looked up at the Wüstenadel Castle. The news of Idun’s fall seemed to have spread inside the dark castle walls, as numerous torches were being lit.

“Idun, let’s go back now.”

Adrian bit his lower lip. Playing and having fun were good, but that foolish princess was only poisonous to Idun. He had to get rid of that woman from Idun’s side as soon as possible.

“… Alright. Let’s go back.”

Idun also seemed to understand Adrian’s intention and slowly nodded.