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Chapter 48

As Charlotte was speechless at the realization, Veronica rolled her sharp eyes and smiled.

“Charlotte… Our Charlotte.”

With the sharp tip of her fingernails, Veronica touched Charlotte’s shoulder gently.

“You wouldn’t be sad that I used you a little, would you?”

“…Of course! If I can, I want to help Lady Veronica as much as possible.”

“That makes me happy. Yes, you’re thinking well. Anyway, I know roughly what Henrietta is up to.”

Saying that, she smiled acutely as if asking, ‘Are you not preparing for my failure?’

In fact, it was a smile full of thoughts of her slicing Henrietta into pieces.

‘She really thought that I would not know that after Ahibalt gets married, she is going to line up with him?’

It had been long since Ahibalt had wings. He was just not flying yet. However, he was bound to fly someday if he was pushed around. Because of that, she had to cut out the possibility of collusion between Ahibalt and Henrietta before that.

It was Charlotte.

“If I leave it like that, won’t I be miserable? So, I needed to use my own hands, too. It’s not only going to go the way Henrietta wants.”

And, if Henrietta’s plan failed, who would be the first to be abandoned…?

With that, a lower voice approached Charlotte subtly.

“Act wisely, Charlotte. Take my hand. If you’re just trusting Henrietta, you’ll be damned in Eunice’s stable.”

Charlotte was distracted by Veronica’s coercion.

But, now that Veronica joined, it was so difficult that she felt like she was going to die.

Still, as Veronica said, there were many unstable factors to just believe in Henrietta alone. Nevertheless, if she crossed the bridge between Veronica and Henrietta, she could have been abandoned by either side.

In addition, Veronica was just holding Charlotte’s shoulder without giving her time to judge.

“Well, of course, I…”

The moment when the words were about to pop out of Charlotte’s mouth, who could not find the right word—

“What are you doing with the child?”

Thump.

Along with the sound of slippers being dragged, a woman with her long reddish-brown hair ruffled casually stepped out into the hallway wearing a gown.

Veronica, recognizing the woman, smirked and took her hand off Charlotte’s shoulder.

“Edith.”

“Ma, Madam Edith.”

At the call of the two of them, the woman, Edith, shut her eyes and lightly shook her head to greet them. From the dark shadows under her eyes to the steps she took while dragging her slippers, she did not fit in with this aristocratic, old-fashioned mansion in the slightest.

Seeing her, Charlotte swallowed her dry saliva without realizing it.

‘Young Master Rodion’s mother…’

She had never seen Edith for more than ten seconds while living in Lichpen. It was because Edith was always locked up in her lab.

Even Henrietta described her this way.

‘Edith? The research she does is useful, so I keep her though it’s better not to get too close to her.’

Henrietta then joked that she would not be held responsible if she was being dissected without knowing it.

Charlotte could not just take it as a joke, though.

​​

Nonetheless, even if it was not a joke, Edith was a person the more she looked at her, the more reluctant she felt. The only thing that resembled her and Rodion was her wavy red-brown hair and her face, which was strangely unisex.

That insensitive and tired face, no matter how much she looked at it, she could not seem to like it—

—Except for this very moment!

Charlotte hurriedly took a step back from Veronica, welcoming her Edith.

“Madam Edith, why did you leave the lab?”

At her words, Edith held up a cup in her hand.

“I ran out of coffee. I pulled the rope so much that it might break, but no one was coming so I came out myself.”

The conversation stopped for a moment, and Edith’s green eyes, which were chilly like an evergreen tree in the middle of winter, briefly scanned the two of them.

“Though, what are you two doing here?”

“…It’s not a big deal. Why are you so interested in other people?”

“Even if I don’t want to hear it, there is a sound that I can hear. I heard the Lady there has been to Lavrenti, and you met my son?”

“Oh, oh, yes!”

“How was it? How’s he?”

“Ha, ha! Edith, why are you acting like a mother all of a sudden? You’ve been crazy about research and left your son.”

“You might be curious. It’s my job, why can’t I ask? Oh, you wouldn’t know about this because they don’t have children?”

“What? I didn’t give birth because it was my choice!”

“What did I even say about you giving birth? Why are you raising your voice all of a sudden.”

At Edith’s impetuous reply, Veronica’s face distorted as if her fever quickly rose.

“It’s not because I’m doing something I’ve never done before, Edith. Why don’t you stay in the lab as usual? Don’t interrupt us when we’re talking.”

“Oh, that’s right. You were talking. Veronica, is it something you urgently need to talk about?”

“I’m in a hurry.”

“Okay. When Henrietta comes back, I’ll be sure to tell her that the two of you had an urgent conversation.”

“Edith!”

“Oh, my.”

Clank!

The cup that Edith was holding abruptly shattered with a loud noise. It was because she pretended her hand had slipped and threw the cup at Veronica’s feet.

“Hey, what are you doing?!”

“It’s because you kept screaming, so I’m surprised. Oh, my. Lady, come this way. You’ll get hurt if you stay here.”

“Oh? Ah, yes!”

​​

Since she already wanted to escape from Veronica’s grasp, Charlotte rushed to Edith at her words. Edith then grabbed her wrist and bowed her head as a greeting.

“Veronica, please clean up. I need to talk to this lady.”

“You, you think you’ll be safe even if you do this to me…!”

“Hm, didn’t you say you needed a stealth potion last time? I’d be the only one who could make it.”

At Edith’s words, Veronica bit her lips.

Even in the pretense, it was Veronica’s devastating defeat.

Seeing that, Edith glanced back at Veronica with her half-open eyes before striding towards her lab with Charlotte.

The situation changed in an instant. Bewildered, Charlotte opened her mouth carefully.

“Th, thank you…”

“There’s nothing to be thankful for. I got you out before I needed you. I need some samples.”

“…A sample?”

Henrietta’s joke ran through Charlotte’s mind as soon as she heard those words.

“Lady’s hand suddenly became cold.”

“Oh, haha…”

“Why? Do you think I’m going to dissect you?”

“You aren’t?”

“I need something to dissect, but that’s not my priority. And, I don’t want to upset Henrietta.”

“Then, what…?”

Edith, who had been pushing through the door of the lab, turned around with a smile. Her cynical smile resembled Rodion’s, and Charlotte could feel her heart pounding without realizing it.

“Lady, do you have someone you like?”

“…Yes?”

“There’s nothing to deny. I’ve heard about the diagnosis, they said it was lovesickness? It’s the first time I’ve seen it around me. Everything around me looks like this.”

Uttering so, Edith turned and walked without hesitation into the cluttered lab before continuing her words.

“To put it bluntly, I need someone who’s in love. What I’m making right now is a love potion.”

After saying that, she took out a small bottle from the test tube tongs. There, a potion with an alien pink color was contained in it.

“Is this a love potion…?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s a drug that disturbs nerves and makes you feel like you have a crush, but it’s cumbersome to name it, so let’s just assume it’s like that.”

“That… is that what this is?”

“Yes. Pudding is a steamed egg with sugar, and coffee is water from roasted seeds, right?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, as long as you know. Take that, it’s a gift. If you give it to someone you like, they’ll definitely like you.”

“…Are you saying that this drug can make him fall in love with me?”

“No, love is a bit unreasonable. You’re expecting too much from the drug.”

Edith clapped her hand as if she had heard something absurd. At that, Charlotte was a little embarrassed.

“Once again, it’s a drug that makes him mistake his feelings for you as love. That’s it. Each person is affected slightly differently. Of course, I think it’ll work well if it’s my son.”

“I understand. But, why is the Madam giving this to me…”

“As I said before, it’s not easy to find someone around me who is in love. Now, ah.”

“Ah—?”

As Charlotte opened her mouth, Edith shoved a flat pill into her teeth. Surprised, she bit it before spitting it out right away.

​​

“This is enough for the sample. Now that the business is over, you can go. The expiration date of the drug is fifteen days, so make sure to do it within that!”

“Yes, yes?”

As she was still lost in the sudden situation, Edith swiftly kicked her out of her lab by shoving Charlotte’s back.

…The only evidence that she entered the lab was a pink bottle in her hand.

Charlotte stood silent in front of Edith’s lab for a long time before beginning to move as if she had made up her mind about something… holding the bottle tightly in her hand.

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