Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Sorcerer's Potions
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Hahaha. Watching me laugh nonstop, Lizbet giggled too.
“Right? It really is.”
I muttered to myself.
“Liar. As if a liar couldn’t lie twice…….”
“Huh? What was that?”
“Nothing.”
My suspicions and worries melted away like snow in half a second. Feeling refreshed, I laughed and pulled Lizbet into a hug.
“Thank you so much, Your Highness. Thanks to you, my frustrating dilemma has been completely resolved. I also appreciate you letting me come to the library today.”
“Hehe…… Hey, Rubette. So.”
“……?”
Lizbet grinned and pulled a small envelope from her sleeve.
‘Here it comes. A love letter.’
Recognizing it immediately, I let out a hollow laugh.
“Could you deliver this to Young Master Riki? Without peeking?”
“What do you see in a guy whose only appeal is his face that makes you go to such lengths?”
“It’s not just his face! Young Master Riki is so kind and gentle!”
“No way.”
Seeing me recoil in horror, Lizbet hesitantly added,
“Of course, I’m not asking you to deliver it empty-handed…….”
She soon pulled out something else and held it out.
It was a small vial.
“What’s this?”
“A weight-loss potion. I only have a few left, so I really treasure them, but I’m giving one to you with a heavy heart.”
“What?”
I frowned and snatched the vial from Lizbet.
“Where’s the such thing as a weight-loss potion? Did you get scammed by another con artist?”
“It’s not a scam. It’s a real weight-loss potion. I’ve already lost five pounds drinking this.”
“No, it’s not. It’s all sales talk. Eating stuff like this doesn’t burn fat—it just sheds water weight. You’ll gain even more later.”
“You don’t believe me? This isn’t just any potion; it’s a magic potion.”
“Yeah, yeah. That’s how regular con artists advertise it. A magical weight-loss aid that lets you eat all the delicious food while shedding pounds effortlessly!”
I shrugged and sneered, making Lizbet huff in frustration.
“It really works! They were even selling a magic potion for hair growth, so I gifted it to my seventh uncle who was suffering from hair loss, and next month, hair sprouted this much?”
“Oh my, that does sound tempting. A hair-loss potion might actually work, but not weight-loss ones. Only diet control and exercise can give you a slim figure.”
“Ugh! I’m telling you, it’s real! You’re just saying that because you don’t know how powerful the sorcerer who sold it is!”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure—”
I nodded vaguely while organizing my books and about to stand, but froze for a moment.
“What did you say?”
“Huh?”
“What did you just say? Sorcerer?”
At my question, Lizbet jumped in surprise and clamped her hand over her mouth.
Her reaction left me confused as I pressed her.
“Sorcerer? What sorcerer? The one selling these magic potions?”
“N-No…….”
“Tell me right now!”
“Why are you getting so worked up?”
“What potions did you buy from that sorcerer? This weight-loss one and the hair-growth one? That’s all, right?”
“W-What’s the problem? Do you know the sorcerer too?”
“Answer me! Just those two?”
“No…….”
Startled by my insistence, Lizbet trembled as she replied.
“I bought two more.”
“What!”
“One was already taken by my brother? It was a magic potion you feed to someone else, and then they nod yes to any request you make.”
Hearing Lizbet, I recalled the worry Lark had mentioned before.
“My younger half-sister has been causing a bit of trouble.”
“She smuggled poison into the palace.”
‘That must have been the magic potion.’
Feeling my lips dry up, I asked again.
“And the last one?”
“T-That one’s really nothing. It’s supposed to restore vitality for weak people. You might not know, but my eldest sister is really ill and stuck in bed every day…….”
“Oh.”
The eldest sister Lizbet mentioned was the Imperial Family’s 1st Princess.
Lizbet’s half-sister, born frail and bedridden, second in line to the throne after the Crown Prince.
I asked urgently.
“You haven’t given that to 1st Princess yet, right?”
“Huh?”
Sensing something ominous from my expression, Lizbet paled and muttered.
“Uh, I gave it to her the day before yesterday…….”
“Oh, God.”
My mind went blank.
But there was no time to delay. I bolted from my seat right away.
* * *
“Please let me see Crown Prince Highness. It’s urgent.”
“Um, Duchess. His Highness is away right now. And to meet him, you need to contact in advance…….”
The guard at Lark’s office looked flustered as he blocked me.
It must be awkward for him—a noble lady barging into the palace demanding to see the Crown Prince……
‘No choice! This is a ticking time bomb!’
As I stomped my feet in frustration,
“Duchess?”
A familiar voice called.
Turning around, I saw Lark returning from the training grounds, his hair damp with sweat.
“Your Highness! It’s urgent! I need to—”
“Ah, right. Look at me. We had an appointment today. Sorry, sorry. Come in, quick.”
Noticing my pale face, Lark casually opened the office door.
Easily dodging the puzzled guard’s eyes, we were soon alone inside.
Lark pressed a finger to his lips and said,
“From now on, speak quietly.”
“Your Highness, you said before that 5th Princess Lizbet smuggled poison into the palace, right?”
“Yes.”
“Did you find out how she got it?”
“Yeah. A low-ranking servant in the palace approached Lizbet and introduced her to a sorcerer in the capital. She met the sorcerer secretly and bought it. The sorcerer tricked her by calling it a magic potion.”
“That sorcerer—”
“When I tracked it down, she’d already cut ties and fled. The shop where Lizbet met the sorcerer was wiped clean, and the servant who introduced her had vanished too.”
“My God.”
“I expected her to escape cleanly, so it couldn’t be helped. But is there another problem?”
“Yes. The potions 5th Princess bought from the sorcerer weren’t just that one. She had quite a few kinds.”
“What?”
“There’s 1st Princess in the palace, right?”
“1st Princess? You mean Bella?”
“Yes.”
I calmed my excitement and closed my eyes briefly.
The future events unfolded in my mind like a panorama.
‘Lark’s half-sister, 1st Princess Bella van Rashumah Decard.’
She was currently second in the line of succession.
‘Born so frail she was called a living corpse. She scoured everywhere for medicines due to her strong will to live.’
That 1st Princess would eventually die about ten years from now.
No, could it even be called death?
To be precise, it was a comatose state. She breathed but never woke, sustained by IVs in bed her whole life.
‘Right after taking medicine from that suspicious sorcerer.’
I said immediately,
“Sorry, but I don’t have time for a long explanation. Please go check on 1st Princess right now.”
“Did something happen to Bella?”
“Yes. In the future I saw, 1st Princess falls into a coma about ten years from now and never wakes.”
Lark nodded, surprised.
“Bella’s always been frail.”
“No. It’s not because she was frail that she collapsed.”
“Then? The 2nd Prince? Did Nathan tamper with Bella too?”
“Probably. With 1st Princess neither dead nor alive, just lying asleep, the palace erupts in chaos. Orders go out to find what she ate wrong—”
“No way?”
Lark raised an eyebrow, vaguely realizing. I nodded right away.
“A maid testified. She met a suspicious person who called themselves a ‘sorcerer’ directly. 1st Princess bought the potion from that sorcerer.”
“Ah, so she was tricked into poison the same way as Lizbet.”
“Exactly. Believing it would preserve her weak body, she drank the poison.”
I added desperately,
“Of course, the palace turned upside down and put out a nationwide manhunt for the sorcerer.”
“But naturally, they couldn’t find her.”
Lark bit his lip and added to my words.
“That’s the future, right? Then from now on, I’ll have to strictly monitor Bella to prevent her from meeting suspicious people.”
“No.”
I said firmly, adding a bit fearfully,
“I’m truly sorry, but you need to go to 1st Princess right now and check if she took any suspicious potion.”
“Right now? Didn’t you say something happens to Bella ten years from now?”
“Yes, definitely. But.”
I caught my breath.
How shocked was I when ‘sorcerer’ suddenly came out of Lizbet’s mouth.
A criminal who would shake the Empire, but not due for years.
“I never dreamed 5th Princess would meet the sorcerer first. But one of the many potions she bought from the sorcerer…… it matches exactly.”
“Ah, damn.”
Realizing, Lark clutched his head with a gasp.
“You’re saying the potion Bella takes and collapses from in the future? Lizbet already gave it to her?”
“Yes. The day before yesterday.”
“This is bad.”
Seeing Lark’s pale face blurred my vision and my heart pounded.
I tried to steady my trembling voice as I explained.
“The future basically flows as I see it. But if you intervene to change it, of course it differs.”
My relationships with Dad and my brothers, getting this close to Lark—it was all different from my previous life.
And it would keep changing.
“But I’ve never touched anything related to 1st Princess’s well-being. No connection to her. Plus, the future where she buys the potion herself, and that happens much later…… so I.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and added,
“I was careless. I’m sorry. I should have been more meticulous, considering the future could change…….”
“Duchess.”
Lark’s heavy voice pressed down on me.
“Why are you apologizing?”
Feeling his hand gently on my head, I opened my eyes and looked at him.
“Look at you. Why are you shaking like this?”
“…….”
“Don’t worry. You bear no responsibility.”
“Ah…….”
“From the start, you just needed to use Vista to fix your own life.”
Trying to soothe my fear, he smiled faintly and added,
“You didn’t need to care about this messy succession war or go out of your way to help me survive. But you endure the hassle to help me anyway.”
“…….”
“I’m always grateful. So even if you make a mistake or hold back information, I’d never blame you.”
With that, Lark grabbed his coat from the rack.
“For now, I need to go to Bella.”
He must be as anxious as me.
Hiding it tightly, Lark forced a smile to reassure me until the end before leaving.
“Nothing will happen. Let’s hope it’s the tragedy from your future vision, only in ten years.”