EIITAB - Chapter 90 < Silphium >
Do Your Best And Regret
When Dulcinea came outside, Hestia's maid, who had been waiting in front of the Duchess's room with a water bottle for washing her face, was nowhere to be seen.
'I almost looked funny!'
Dulcinea thought it was fortunate and turned her body. Her steps towards her room were quite fast. Her tears had not yet stopped and she had to wipe them with her sleeve, but even those had long since become wet. So her clothes could not absorb any more moisture. So Dulcinea continued to walk with tears in her eyes.
Then she met her own personal maid in front of my door.
"Ah! Lady Dulcinea! sorry. I couldn't hear your call because the bell on the string was broken!"
"..."
"Oh, Lady? Now... Are you crying? Wow, why are you doing this? What's going on?"
Dulcinea knew in her head that she was worried about her, but it didn't reach her ears. She had no desire to be nice.
"Don't be nervous. I want to be alone, so don't follow me. Don't use your mouth carelessly."
".... Yes, Lady. If you need anything, please call me."
The maid who was watching her answered in a low voice as if she was going to crawl away, and she quickly walked away. Dulcinea locked herself in her room like that. Then her tears stopped as if her earlier sobbing had been a lie.
"How can Aslan do this to me?"
Her face was stained with blood as she chewed her thumbnail in nervousness.
"The Aslan I know wouldn't be this cold-hearted."
He may not have been known to other people, but to Dulcinea, he was a man who always lost easily. So she couldn't understand this attitude even more. She didn't want to believe that Aslan had made this decision on his own, so she created someone to blame.
"It's clear she was tricking him!"
It was difficult for her to understand otherwise. No, she just wanted to believe that. She did not want to admit that Aslan, who should only know herself, hugged Hestia because he wanted to.
Dulcinea started to get overly angry.
"Now she's probably inviting someone who just returned from hunting to sleep with her!"
Now, in her delusions, Hestia was a seductress herself. Dulcinea, who had been stamping her feet in a fiery rage, was suddenly struck by a hypothesis that occurred to her, and she felt her bones purr.
"However... What if they end up having children like this?"
Her blue eyes shook dangerously violently.
"No. That is absolutely not possible."
She mumbled, half of her mind dazed, her eyes not even clearly focused.
"I have to stop it. Somehow, I have to do whatever it takes."
Dulcinea's eyes glowed dimly.
***
In Kalathi Castle, in addition to the private study used by the owner and his wife, there was another place that was kind of like a library.
There was a vast and diverse collection of books that even the royal family would envy. It is an open space where anyone who wants to read a book can use it, but that was all a story from the past.
The space, which was always crowded with people until winter arrived, has now become so deserted that it is difficult to see people. This was because everyone was struggling with the problem of making a living, and survival was their top priority, so no one read books anymore.
Dulcinea recently appeared in such a place.
The place where her steps always stopped was the bookshelf where medical books were collected.
'I looked at the book in the third row until yesterday, so today I should read the book in the row below.'
Since she wasn't reading voraciously, it didn't take a long time to look through one book. Most of the time, she only skimmed the table of contents on the first page, and then she just looked at the pictures or illustrations and skimmed through them.
"How do I put my knowledge of anatomy, disinfection, and wound stitching to use?"
Dulcinea looked at the book half-heartedly, twisting her whole body around as if her body was aching. It was because she couldn't find what she wanted and she was very nervous.
She closed the fourth book and opened the fifth book. Dulcinea, who was restlessly scanning the table of contents with her chin resting on one hand, stopped as if a nail had been stuck in one place.
"... This is it."
Dulcinea's eyes sparkled. She quickly checked the pages in the table of contents, then turned the pages of the book with her rough hands.
"On page 124... Silphium. It's here."
She brought her face closer to the bookshelf, pinching her nose with her Index finger, pinching the part she wanted to read.
"Hmm. I see."
She closed the book after reading the same part over and over again. Since she had already found the part she wanted, there was no need to look at the remaining books she had not yet opened.
Dulcinea piled all her books at once and whined, putting them back in their original places. She then sneaked out like a thief, looking around her as if she were an enemy entering the library.
But her steps were not heading towards her room. Master Vito, the only doctor in the Duchy of Kalathi, was tending to the herbs with his back to the door. Wearing a monocle, he was quite handsome and looked much younger than his age, in his early 30s.
However, people had a hard time talking to him. Not only was he unfriendly, but he also had a very fiery and strict temper. Because he was the type to say whatever he wanted to Aslan, the owner of this land, everyone had a hard time with him.
He spent most of his time at the pharmacy. It was a fairly large space, but these days, Mr. Vito was usually the only one guarding the place.
This was because there were no injuries due to the calm winter weather.
'It would be great if I did this every day. It was just my wish.'
Soon, winter would become severe again, and all kinds of demonic beasts would come down from the snowy mountains.
As the Duke's knights risked their lives trying to stop the beasts, they were unable to completely avoid injuries. So, now that he had free time, he had to prepare thoroughly.
That was when he was quietly doing his job with his own sense of duty.
Knock knock.
A knock on the door was heard from outside. The door opened right away even though he didn't ask who it was or tell him to come in.
"Mr. Vito, are you there?"
Mr. Vito, who recognized the visitor just by hearing her voice, frowned at her and responded bluntly.
"Miss Dulcinea, I'm busy right now."
He didn't even look away. Anyway, he was concluding that she must have come to him for some trivial business or a feint.
Teacher Vito did not stop his hand. This was because he had to properly classify the herbs Aslan and the knights received as royal gifts according to their use. In addition, some had the property of losing their effectiveness when dried, so they had to be managed carefully. So it was originally brought from the capital in a box tightly sealed with wax.
'It's time to concentrate.'
He didn't know what the purpose was, but he was filled with hopes that Dulcinea would get out of there as soon as possible, whether it was sulking or something. Normally, Dulcinea would have grumbled and stormed out of the room after hearing his rude response, but strangely, she didn't do that today.
As soon as Mr. Vito thought that was strange, Dulcinea continued.
"I won't take too long. Please give me 5 minutes."
It was a very earnest voice.
'What on earth is going on?'
Finally, Mr. Vito sighed and looked back at her with a shocked look on his face. Dulcinea stood looking at him respectfully with her hands clasped together. That's strange.
'She's really not like the tomboy she usually is.'
Dulcinea tried her best not to displease Mr. Vito as much as possible and proceeded cautiously.
"Doctor, if... Is there Silphium here too?"
Dulcinea seemed nervous and licked her dry lips several times with her tongue. Mr. Vito's brows narrowed.
"Silphium?"
He was surprised that Dulcinea knew the names of the herbs correctly. When she visited here, she always announced her business in this way.
'I have a stomach ache. Please give me some good medicine for stomach ache.'
'I cut my hand on a piece of paper. Please give me some ointment.'
'I haven't slept well and my head is cracking. Do you have any good medicine?'
She always wanted the finished product, she never asked for raw materials. So, in a way, it was natural that Mr. Vito had doubts in his eyes when he looked at her.
And silphium was a very valuable herb, so much so that it was called a panacea. It is a herb with numerous yellow flowers hanging on straight flower stalks, and at first glance, it looks similar to anything. Silphium cannot be cultivated artificially, but it has many uses and is in high demand, making it difficult to obtain. But Dulcinea knows that?
He thought it was strange. So, Mr. Vito did not answer Dulcinea's question, but instead asked her question.
"Why are you looking for that?"
"Uh, I heard Rimo need it."
Dulcinea answered, swallowing her dry saliva. In the medical book she found, she wrote about the various benefits of Silphium. Among them, there was also information that a small amount of silphium serves as an excellent spice when used in cooking. So she remembered that she could use it for her own good reason for finding that herb.
However, Mr. Vito said he was not an easy partner.
"Are you talking about Chef Rimo?"
Mr. Vito looked at her intently, lifting his monocle that fell down the bridge of his nose with his index finger. Dulcinea pursed her lips and quickly shook her head.
'If you have it, just give it to me. Why are you asking so much?'
Although she was quite annoyed inside, she tried to calm her expression. After that, Master Vito, who stared at Dulcinea a little longer in silence, let out a long sigh. It was a bonus to frown as if I had a headache.
"Whoa, Lady."
He looked at Dulcinea, who was just as immature as a child, only her age, with a pitiful look on her face and opened his mouth.
"You seem to have forgotten, but herbs are very valuable in our territory."
"Oh, I know."
As Dulcinea stammered her answer, Mr. Vito trembled and opened her mouth.
"But among those precious herbs, the rarest one is silphium. It is even nicknamed 'God's gift'. It is so valuable that even in the capital, you can exchange it for a piece of silver. There's no way something like that could be in Kalati, right?"
"... Is that so?"
Dulcinea muttered in a weak voice. But it seemed she couldn't give up and go back like this, so she asked the question again in a very earnest manner.
"Then what has similar effects? What do you have?"
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