“You came looking for me?”
Samona, who came down from the attic, asked without being intimidated at all by the sight of the soldiers filling the store beyond the counter. Instead, her youngest brother, the boy, rolled his round eyes with a frightened face, clinging to his sister's skirt.
“Samona Legadance?”
The man standing in front was Neos Bibiyu. When her name was suddenly called, Samona frowned slightly, pushing back the hair that had fallen to the side of her cheek.
“But.”
“Is this the owner of this apothecary shop, Samona Legadance?”
“Even so, what on earth brings you here? Surely this many people don’t have stomach aches or something?”
“You have to come with us. Right now.”
Samona, who had been listening to him with her hands on her hips, laughed. Neos's eyes, which were looking at her with a stern expression, furrowed.
“You barged into someone else’s store out of the blue and asked me to come with you without any explanation. Look at this, ladies and gentlemen. It’s already been eight years since I took over this herbal medicine store.
My father passed away suddenly when I was still young, and I have been running this store with my four younger siblings ever since. I have never committed a single crime during that time. If you are going to take me away, you must have a good reason, right?”
“We’re not trying to drag you away. We came from the royal palace.”
“I know that even without you explaining it.”
Samona had never been to a noble family, let alone the upper echelons of a noble family, but she knew what the symbols on the soldiers’ breastplates were. Wasn’t it the symbol of the King’s elite troops, the Comblers?
Since olden times, all the troublemakers in the neighborhood who got into fights admired that pattern. One guy drew the pattern of the Combler soldiers on his stomach with charcoal and was beaten on the back by his mother and had to wash himself naked in the backyard.
Even the youngest sibling, who is now half-hidden by hanging on to Samona's skirt, used to swing a wooden stick around like a swindler when he was younger, saying he wanted to be a Combler trainee. It was a daily routine for him to throw a tantrum, saying he wanted a real sword, and get beaten up by a sledgehammer.
“Just because you came from the royal palace, do I have to follow you without knowing why? This shop doesn’t have any high-quality medicinal herbs that can be supplied to the palace. If you’re looking for that, you’d be better off going to the third alley.”
“We didn’t come here to get medicine. We came here because we heard that you have extensive knowledge of various poisons.”
Samona's eyes changed slightly as if she had heard the unexpected words. She suddenly became wary and motioned for his youngest brother to come inside. When the boy hesitated and grabbed the tail of her skirt, she glared at him and forced him to come inside.
She locked the side door leading to the living space from the outside, placed both hands on the counter, and sighed. Samona asked.
“Who did you hear that from?”
“That’s not important right now. If you won’t go with me, I have no choice but to take you by force. This is a matter of urgency.”
“Look, my Lord... I don’t know who said that, but I know that there’s nothing good that comes from being called around here and there for this kind of thing. Where on earth are you going to use that poison?”
“I’m not trying to poison someone. I need to detoxify someone.”
“It’s the same. You have to know what poison it is before you can detoxify it.”
“So, aren’t I saying we should go to the palace? There’s no time to talk for long. Make the necessary preparations right away. This is an imperial order.”
Leaving Samona speechless, the soldiers, including Neos, left the store one by one. As they stood guard at the entrance, onlookers gathered. Samona rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache, and then shouted toward the open door.
“Wait a minute! I put all the stuff in storage. It’ll take time to find it!”
***
Samona, the owner of the Legadance apothecary, has had extensive knowledge of various poisons and their antidotes since she was young.
Of course, she wasn't born with an interest in such things, but as the eldest daughter of a family that had run an herbal medicine shop for generations, she naturally developed an interest in it as she helped out with the work from a young age. However, her talent for poisons was so special that she didn't let that interest remain as a mere hobby.
She was exceptionally capable of creating new poisons that were difficult to detoxify by combining various known ingredients. She was particularly good at creating poisons that took time to take effect, rather than ones that took effect immediately.
The poison Samona made was difficult to determine whether it was poisonous or not with just average skills, and when the poisoning became so severe that it was irreversible, it was difficult to even tell where the poison had started flowing in.
Since she was excellent at recognizing and mixing poisons, she was also good at making antidotes. The nobles often used poison to get rid of enemies that were an eyesore without a sound. Those among them who learned of Samona through rumors even asked her to make an antidote that could counteract poison.
It was also because of this special ability that Judith met Samona in her past life.
Before she was imprisoned, the father of Cheraan, Marquis Ebelta, was poisoned by someone. The Marquis' condition deteriorated in an instant, and he was on the verge of death, so a maid working at the Marquis' house hurriedly brought Samona. Samona, who detected several poisons such as sari, digitalis, and safflower oil in the cups and plates the Marquis used, easily created an antidote and saved him.
In return, Marquis Ebelta paid Samona a large sum of money to allow her siblings to enter the Royal Academy. When it became difficult to continue running the apothecary shop due to the nobles secretly requesting her to make poisons, she hired his only daughter, Cheraan, as her close maid and took care of her life without any inconveniences.
There was a reason why Judith from her previous life was able to meet Samona. She mostly stayed at the Marquis’ residence, so they didn’t meet often, but Cheraan occasionally told her interesting stories about Samona. Also, after Judith was imprisoned in the tower, Cheraan ordered her to come and check on her.
When Samona arrived at the palace, Judith was relieved to see that she looked exactly the same as she had last seen her. If the situation had not been so urgent, she would have wanted to greet her, but Franz's condition in bed was getting worse by the minute, so she could not do so.
“Is this the person who is poisoned?”
No one could criticize Samona's attitude, even though she had no hesitation in swearing at Crown Prince Franz. When the Duke of Vergy nodded, she placed the square leather bag she had brought from the shop on the table and opened it.
The eyes of those who saw the bag widened in surprise. Inside the bag were dozens of glass tubes the size of a finger, pieces of stone of unknown use, dried grass, faded paper, an ointment with a foul smell, and small stone mortars.
“This is the poison that attacked His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Neos handed Samona the small knife he had found next to Tudban's body.
“When you press the handle, the poison will leak out from the tip of the sword.”
Samona, who had taken the knife, dripped the venom on a small piece of leather and paper in turn. She said as she watched the shape spread into a dark purple color.
“This is snake venom.”
“What kind of snake?”
“I don’t know for sure. But there aren’t that many types of snake venom, so let’s try using antivenom for now.”
Samona, speaking softly, touched Franz’s forehead with the back of her hand. His skin was cold as if his body temperature had dropped. His lips were also blue as if he were trapped in ice, and his breathing was faint.
Samona, who had examined the wound on her ankle, took out a few glass tubes from her bag and mixed the liquids inside them. Then she put some crushed stone pieces into the liquid, and a sound like burning wood was heard, and soon cloudy bubbles rose up.
Samona immediately dripped it carefully onto Franz's wound. She soaked a cloth with the remaining liquid and covered the wound. Meanwhile, the people gathered around the bed could do nothing but watch what Samona was doing.
“Okay, out of these, you seem to be the strongest. Grind this. As fast as you can.”
Samona, who had brought herbs and dried grass separately, put them in a mortar and handed them to Neos. While Neos was busy crushing the grass, Samona ripped open Franz’s shirt front and checked his heartbeat and how much his body temperature had dropped.
“It’s fortunate that the wound was only this bad.”
Judith's face turned pale first at Samona's words.
“If only a little more poison had been added, he would have died already.”
“This is the Crown Prince of Rotair. The herbalist should refrain from speaking.”
Duke Vergy spoke with suppressed anger. Samona glanced at his face, then turned her gaze to the middle-aged man sitting behind him. He was, without a doubt, King Jedercayer. She did not recognize him immediately because he had taken off his crown. However, Samona did not seem to be intimidated as she had been in front of the soldiers.
“When His Highness wakes up and scolds me for my impertinent words, I think I can apologize then. This room is too crowded for a patient to be lying there. I recommend that anyone except those who are absolutely necessary leave.”
“What? What the...!”
“The Duke of Vergy.”
Duke Vergy turned his head away, his face red and blue with anger. King Jedecayer, who had gotten up with a tired expression, looked back at the people.
“Let’s leave now. The Crown Princess will stay in her seat, and Captain Bibiyu will watch over the surrounding area.”
Neos was busy pounding the grass in the mortar, but he nodded and said yes to the King's words. Duke Vergy looked unwilling, but since the King had given the order, he had no choice but to follow.
As the King, the nobles, and the soldiers and attendants who followed them left, the room became silent in an instant. Franz's breathing was so weak that even Judith, who was standing nearby, could not hear it. Judith thought that if it weren't for the sound of Neos striking the pestle, she might have turned around right there.
“Hmm... Did they mix something with the snake venom? I guess I’ll have to make the antidote again.”
Samona said as she observed the swelling of the wound changing. Judith, whose eyes were filled with tears, grabbed Samona's sleeve tightly.
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