What apothecary would wander like this through torrential rain to find such a thing? At that thought, she was about to push herself off the ground to stand up.
“Huh?”
A single flower bloomed in the deep darkness, emitting a lofty light.
“Alpharadia…?”
Incredibly, the Alpharadia she had been desperately seeking was right before her eyes.
Upon seeing the petals glowing with the same mysterious purple she had seen in books, Lea rubbed her eyes.
Could this be a dream?
‘Alpharadia, actually in these mountains, my goodness.’
When she opened her eyes again, Alpharadia was shining even more clearly in the rain.
“I found it…”
What had started as a stubborn endeavor had ended with Lea cradling the herb in her hands, a faint smile on her face.
She had been skeptical of finding the rare herb, but she hadn’t expected to really find it.
‘What is this crazy stroke of luck?’
Was it as if the goddess of fortune had visited her? Lea’s heart throbbed wildly. Yes. This herb was worth more than mountain ginseng.
Imagining the Count’s surprised face when he received the herb, Lea turned around. Excited to quickly return and tell the Count.
[This is a time divider.]Meanwhile, the Count was thinking of Lea as he watched the relentless rain.
The new apothecary was unusual. She boldly proposed a deal to him, fearlessly visiting his room at night.
She even had the audacity to hide gold coins in such a place.
‘An unpredictable woman.’
This was the conclusion Count Akkia drew upon observing Lea. He had a pathological aversion to finding himself in unpredictable situations.
So, Akkia always kept all matters strictly under his control. The maid who served him food, the butler Byairn, everyone.
Like chess pieces on a chessboard, none of their actions deviated from his predictions.
And of course, the new apothecary should have been another chess piece moving according to his will.
However, the new apothecary was like a ball that could bounce in any direction.
A ball that rolled in a completely different direction from his will when kicked towards the goal. It was one of the things Akkia hated most.
‘Annoying.’
The woman was a new headache for him, already burdened with a mountain of concerns.
While thinking about Lea, Akkia shook his head, deeming such thoughts useless. He was shifting his gaze to the book he had been reading when…
[Dash] Knock Knock.
The sound of knocking came.
“Count, it’s me, Lea.”
It was the apothecary who had been fueling his annoyance just a moment ago.
What on earth was this woman up to? As his curiosity and caution arose, the book he was holding fell to the floor and the door opened.
The Count’s puzzled gaze met Lea, who had come to the Count’s bedroom late at night. With a confident stride, she walked into the room and handed the Count the medicine.
“Count, this is mountain ginseng.”
“Mountain ginseng?”
The Count’s eyes widened and then narrowed repeatedly.
However, that was only for a moment as he recalled the task he had given her to fetch the mountain ginseng. She wouldn’t have gone up the mountain on a rainy day like today.
‘She must have brought the one from the storage.’
Remembering that some mountain ginseng was stored in the warehouse, Akkia gave a cunning smile.
‘”Going out of your way to get something from the warehouse, at this hour?’
Akia, feeling the woman’s actions to be rather audacious, furrowed his brow.
It was when he lifted his gaze, intending to give her a sharp reprimand. Lea’s hand, filled with fresh bruises, came into his view.
‘Why is her hand…’
Only then did Akia realize something was off with the pharmacist, and he quickly scanned Lea up and down.
‘…What’s the matter with your face?’
‘Oh, I tripped and fell while on the mountain. It’s no big deal.’
As if her words were not false, not only her hand, but also minor bruises were visible on various parts of her face, and her hair was soaking wet, as if she had just come from a shower.
‘Really, she went to the mountain to find sanjoin?’
Even though the wounds scattered here and there and the trace of soil faintly remaining on her fingertips were troubling, still.
‘Why on earth?’
He could not understand at all.
Why she had left the sanjoin in the warehouse and climbed the mountain. Especially on a day when a downpour was falling like this.
‘Could it be that she’s not right in the head?’
Did she fail to think of a simple lie that she had dug up the medicinal herbs in the warehouse from the mountain?
From the start, the reaction from Lea that Akia had anticipated was not like this. He had imagined a scene where she tried to deceive him impudently.
And he was intending to pretend to go along with such a lie, while he was plotting to confuse the pharmacist more. He was at a loss for words due to the unexpected behavior of the pharmacist, but.
‘I did think she was a strange woman.’
The level of strangeness had exceeded his imagination. To the extent that it left him taken aback.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
