[This is a time separator.] [Dash] “Sir, it’s Jane.”

The sound of a knock echoed, followed by a quiet voice that caused Bayern to raise his head. He put down the fountain pen he was signing documents with.

“Come in.”

Jane, who was looking around to make sure no one was watching, cautiously entered the office. Then, she walked up with quick steps and greeted him.

‘Has it already been a week?’

Bayern had Jane, the count’s chambermaid, check on Akia’s movements every week. He was wary that too frequent reporting might catch people’s attention.

Thus, once a week, he received updates from Jane about the Count’s situation.

‘After all, it’s always the same with the count.’

Whether receiving daily reports or weekly ones, there was no difference in the Count’s daily life.

‘The frail prince who doesn’t leave his bedroom.’

Though no official diagnosis had been declared, the count was growing weaker by the day.

It would be nice if he died soon. When he first employed him, Bayern thought the count would die soon, but he lived longer than expected.

Bayern clicked his tongue. Then he lifted his chin towards Jane, who had approached him unnoticed.

“So. How’s the Count?”

“His illness is as usual. He’s still not getting better, and his cough is frequent.”

Jane pulled a parchment from her bosom, laid it on the desk, and pushed it forward. The paper was a record detailing the count’s daily activities in minute detail.

Starting from the Count’s food intake, his condition, the visits from the servants who entered his room, the contents were quite specific.

As he always did, he skimmed the paper and his eyes halted at a line.

[Food Intake: He started eating three days ago. He consumed about one third of the food.]

“He started eating?”

“Yes, yes. It’s not a lot though. Just a few spoonfuls.”

The count had hardly eaten any food brought from the kitchen until now. It made one wonder what he was surviving on.

‘The count started eating?’

Bayern’s brows furrowed at the deviation from the usual reports. He couldn’t determine whether this was a positive or negative change.

The maid seemed to catch onto his puzzled expression.

“It seems he’s changed a bit since the new apothecary took over. Perhaps it’s because of the change in medicine? He started eating too.”

Jane continued speaking as if the conversation had opened up. At the word apothecary, Bayern immediately thought of Lea.

‘The apothecary….’

Would she be 22 now? Despite being a young apothecary, her gaze was different from the first time they met. Although Lea seemed to laugh heartily on the outside, she was quick to assess the situation.

The fact that she switched her attitude immediately upon hearing the word penalty showed her ability.

Moreover, she was the only apothecary who diagnosed the highly sensitive Count Heidern daily.

Was that all?

‘That hair is truly bothersome.’

The rosy hair that seemed to be tinged with blood had a presence no matter where in the mansion it was. In the Croatian Empire, red symbolized nobility.

One of the three guardian deities in the founding myth of the empire, the lion, Belarus, was also symbolized by the color red.

Bayern had often been irritated by Lea’s overly conspicuous appearance for an orphanageborn apothecary.

“Ah! He’s also been going outside his bedroom more often. It’s only walking the hallway where the Count’s bedroom is on the third floor, though.”

“Is that so?”

The Count was changing. Subtly, but Bayern was also feeling it.

“Jane, monitor the Count more closely. For now, let’s get reports twice a week.”

Whether this change was due to the new apothecary, as Jane had said, or there was another reason, he had to wait and see.

“Yes, yes. If it’s every other day reporting, then maybe…?”

Jane revealed her ulterior motives with a mischievous smile. Bayern instantly realized she wanted extra payment and inwardly clicked his tongue.

Tsk, such a greedy woman.

Bayern opened his desk drawer, took out a bag full of coins, and unceremoniously dropped it on the table.

[Dash] Thud!

Jane’s face flushed at the sound of the hefty coins landing.
“Thank you. I will report everything without missing a single detail, sir!”

Jane, with her hand in her pocket, bowed deeply. After her departure, a heavy silence settled in the office.

“I suppose we need to check before he arrives.”

Bayern, lost in deep thought, tapped his desk lightly with his finger and then chuckled cynically.

[This is a time delimiter.]

Lea had been shut in the clinic making nutritional supplements for two days already.

She spent all day making them, excluding meal times and consultation hours. Given the speed and volume of work, she should be exhausted and fainting.

‘How much is all this worth…!’

The thought that everything she was making was money made Lea forget her fatigue. She was even enjoying it.

That’s when she refocused on her drug compounding.

[Dash] Knock, knock.

With the knock, a man poked his head into the clinic.

“Who’s there?”

“You’re the pharmacist, right?”