Trials, Tribulations, and the Grand Duke’s Hard Truth

Although Shana always drew a blank when it came to imperial history exams at the academy, she spoke confidently.

It was because she was concerned about seeming too money-grubbing towards Lucian.

‘Lucian is so loyal.’

Not only did he work as the captain of the Imperial Guard, but he was even prepared to sacrifice his precious body as a test subject.

‘He will like it if I say this, right?’

And perhaps, it could even help her, reaching the Imperial Palace.

Shana looked at Lucian, thinking that.

Unlike her expectations, Lucian wore a very vacant expression.

As if he had high expectations but was disappointed.

“I don’t think you remember what I said yesterday very well.”

“Huh? You said a medicine made with more care than a recipe is better. And to think hard about you.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Lucian slowly shook his head.

‘That expression.’

It was the expression Shana had seen when she was preparing for her academy exams.

Lucian always made that expression when Shana, who had no mana, asked questions about problems she couldn’t understand.

‘So, Shana, tell me, what process made the conclusion come out?’

‘Mana is like toothpaste, isn’t it? Sticky, and when it comes out of the body, it becomes somewhat solid?’

‘…Let’s think about it again.’

Anyway, she often had these kinds of conversations, so Shana tried to contemplate Lucian’s intentions.

‘I really don’t get it.’

“Lucian, you didn’t like that I prioritized money, so you wanted me to think hard about you, who has mana rejection syndrome, and make a mana rejection syndrome treatment.”

“…I don’t know how that interpretation came about.”

Lucian lengthened the corners of his mouth.

It was a strange smile, as if he was smiling and crying at the same time.

“Really? Then, what do you mean?”

“That, I want you to think about me, literally.”

“…Why should I think about you? To work hard on making the medicine without side effects?”

Shana raised her eyebrows and asked. Then, Lucian chuckled and mumbled.

“I have to work hard, yes. I will consider this my karma.”

Karma? What kind of karma was he talking about?

While Shana was wondering, Lucian opened the paper on which he had written the list of medicinal ingredients.

“Then, shall we go prepare? Hmm, oak sap…? Does this even go in?”

“Ah! Why are you looking at the list?”

However, Lucian continued to read the list without hesitation. At some point, he exclaimed, “Oh!”

“…There’s a lot of toxicity, Shasha, are you thinking of feeding me this? What if I die?”

“I-if processed, it won’t harm your body. Really!”

“…Yes, it must be karma.”

Lucian repeated the word karma.

“Alright. I’ll get it ready. There will be a lot of oak trees in the northern mountains.”

His voice was quite calm. The nuance sounded strange, so Shana asked.

“Wasn’t the Imperial Palace going to prepare it? Are you going to prepare it yourself?”

“I can get some things faster if I go myself.”

“Ah… Still, that’s amazing. Test subject and ingredient preparation?”

With such a person, Shana’s loyalty might seem laughable. It was when she thought so.

Lucian looked at Shana and said playfully.

“Because I am loyal and only think of you.”

Lucian grinned like a fox and flicked his index finger at Shana’s eyebrows, touk. Then, he disappeared before her eyes with a blue light.

Shana rubbed her eyebrows with her hand and mumbled.

“…Was I just attacked?”

‘To attack the eyebrows of someone who says they will work hard. Truly rude.’

Lucian did not return for a day, despite her thoughts of returning the gesture. She was curious if he was really preparing the medicine ingredients himself.

‘It’s not just one or two things on the list.’

In the meantime, Shana finished preparing to make the medicine.

It was to start the experiment as soon as the medicinal ingredients arrived.

She would perform the verification process after making it have the awakening effect and then would test it on Lucian.

Of course, although they signed a contract saying that she wasn’t responsible for any side effects, she was still worried.

So, Shana was going to drink the medicine herself.

‘To be honest, the side effects might not be the same.’

At least, wouldn’t she know if it was harmful to the human body?

While she was preparing the experimental tools, a guest visited her, surprisingly.

Knock, knock, knock.

Unlike Lucian, who came in with teleportation magic, or Erilot, who simply opened the door with her key, this guest was Grandpa Marcus, who had come before.

‘He’s the one who requested the aphrodisiac!’

In reality, it was only his wife, Grandma Sylvia, who had made the request, and the grandfather just drank it.

However, Shana’s face brightened.

‘I’ll get to hear a proper review.’

“Hello, long time no see.”

“Long time no see, young pharmacist. I twisted my back; do you have any medicine for that?”

“How did it hurt?”

“Like this, when I move like this, my back throbs….”

‘I should give him a sprain medicine.’

Shana got up from her desk and habitually rummaged through the shelves. Fortunately, the sprain medicine that wasn’t broken remained.

“Three copper.”

“Three copper? It’s cheaper than I thought.”

“Yes.”

No matter how much Shana claimed she was money-oriented, she didn’t overcharge commoners when selling such over-the-counter medicine. She just couldn’t tolerate unpaid bills.

‘So it’s not making any money, either.’

Then, why did Shana easily extract money from nobles? She claimed it was a fair redistribution of wealth.

Grandpa Marcus mumbled.

“I thought it was really expensive usually….”

‘Ah, was it expensive originally?’

It was only that Shana, who had some leeway after receiving the mana rejection syndrome request, had lowered the price to the original price without realizing it.

“Um, Grandpa. I have a question. The medicine I gave you last time, you know?”

“Hmm? That medicine?”

Marcus, who was asked about the aphrodisiac, asked with a flustered face.

“That, by any chance, how was the effect?”

“Am, are you asking me that?”

“Ah….”

‘Come to think of it, Grandma Sylvia had told me everything, but would he say it directly?’

“I have to sell that medicine this time, so I want to know as much detail as possible.”

“Um, well. To be honest, I don’t remember much. My wife, cough, said it was good.”

“You don’t remember?”

Shana blinked her eyes. It didn’t seem like a metaphor for not remembering because it was too good.

Marcus continued to explain.

“Well, it felt like a dream. I don’t really remember what I did because I was half asleep.”

“Yes? Really?”

So, did she make a sleeping pill instead of an aphrodisiac?

“Ah, but you did better than usual, and your condition improved, right?”

“…That’s right. And from when I regained my senses, my body was in good condition.”

Marcus nodded. Shana held a paper and a pen and started asking questions.

“When did you regain your senses?”

“About three hours later?”

“After that, how much energy did you have? Did it last subtly? Or was it intense?”

“…How far should I tell this story?”

‘Oh, dear.’

She had bothered a man who had a wife for too long. Shana, hearing that, handed the paper to Marcus.

“Just write the effects and the time on here.”

Marcus sighed, touched his beard, and wrote on the paper for Shana. Shana’s pupils wavered as she saw it.

“And the effect lasted for almost more than a week?!”

“…If you’re going to say it out loud like this, what was the point of handing me the paper?”

“Ah, sorry. You can go now.”

Marcus left the store, shaking his head.

“What a rude old man.”

‘What a rude old man.’

But she decided to forgive him because he told her about the effect of the medicine properly.

Shana carried the paper and immediately headed to the lab.

‘Oh my God. The effect lasted that long.’

But the time when it was at its peak, he couldn’t remember it and was in a sleeping state?

‘What kind of medicine did I make?’

An aphrodisiac that he couldn’t remember?

‘Not bad?’

Shana truly thought so.

It was something that had happened by mistake, but she thought it wasn’t bad.

At least, it was clear that Lucian wasn’t interested in her in that way.

He had stopped contacting her at will, but he hadn’t shown any interest in Shana during the time they had been together before.

Shana remembered it precisely.

When asked if they were dating, Lucian had answered with a look of disbelief.

‘Why would I look at Shasha that way?’

So, there was no possibility at all.

Of course, strangely, Lucian didn’t have any lovers during his academy days when the others were enjoying their youth.

Seeing that he doesn’t have any rumors about relationships even now, Lucian might not be interested in the opposite s*x.

Maybe he likes men.

‘…But why did he get hard then?’

That was one, a very difficult fact that destroyed her perfect logic.

Unfortunately, it seemed that there was no problem with sexual function.

Anyway, Lucian wasn’t the type to casually meet many people.

If she added the characteristics of the aphrodisiac given to Marcus to the medicine?

Marcus expressed that this process was like a dream.

If that was true, it was closer to a stimulant without side effects.

After waking up, the lingering effect was continued.

‘I won’t have to blush, right? I have to improve this and manufacture it.’

She hoped this would prevent mana rejection syndrome.

Otherwise, she would have to go through numerous trials and errors.

However, it was necessary to make the effect a little stronger.

People with mana tend to have better healing abilities in general, but this also meant that they had stronger immunity.

She remembered Lucian laughing and touching her eyebrows.

‘I have to boil the medicinal ingredients for a while. Just you wait, Lucian. I will make the perfect medicine.’