Volume 2 Chapter 1

The morning of my first day living in the royal castle since I had been granted the position of a court pharmacist and Prince Kyos’s personal advisor. I slowly sat up from an unbelievably comfortable soft bed that was incomparably superior to the hard cot in the apothecary I had used until now, and even vastly different from the bedding I had been forced to use when I was captured by that merchant.

Until now, I had never found it difficult to leave my bed. …This thing was terrifying. For the first time in my life, I wanted to go back to sleep after waking up.

My assigned room even had its own wash area, a large mirror, a closet stuffed with clothes, and all sorts of other things. I could completely finish preparing myself without leaving the room. I could only stare in amazement at the size and devices . Moreover, everything was high-quality luxury goods. It was so different from the life I had lived until yesterday that I felt rather uneasy about it, but I would just have to get used to it.

Standing in front of the full-length mirror, I adjusted the navy blue robe I had been issued and checked my appearance. Even though it was made from fine, brand-new fabric, it somehow appeared to me more like a mage’s robe than an apothecary’s. Is this because I’m a magician?

(Alright, let’s go.)

As I steeled myself and stepped out through the room’s door, Hector was waiting in the hallway wearing the black-based knight uniform permitted only to royal guards. The moment he saw me, he smiled and waved. Above his head, the color of joy stretched upward sharply.

「Good morning, Cyril-san. That outfit suits you.」

「Good morning. It suits you too, Hector-san.」

「…Really? Well, that’s good to hear.」

Even while exchanging greetings, the orange line of joy above his head showed no signs of shrinking. Apparently, he was extremely excited inside. Wondering what exactly made him so happy, I looked at his prediction lines and saw a small trace of embarrassment appear.

「I know I’m getting way too happy about this, okay? But being able to live together even for work still makes me happy.」

「I see. So that’s why.」

The building we would be living in was called the 「Pharmacist Tower」 a structure for court pharmacists. It contained compounding facilities, living quarters, even a medicinal herb garden, so unless Kyos summoned me, there was no need for me to leave this area. Or rather, I was not allowed to leave.

Officially, the reason was that, as a commoner, I needed to work quietly away from the eyes of nobles in this location slightly separated from the castle. In reality, it seemed they were protecting me by minimizing opportunities for me to encounter nobles.

However, places with fewer nobles also had fewer guard knights. Kyos had ordered Hector to live together with me in order to protect me.

(…Though I feel that’s not the only reason.)

I remembered Kyos yesterday, after I accepted the role he had assigned me.

「You two seem to get along better than I expected. In that case, living together should pose no issue.」

「Huh?」

「You are surprisingly expressive. How amusing.」

Unable to understand what Kyos was saying, a sharp interjection slipped from my mouth. It was probably disrespectful toward royalty, but true to his words that he cared nothing for etiquette, he showed no sign of minding it and merely curled the corners of his mouth upward.

「There is no meaning in a guard being separated from the one they protect. Therefore, the two of you shall live together in this Pharmacist Tower.」

The tyrant-like prince who declared that looked thoroughly entertained, with equally delightful colors stretching above him.

It wasn’t as if we slept in the same room. We simply each had our own rooms in a large building, so it didn’t feel to me like we were living in the same house, but apparently Hector was pleased about it.

「I think breakfast and today’s work requests should arrive soon.」

「They deliver them for us? …That’s very appreciated.」

I had been told that life here basically required no housework. My duties were to grow medicinal herbs, make medicine, and answer Kyos’s summons. Everything else would apparently be handled by servants.

Of course, if I insisted on doing things myself, they would probably let me. But since I had nearly sold out the shop’s inventory, I thought I would indulge in this environment for a while and devote myself entirely to making medicine.

When Hector and I headed toward the back entrance, there was a cart sitting there alone. A cloth covered its contents, but a delicious aroma drifted from it and stimulated my appetite.

Only the cart remained there, with no sign of anyone nearby. Thinking they were probably being careful to avoid anyone seeing us, we carried it inside.

When we removed the cloth covering the cart, a sheet with work requests written on it sat on top, while the lower shelf held warm dishes still steaming.

It was common sense that food tasted best before it cooled, so we decided to eat first and look over the requests afterward.

Hector and I prepared the meal together, and throughout it all, the colors around him were cheerful enough that he looked ready to burst into song. Watching him almost made me laugh too.

「Being able to eat breakfast with you from the morning on, Cyril-san… this kind of life could really spoil me.」

He was obviously already spoiled by it, but I deliberately chose not to point that out and began eating instead. Then a translucent sadness started stretching above Hector’s head. Finding that suspicious, I lifted a spoonful of vegetable-filled soup that still steamed warmly and tried to enjoy its aroma and taste, only to detect the faintest trace of an unpleasant impurity. I set the spoon down.

「Hector-san, you must not drink this soup.」

「Why?」

「There’s feferi in it. The others… wait a moment, please. I’ll taste them.」

Showing surprise and slight fear while still frozen in place holding bread with a smile on his face, Hector looked rather pitiful as I sampled each dish one by one. The bread was soft and delicious. There was nothing wrong with the beautifully colorful salad, nor with the nicely browned bacon and eggs. Only the soup had been mixed with something that could be called an aphrodisiac.

「Everything besides the soup is fine.」

「…Sorry for making you do something like a poison tasting. Living with me really causes trouble for you too, huh.」

「This isn’t your fault, Hector-san.」

He smiled and spoke brightly, yet the colors I saw were sad, and watching them felt like something pricked painfully at my chest. Especially because he had looked so happy just moments ago.

「Yeah, thank you. I’m really grateful that you don’t mind. But I’m sure there’ll be lots more trouble because of me from now on.」

「Hector-san, I’m going to get angry.」

「…Eh?」

「I told you, this isn’t your fault. The one at fault is the person who did this, not you, the one harmed by it. If you blame yourself more than necessary, I’ll be angry.」

Even though he was hurt, he didn’t need to say things that would hurt himself even more. At least, I didn’t want him saying such things in front of me.

Whenever something unreasonable happens, there will always be people who blame the victim. Sometimes even the victim blames themselves. But the one at fault is absolutely the person who caused harm. Leaving your front door unlocked is not a reason for someone to steal from you, and likewise, Hector possessing the looks that could even be called enchanting is not a reason to drug him. Blaming the victim is wrong, at least I think.

「I’m glad I get to live with you. If things like this happen, then I can protect you, Hector-san.」

I had no physical strength, and if kidnappers came for me, I lacked the power to resist. That was why I needed a guard, and Hector filled that role. But predicting or driving away disasters that would befall him, that was something I, who could see prediction lines and was also a healing mage and a pharmacist, should be able to do.

That was what I meant by those words, but for some reason Hector covered his face with one hand. It was a gesture I had begun seeing often lately, and at times like these, the prediction lines of joy and love usually stretched dramatically. They were doing so now as well. On top of that, the sadness had vanished beautifully, which reassured me.

(Even so, the color of love really has gotten long…)

The prediction line of love always exists above someone in love, and when those emotions are strongly stirred, it temporarily stretches longer. Once the feelings calm down, the line shortens again, but if it remains longer than before, it means they have come to love the other person even more. As that accumulated and the color of love grew longer, since it already started out long, when it stretched from emotional stimulation it became incredibly long.

In Hector’s case, the maximum length looked close to reaching the ceiling already. It made it very clear how much he liked me, but somehow it also made me want to laugh.

「If I end up loving you any more than this, I wonder what’ll happen to me.」

The words your love line will pierce through the ceiling disappeared together with a bite of fluffy bread.

Once we finished eating everything except the contaminated soup, we returned the dishes to the cart and carried it back to where it had been delivered. Apparently, if we did that, servants would come clean it up.

As I went to open the back door to take the cart outside, Hector stopped me.

「There’s someone outside. …A servant. But they’re supposed to avoid showing themselves whenever possible.」

Hearing Hector speak after peering through the small viewing hole in the back door, I vaguely grasped the situation and took a turn looking outside myself. From the suspicious colors above her head, I could tell the servant woman knew about the soup.

「Hector-san, please hide here. I’ll go.」

「That’s no good. I’m your guard.」

「…Then perhaps you should hide your face.」

If the target was Hector, there was no knowing what might happen. I had him wear a hooded cloak to conceal his face before carrying the cart outside.

The servant woman noticed the sound of the door opening and looked over. The moment she saw me, surprise colors appeared above her head.

「Ah, um… are you the pharmacist?」

「Yes. Thank you for the meal.」

「N-no… it was nothing…」

Watching the frantic movements of her prediction lines as she panicked at the sight of me, I suddenly realized something. This servant had not looked once at the guard standing behind me. Which meant she likely did not know that the guard was the Flower Knight.

The feferi aphrodisiac had not been aimed at Hector.

Rather than me specifically, it had likely targeted the commoner who had become the court pharmacist.

「I don’t think there’s much point in drugging a medicine specialist.」

「!?」

「I won’t tell anyone, so please let this be the last time.」

Having lost both words and color from her face, the woman hurriedly pushed the cart away. After watching her leave, I returned inside, where Hector removed his hood and asked, 「What do you mean?」

「That soup wasn’t aimed at you, Hector-san. It seems I was the target.」

「…You are a girl, right?」

「They probably didn’t know. Perhaps they only heard that a commoner had been promoted to court pharmacist?」

「Ah, I see. Kyos was trying to keep your information hidden as much as possible.」

Back in my hometown, both my face and name were well known, but here in the royal capital I was a complete unknown. On top of that, Kyos had concealed my identity until the very end, so people still did not know much about the court pharmacist the prince had taken a liking to.

Nobles sensitive to information might have investigated where I worked and what sort of person I was, but lower-ranking workers probably only knew rumors. And rumors always become exaggerated, so even my gender had likely become unclear.

(If they thought I was a male pharmacist commoner favored by the prince, I’d be considered an extremely promising marriage prospect.)

Since the target was not a noble, they could resort to forceful methods like drugging. And apparently it was still not widely known that the Flower Knight had been assigned as this pharmacist’s guard.

(The hard part begins now, I guess.)

A completely different life from before was beginning. There would surely be dangers and things to watch out for unlike anything before. Everything had changed from when I ran a small apothecary in the harbor town.

But if I stayed here, my medicine could help far more people. …I thought it would be worthwhile.

「I think I’ll check the requests and start making medicine.」

「Alright. Then I’ll keep watch around here. I won’t allow any intruders, so you can make medicine without worry, Cyril-san.」

Seeing his handsome face smiling as orange stretched above his head, I suddenly thought of something I needed to do. Once I finished my work, the first thing I should do was make an antidote for feferi.