The Pharmacist Lady’s Trading Secret - chapter 15

A few days later, April headed for the field, holding a small basket in her hand.

It was to harvest a hundred chamomile flowers that were planted for Ian. It had the effect of relieving fatigue and regaining strength, so it would be perfect to brew a cup of tea for Ian’s illness.

‘Ah, I’m thinking of him again.’

Was it because she saw him suffering before her eyes? She couldn’t forget his eyes that were anxiously searching for her that night. Her cheeks heated up as she recalled the moment his lips touched her neck.

“Are you crazy, April?! Why are you having such thoughts when you’re working?!”

She shook her head and hurriedly turned to the plants.

She picked up a couple of its large leaves and put them in the basket, and finally, uprooted some of the hundred plants. The bitter smell reached her nostrils as she dusted off the soil. It would be much better if she dipped it in honey, she thought.

“The tea would taste good if his fever gets down……however, will he drink it though?”
“If you’re talking about me, then yes, I will.”
“Ah!”

April, who was busy staring at the flower petals, was startled by a low voice that suddenly rang in her ears.

As she turned her head, she saw Ian standing beside her. He was so close that she could feel his breath.

Embarrassed, she tried to move aside, but she stumbled because she was bending her legs for a long time.

“April!”

As soon as he noticed her losing her balance, Ian quickly reached out and pulled her towards him. As her hand lost its grip on the basket, the ingredients she had collected fell down on the floor.

His face got close to her again. His strong arm was tightly holding her back to keep her from stumbling. April gasped with her hands over his chest. It was low, but still, she could feel his heartbeat at her fingertips.

“Are you all right?”
“Ah, y-yes! I am!”

Embarrassed to be held close to his face, she hurriedly backed away.

“When did the Marquis get here?”
“Since you stood in front of the white flowers. You looked so busy that I couldn’t interrupt you.”

Ian came out as he thought about fulfilling his promise to show her around the mansion. But he waited when he noticed her concentrating.

‘You didn’t hear me, did you?’

Did he see her scolding herself while blushing at Ian’s thoughts? April was worried. She couldn’t understand why she was afraid of such a trivial thing.

“Are there a hundred of them?”

Ian asked as he picked up the plant that had fallen on the ground.

“Ah, yes, how did you know, Marquis ?”
“Just a guess.”

As he closed his eyes, sniffing on the bitter aroma of the flowers, the corners of his lips slightly rose up as if he liked the scent. April blankly stared at him.

“I thought it was only an ornamental plant, but it has certain uses, huh?”
“Yes, every flower planted here has medicinal effects.”

April took the plant Ian passed to her and put it inside the basket.

The two strolled through the small field as they had promised. Although he grandiosely said that he would show her around, there was nothing much to see in a small field.

“You’re planting a lot more things than I thought you would. Are these for research?”
“Yes. Since they have similar effects, I always try to prepare potions that could be sold at a lower price.”

Naturally, their walk continued towards the lake. She thought it was nice of him to be interested in these things, and so gradually, his voice rose.

“The expensive ingredients are only used for aristocrats.”
“Of course, you all have that money, don’t you, Marquis?”

April smiled and raised up her eyes. Ian, who had been looking down at her as he listened to her, suddenly became quiet when he met her eyes.

“Marquis? Are you not feeling well?”

Her violet eyes glistened under the sunlight. She reached out in order to check his temperature, but he gently blocked her.

It seemed like this April is someone else other than the April he met the last day, which only makes it worse, especially when she touches him.

“No, it’s nothing.”

He equivocated his answer. The strange feelings that were seeping in little by little finally reached him like an autumn breeze poking through his hair.

“By the way, why is your fever suddenly getting worse? Did my medicine trigger something?”
“I don’t think so.”
“But I’m afraid it began when I started living here…..I feel guilty.”

April brought out what she had been keeping in her mind. She was worried by such results as she couldn’t refuse him when he made the proposal after she helped him with a feigning fever reducer in her hand.

“An illness is something that happens in the human body, and it can’t be the same as always.”
“Is that so?”
“There’s one thing I can guess, but I won’t tell you.”
“What? Why?”
“I’ll just tell you that it’s not something you have to feel guilty about, April.”

He was reluctant to make her worry.

April impatiently asked him, but he just silently started walking again. He walked slowly so that April could match up with his pace.

‘No way.’

The timing and reason for the deepening of the effects for the Langs. Ian knew that the biggest reason among them was the change of emotion.

Although she hadn’t seen the Marquis of the Sun Dynasty suffering from heat since he was a child, she had already learned something similar to that before.

‘It can’t be.’

Ian gazed down at April with a thumping heart and caught her eyes in the absence of her knowledge. Either way, it was never April’s fault.

***

For the next few days, Ian hadn’t stepped into the detached building to see her.

Maybe that’s why April didn’t even imagine running into him in the library before she stopped by the field and walked to the top floor.

“Oh my!”

The moment she saw Ian leaning against the windowpane as soon as she pushed open the door, she almost had a heart attack. The place where he stood was against the light, so it felt like she had seen a ghost.

“Ah, you must be surprised.”

When April made a raucous appearance, he put down the book he was reading and walked out of the shadows.

“I thought nobody would be here. It was always like that.”
“I come here once in a while to spend a moment of leisure.”
“Oh, what book were you reading, Marquis?”

He shook his head instead of answering. April took it as a meaning that he didn’t want to answer it and asked no further questions. Sure enough, Ian naturally changed the topic.

“It’s almost dinner time, did you come to read?”
“I was thinking of taking some books. It’s hard to climb up the stairs right after eating.”
“Please take your time. I’ll be waiting.”

As he was passing by her, he suddenly halted and looked back at her. As she lifted her head slightly, Ian glanced down at her with a look of indifference and reached out his hand.

“Marquis…….?”

His long fingers swept through her silver locks. With every touch of his hand, April blinked, her violet orbs widening at the gesture.

It was already time for his fever to rise up, but it didn’t look like it at all. As soon as the thoughts crossed his mind, he smiled and lowered his hand.

“This was stuck in your hair.”

He held out a white petal. It seemed to have stuck to her hair while she was crouching down beside the plants. April’s mind sank strangely over nothing.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“N-No, it’s nothing.”
“Then I’ll see you later.”

As Ian left the library, April choked, clutching her trembling chest. She gently lifted her hand, imagining the feel of the touch of his fingers, which seemed to have tickled her for no reason. A lingering feeling that caused her toes to curl in.

“I was just surprised that he suddenly showed up here. Yeah, that’s what it is…….”

She kept muttering this and headed to her business. This was because Ian, who was avoiding her questions, raised questions himself. Moreover, where he stood was where April often went to look into books about the Langs.

“Let’s see…..”

When she gently closed her eyes and tried to sweep her fingers through the books, one of the books was somewhat a little bit warmer among the others. It meant that someone’s hand had touched it a little while ago.

She opened her eyes, pulling it out from the shelf.

“Oh, I think I’ve read this before, haven’t I ?”

A book that contained the phrase that said, “heat must be controlled by another heat”. It seemed nothing unusual, so why did he try to hide it from her? She scurried through the pages.

“Wait, it had an annotation?!”

The writing was a little faint and obscured. It wasn’t noticeable at a glance, but there was a faint annotation mark. She might have missed it the last time she read it. She hurriedly opened the back of the book.

《 Albatros in the sky and wolves on the ground spend their lives with only one companion. Human beings cannot be different either, but it’s just a norm of society.

But only the Langs move according to the blood-set norms. It is romantic to share intense love with only one person, but it is not as beautiful as it is to live with a burning disease until then. 》

After she was done reading the annotation, she raised her head, stared into space, and snapped the book shut. She finally understood the meaning of what she had read before.

“That’s why! That’s why the previous Marquis was so sick before he got married.”

If so, Ian’s illness was not something April could completely cure. She could just restrain him as it said, but it wouldn’t be possible to make it last forever either.