Ask Away, Your Majesty - Chapter 5
Kyle Astum.
Lorienne recognized the name. Even though she hadn’t seen his face before, she certainly knew the name Kyle. He was the anticipated successor to the ailing Emperor Astum, whose health was deteriorating. Moreover, she had heard of him as a fearsome figure who carried an aura of bloodlust, known by the moniker ‘Demon of the Battlefield.’
“She said it didn’t matter—everyone uses fake names anyway,” the man remarked, brushing off the servant’s alarm.
“…Well… That’s right,” she said. “It doesn’t matter.”
It really didn’t matter. As long as Lorienne and the potion’s owner recognized it, using a fake name was inconsequential.
Lorienne nodded, quickly accepting it. She’s met a lot of strange people, and he was certainly one of them. Ironically, the person more astounded than anyone else was the servant seated beside them. He glanced back and forth between the handsome man and Lorienne with a shocked expression before letting out a quiet sigh.
Yes, she can imagine he has plenty of reasons to sigh serving such an unrestrained master.
The servant soon dropped everything and also gave his name. “I am Pico…”
Lorienne wrote down the name ‘Kyle Astum’ in her notebook. Then, she quickly contemplated how much she should demand for the potion. A potion that transformed one entirely into a dog was vastly different from changing ears, tail, or paws—a feat requiring a significant draw of her magical powers. She intended to charge at least five times more than other potions.
Even though there was a backlog of potion requests, by minimizing her break times and working on them sequentially, she believed she could finish them all within a week.
I’ll need to harness my magical energy intensively for this. After creating it, I’ll probably be bedridden for a day or two… Thirty silver coins sound appropriate, don’t you think? Or is that too expensive? Maybe I’ll settle for twenty-five?
Normally, she would only jot down the name and the requested potion, but since she hadn’t decided on the cost, she deliberately took her time, including unnecessary details like gender, which she wouldn’t usually note down, and even listing the necessary magical ingredients.
At that moment, a heavy pouch dropped onto the request sheet. The man had tossed it to her,, as if understanding her dilemma. Lorienne swiftly picked up the pouch, her eyes widening.
Wait, what’s with this weight?!! The volume isn’t that significant, but this kind of weight…!
Gold and silver coins were identical in shape and size, yet the gold coin was significantly heavier. With trembling hands, Lorienne opened the pouch, her head snapping up in surprise at what she saw.
No way, it’s… It’s real gold!
The man sitting in front of her seemed to anticipate Lorienne’s reaction and smirked. It was a beautiful and wicked smile.
“So, you mentioned a week. Make the potion to turn me into a dog by tomorrow.”
“…T-Tomorrow?!”
“Yeah. If you can make the potion by tomorrow, I’ll pay you that much more in gold coins when I collect it.”
Lorienne was taken aback by the prospect of creating the potion by the next day. Given the late hour and the complexity of crafting a potion to turn someone entirely into a dog, it was sure to exert a severe strain on her body.
But it wasn’t every day that she earned this much gold at once. Plus, the additional payment upon completion by the next day was incredibly enticing.
This amount of gold could cover a significant portion of the money needed to buy back my brother… It’s enough to take months off my life!
He noticed her purple eyes darting around in thought behind the thick reading glasses. A cold smile briefly crossed the handsome man’s face, seemingly pleased with Lorienne’s reaction.
“Your choice. Take this gold and have the potion made in a week, or have the potion made by tomorrow and double it.”
