The Ugly Wife of the Shady Duke - Chapter 110
“…”
Grace quietly watched what Birkin was doing. Birkin explained each ingredient of the medicine one by one in a careful manner.
“The law requires all medicines to have distinct shapes. Ordinary people don’t really notice, but pharmacists are obliged to follow that rule, and they identify pills by their shape.”
“Hmm.”
With that, Birkin slid a book over to Grace. The page was about nutritional supplements.
“Nutritional supplements, huh?”
“Yes. And they’re identical in shape to these pills, right?”
“Mm…”
Grace remembered Benjamin calling them a supplement and let out a small sigh.
“But if these really were just supplements, there’d be no reason to say it was ‘bad news.’”
Would these be something dangerous if taken together with another drug, maybe? Grace tapped the book and murmured.
“No. If that were the case, it would’ve been a relief. But these were switched out.”
“…?”
Birkin dropped a pill nto the water and stirred it with a thin stick as he spoke.
“Normally, nutritional supplements are made to dissolve easily in liquid, so that even children who have trouble swallowing pills can take them.”
However, contrary to his explanation, the pills in the cup showed no sign of dissolving.
“See?”
“…”
Staring at the pill still sitting in the water, Grace murmured as if speaking to herself:
“Then what are these pills?”
“It took a bit of time for me to figure that out.”
Birkin’s voice sounded heavy with genuine fatigue.
“One is a tranquilizer. But it was banned from sale some time ago because instead of calming people, it was found to cloud the mind and scramble a person’s reason.”
“…”
“And these two pills here are a type of ‘enhancers.’ But, truthfully, taking them together is practically a death sentence in theoretical terms.”
“…enhancers?”
“Yes, mages, magic tool engineers, or priests take these to boost their magic power or divine power respectively. The effect is mild, but still better than nothing, so they take them consistently. In fact, these drugs are what propelled the Pharmacist’s Union to prominence.”
“Ah…”
“It’s no big deal if you take them separately, and for normal people, they’re basically ineffective. But I’m not sure what might happen if you combine these two.”
Grace frowned, understanding why Birkin was so concerned.
‘Because divine power and magic power don’t exactly get along.’
One of the lesser-known causes of magic tools malfunctioning or going berserk was the presence of divine power.
Among the reasons for the Gate disaster—a reason not widely known to ordinary citizens—was precisely the presence of divine power.
The effect varied depending on the amount of divine power someone possessed; in large quantities, it didn’t stop at causing nausea but could go so far as to damage magic tools entirely.
Hence, priests who had divine power all underwent training in the temple to restrain and control their power in everyday life.
‘So that’s why they’re extra careful when using magic tools inside the temple…
That hazy piece of knowledge surfaced in her mind—she wasn’t sure if it was something she had read in the original story or something the original Grace had known all along.
“So what happens if a priest takes a magic-power enhancer?”
Ironically enough, every citizen of the Aizen Empire possessed at least a small trace of magic power.
Whether one could actually use magic or not depended on talent, but at a fundamental level, everyone had some. It was so obvious that no one really gave it any serious thought.
Such was the value of the magic power possessed by the people of the Empire.
In response to Grace’s question, Birkin replied,
“Well, for those who aren’t mages or magic tool engineers, having magic power is practically meaningless, so they might feel a slight ripple and that’s it. Priests are all so adept at controlling divine power that it might not be much of an issue for them, either.”
“But what if they also take a divine power enhancer? Wouldn’t there be some kind of change?”
“…! That—There’s a chance, yes. But in that case, something doesn’t add up. Magic power might be everywhere, but divine power isn’t something everyone has, right?”
Birkin’s point was valid. Unlike magic power, divine power was a special force given only to some, which was one reason the temple enjoyed its elevated status.
That was also why they were so careful not to let it be widely known that divine power and magic power could clash.
‘From the fact that Birkin more or less knows about it, I guess it’s information you could find if you were interested enough.’
“In that case, Birkin, why did you say it was ‘bad news for me’?”
“It’s because of the remaining drug.”
He pointed to one more pill.
“This is a ‘sleep-addiction drug.’”
“Not just a sleeping pill?”
Sleeping pill is the usual term, right? Grace tilted her head at the unfamiliar name.
“Sleeping pills help you fall asleep. A sleep-addiction drug makes you want to sleep, constantly.”
Grace stayed silent for a moment, not fully grasping the difference. Tom Birkin went on to clarify.
“Even if you’re awake, you’re always on the verge of nodding off. It tricks you into feeling tired when you’re not, and makes you want to sleep at any time.”
“Why does something like that even exist in the world?”
“There are people out there who need this sort of drug, after all.”
Grace narrowed her eyes at the pills.
“Would it work on priests, too?”
Depending on how strong their divine power was, priests could purify contamination, cure all sorts of illnesses…
‘They say the difference between a medicine and a poison is just the dosage.’
If that’s the case, then couldn’t they also purify a drug? Grace wondered.
“From the time they first enter the temple, priests learn how to restrain their divine power. I hear they even use certain drugs to suppress it, so they don’t use it in private spaces unless absolutely necessary.”
‘Hmm…’
“How did you figure out what’s in these pills? Did they have any unique traits?”
“Well, I used a tool to identify the enhancers, but as for the tranquilizer and the sleep-addiction drug, they’re known to dissolve well in things like butter or milk. Of course, there are other drugs with similar properties, so it took time to narrow it down.”
“You’re more capable than I thought, I see.”
“Is that supposed to be an insult or a compliment?”
“It’s a compliment.”
‘Just for now, though.’ Grace chose to keep the rest of her words to herself.
‘Butter or milk, huh… so it has fat-soluble components. I can make use of that.’
Suddenly, Grace thought of something odd and asked,
“These pills were prescribed by the temple, right? If there’s a separate Pharmacists’ Union, why would they be prescribed by the temple?”
“That’s because the Pharmacists’ Union works in partnership with the temple. Usually, healing and purification are considered the temple’s domain, so Duke Zarte decided that if medicine was endorsed by the temple, citizens of the Empire would feel safer taking it.”
“Which is why the price is low?”
“That’s part of it. Officially, the temple is not supposed to chase money, after all.”
“Hmm…”
“Do you have any other questions?”
Grace tapped the table lightly with her fingers, then shook her head before nodding once.
“That takes care of this matter. Next, I’d like you to investigate ‘Eternal Blossom.’ I believe the leader of the ‘Siren’s Song’ trading company is already looking into it, but still.”
“You’d like me to conduct a separate investigation, cross-check what they find, and then bring you everything, correct?”
“Exactly. I’m glad you understood right away.”
Just as Grace finished her instructions and stood to leave, Birkin called out to her.
“Madam, please wait a moment.”
“Yes? What is it?”
“The Guild owner asked me to give you this.”
Only when they were about to part did he pull out a thick envelope and hand it over.
‘If she’s choosing to deliver this through a person rather than by mail, it must be a particularly sensitive matter.’
Had something happened lately to make Sireni so wary? Although unsure, Grace still nodded.
“Please pass on my thanks to her.”
⋆★⋆
Grace Felton—the Duchess of Felton—was the laughingstock not just of the capital but of the entire Empire.
A pathetic duchess, an ugly woman who didn’t measure up to the grand name of House Felton—that was all people ever seemed to say about her.
‘I’ve heard it enough times to be sick of it.’
She’d seen it in the novel itself, and also in the memories that kept rising up ever since she became Grace.
There were hardly any who spoke well of Grace.
The reason these thoughts resurfaced was the letter she held in her hand. As she read it in the carriage, her expression grew complicated.
[When I looked into who spread the rumors about you, I found something odd. Every single piece of gossip was posted anonymously, and tracing a few of them led me to employees of noble households.]
“…”
While Sireni hadn’t yet been able to pinpoint all the noble houses to which these employees belonged, she had listed every name she could uncover. Among those names was one Grace recognized.
‘Viscount Anglaise’s family.’
If they went so far as to anonymously submit malicious rumors using their employees, it was likely not the act of an individual but something orchestrated at the family level.
‘That means what happened at the banquet that day wasn’t just a coincidence.’
Initially, Grace had assumed it was simply a restructured version of an event from the original story, but now she revised her thinking.
‘They were targeting me from the start.’
Naturally, the questions of ‘Who?’ and ‘Why?’ followed.
‘The temple, of course, seems the most suspicious.’
She already had a pretty good idea of “who” might be behind it. Naturally, she still needed solid evidence, but if she handled Priest Boris wisely this time, she could uncover the truth.
‘But why?’
What reason could the temple possibly have to isolate Grace to this extent? She simply couldn’t understand it.
‘What do they gain by harassing me like this?’
Benjamin’s donations? Grace slowly shook her head.
‘That can’t be it. Benjamin’s been a steady donor all the way from the previous Duke’s time up to now.’
Considering how much the Felton Duchy had contributed to the temple over the years, they really had no reason to pick on Grace.
‘Are they messing with me in order to rattle Benjamin and squeeze more money out of him?’
In reality, it seemed that Benjamin had been summoning priests constantly because of this.
‘Not that it seems to be doing much.’
Grace let out a deep sigh. And as if on cue, her carriage also came to a stop.
“We’ve arrived.”
As she stepped down in front of the estate’s main building, she turned to the butler who was waiting for her.
“When is Priest Boris scheduled to arrive?”
“Next week, madam.”
“I see…”
That timing wasn’t too soon or too late. She glanced over at the annex, noticing a faint swirl of black mist.
‘I don’t know what it is, but I’ll make full use of it.’
“And since we’re calling on a busy person, we can’t afford to slack off. Butler, make sure we’re well prepared to welcome our guests.”
