Chapter 20 - Paternity Test, The First Stage

Chapter 20 – Paternity Test, The First Stage

That evening, as promised, Hentel met with Sierra to discuss the orange potion.

At best, it was only a headache remedy, but it was formulated in an unusual way that resulted in an uncommonly successful product.

His curiosity deepened.

“This time… I was invited to a symposium on the development of medicine.”

It was common knowledge that the Duke of Idios invited Hentel.

“What kind of symposium is it?”

“I hear it is a symposium hosted by the Imperial Pharmacology Academy. Thankfully, I was issued an invitation letter…”

Sierra’s eyes widened in astonishment.

The symposium, hosted only once a year by the Imperial Pharmacology Academy, was a prestigious event. When Sierra was a student at the academy, her dream was to participate in one such event. Furthermore, the records from the symposium were published annually in magazines.

She used to buy the magazine regularly, although she would often end up complaining. “This is not how it should be done!” and “I can do better than that!” were some of the thoughts that crossed her mind.

“Would you like to go with me?”

Confusion flooded Sierra’s mind. Then, Hentel carefully brought Cassius up.

“If His Grace does not allow you to…”

“…”

Would Cassius ever allow her to do anything? He’s so protective….

Even so, Hentel still had a look of cautious hope.

“…You’ll learn many things.”

He seemed to misunderstand Sierra’s position in this family. However, as a commoner, she couldn’t just open her mouth.

Sierra spoke with an ambiguous smile.

“Let me tell His Grace,” Sierra said, smiling mysteriously.

“Ah, yes.”

His worried eyes glanced at Sierra. It seemed that Cassius was unintentionally misconstrued, and she felt a bit guilty for that.

***

Early morning, the next day. Hentel announced the completion of the paternity test kit.

Finally, Sierra, Cassius, and Hanel arrived at the separate building for doctors to undergo their paternity tests. Sierra, Cassius, and Hanael sat side by side on the sofa chair in the drawing room of the building. Hentel sat across them.

‘I can finally escape.’

The thought of leaving the estate had her missing the comforts of the duke’s mansion. Sierra looked at Hentel, a little regretful.

“The potions are complete. As I said the other day, I added a variety of herbs to them, and it’s harmless to one’s health.”

He handed them a guide and continued speaking. Sierra slid his words through the guidance’s warnings.

“If you drink the potions here, waves will be generated around your body that are difficult to see with the human eye. That wavelength can then be analyzed through images.

Sierra had heard that Hipo Kingdom has been interested in radiology recently, so they analyzed them through imaging. It was more scientific and systematic than she thought.

She saw three bottles of blue potions on the table and said. “May I drink mine now?”

“Yes.”

At Hentel’s acceptance, Sierra nodded, popped off the lid of the potion, and gulped it down. Next to her, Cassius did the same. Hanael glanced around.

“Do I have to drink this?”

“Yes, just have a sip.”

Hanael nodded vigorously and drank the potion. Then, she frowned and stomped her feet.

“This tastes no good! It’s not good!”

She pretended to spit it out of her mouth. Sierra stroked Hanael’s hair.

“Hanael, you can’t do that.”

Hanael pouted and looked toward Cassius. He smiled silently at them and immediately stopped when he saw Sierra staring at him. Hentel, who coughed and re-directed his attention, pulled out a recording device next to the table.

“This a magical recording device specially made for medical purposes.”

Sierra’s eyes shone curiously, it was quite an amazing object.

About ten minutes after that, the recording device started filming. The three of them sat side by side on the sofa and waited, trying to kill time until Hentel declared that all the filming was complete.

Of course…

Sierra was a little busy avoiding Cassius’ gaze, which was making her blush.

‘…Why do you keep looking at me?’

She felt uncomfortable looking into his eyes since it reminded her of when he carried her yesterday. His firm body… just like when he held her that day five years ago…

‘Are you really tempting me?!’

Fortunately, Cassius didn’t seem to notice Sierra’s train of thought, but…

After an uncomfortable silence, Hentel was the first person to speak, putting down the video clip.

“Now that we’re done filming, we’ll analyze the wavelengths from the image and let you know the results of the reading immediately.”

‘I can finally leave!’

Sierra nodded, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Now, after that reading, she would be able to leave the estate with the results that Cassius was not Hanael’s father.

After that, Sierra, Cassius, and Hanael left the doctor’s building. Cassius said he had to leave the premises for a meeting of state affairs at the Imperial Palace, which he was required to attend. Hanael and Sierra, of course, had to head over to the main building to play and eat, so they went in different directions.

At the gate of the main building past the annex, Cassius spoke first.

“Then… I’ll be back.”

He smiled faintly, excited at the idea that Sierra and Hanael were seeing him off. Hanael looked at him closely, puffing her cheeks and pouting.

“Don’t come home safely! Bad mister!”

Her chubby cheeks looked like cotton. When Cassius imagined it, he replied with a grin.

“Yes, I get it.”

‘What did you get?’

…Sierra decided to step up to protect Hanael’s precious life.

“Well… have a safe trip, Cassius.” Sierra decided to speak up in place of Hanael.

“Mom is such a softie! A peach!”

‘…I’m not provoking him, you twerp. If I do that, our lives might be at stake in a month!’

***

As they returned from seeing Cassius off, Hentel carefully spoke to her.

“Have you thought about participating in the symposium?”

“Ah… when is it?”

“Today.”

“What? Today?”

She would have the opportunity to see good pharmacists, doctors, and scholars, although it was somewhat sudden. It didn’t make sense to miss this opportunity as a talented pharmacist.

Hentel kept giving tempting offers to the hesitant Sierra.

“It’s a little sudden, isn’t it? But I think you can participate as my assistant. It’ll only last an hour…”

He used his most convincing voice. “First of all, I tried your headache remedy… you have a knack for pharmacology.”

At his words, Sierra shrugged and spoke humbly.

“Actually, I’m a genius in it.” Sierra said.

To her, that was still humility, and so her strange attitude fueled Hentel’s scholastic curiosity.

“…Then, would you like to go with me for a while?”

She didn’t want to get lured in. The reason was, of course, because of Cassius and the godmother.

‘If I leave the mansion, won’t they believe I ran away again?’

Sierra, who had no intention of running away, was falsely accused, but it seemed that she had to seek permission to leave the mansion for now.

That’s why she called…

“You called for me?”

…The godmother, who was busy with the internal management of the mansion, appeared. Her hair was messy and windblown, as if she had come in a hurry.

There was nothing to deny, so Sierra nodded vigorously. “Yes, I’d like to go to the symposium.”

“You’re not… leaving the mansion completely, are you?”

Sierra, who noticed the godmother’s suspicion, was a little embarrassed, but she held it in and whispered affirmatively.

“Of course, I won’t leave.”

Hentel, standing next to him, coughed carefully and said.

“The symposium will be held in the capital, and it will take about an hour, my lady. We will be back immediately after. There will be no danger.”

“…Still, there was that incident at the teahouse the other day…”

“Marchioness Andante was such a nice woman, and yet you suddenly cut ties with her…”

“Shall we hold the symposium here, then?”

“…What?”

‘That’s ridiculous…! Such a burdensome proposal!’’

“Because…if you leave the mansion, I’m afraid you’ll get hurt…”

Sierra felt like she was being imprisoned inside the estate. Her desire to go to the symposium drove her to grab the godmother’s wrinkled hands.

“I’m going to the symposium. I won’t get hurt.”

The godmother looked at their clasped hands.

‘Was that too much?’ Sierra carefully tried to release her hand. However, the godmother grabbed Sierra’s hand again, pulling it toward her.

“…You said only one hour, right?”

She nodded, blushing. Seeing that she couldn’t even reply made her heart ache more than she expected.

‘No… it’s common for ladies to dismiss commoners like me as dirt when they hold their hands…’

‘…Why is the godmother…’

“Come back soon. Write a letter for Cassius as well.”

“Ah, yes.”

In fact, the symposium took only about an hour, so it was unlikely that Cassius would already be back. Still, she thought it would be polite to leave a note.

[ Cassius, I’ll be at the Imperial Pharmacology Symposium for a bit. ]

‘This should be enough.’

***

Sierra and Hentel left the mansion inside a carriage with a knight leading them. However, there was something they didn’t notice…

“I’ve got her.”

It was that Ijel, the man hired by the princess, who was hiding near the mansion, wandering unnoticed in a small carriage. When he saw the gates open to let out a gorgeous carriage, he glimpsed inside and saw a woman with doe-like eyes.

According to the information he had obtained so far, that slender woman must be Sierra.

“Blonde and green-eyed…”

He grinned and opened all the windows of his carriage.

“She’s quite lovely.”

Ijel clicked his tongue, and the coachman, who was currently trimming the horse’s mane, looked toward him.

“Coachman.”

“Ah, yes?”

Though he hadn’t put much thought into looking inside the carriage, the coachman realized once again that the man had quite a delicate, handsome countenance. He’d already seen him a few times, but his features were just as striking. Ijel’s beautiful nose and lush red lips could easily attract all the women in the capital.

“Let’s follow that carriage, shall we?”

Ijel smirked, a devilish, arresting smile. The coachman stared for a few seconds, stunned, before he nodded.

“Of course!”

Clop clop.

The sound of hooves rang out as the horse sped into a canter.

And so…

A total of two carriages began running down the boulevard toward one destination.

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