Watching her two little servants leave, Luwei turned her attention back to Floxi with a gaze that seemed meaningful.
“Your Highness…?”
Floxi felt conflicted.
On one hand, Luwei’s attention was drawn away by the two new servants — someone else could finally share the pressure from her.
But for some reason, Luwei’s differential treatment made her feel uncomfortable.
Three months ago, from the moment Floxi stepped into House Carys, Her Highness Luwei’s targeting had never ceased.
It started with cold looks and escalated to verbal abuse and humiliation…
Eventually, sewing needles would be left in her bed by maids on purpose.
Her clothes would be stolen while she was bathing, forcing her to stay in the bathroom for an entire night.
The knee pads she used for training were frequently thrown away, leading to her elbows and knees being constantly rubbed raw and bloody.
During Magic lessons, her door would be mysteriously locked from the outside, causing her to be late or even miss class entirely…
Everyone in House Carys saw these things.
But under pressure from Luwei, they either watched coldly or actively sought favor by becoming part of the victimizers.
Facing all of this, Floxi simply endured in silence.
After all, she was already grateful that Her Highness Luwei was willing to give her a safe harbor.
She wanted to grow quietly here, becoming someone not to be trifled with, and eventually find the culprit who murdered her father to seek her revenge…
As for Her Highness Luwei feeling that she was stealing her spotlight, Floxi only felt sorry.
She had reasons why she had to learn Swordsmanship and study Magic…
It wasn’t to compete for the Duke’s favor.
But now, she suddenly felt that something had changed.
‘So Her Highness Luwei can actually be gentle toward others…’
Floxi fell into a deep state of self-doubt.
‘Is it… just because I am Floxi that Her Highness is so bitter and harsh?’
‘Does she simply hate me…?’
After truly getting close to Luwei, Floxi discovered that she wasn’t as wicked in private as she had imagined.
Her Highness was considerate and comforting…
Though she seemed fierce, she was unexpectedly easy to talk to.
But there was a catch — except when it came to her.
Floxi lowered her head slightly.
She seemed to have realized something…
There was no place for her in this house.
Facing Her Highness Luwei’s harassment, leaving of her own accord was the best choice…
However, if she left the Duke’s protection, would she truly have the ability to face her enemies alone?
While Floxi was lost in her thoughts, a cold voice rang in her ear.
“What are you standing there for like a fool?”
“Huh? Oh…”
Floxi nodded aimlessly, only to find that Luwei was already sitting before the vanity mirror, her fair legs swinging boredly in mid-air.
“Are you still troubled by my differential treatment?”
“…Heh, with that petty look on your face, it would be strange not to hate you.”
“Come here and fulfill your duty as a maid.”
“Help me change…”
Luwei looked at the silent maid beside her and weighed her thoughts…
She finally decided that she would treat Floxi a bit better today.
The reason was simple: since she needed Floxi’s help, she had to be a bit nicer.
Luwei had a task to give her.
“You mentioned you were an Alchemy Apprentice, right?”
Luwei asked casually.
Seeing the other girl nod, she continued to press, “Why did you stop?”
At those words, a look of embarrassment rose on Floxi’s face.
“Because… after my father passed away, I had no money…”
‘So it really was for that reason…’
Luwei’s gaze drifted as she reached into her pocket and weighed her small gold coins.
Training an Alchemist was much more expensive than training a Magician.
Thinking of this, Luwei reached into her pocket and felt her gold coins.
Then…
Clatter.
She poured the remaining 53 Gold Coins onto the table all at once.
After a moment’s thought, she discreetly took several coins back and tucked them into her pocket…
“Eh… Your Highness?”
Seeing this, Floxi’s expression turned into one of confusion.
“Take this money and go study Alchemy,”
Luwei said plainly.
Actually, she didn’t know if this was enough…
If it was still short, she would just have to ask her father, the Duke, for reimbursement.
As if remembering something, Luwei added: “Practice less with the sword, and study less of that useless Magic…”
After speaking, she secretly caught Floxi’s reaction out of the corner of her eye…
The latter was completely stunned.
“W-What?”
Her expression was a mix of pleasant surprise and bewilderment…
“Don’t think this is free,”
Luwei said, tapping the table.
“First, you have to pass my assessment…”
But before she could finish, Floxi’s eyes had turned into two swirling poached eggs…
“Waaaah… Your Highness…!”
“…”
This girl’s reaction was even bigger than expected…
Luwei pushed away Floxi, who looked like she wanted to rub her snot and tears all over her, and then pulled out the Healing Potion recipe from the drawer.
“Follow this recipe and brew a few potions for me to see.”
“No problem!”
Floxi accepted the scroll with absolute confidence.
***
Several hours later…
“Your… Your Highness…”
Floxi approached timidly, holding two bottles of blood-red potion in her hands.
“The recipe you gave me… is it really for a Healing Potion?”
“Why isn’t it green?”
The moment Luwei saw the red liquid in her hands…
“This is it!”
Luwei said with absolute certainty.
‘A Life Potion should indeed be red…’
Luwei had already felt suspicious when she saw the slave trader’s Healing Potion earlier.
The Healing Potions bought from the Game Mall were clearly blood-red and were usually meant for internal consumption.
Yet the slave trader’s method was… to dampen a towel with green liquid and then apply it to the wound.
“Floxi, do you have any thoughts regarding this recipe?”
“I certainly do!”
Floxi nodded immediately.
“First of all, many of the materials in the recipe can’t even be called herbs. It even includes strange things like orange peels…”
Well, that part confirmed what Shuangna had said.
“Secondly, the recipe uses many purification methods I’ve never seen before. It took me a long time just to replicate the process… Finally…”
Floxi rolled up her sleeve, revealing a fair wrist… and on it, a long, narrow bloodstain had appeared.
“According to my experiment, the healing effect is somewhat poor…”
Floxi said, her voice growing smaller and smaller, as if she were afraid of disappointing Luwei.
But to her surprise, Luwei’s attention wasn’t on the potion at all…
“You cut yourself just to experiment with this potion?”
Luwei asked, her tone somewhat surprised.
In the next second, she grabbed Floxi’s arm and carefully examined the injury…
“Eh…?”
The sudden concern seemed to make Floxi feel at a loss.
She scratched her cheek with a sheepish laugh, her eyes drifting toward the ceiling.
‘Her Highness is truly strange…’
Back when she was being bullied by Her Highness, she was always covered in bruises and grimacing in pain.
But now, she was so concerned over a tiny scratch.
‘Her Highness… is as unpredictable as the weather at sea, while I am but a luckless sailor, never able to guess whether it will be sunny or storming.’
To be honest, Floxi’s curiosity was piqued.
She wanted to know more about Her Highness…
she wanted to know what was actually going on in her heart…
But then, the light in Floxi’s eyes dimmed again.
She found that she couldn’t ignore the struggle within her soul…
‘Has Her Highness… really changed?’
“The method for using this potion is oral. How could it possibly be useful if you rub it on the wound…?”
With that, Luwei took the potion from Floxi’s hand.
“Oral??”
Shock appeared on Floxi’s face once again.
“I’ve never heard of that… Your Highness, it’s common sense that drinking a Healing Potion will cause poisoning!”
Hearing this, Luwei merely took a small sip herself and handed the rest to her.
“I… I understand…”
Seeing this, Floxi said no more and downed the potion in one gulp.
Immediately, the wound on her arm began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye…
Floxi had seen too many strange things today.
Even witnessing a wound heal at such a ridiculous speed didn’t seem to shock her as much anymore.
“Refine a few more bottles of this Healing Potion before the day is over. I have a great use for them.”
Luwei twirled a strand of hair around her finger as a plan slowly began to take shape in her mind…