Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 140

☆ Chapter 140 ☆

I took the report and quickly read through it.

A particular word immediately caught my eye.

“Elixir?”

It was the legendary panacea [a remedy believed to cure all diseases] often found in fantasy or romance novels.

An essential catalyst for turning lead into gold.

The elixir of immortality that prevents aging and death.

The Philosopher’s Stone.

It’s used in various other ways, but it’s easiest to understand it as a potion that saves dying people or prevents aging.

“Yes, the panacea that existed in ancient times. Opinions are divided on whether it really existed or if it’s just a myth or legend.”

“Even if it did exist, what Mrs. Huen made wouldn’t be the real elixir.”

“Hmm, Mrs. Huen claims that if she develops it further, it could become a real elixir?”

“That’s just a possibility. She has to include the phrase that most excites investors to get support for her research.”

“Right now, it just heals minor wounds and improves general condition.”

“That’s amazing in itself.”

The priests here can’t exert such powerful divine power.

Since it’s a romance novel world, I thought high-ranking priests would be able to heal diseases and injuries, but that wasn’t the case at all.

‘So when Grandpa collapsed, all they did was offer supportive care.’

In a world without such miracles, how much potential would a medicine that heals even minor wounds instantly seem to have?

“We haven’t introduced it to the world yet, but… look here. The estimated price is enormous.”

I was a little surprised to see the estimated price written on the document. It was ridiculously expensive.

“What ingredients make it so expensive?”

“The ingredients aren’t that expensive. Even considering research costs and investments, the price is set high. It’s only been a year since the research started.”

Duke Dier flipped through a few pages of the report and showed me the ingredient list.

“…Isn’t this your secret formula?”

“What does it matter if it’s a secret! They dared to harass our young lady! We need to find out everything, even how many times they go to the bathroom each day, and thoroughly crush them!”

Duke Dier clenched his fist and shouted.

“As the young lady’s most devoted servant, I, রেডিয়ান [Reddian] Dier, will not miss a single one of their actions!”

“Okay, okay…”

Everything else is fine, but I’m not your servant.

Why are you so desperate to become a slave…

I subtly moved away from Duke Dier and spoke.

“So the price is intentionally set much higher. A potion that heals skin abrasions at this price…”

Who would buy it?

“There’s nothing better than this as a luxury item to show off to others or as a gift disguised as a bribe.”

“Yes, they’ll also control the production volume. The rarer and harder to obtain, the better.”

Hmm, then Mrs. Huen could become a rising star in an instant.

“What do you think Mrs. Huen wants? Just to succeed in her research?”

“Mrs. Huen spends almost all her time researching at home and rarely goes out. Looking at this alone, she seems like a typical researcher.”

“But considering the pricing and her subtle behavior towards the Princess at Mrs. Sheruin’s tea party—”

“It seems like she’s not a pure scholar dedicated to research, but someone ambitious who wants to gain power through political maneuvering?”

“That’s right.”

“Ordinary people don’t particularly desire immortality. Some even dislike it.”

“But the more money and power they have, the more earnestly they dream of it.”

“It’s enough for Mrs. Huen to win the favor of the powerful.”

I nodded and put down the report.

“Mrs. Huen has a pretty compelling story. It’s very easy to package and sell.”

A young widow who lost her husband.

She raises her young daughter alone and struggles with poverty, but in fact, she has a dazzling talent.

Mrs. Sheruin, the best scholar of the time and a person who has a significant influence on academia, the arts, and society as a whole, recognizes that talent at once.

With the support of Mrs. Sheruin, Mrs. Huen discovers a clue to the elixir, the legendary panacea of ancient times, in just about a year.

Through that clue, she creates a potion that contains the possibility of the elixir.

“It’s a story that reporters and ambitious young nobles will love.”

“Normally, conservative nobles wouldn’t look favorably on a commoner who has emerged outside of the existing structure, especially if they show political ambition. But—”

“Yeah, this case is different. The more conservative the nobles, the older the high-ranking nobles are.”

“They’re the ones who will want the elixir the most.”

The forces that would be wary of and exclude Mrs. Huen will welcome her with open arms.

“How coincidental.”

“Indeed. We have something we’re preparing.”

“How’s it going? Has there been any progress since then?”

“I heard there haven’t been any significant results yet.”

Duke Dier bowed his head as if he were sorry.

“I didn’t think it would be easy. I was going to wait patiently, but the situation has changed…”

“Does the Princess intend to use ‘that’ to investigate Mrs. Huen?”

“Yeah, I can’t let them develop a fake elixir and run rampant.”

“Yes! They dared to be rude to our young lady!”

“I’ll tell the Magic Department to hurry.”

“Hmm, you guys proceed as you are, and I need to check somewhere else.”

“Somewhere else?”

“Yeah, there’s… a deviant. No, a heretic.”

At my words, Duke Dier and Count Candor reacted as if they knew who I was talking about.

Count Candor nodded, and Duke Dier—

“No! That young lady is a pervert!”

Well, I think so too.

But is that something Duke Dier should say?

* * *

“Princess!”

Lady Asheltein rushed towards me.

Yes, it was literally a rush.

Whack!

“I can’t believe the Princess is coming to our house! Have you finally made up your mind?”

“Made up my mind about what?”

“To become the subject of my research—”

“I want to go home.”

I said blankly while being hugged tightly by Lady Asheltein.

At that time, a voice was heard from over there.

“Medi, you shouldn’t do that to guests.”

When I turned my head—

‘A male version of Lady Asheltein?!’

A boy who looked exactly like Lady Asheltein smiled when our eyes met.

“Nice to meet you, Princess Paeraton.”

At this point, it’s like he’s wearing a sign on his forehead that says, ‘I’m Lady Asheltein’s twin brother.’

“Hello, Young Master Asheltein.”

It’s amazing how similar they can be even though they’re fraternal twins.

‘Amazing!’

“Medi, let go of the guest. You surprised her by rushing in so suddenly.”

Oh, he’s so normal.

He looks exactly like Lady Asheltein, but his personality is completely different.

Well, at least one of the twins has to be sensible to maintain some balance.

Lady Asheltein pouted and glared at her younger brother.

“Since when have you been so polite to guests?”

“That’s not it.”

Young Master Asheltein shook his head firmly.

“If you ask them to be the subject of your research without warning, they’ll be scared. First, we need to restrain them so they can listen to us calmly—”

“Pardon?”

What did you say?

This guy isn’t normal either.

* * *

“Haha, I was just kidding earlier. You don’t have to be so wary.”

Young Master Asheltein said with a friendly smile.

But I sat on the edge of the sofa with my guard up.

‘I need to stay sharp! This place is a den of mad scientists!’

“Now, now, calm down… A warm cup of tea will help you feel better.”

I glanced at the tea placed on the table and said,

“Young Master, please try it first.”

“Of course.”

Young Master Asheltein shrugged and drank the tea.

“No, the one in my teacup.”

“Haha! The Princess is indeed very clever.”

Young Master Asheltein laughed.

But even so, he didn’t drink the tea in my teacup.

‘What on earth did they put in the tea?’

“Well, let’s stop with the jokes for real now.”

“One more joke and you’ll kill someone.”

“Surely you don’t think I would put something bad in the Princess’s tea. I just wanted to see how the light truth serum I made this time would react to a Paeraton’s blood.”

“Truth serum?”

‘That’s not a bad thing, you say?!’

“There are no side effects. It’s light, so you might not answer, or you might hide the truth.”

Young Master Asheltein smiled gently and drank the tea in my teacup.

“Now, ask me anything.”

“I don’t particularly have anything I want to ask.”

“That’s harsh. Everyone is always curious about me.”

Indeed, Young Master Asheltein was famous for not showing his face.

“Why didn’t you come to the Dawn Festival, Young Master?”

“I won in rock-paper-scissors.”

“Rock-paper-scissors?”

“Our grandfather ordered one of us to participate for the sake of the family, so we decided with rock-paper-scissors.”

“What kind of rock-paper-scissors is that? Princess, that guy made a medicine that prevents my fingers from straightening and put it in my cocoa! That’s how he won!”

“You put a medicine that prevents fingers from bending in my cocoa.”

‘Did the siblings poison each other?’

Young Master Asheltein looked at me and smiled brightly.

“See? The truth serum isn’t a big deal, right? The effects are already gone.”

“Is that what’s important right now…?”

I was dumbfounded.

‘I know one thing for sure.’

The Asheltein twins are crazy.

“Haa, as I mentioned in the letter, I came today because I have a favor to ask Lady Asheltein.”

At my words, Lady Asheltein turned her gaze to one side of the drawing room.

There, Pianke was waiting with something covered in cloth.

“Are you talking about that?”

“Yes.”

At my gesture, Pianke removed the cloth.

The eyes of the Asheltein twins began to sparkle.

“What a mysterious object.”

“Yes, it’s an ancient artifact. It was so fascinating that the trading company bought it. I want it to be activated.”

“Ancient!”

Lady Asheltein stood up excitedly.

“And there’s one more thing I’d like you to look into.”

Pianke politely handed over some data.

“This is…?”

“It’s a study that’s currently underway.”

“Elixir?”

At Lady Asheltein’s words, even the Young Master stood up and examined the data.

It was understandable.

The elixir is every alchemist’s dream.

“What is this? The efficacy is almost too embarrassing to call it an elixir.”

“But it has potential for development.”

At my words, the two twins were lost in thought for a moment.

“An ancient artifact and research to recreate an ancient panacea [a remedy believed to cure all diseases]… How interesting!”

“Did you know, Princess? In ancient times, they didn’t even use elixirs for most treatments.”

“The ancient priests were incredibly powerful. High-ranking priests could completely cure diseases and reattach severed arms.”

“Especially the Saintess, who was said to have wielded such immense power that she could even revive the almost dead.”

“Really?”

Ancient civilization had quite the novel-like setting.

‘What about the Saintess who appeared in the South?’

Is it just a baseless rumor?

Or does she possess special abilities like the ancient Saintess?

“Ah, I wish I had been born in ancient times. It would have been much easier to do research… Above all, there were so many mana stones.”

“Now, almost all the mana stones that come out are depleted of mana.”

“There’s black gold, isn’t there?”

“The Anseur Trading Company exclusively manages black gold and restricts its distribution, so it’s hard to get a lot of it.”

“It’s enough for everyday life, but it’s woefully insufficient for research. Ah, I want to unlock the secrets of black gold too!”

‘Yeah, that’s why they’re limiting the supply, so you don’t unlock the secrets.’

‘By the way, can I interpret this as divine power and mana weakening as we get closer to modern times?’

That seems to be the phenomenon, at least.

‘What’s the reason?’

It bothered me for some reason.

I put the question in my head and said to the twins,

“Anyway, these are the two things I’d like to ask of you.”

“It looks fun, so I’d like to take it on, but activating this object will require a power source.”

“I don’t know how many pieces of black gold will be broken while repeating failures…”

“I’ll provide the black gold.”

“The Princess will? The Anseur Trading Company will never—”

“I’m a Paeraton.”

Ahem, I put my hands on my hips.

“Ah…”

The two twins nodded as if they understood.

“That ancient artifact must have come from the Anseur Trading Company as well.”

“You’re quick to notice.”

“There aren’t many trading companies that would handle something like that.”

To be exact, no one but Anseur would handle it.

‘Because I stole it.’

I was caught in a strange mood as I looked at the product of modern science that had confidently appeared in the novel world.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Oh my, just with words?”

“Of course, I’ll pay the price.”

“We don’t need money.”

“Then?”

‘Oh, I have a bad feeling about this.’

As expected, the twins stuck close to me on both sides.

“Just give me ten strands of hair.”

“I just want ten of your nail clippings.”

“…”

“Well, then just one strand?”

“I can’t help it. I’ll be satisfied with one nail.”

‘What are you talking about, you crazy scientists?’

I was very reluctant, but I promised to give them one nail and one strand of hair.

I was very worried about what they would use it for, but there was something else I was more worried about.

‘What do I tell my family?’

Hair is one thing, but nails are hard to get.

My family is responsible for my nail care.

‘They don’t even cut them, they use a buffer…….’

Thinking about my family, who take turns every week, fighting over “It’s my turn this time!” “Where are you cutting in line!”, I already had a headache.