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‘What transformed?’
There was a light, but only the alchemy circle disappeared, nothing changed.
The water in the potion bottles were still about halfway, and the before and after drawing of the alchemy circle was still the same.
‘Did it fail?’
Ceylon thought, and slowly moved his gaze.
Fortunately, no one seemed to be interested in what she was doing and nobody thought of making a move. He put a spell on his wand so he could use attack magic anytime.
When she had finished everything, she took out a high-grade potion out of her bag and opened its lid. Then she started to pour a certain amount into the potion bottles that seemed to be about thirty.
When the pale pink liquid mixed with the colorless and transparent water, the inside of the flask began to turn pink like a potion.
After diving two potions among the thirty, she lightly got up.
“… Neither extraction nor production, but dilution.”
Ceylon’s gaze turned to the small voice of surprise and astonishment, and turned to Gillian, who was smiling.
He clenched his fists and took a deep breath.
‘That’s dangerous.’
The aura he gave off was like that, but he also seemed to have knowledge about alchemy.
‘I don’t know much about alchemists but…’
He could feel that she’s outstanding.
He thought that she was probably in the similar category of genius as his Lord.
“You, would you mind carrying this together?”
“… Where to?”
“To where the wounded are.”
Ceylon subtly tilted his head, but he obediently moved his magic wand. Bottles of liquid rose into the sky in an instant.
The wounded, who were groaning in pain, and the medics, widened their eyes.
“It’s potions made in haste. When the building collapsed, everything I had disappeared.”
Valletta raised the corners of her lips. Trying to smile as gently as possible, she opened her mouth again.
“It will not relieve the pain and heal at the same speed as a high-grade one, but it’s better than nothing. There are thirty, I don’t know if the number is correct. Drink half and spray the other half on your body.”
“Oh my gosh… Thank you.”
“Miss Valletta…”
Weeping was heard everywhere.
Valletta glanced down at them with an odd expression. Her violet eyes turned from left to right, then gently curved.
“If the situation allows it, I will make it again and send them to you.”
As she glanced at Ceylon, Ceylon swung his staff once more, placing the potion bottles in front of the wounded one by one.
One medic’s eyes trembled in bewilderment and cautiously approached.
“You’re just giving us this precious thing?”
“Ah, I originally intended to open a potion store in the capital city that is available for anyone, whether commoners, merchants, or aristocrats.”
“Wuuu…”
Voices of exclamation and astonishment flowed from here and there.
The medic’s eyes widened. What was a position? All the alchemists were monopolized by the Imperial Family, so they were not allowed to see them unless they were wealthy aristocrats.
“Fortunately, because I was gifted with talent, I thought I could sell it at a low price that anyone could buy. However, I do not have anything to be able to open a store so I asked the Duke for a favor to invest in it but…”
The corner of Valletta’s eyes slightly dropped down. She recalled Reinhardt’s expression as much as she could.
She didn’t know there would ever be a time when that pretentious appearance would be so helpful.
“For some reason, the situation has become like this…”
The sound of breathing in a slightly subdued voice could be heard from here and there.
Since the Imperial Family showed up with such a ditch, she had no choice but to show her hands to some extent.
“They said that I would be released once I’m proven innocent, so it’d be great to see everyone at the store soon. My potion…”
Valletta stretched out the end of her word and smiled.
Some of the lightly injured who drank and sprayed the potion were already moving. The people who were on the verge of dying had better complexion, at least no one seemed to have died.
After confirming that, her violet eyes lit up for a moment.
“Isn’t it fairly effective?”
“Yes, remarkably so. Thank you!”
“I hope I can open the store soon so that many people won’t be hurt anymore.”
Valletta spoke softly, and then she straightened her bent back. She rubbed the back of her neck and turned around slowly.
Having tasted the potion once, it will be difficult to give it up easily.
‘It’ll be great if the word would spread.’
At some point, Gillian was looking at her with a subtle expression. What was certain was that only madness flashed in those eyes.
“I didn’t know you were such an outstanding genius.”
“I didn’t know you were this persistent.”
Valletta replied indifferently at Gillian’s words. She didn’t know what they were aiming for so it was impossible to prepare a countermeasure.
“That’s enough. This is a child that’s under my protection, and I do not intend to hold her accountable for this, so please step back.”
Carlon Delphine approached, grabbed her hand and said.
Valletta’s eyes, who was hiding behind him, widened. She felt a subtle tickle on their clasped hands.
Feeling like insects were crawling starting from the tips of her fingers, her toes curled instead of her fingers as her brows furrowed.
Carlon then held Valeltta’s hand even tighter.
“Duke Delphine, are you really determined to defend a criminal like this?”
“Be careful with your word choice, Sir Gillian. It hasn’t been confirmed that she is a criminal and I, under the name of Duke Delphine, testify to her innocence.”
At Carlon’s word, Gillian’s forehead furrowed. The Knight Commander, who had also approached her, had a strange expression.
He was one of the only two dukes in the Empire, and the name Duke Delphine should never be taken lightly. It has supported the Empire for a long time and has the trust of the people strongly.
And because he was a man who had deep loyalty and conviction, there were many people who supported him and many aristocrats to help him.
“Valletta, go to Duke. He will take you to his residence.”
“…Is that okay?”
At Valletta’s question full of doubt, Carlon smiled softly and lightly stroked her hair.
“It’s okay. A child should act like a child. Will will take care of this.”
“… I’m an adult.”
“It’s a figure of speech.”
Duke Leon approached from behind and placed a hand on Valletta’s shoulder.
Valletta blinked once and turned her head.  He lightly points using his chin. It was a gesture to go.
Valletta looked at Gillian, the Knight Commander, and Carlon alternately, then she turned around.
There was no need to turn down people who were willing to help, but she doesn’t know why it somehow felt strange.
“Come here.”
Valletta followed behind Duke and looked behind her.
The power of the name Duke Delphine was quite large. Seeing that neither Gillian nor the Knight Commander could move freely.
“Where are we going?”
“My house.”
Duke Leon opened the door of a carriage they didn’t when he called over that was parked on one side.
While Valletta made an odd expression, he grabbed her by her arm and promptly slipped her inside.
“…”
As she looked at him with a surprised expression, Duke Leon got into the carriage and gestured his chin towards Ceylon.
Even though Ceylon made a reluctant expression, he climbed on it and closed the door.
“Sit.”
“Yes.”
Seeing Valletta sit down, Duke Leon leaned down and lightly tapped the back of his hand against the wall on the side of the coachman, where her back was touching. As he was about to back off, he stopped near the back of her neck.
He stiffened in that state, took a deep breath and shortly moved his body away with a frown.
“The smell of the wind…”
“What?”
“Lying is bad.”
At Duke Leon’s words, Valletta blinked with a stupefied expression.
What does he mean? The smell of the wind, lying is bad? Racking her head, her head slowly tilted to the side.
‘The smell of the wind…?’
Does the wind have a scent? If it’s about the wind, the only thing that came to her mind was Jin who she summoned earlier
No, she doesn’t think that he was talking about that. Because there was no way that spirits would have scents.
“Carlon is worried about you.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know.”
In response to Valletta’s words, Duke firmly said so with his arms crossed. The irm voice doesn’t seem to be angry, but it was firm enough that it didn’t leave any gap.
“It was enough for me that he was worried-”
“You don’t know anything, Valletta.”
Upon hearing those words, Valletta abruptly raised her head.
“Those who are around you aren’t people but tools. You don’t look at anything. A defensive attitude is not bad but disregarding the truth is poison.”
It was rare, but Duke said a long sentence. Tongue-tied, Valletta swallowed her breath.
She slowly blinked her eyes and met the other person’s face. The black-eyed person was surprisingly blaming her.
“Then you should’ve just left me behind. I don’t know why you put me in this carriage and said these words.”
“Why did you save the snow tiger?”
“Isn’t it because you gifted it to me.”
“Give it back then.”
Valletta was speechless at Duke’s words as he reached out his hand. Valletta’s mouth opened and closed as she looked at the child sleeping in her arms.
“I’m kidding.”
Looking at Valletta as she held out the child in her arms after contemplating, Duke shrugged.
With a blank expression, Valletta’s raised shoulder shrunken down.
“The snow tiger, why save it?”
Duke asked once again. Valletta couldn’t open her mouth easily this time.
Why did she save it? She just wanted to. It didn’t feel good to think that a fellow, who was chasing at her feet had died horribly.
“…”
“Will you keep on saving it?”
“… Probably.”
“Even though he won’t be of any help to you?”
Valletta clenched her fists at Duke’s voice. He truly was a man who stabbed at sore spots as if it was nothing.
He wasn’t as kind as Carlon but he wasn’t as severe as Count Delight as well. Nevertheless, she knew enough that the other person had no hostility.
‘It’s difficult.’
That day, the day when Reinhardt destroyed all of her cages, it seemed like the boundary between the world and herself was also half broken down.
Taking a deep breath, she wiped her face irritably and let out a bitter smile.
“Carlon and I are of the same mind.”
“Aren’t you suffering from losses in various ways?”
“It’s because we thought we were protecting you.”
“Duke Delphine…”
Valletta, who had opened her mouth, slowly closed them again. She glanced at Duke Leon for a moment, then rubbed the back of her hand on her cheek.
After repeatedly opening and closing her mouth several times, Valletta pressed her eyes tightly with the back of her hand.
“…Carl.”
Valletta took a deep breath. With slightly flushed cheeks, she cautiously opened her mouth.
“… Carlon is like that, but what about you?”
“I heard a lot about you.”
Duke has been a close friend of Carlon for a long time. And Carlon had been wanting to help her quite some time.
Because she was living like a bird in a cage, she did not appear easily, and even if she did appear in the Imperial Castle, she wasn’t alone and she was simply impossible to approach.
As a result, it seemed like Carlon had influenced him at some point.
An airy laugh came out of Duke Leon’s lips that were pinched together.
“You won’t lose anything.”
“…”
“I’ll protect you.”
Valletta blankly looked at him at the pounding of the voice in her ears. Then she turned her head shyly and shrugged.
The words she first heard were crude but she could feel the sincerity. She leaned back and closed her eyes.