Chapter 16: Effort (1)

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

Since it wasn’t 8 o’clock yet, it wasn’t Emily. There’s no particular person who would come.

I carefully opened the door.

Liela was standing in front, holding four boxes.

“I made them all. Miss Rachel.”

“?”

Why is she acting like this?

I was momentarily flustered.

Just yesterday, it seemed like she might even slap me, so why is she being polite again today?

‘Did Emily put pressure on her?’

That doesn’t seem to be the case.

Even though I make coffee for Emily and build up my favorability, the other person is an alchemist.

Unlike librarians who can be replaced, it is difficult to find a skilled alchemist.

‘Then why on earth?’

While I was wondering, Liela handed me the four boxes and bowed her head. She bowed 90 degrees so that her crown could be seen.

“Ah, no, why are you suddenly acting like this?”

“I made a mistake yesterday. I apologize once again.”

“What kind of trick is this again?”

“Aha… That’s what you mean. Okay. I’ll pretend I don’t know. If you need anything, call me anytime. I’ll be going now.”

She left with those words.

I don’t know what kind of change of heart she had overnight, but I didn’t understand half of what she just said.

“Sigh. I don’t know. Let her play her tricks if she wants to.”

I was already having a headache trying to find a cure for Yona. Right now, finding a way to save Yona is more important than the tricks of such a villain.

I took the boxes into the room. Inside the boxes were kits and potions, respectively.

“I need Yona’s blood to experiment, but she must be sleeping, right?”

Honestly, I thought Liela would give it to me in the evening at the earliest. So I was going to visit Yona after work, but it got messed up.

So at 8 o’clock Emily came, and today too, I brewed coffee and started work.

While doing that, I casually asked Emily.

“Excuse me, Miss. I need Miss Yona’s blood, but is there any way to get it?”

“The potion is complete. I’ll get Yona’s blood.”

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome. More importantly, it was delicious today.”

Emily smiled.

So time passed and it became evening. Emily, who had left earlier than usual, returned when I was about to close the library.

“Here’s Yona’s blood drop. I heard that the alchemists drew it this morning. Are you going to use the kit right now?”

“Yes. Would you like to see it together?”

“Then I’d be happy to.”

I took out the kit I had stored in my room. It was shaped like a long stick, like a COVID-19 self-test kit.

I dropped the potion Liela made and Yona’s blood on opposite sides, and then checked the reaction.

Drip.

It’s red.

It means that it did not cure the disease.

I quickly experimented with the rest.

As a result.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip.

All failed.

“It’s a failure after all.”

Honestly, I didn’t expect to succeed right away.

Objectively speaking, I haven’t studied much, and I haven’t spent much time.

It’s impossible to succeed in such a short period of time when high-ranking priests and prominent alchemists have failed for years.

So I wasn’t frustrated, but I felt uncomfortable.

“I’ll succeed next time. Cheer up. I’ll be going now.”

“Yes. I have to. Goodbye. Miss.”

Emily comforted me appropriately and left. So I was left alone, and I continued to study today.

Time passed quickly, and it was already the weekend.

I was busy alternating between studying and working all week, so honestly, I don’t know how time passed.

But Rachel couldn’t give up.

Because there was no progress during the week.

‘What if it continues like this? Yona will continue to be sick while I’m wandering.’

So, after an agreement with Emily, I decided to study together in the library today.

I can continue the coffee lecture after saving Yona.

First of all, finding a solution is first.

Whirr.

I ground the coffee beans with a grinder.

I put it in the dripper and extracted it. Today, Emily will drink it too, so I prepared a large amount.

“This is enough, and Emily will probably drink latte, right?”

She has been drinking latte since Wednesday. So she will probably do it today too. Instead, if you make steamed milk in advance, the foam may go down, so I just brought the machine itself.

“A place with good sunlight… Ah. That would be nice.”

I put the books and coffee on the book cart and moved.

I’ve been sitting at a desk where the sunlight doesn’t come in all week, so I wanted to get some sunlight.

So I sat in a chair with my back to the sunlight and drank coffee, and it felt like…I was drowsy.

Nod. Nod.

My head is gradually falling.

“I shouldn’t sleep.”

I fell asleep at the end of the terminal horse that murmured quietly.

Thud.

How long has it been?

The door opened and two people appeared.

“Sister! I’m here! Where are you?!”

Yona, who got off Emily’s arms, ran around the library. She had the vitality of her age.

Yona, who was running around the library, suddenly stopped. When Emily tilted her head and approached, Rachel, who was asleep, came into view.

“She seems to be tired these days. Let’s just let her sleep a little.”

“Okay!”

Emily and Yona pulled out chairs and sat down near Rachel.

They acted carefully so as not to wake her up.

It is a clear felony to be asleep when you have an appointment with a noble. This is because it can be considered an act of ignoring a noble.

But the two showed a cool reaction as if it didn’t matter.

The two opened different books.

While Yona is reading a fairy tale about a hero and a demon king, Emily is reading a book that Rachel has picked out and is summarizing it in her notebook.

The only sound that resonates in the quiet library is the sound of turning pages.

Rachel woke up exactly 2 hours later.

“Haaam. I fell asleep.”

Rachel raised her head while dry washing her face.

I couldn’t stand it because I stayed up all night with coffee for a week. So I looked around and Emily and Yona came into view.

“Wh, why is Yona? Ah, it’s a dream.”

Emily is fine, but I thought it was a dream because Yona was next to me.

In the end, when Rachel was about to close her eyes again, Yona, who was sitting next to her, wriggled and snuggled into her arms.

“Sister! Wake up~”

“Huh? Yo, Yona?”

“It’s not a dream!”

Rachel pinched her cheek. She felt pain, and she realized that it was reality.

Gulp.

“Miss?”

“It’s okay. If you’re tired, sleep more.”

“No. I’m sorry.”

I casually touched my lips and fortunately I didn’t drool. First, I asked Yona to figure out the situation.

“Miss. But why did you come here?”

“I came to play because my sisters said they were studying. Are you trying to cure me?”

“…Hmm.”

“I told her. She seemed very curious.”

I was going to keep it a secret from Yona, but she found out.

Judging from her personality, she’ll be heartbroken to see someone she likes suffering because of her.

So I didn’t want to tell her as much as possible, but well, it can’t be helped since she already found out.

“But Miss? I can’t read a book if you’re like this?”

“Hehe. I’ll just stay like this for a while. Can’t I?”

“It’s not that you can’t, but.”

I couldn’t see the book because Yona was hugging me. Emily was studying in front of me, so I was embarrassed.

It’s 12:13.

It’s time to eat lunch, so wouldn’t it be better to make lunch at this point?

“Excuse me, Misses? How will you solve lunch?”

“What are you going to do, Miss Rachel?”

“I’m going to make it myself. I always make lunch.”

At the word “make”, the eyes of the two people sparkled. When I was wondering why, Yona opened her mouth first.

“Can I. Can I eat together too?”

“If we make it together, it’s not that difficult, but it may not taste as good as what Miss usually eats.”

“I’m fine.”

“Me too.”

It turns out that everyone wants to eat the food I made.

Rachel quietly got up, put Yona down, and went into the room.

“What should I make?”

The first thing to do is to choose a menu. Honestly, if it was just me, I would have put something together roughly, but I have to be careful because Yona and Emily are together.

“What’s there? Were there any ingredients in the first place?”

I couldn’t go grocery shopping this week because I was studying hard. Right now, yesterday, I just put everything in and mixed it.

I opened the refrigerator.

As expected, the refrigerator was empty.

“I have to go grocery shopping first.”

I told these words to the two people.

Then Yona, who was bored with fairy tales and was wandering around the library, approached.

“Then I’ll go with you! I want to go!”

“Huh? Go together?”

“Yes!”

I glanced at Emily.

Honestly, it’s not good to say that I’m going to cook after saying that we should study together and then sleeping all the time.

“It’s okay. Go ahead.”

“Ah, yes. Let’s go. Miss.”

“Yes!”

So grocery shopping with Yona began.