Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing - Chapter 5

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Successor Doesn’t Know, But I’m Going to Heal — Episode 5

After Lion finished his meeting with Patrick.
The mood among the servants who attended him had grown decidedly sour.
The reason was simple.

“Ugh, he’s leaving again. Gone again.”

Hannah, the maid who cleaned Lion’s room, let out a heavy sigh as she watched a servant pack his things and disappear in haste.

“What? He left again?”

John, the valet who overheard her muttering, widened his eyes in surprise and repeated her words back to her.

“Yes! How could the young master, whom we serve, be suffering from such bizarre rumors, and everyone just abandons him like this? It’s too much, isn’t it?”
“These people — they used to say the young master was such an easy charge they could slack off, that he had a handsome face and they were lucky to have it, and now they’re fleeing? And if you’re taken on by a household, you’re supposed to stick with it to the end — where’s their loyalty?”

It was not uncommon for one or two servants to leave, but for them to abandon the household in droves was rare.
Once employed by a noble house, servants typically spent half their lives in that service.
Especially if that house was a great magical lineage like the Asteria Marquis House.
Indeed, it was considered a virtue to serve one’s master with utmost dedication as a member of a noble family.

“Sigh.”

Because of that damnable rumor, Lion’s staff roster now had a gaping hole.
The reason was simple: no one knew what misfortunes might befall those connected to the death of the eldest son of the great magical house.

“Could the rumor… actually be true?”

Hannah hugged the laundry basket and sighed deeply.

“Even if our young master is frail, he’s not the type to die from something like that. They say he endured three Mana Shocks, didn’t he? And lately he’s been more active than ever.”

And that wasn’t all.
Recently he’d even begun making Potions.
If that was the case, he must possess tremendous talent in Alchemy — so how could they believe in some nameless rumor of a fatal illness and abandon him like this?

“Of course. Is there a single nobleman anywhere like our young master? We’re living proof!”

At John’s words, Hannah nodded earnestly.

“Exactly! How could they forget all the kindness the young master has shown them while they’ve lived here? It’s obvious they wouldn’t be treated half as well anywhere else in a noble house!”
“That’s right. That’s right!”
“John, let’s stamp out these false rumors about our young master!”

“What rumors do you mean?”

Huh?
At the sharp question from behind them, both John and Hannah’s bodies went rigid.

“S-Silvia.”

John and Hannah bowed their heads at the sight of the neatly dressed elderly woman.

‘The head maid heard us….’
‘No, John. This might actually be fortunate.’

Was it?
John stole a glance at Silvia.
Silvia, the head maidservant.
A presence who had commanded the inner workings of the Mansion since before Lion and Hannah were born.
No one even knew where she came from, what her hobbies were—nothing at all.
And that’s not all.
Whenever something happened in the Mansion, she’d appear from nowhere and handle it swiftly.
The reason the Mansion could function smoothly even without a mistress was entirely thanks to the head maidservant standing before them.

“Surely you two don’t actually believe such baseless rumors, do you?”

And Silvia despised anything that would tarnish the Asteria House.
Rumors like these, for instance.

“N-no, of course not. It’s just that more and more people are stopping work because of this, and that’s somewhat… worrying…”

The eyebrows that had arched sharply softened again.

“Good. That’s all that matters. Don’t concern yourself with rumors. I’ve handled everything.”
“…”

Handled everything?
Now that he thought about it, the person suspected of spreading those vicious rumors hadn’t been seen since yesterday.

‘S-so frightening…!’

A chill ran down his spine in an instant.

“Heh heh.”

Silvia laughed in that disarming way of hers and passed by them, entering the room where Patrick was.

“Well, that worked out.”
“Mm.”

It must have worked out.
With the head maidservant taking direct action, the rumors would be completely squashed.
The question was what came after—their futures…

‘Tch. They got swept up in rumors, so they’ll just have to fend for themselves.’

He decided not to pry into the deeper details.

* * *

“So that’s what happened.”
“Yes. So this old one handled it personally.”
“Well done.”
“Though I must say, you don’t look well today either.”

Silvia casually arranged the scattered documents on Patrick’s desk as she spoke.
No matter how long one had managed the Asteria House, one couldn’t be so composed before an 8th Circle Archmage.
Not unless one’s strength was equal to his—or superior.
Yet Patrick made no issue of it.
Rather, he seemed to find comfort in things as they were.

“I’d like you to take a look at this.”

Patrick withdrew a Potion bottle from his breast pocket.
It was the Potion that Lion had brought a few days ago.

“This is… that Potion from before, isn’t it?”

It was a potion I’d already examined once before.
It seemed like a Mana Recovery Potion, yet strangely, I couldn’t sense any magical energy from it.

“Yes. I’d like you to examine it once more — with a Witch’s eyes.”
……

A Witch.
A half-breed of Demons and humans, a race that lived for a thousand years.
A faint gleam kindled in Silvia’s eyes — eyes that had been dry and turbid until now.

“Didn’t the examination end back then?”

Inside the potion vial, barely a mouthful remained, sloshing shallow and thin.
It was no difficult task, so Silvia took the potion and tilted it this way and that, then uncorked it to smell — and froze in an instant.

“This is…….”

It was no ordinary potion.
Apart from the quality itself, this potion’s fundamental recipe…….
Patrick nodded silently.

“Ah.”

It was truly a remarkable thing.

“This is not something Lion could have made.”

Silvia.
In other words — not as the chamberlain, but as the Witch bound to Asteria House — Silvia’s eyes told her this was…….

“A Hero’s Potion, is it not.”

A Hero.
The legendary figure who ended the war with Demons fifty years ago and vanished without trace.
There exists no Labyrinth that could contain him, and it is said that even the gods shrink from opposing such a being.
And…….
Perhaps the only person who could find the Contract held within the Labyrinth owned by Asteria House and finally dissolve Silvia’s binding.
Silvia gazed at the potion once more.
From the uncorked vial came a faint, cool fragrance — nothing more.
It had little effect on Silvia herself.

“This is something that only a Hero could obtain.”
“We cannot jump to conclusions yet. A true Hero’s Potion would demonstrate far greater efficacy than this.”

Patrick trailed off, his mouth closing briefly.

‘If that child were truly a Hero…….’

By nature, Heroes arise alongside evil.
It was so in the war with the Demons.

‘No — it’s impossible for him to be a Hero in the first place.’

Patrick resumed the thought he had abandoned.

“At any rate…… I wish to ask that child to craft an even better potion.”
“For what reason?”
“So that my sister might feel the same liberation I have felt.”
“……For me?”

He knew perfectly well what those words meant.
Silvia’s mind drifted back to a distant past—to the days when she had lived as a Witch, when she had despised humanity itself.
The Asteria House patriarch of that era, ordered to exterminate the Witch, had taken pity on her instead and captured her alive. To ensure each other’s safety, they had drawn up a special contract.

[The Witch Silvia cannot leave the Asteria Territory.]
[The Witch Silvia may live as a human within the Asteria Territory.]
[The contract is kept in the Library within the Asteria House to prevent misuse.]

That was how she had gained her title—head of the servants.
When enough time had passed, she would retire, return in a new body, and resume her duties at the Mansion.
This practice had continued since long before Patrick became patriarch, and Silvia had gradually softened her animosity toward humans, adapting well to her new existence.
But every arrangement carries its price.
No matter how many times her body changed, the truth was that Silvia had been repeating the same tasks for centuries—and that was slowly wearing her down.
That was why Patrick had brought up the matter at all.
A Potion that had worked even for an 8th Circle mage like himself.
He’d thought it might help her feel a little better.
Patrick, who had watched over her since she was young, was worried about the Witch.
So much so that he had even used the word “sister”—a term he hadn’t called her since she was a child.

“Ha ha… aha ha!”

At the sight of him, Silvia burst out laughing.

“Do you know what the most useless thing in the world is? It’s worrying about a Witch.”

What did a little emotional exhaustion matter?
She had lived for a thousand years without falling ill.
And that wasn’t all.
She possessed vast magical power and numerous techniques as though by instinct from birth.
Moreover, if she wished, she could maintain eternal youth.

“So don’t burden your dear grandchild with such concerns. I’m fine, truly.”

Yes. She really was fine.
And if she weren’t, what would it matter?

“Besides, you know as well as I do that a Potion of that caliber won’t work on me.”
“……If you ever create a Potion that actually works on you, then I’ll accept that as your intention to have me drink it.”
“That won’t be easy, will it.”

For that, you’d need a true Hero to walk through the door.
Silvia pushed the Witch’s expression back down and slipped on the mask of head servant once more.
She straightened her clothing and bowed respectfully.

“Then this old woman shall take her leave.”

Softly.
Silvia vanished into shadow as though sinking into darkness itself.
Patrick gazed at the place where she had stood, then, after a long silence, seemed to reach a decision. He summoned an attendant and gave an order.

“Go and bring Lion to me.”

* * *

“You called for me?”

Lion made his way directly to his grandfather’s quarters.
Last time he had had a good excuse for arriving late, but this time he had none.
In that case, he’d best appear diligent.

‘I should check whether he took the Potion properly, too.’

With that, he opened the door and stepped inside……

“What’s troubling you, Grandfather?”
“Troubling? Nothing of the sort.”

Patrick’s demeanor was distinctly different from his usual self.
An ordinary person might have missed it, but Lion carried the instincts of a seasoned salesman.
There was no doubt about it—that face was clearly the face of someone wrestling with a concern.

“Or did you lose sleep last night?”
“No.”
“Not getting enough exercise?”
“No.”
“Perhaps at your age, rich foods have begun to tax your digestion?”

This boy—
Just as irritation flickered across Patrick’s face, Lion let the words tumble out.

“Then it must be my Potion.”
“…….”

Patrick’s words stopped dead.

‘As I thought.’

Lion glanced briefly at the empty Potion bottle on the side table, then looked away.

“That’s right. I called you here because of your Potion.”

Patrick conceded far more quickly than usual—a sign of urgency.

“Can you make something of higher quality than what you created last time?”
“May I ask what it will be used for?”
“Hmm.”

After a considerable silence, Patrick asked carefully.

“It’s a gift for the head maid.”

The head maid—he meant Silvia, didn’t he?

‘She’s certainly working hard for the family’s sake.’

Still, even a 2-Star Grade would yield tremendous effects for Silvia. But…… something higher quality than last time?
That was a tall order.

‘Besides, a 2-Star Grade is impossible under these circumstances.’

First, 1-Star Grade herbs had become impossible to find, and even if he gathered fine herbs, there was no guarantee that last time’s fortune would strike twice.
A 2-Star Grade Potion was, frankly, the ceiling of Lion’s ability.
But.
Make no mistake—this was an opportunity he had to seize without question.

“It will take some time, but it’s possible.”

Lion’s instincts were screaming at him.
This was definitely a budding romance between Grandfather and Silvia!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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