“Even though they can be made into a bright orange pigment, the flowers contain poison as well. Although weaker than the seeds, which are lethal, poison is poison. It’s clearly unethical to use the petals of the agisakuragi as a dye,” Westalia said. “But the Reyn family must’ve had their eye on the bright orange of the agisakuragi, especially since no other company was using it. Even if people did get poisoned, as long as it wasn’t to the point where they were dying, the Reyns wouldn’t get caught.”
Just as the Reyns had planned, the uniquely bright Elizabeth Pink had quickly become exceptionally popular, and they’d amassed an enormous fortune from their sales. When one wore Elizabeth Pink clothing, toxins absorbed through the skin accumulated in the body, and at some point symptoms of poisoning began to occur. Even if one was not wearing something made with Elizabeth Pink, if there was someone wearing it nearby, the toxin could spread into the air via perspiration and cause damage.
Leonardo had been silent the whole time, but now he spoke up. “So if you knew all that, why did you come here?”
It would’ve been pointless to come just to hear what she already knew. Westalia pointed to the analysis on the counter. “I came for that.”
Westalia needed a written analysis to expose the dark side of Elizabeth Pink and the reason the Rias Corporation had kept the manufacturing process secret. Someone like Westalia, who had no official qualifications, couldn’t write the analysis and use it as evidence. Daniel, however, was a well-known apothecary. As he’d used to work at Le Chantier Palace and prepare medicine for the royal family, he had their trust, and so he would have a high degree of credibility.
“Please, Daniel, may I have the analysis? If I release it to the world, I’ll be able to save people from suffering from Elizabeth Pink.”
“No can do,” Daniel said bluntly. He picked up the analysis and looked it slowly over from top to bottom. “If you publish this, the Reyns won’t hesitate to take me out. I have no title or social standing. I am neither so principled nor so brave as to risk my life for society.”
He wasn’t wrong. Not everyone could give their all for their beliefs and justice like Westalia could.
But I can’t just back down from this, Westalia thought. Daniel was the only apothecary she could trust. She had to do whatever it took to get him to give her that analysis. Westalia leaned in toward him.
“What can I do to get you to give me those results? I need them to become empress and save the people of this country.”
“You’re being a pain, Westalia.”
“I won’t give up, no matter what you call me. I’ll do anything for it.”
“Anything?” Daniel’s eyebrows lifted. After a moment of deliberation he turned to a shelf behind the counter and brought down a framed picture to show Westalia and Leonardo. It was a portrait of a young girl who looked to be about twelve.
“Isn’t she pretty? She looks just like my wife.”
“Is that your daughter?” Leonardo asked.
“That’s right. She’s the most important thing to me,” Daniel said, nodding, his eyes narrowing with affection. Westalia had only seen the inquisitive researcher side of him, but this was unmistakably the look of a father. Then his expression darkened.
“But Remilena went missing three years ago and never returned.”
Westalia gasped.
“She went out for a walk alone and was kidnapped,” Daniel said. He then went on to explain that Remilena had been born blind and faced many difficulties in her daily life.
Westalia had known he had a family, but she hadn’t heard anything about his daughter’s disappearance. She’d had no idea he’d been carrying such a heavy burden, with how carefree he always acted.
How did he feel, then, watering that tree? Westalia wondered. She imagined that he was just as heartbroken over the dead tree that would never come back to life as he was over his daughter who had never returned.
He reached out for Westalia’s and Leonardo’s hands as he looked up at them. “Please, find my daughter. Even if it’s just so I know she’s no longer in this world. I can’t keep living with the feeling that she might be suffering somewhere.”
“Daniel...” Honestly, Westalia didn’t have time to go looking for someone. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, and Westalia needed to be focused on exposing the atrocity that was Elizabeth Pink and collecting more fake flowers than Elizabeth. And yet...
“Okay. Leave it to me,” Westalia said, nodding vigorously at Daniel. “I’ll figure something out and find out what happened to your daughter. Don’t worry. That fact that you’ve enlisted my help means you haven’t given up hope yet.”
“Are you sure?! Westalia, you’re facing your biggest challenge yet to become empress...”
Westalia let out a small laugh. “Don’t be absurd. I had no social standing or connections when I arrived and the only reason I was able to work and get paid was because of you, Daniel. I would’ve starved to death otherwise.”
“That’s true, but...”
Westalia’s expression tightened briefly at the fact that he hadn’t disagreed with her, and even Leonardo was nodding in agreement with Daniel’s assessment.
“Remilena is alive and you will be reunited with her. I truly believe that,” Westalia said. She could see Daniel’s eyes grow watery as she said that.
His expression changed again and he smiled a little sadly. “I look forward to the day when you snatch this analysis from my hands, as blithely as ever.”
Westalia held his hand gently as the man held back his tears.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Don’t you think you’ve bit off more than you can chew?” Leonardo asked her as they stopped on the lakeshore after leaving the apothecary. It was a reasonable question.
“Now that I know what happened, I can’t just ignore it,” Westalia replied. Without any support, she was limited in what she could do at the moment, but there was no way she could leave Daniel in that state. She hung her head and pouted.
Leonardo let out a short laugh and said with a snarky look on his face, “Shall I help you out?”
He seemed to be making a kind offer, but Westalia could tell from his expression that he was up to something.
“Well, I’d be grateful. You’re very good at finding people, Leo. Even though I told you I didn’t want to see you again, you still persisted in hunting me down in this great big city, always hot on my heels.”
Leonardo had happened to be traveling along the border of the Archaites Empire when Westalia made her illegal entry into the country. Even though she’d hoped to never run into him again, they’d ended up having a number of chance encounters.
“You don’t sound like you’re grateful,” Leonardo said.
“It’s because you’re making that face.”
“I have one condition if you want my help.”
“A condition? If it’s money I don’t have any.” There it was. Westalia scowled as her earlier prediction had been spot on. She looked up at him with undisguised wariness.
“Don’t look like that. It’s nothing horrible,” Leonardo said. He leaned in close to Westalia and whispered in her ear in a saccharine voice. “From now on, I want you to kiss me every time we meet up.”
“Wh-Wh-What?!” Westalia jumped, her face growing red. She took two steps back. What was he saying?
It’s quite economical that such a busy man can be bought so cheaply, with just a pair of lips... No, no, no, no! My lips aren’t something he can put a price on! Westalia thought. She had kissed Leonardo once before, but that had been a natural progression of events, not something she’d been ordered to do. Her thoughts were running a mile a minute.
“It’s easy, isn’t it?” Leonardo pressed her.
There was no way. Leonardo looked rather amused as her mouth hung slightly agape. He drew close to her again and scooped her narrow chin in his hand, stroking a finger along her jaw.
“I can take care of the search for the girl, and you can concentrate on the selection for empress. I can figure something out just as well, so it’ll be mutually beneficial,” Leonardo said. He spoke as if that were a reasonable compromise.
“It would only be detrimental to my good name and reputation,” Westalia countered immediately.
“Then this conversation is over.”
Leonardo was truly vexing. He knew she had no choice but to agree. He seemed to be enjoying himself, while the challenge of the empress selection was really ramping up for Westalia.
“Hey, you know I’m just kid—”
Westalia jerked on Leonardo’s arm before he could finish his sentence, stood on her tiptoes, and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek. Leonardo’s eyes widened. She then lowered her heels back to the ground and looked up at him, her cheeks still tinted slightly vermilion.
✦ ✦ ✦
“You better keep your promise,” she said.
“I didn’t think you’d actually do it,” Leonardo whispered, raising a hand to his cheek, which was still slightly warm from her lips. Westalia, on the other hand, couldn’t even hear what he was saying because her heart was beating so fast and she was completely out of it. And so, their sweet day came to an end.