Two days after Tiberio’s sentencing, the emperor released an imperial edict aimed at everyone in the country.
The edict read: “The Elizabeth Pink dye developed by the Rias Corporation contains a substance that is extremely harmful to the human body. The use of Elizabeth Pink is henceforth prohibited and all clothing, sundries, and any other articles in which the dye has been used are ordered to be disposed of.”
The evidence that Westalia had put together about the truth of the dye was circulated in newspapers and other media all over the country, sending the Archaites Empire into turmoil. Although medicine-related accidents had occurred from time to time in the past, it was an unprecedented situation for the emperor to directly issue a prohibition order. Consequently, everyone, no matter their rank in society, disposed of every last one of their Elizabeth Pink items.
As Leonardo had declared, the Elizabeth Pink incident resulted in the confiscation of Tiberio’s title, property, land, and much more by the state, and he was sent into exile. His time would now be spent doing hard physical labor in the undeveloped settlements.
Tiberio’s goal had been to seize power by installing his daughter as the empress who would then give birth to the next emperor, thus allowing Tiberio to meddle in foreign affairs and wrest control of the Kingdom of Slidd from the Kingdom of Lhumzia. He had intended to then use Slidd to import slaves to use in the expansion of his Elizabeth Pink business. In fact, he’d already been meddling in diplomacy and exerting pressure on nobles so that the peace negotiations between Lhumzia and Archaites would be stuck at a standstill.
Elizabeth, meanwhile, was not charged with any crimes, thanks to her ignorance of the toxicity of the dye and her cooperation with Westalia’s investigation. Management of the Rias Corporation was to be handed over to Elizabeth, but now that both she and the company had lost the public’s trust, it was unlikely that she’d be able to restore the company to a useful state. Elizabeth herself was no longer a young noble that people admired. However, she didn’t drop out of the empress selection process, and the Orencias didn’t take steps to disqualify her.
While the Archaites Empire was in an uproar from the ruling against Duke Reyn and the edict from the emperor, Westalia took the time to visit the apothecary in the imperial capital.
Westalia’s eyes widened and she let out an involuntary noise of surprise as she approached the shop.
What is all this?! she thought. There was a long line of people stretching out in front of Daniel’s shop, even though it had once been the butt of so many jokes. The store sold only unusual medicines, and Westalia wasn’t even sure if they were effective. They included ones that supposedly made your eyes sparkle, or your breasts grow larger, or your nails grow faster, and so on. It was certainly not a shop that was so popular as to have this many people waiting in line for it.
As Westalia hurried into the store she found Daniel, looking suspicious as ever in his white lab coat, selling some kind of medicine to the customers.
“I’d like one of these!”
“Me too!”
It seemed like all the customers were looking for the same thing. As Westalia cocked her head to the side and wondered what they were all coming to the shady apothecary for, she spotted Remilena sitting in a chair in a corner of the shop.
“Hey, what’s all this about?” Westalia asked the girl.
“That voice... Lady Westalia?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, I think this must be the reason,” Remilena said, smiling gently and holding out both her hands. Her arms, which had been severely riddled with rashes and sores caused by Elizabeth Pink, had regained much of their original smoothness.
Elizabeth Pink was reported to be difficult to recover from once the toxin accumulated in the body, so for someone who had been so severely poisoned, Remilena’s recovery was remarkable.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore?” Westalia asked.
“Nope. I feel much better. It’s all thanks to daddy’s medicine.”
Daniel had created a drug that, when consumed, expelled the poison that had accumulated in the body. When he tried it experimentally on Remilena, it had had a dramatic effect and her symptoms had eased day by day.
“Daddy named it the ‘Super Miracle Detox Agent,’” Remilena said, raising her pointer finger and imitating her father.
“Sounds like he went a little wild with the name,” Westalia remarked.
“I think it’s cool,” Remilena said with a little laugh.
The antidote had been approved by the government and was now in high demand. It was actually all thanks to Elizabeth’s financial support for its development that it had been able to gain approval so quickly.
Elizabeth was distributing the antidote free of charge as recompense to the victims of the dye, and her sincere response had turned the criticisms against her into voices of sympathy. The Rias Corporation was just barely holding on after avoiding bankruptcy; Elizabeth intended to change its name and start over. There were many other ventures besides the dye, and it would be important for Elizabeth to manage them well as her livelihood, now that she’d lost her title.
Daniel walked over to Elizabeth and Remilena even as he continued to deal with customers. He wore his usual friendly smile.
“Welcome. I’m glad you came.”
“I came to see how Remilena was doing and was surprised to see how prosperous you’ve become,” Westalia said.
“You have my gratitude,” Daniel said with a laugh. “Thanks to you, I now have enough money for my research.”
Westalia was sure he would use the funds to order shady ingredients from all over the world for his shady experimental medicines again.
Now that Tiberio had been exiled, Daniel and Remilena were no longer being threatened, but they had still been placed under the protection of the Imperial Army and were constantly under guard. Daniel was now being praised by the public as a principled apothecary for having exposed the darkness of Elizabeth Pink.
“I’m not surprised you managed to come up with an antidote in such a short time,” Westalia said.
“I’ve managed with the help of Lady Elizabeth, but it’s really for my daughter’s sake,” Daniel said.
Westalia’s brow furrowed as she imagined Daniel holed up in his laboratory, even going so far as to sleep there, all to help Remilena.
“I’m a little envious of you, Remilena. I didn’t have a father who cared for me even half as much as yours cares for you,” Westalia said, the words slipping out of her mouth without much thought. She smiled sadly and Daniel put his hand on her arm and looked at her hard.
“What are you talking about? You’re like a daughter to me, Westalia.”
Tears pricked at the corners of Westalia’s eyes and she couldn’t come up with anything to say in response.
Then, upon hearing the name “Westalia,” the customers began to buzz and the murmuring spread to the line outside the shop.
“Is that Lady Westalia Lejainne?! The one who’s participating in the empress selection?!”
“Y-Yeah, it seems like it!”
“Well, my goodness! What an honor to see her in such a place!”
A crowd began gathering around Westalia as word got out that the prospective empress was in the apothecary’s shop. Westalia was not only a hero who had stood up against unimaginable trials in her home country and proven herself innocent, but she was also the person who had done the most to expose the true darkness of Elizabeth Pink. She had saved people from untold suffering and even death at the hands of Duke Reyn.
“Oh Lady Westalia, thank you so much!”
“I am sure you will become empress and make this country a better place!”
“We’re rooting for you!”
Westalia’s eyes grew even wetter as the words of support poured in one after another. The feeling of being needed and respected by people made her heart tremble. She was touched by the sparkling eyes of the people looking at her. It was completely different from when she’d been executed and people around had shown her nothing but contempt.
This is what I’ve kept on living for... she thought. Since the time she’d been forced to live in solitude in the royal villa in Lhumzia, doubts and fears that she might never be needed by anyone had been wrapped around her heart like chains. But at that moment, she felt those chains loosening.
I want to be empress, but... Would she really be able to surpass the number of artificial flowers in her rival’s storeroom by the day of the final count? The uncertainty haunted her.
“Yes, I’m sure I’ll succeed,” Westalia replied to the crowd, if a little forlornly. Then, she caught a glimpse through the store window of the dead tree in the garden and she gasped. The tree had been completely withered and seemed to be beyond recovery, but at the very tips of its branches new leaves now sprouted.
“No way... There are leaves...” she whispered.
Then Daniel grinned mischievously and made a “don’t tell” gesture with his index finger in front of his lips. He had been hiding that the tree was dead and couldn’t bear fruit from Remilena her whole life.
“What’s wrong with the peach tree?” Remilena asked, tilting her head.
Daniel’s persistence in watering and tending to the dead tree must have finally brought it to life again.
Westalia smiled softly and patted Remilena on the shoulder. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m sure you’ll have delicious peaches again this year.”