Chapter 343: Thick-Skinned Enough to Borrow Some Money
Rachel was an old creature who had lived alone for a hundred years, and for her, the most annoying thing in the world was probably socializing.
Back when she was young and obsessed with experiments and research, she had already lost all interest in socializing, or maybe she even hated it a little.
All that human interaction stuff was always the most troublesome, things like going out to eat or drink together… In short, she was just too lazy to leave the house, too lazy to say polite words, and even more unwilling to try to dig out some "hidden meanings" from people's conversations to guess what they really wanted to say.
Rachel had a very solitary personality, and that made her an independent person.
In a way, she was the kind of “do everything myself” person.
Even later, when she worked at Nightingale House, it wasn't to rely on the royal family for support. It was just to earn money, buy better materials, do more advanced research, and create stronger alchemy.
She never cared about becoming anything important in the royal family. All she wanted was to earn money and study alchemy.
But now… as the saying goes, “a hungry man will bend for rice.”
Rachel, who had never relied on her looks to socialize with others, was now wearing a cute winter dress that matched her young-looking appearance but totally didn’t match her actual age. She had gotten into a carriage heading to the Carle Estate.
And the person she was going to meet could only be the young lady of the house, Salana Morr.
…It felt like she was selling her soul.
Looking at her deliberately dolled-up and overly cute self, Rachel felt very complicated inside.
Although before leaving the house, her lovely outfit was praised by all the servants, and even Evelia (who happened to pass by) nodded in approval, Rachel still didn’t feel very comfortable about it.
No, no—this wasn’t just about selling her soul.
Dressing herself up so cutely and going there… wasn’t this basically selling her looks?
Rachel held the gift box she had prepared. A simple paper box tied with a ribbon and filled with snacks.
To show her sincerity, she had made all the cookies and sweets inside by herself (under the supervision of an adult). She decided everything from the flavor to the look.
Given Rachel’s current skill level, being able to conduct alchemy experiments, she was already more than capable of making snacks that looked quite decent.
But to avoid standing out too much in front of others and revealing how “mature” she really was, she purposely made the cookies look clumsy, crooked little animal shapes.
They might look ugly, but at least they should still taste okay… hopefully.
To cover up the oddly-shaped cookies that got even uglier after baking, Rachel sprinkled lots of colorful sugar beads on them, hoping that would suit Salana’s taste.
As for her reason for visiting Salana... well, it was a very grown-up thing.
To put it simply, she was going to borrow money.
To help improve Armand’s condition, Rachel had been researching medicine lately, and all of it needed start-up funds.
After Evelia stopped using that perfume laced with something suspicious, Armand’s symptoms clearly started to ease. Though not completely cured, at least his condition had stopped getting worse.
He still often spaced out somewhere, but compared to his old foggy self, Armand had improved a lot.
At least now, he was able to say things like, “I want to return to the knight order.”
It seemed like after so long stuck in a daze, he was finally starting to realize how serious things were, and also understanding that this relapse wasn’t just because this winter was colder than usual.
But of course, his suggestion to return to the knights was rejected right away, even Carle refused. From any angle, whether it was concern for Armand’s health or fear that someone might see the state the knight commander was in and use it against them, Carle absolutely would not allow Armand to go back in his current condition.
As for why the knight commander hadn’t shown up at the order for such a long time?
Well, there were ways to explain that. Every knight had annual leave, and Armand was no exception.
Because of his health, his leave was usually during winter each year, so it wasn’t too strange for him to be gone from the order now.
But it had been pretty tough on Carle. Ever since Armand left on that last mission until now, Carle probably hadn’t had a proper long break at all.
That thought gave Rachel a small sense of relief, not for any deep reason, but simply because it meant, Carle is probably really busy.
So if she went to see Salana today, chances are…
She wouldn’t run into him.
She didn’t dislike Carle. In fact, she actually had a pretty good impression of him because of his close friendship with Armand and his straightforward personality. It’s just that Carle, while nice for casual chats, could be tricky when something really interested him. He’d use all kinds of clever wording to get answers out of people, and even a kid like Rachel wasn’t an exception.
Back when Armand first brought her to the knights, Carle was already subtly asking questions about alchemy. It wasn’t until recently, when Armand started having doubts and asked her to do something only an alchemist could do, that Rachel realized Carle and Armand had been playing "good cop, bad cop" with her from the beginning.
A man who takes things that seriously even with children… honestly, that’s kind of scary.
Sure, he’s good-looking, but Rachel really didn’t want to get too involved with him again.
Thinking about it now, that kid Salana was way more lovable. She had the innocent charm of a child her age, and the Carle couple had clearly done a great job protecting her childhood.
…Maybe Armand felt the same way too.
Armand, back in “those days,” had said something similar to Rachel. He wanted her to have a proper childhood...
It seems like people who have been through war all care about whether kids grow up happily or not...
Even though the royal capital looks peaceful now, with everyone getting ready to celebrate the new year, just the fact that Armand has been poisoned shows that danger is still hiding under the surface.
In times like these, peaceful days really are a luxury...
And as an alchemist, Rachel was right in the center of the storm, neither too far nor too deep, but exactly where things collide.
If she could live a second life, honestly, she’d really want a calm and happy childhood.
“Miss Rachel, we’ve arrived.”
Just as Rachel was looking out the carriage window and getting lost in thought at the peaceful scenery, the driver’s voice brought her back.
Before she knew it, they had reached the gate of Carle’s estate.
Even though none of them liked fancy noble manners, Rachel had still sent Salana a letter the day before her visit. In it, she said how much she missed her and that she wanted to visit her at home. She even purposely called Salana her “best friend” in the letter, which had apparently made Salana super excited.
So now, Salana was already waiting at the gate. As soon as the carriage stopped and a servant helped Rachel down, Salana rushed forward and gave her a big hug.
“Rachel! You’re finally here!”
“Ah—uh... yeah...”
Rachel wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that much excitement. After being tightly hugged for several seconds, she finally used the pause to pull out the little gift she had brought.
“Um, this is a little something I made myself... some cookies I baked...”
As she spoke, Rachel frowned a little, unsure of how to word things properly. Even when facing serious people like Evelia and Armand, she had never felt this nervous. But now, probably because she was here to “ask for money”, she just didn’t feel as confident as usual.
“I tried really hard, but they might not look great... I still hope you’ll like them.”
“What’s not to like!”
Unlike Rachel’s nervousness, Salana happily took the cookie box from her hands.
“You’re my best friend, so I’ll like anything you give me!”
“......”
That phrase “best friend” was something Rachel had exaggerated in the letter just to get closer to Salana. Hearing how seriously Salana had taken it now made her feel a little guilty.
She really did like Salana, but...
Sigh...
They really did get along well, but hearing the other person get so happy over something that was basically flattery made her feel like her conscience was being judged.
And knowing that all this was just a warm-up to asking for money? That made her feel even guiltier.
This... this must be what being an adult feels like.