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That morning, in a corner of the kitchen after breakfast preparations were finished, Rishe borrowed space near the simmering pot to prepare her medicine.

(First, let's enhance the counteractive effect of the sleeping potion.)

The leaves and the pre-treated grass had been prepared the day before. Rishe had soaked the dried leaves she had prepared and then thoroughly drained them.

She put them in a large mortar and pestle and crushed them until they formed a paste. Then, she cracked open the red berries she had also dried and removed the seeds.

(The seeds have a warming effect on the body, so I'll save them for another medicinal use...)

Adding the berries to the mortar, she further ground them. Then, she lifted the lid of the pot where the flower nectar was boiling.

As steam rose, the kitchen was enveloped in its sweet fragrance. While stirring with a large wooden spoon, she slowly added the herbal paste from the mortar, being careful not to introduce too many bubbles.

(What a nice green color! It's hard to imagine it'll turn amber by the time it's done. But still...)

While stirring the contents of the pot, Rishe glanced back.

"Um..."

Then, she called out to the young man who had been wandering around behind her, observing.

"Yoel, what exactly are you doing here...?"

"Hmm..."

Yoel, a former senior knight, still seemed sleepy as he peered into Rishe's pot and blinked.

Since earlier, every time Rishe moved to the table or the pot, Yoel would follow behind her. And behind him, Raul, who had to monitor Yoel, sat in a chair, maintaining a vigilant posture.

"And what exactly are you doing...? It doesn't smell like breakfast." Yoel asked.

"Breakfast is being served by the chefs in the dining hall for the guests. This is my medicine."

"Medicine."

"Yes!" Rishe nodded confidently. "It's an antidote to prevent the sleeping potion from taking effect when I'm used as bait!"

"...So the Crown Prince's future wife is making medicine for herself to be used as bait?" Yoel gave her a very bewildered look and blinked.

When Rishe glanced at Raul, he seemed more inclined to agree with Yoel.

"Your Arnold may accept it as a matter of course, but that's not a normal reaction." Raul added.

"W-Well, I'm not the Crown Prince's wife yet, and he's not mine either..."

Though she offered a rebuttal, she knew that wasn't the point. But the sleeping potions given to the abducted women and Yoel were supposed to be reversible if they had taken this medicine beforehand.

(Originally, I would have liked to confirm its effectiveness beforehand through testing...)

Obtaining and preparing the sleeping potion seemed difficult, so there was no other choice.

Although she might be gently scolded by Michel for not experimenting properly, in the life of a apothecary, Rishe had also received the teaching from her master Hakurei, "Trust in your own experience and intuition."

(Now, it's just the matter of the dosage. Even if I've taken the portion I brought from the imperial palace in advance, I still need to make some more here...)

Rishe glanced at another pot. The contents boiling there were not an antidote for the sleeping potion. It was a wound medicine containing the analgesic effect, made from completely different medicinal herbs.

It was the same as the ones she usually kept on hand, but this medicine had its strongest efficacy within twenty-four hours of the final heating in the preparation. When Rishe woke up, Arnold was still asleep. Even when she quietly slipped out of his arms, there was no sign of awakening.

Remembering the sight of his defenseless sleeping face, her chest tightened.

(I wonder if he was able to sleep peacefully. ...But, there's also the possibility that he's exhausted because of the injury...)

But she couldn't show her worried feelings here. The fact that the Crown Prince was stabbed and injured was a major concern for the country. Moreover, Arnold's strength also served as a military deterrent.

Arnold probably didn't show his injury for that reason. Therefore, Rishe also made an effort to behave as usual.

Yoel, who shouldn't know Rishe's feelings, yawned sleepily. "The reason I woke up early was because..."

Though Yoel peered into the pot, there was no sign of genuine interest. "We're having a strategy meeting today, right...? I got excited thinking we might be able to fight with swords soon..."

(Even in his knightly life, he always woke up relatively early before a campaign strategy meeting...)

Though Rishe had tried desperately to wake him up, maybe on such a special day, he had woken up at the right time. With that thought in mind, she couldn't imagine him showing up at the meeting room with bed hair and sleepy eyes. Indeed, the current Yoel had fluffier red hair than usual.

(When Sir Yoel isn't holding a sword, he's this much of a hazard...)

Rishe suddenly remembered.

"If we can bring it to a naval battle, it's a win for our country."

That was before Arnold killed his father, before Galkhein started the war, even in the sixth loop of her life.

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