My Unrestrained Lives-Chapter 59: Aftermath (3)

"Bring me every book you can find, about herbs, medicine, poisons, anything even remotely related!"

At that moment, the spark in her eyes returned. Her expression regained life as hope stirred within her.

"Right away!" she replied, without hesitation, then rushed off.

Ellis watched her go, still smiling faintly. But deep down, he knew.

How could something like this be resolved so easily?

If it had truly been that simple, he would have started trying to treat his mother on his own from the very beginning, without turning to the Light Church for help.

But this was a fantasy world. Medicine hadn’t progressed much. It was even looked down upon in many places... perhaps because of old traditions, or perhaps due to the quiet suppression by the Light Church itself. And so, when someone fell ill, the only widely accepted solution was to scrape together enough coin and beg the Church for healing.

And if that wasn’t possible? Then death was the only path left.

Ellis didn’t care what the Church thought of herbal medicine, but that didn’t change the real problem: this was a world where herbs had endless variations, and each plant could have dozens of similar counterparts.

Worse yet, the combinations that could be created from them were nearly infinite.

How was he supposed to find the right antidote in all that chaos?

No, before even thinking of an antidote, he first had to figure out what kind of poison she had consumed. That alone was a monumental task.

Even when poison samples were available, identifying them wasn’t easy. And now, he had nothing to go on.

Back in the Nore Palace, he had forgotten to search for traces of poison, and now it was too late. The palace was burning, probably swarmed with knights and other people.

So, even if he managed to go back... would he find anything? Probably not.

Was it the same poison he had consumed back then? He could only hope so. At least in that case, he still had samples he had taken from the stuff, he confiscated from the two maids, Grenda and Brunna.

But was that the only issue he faced now?

No.

The greatest problem of all... was time.

His mother didn’t have much left. And he didn’t have the luxury to slowly read through every book on herbs, hoping to miraculously stumble upon the right match.

That’s when an idea suddenly struck him, and he spoke up in his mind.

’Aurora, with the Twilight Codex database you have seized, do you have any information about poisons, herbs, or things like that?’

[No. I don’t. What I have is only general.]

Instead of being disappointed by her response, something he had half-expected, Ellis pressed on.

’Then... can you read books in my place?’

Aurora was still just a low-level system manager. She couldn’t act freely outside of his body. But... she should still be able to see what he saw, right?

[Yes. What do you need me to do?]

Ellis’s eyes lit up at her answer. He didn’t hesitate.

He told her his plan.

Aurora, who could process and scan information far more quickly than he could, should be the perfect one to help him find the poison that had been used on his mother, and more importantly, what kind of antidote was needed to counteract it.

Even if her access to the Twilight Codex was limited and most of the database was damaged, even fragments of general knowledge could prove useful, after all.

Besides, she would definitely be able to analyze and sort through the information far faster than he could alone.

After all, even though he had been a medical student in his previous life...

He was only in his third year. And the medicine of the modern world was entirely different from this fantasy one.

...

With Aurora’s help, Ellis immediately got to work. He began flipping through the books Silas had brought, turning the pages as fast as he possibly could.

Silas, naturally, found his behavior strange. But Ellis didn’t offer any explanations. He focused entirely on the task at hand.

Before long, he had finished going through all the books she brought. And since that still wasn’t enough, he took it upon himself to start searching the shelves alongside her, looking for anything remotely related to herbs, medicine, or poison.

Like that, time passed.

And before he knew it, the sun had already risen. Morning had come.

’So... did you find anything?’ Ellis asked mentally.

There were no more books left in the library that could help. All his hopes now rested on Aurora.

[There are possible matches, but I can’t be completely certain.]

[For now, you need to acquire the following ingredients: Drakemint, Bluefennel, Ironpetal, Black Salt...]

She went on, listing more than a hundred ingredients in total.

Ellis had to find a pen and some paper just to write them all down.

Once he finished, he turned to Silas. He opened his mouth, intending to ask her to go out and buy the ingredients... to acquire them somehow, but in the end, he stopped himself.

He didn’t want to gamble Silas’s life in order to save his mother’s.

So, he folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket. Then he left the palace and made his way toward the knights who were still stationed outside.

Guarding? No. Monitoring was more accurate.

When the two knights by the front entrance saw him, Doran greeted him respectfully. But, the other knight, the one who had arrived with the larger group last night, looked at him with a lazy, disinterested gaze.

Ellis didn’t bother correcting him. He simply looked at both of them and said, calmly:

"My mother’s health has deteriorated. I don’t know the reason. Yesterday, I sent my maid to ask for a priest to come heal her, but the priests made all sorts of excuses and refused."

He paused. The two knights exchanged glances, their expressions clearly asking: What does that have to do with us?

Ellis ignored the look. Instead, he pulled the folded paper from his pocket and held it out.

"So," he said, voice steady, "you’ll either go out and convince those priests to do their damn job..."

His gaze sharpened, eyes narrowing slightly.

"... Or you’ll bring me everything written on this list."

The palace grounds fell into silence the moment Ellis finished speaking. Doran seemed to be thinking carefully, trying to come up with the best possible response. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Because, if possible, he didn’t want to antagonize the Eleventh Prince.

The problem was... they weren’t allowed to leave their post.

So Doran racked his brain, searching for a solution. But before he could even gather his thoughts, his colleague, who neither understood the situation nor cared to read the atmosphere, suddenly scoffed and said:

"What bullshit are you talking about? We’re not your errand boys, and we’re certainly not your subordinates. So why the hell would we listen to some crap like that?"

Ellis’s expression turned icy as he asked, "Are you sure?"

His voice was calm, but his tone was threatening. And that cold gaze of his, sharp and heavy, should have been enough to make anyone second-guess themselves.

Yet the knight found it amusing. He was just about to sneer... when Doran, already sweating and feeling the danger deep in his bones, immediately intervened.

He covered his colleague’s mouth and hurriedly said, "Understood, Your Highness! We’ll immediately see what we can do."

"But... since we’ve been ordered to remain here, we’ll need permission from our superiors to leave our post. I’ll go at once to see if I can obtain it!"

Ellis’s expression remained cold as he replied, "Then hurry. Before night falls, I want to see either a priest or those ingredients in front of me."

"Understood!" Doran saluted sharply, his voice loud and formal... so much so that his colleague stared at him with a shocked expression, clearly not understanding what had changed.

After all, it was just a prat. Even if he was a prince, he was still a prat... an abandoned and talentless one at that.

Ellis didn’t say anything further. He simply turned and headed back into the palace.

As he walked through the quiet halls, his thoughts wandered to Galen, the Knight Commander.

Should he ask him for help?

Would Galen lend a hand now, when the situation had become this severe... when back then, he didn’t?

In the end, Ellis shook his head. He decided to try without Galen’s involvement, at least for now.

It wasn’t a matter of pride. It was about probability.

Because he believed... there were better moves he could make. At least for now.

That’s why, instead of going to his mother’s side or trying to see what he could do in the meantime, he quietly moved toward an empty part of the palace... a place he rarely visited.

There, he slipped out through one of the windows, moving carefully and quietly, and made his way toward the bushes not too far away.

A little farther beyond, he could sense the presence of people... most likely spies sent to monitor the palace from the shadows.

Ellis... had decided to kill them.

If the knights wouldn’t listen when he asked softly and nicely?

Then he would simply show them what fate awaited those who didn’t know their place.

Ellis had decided it was time they understood... what it truly meant to go against him.