“It might be better to keep it like this. You could have big losses otherwise, or even fail!”
“It’s because I’m a little ambitious. I will also invest in and develop more cosmetics. It’s my dream to introduce better and more kinds of cosmetics.”

To be precise, my goal was not to just stay in cosmetics.

“Well… Though I am not going anywhere because of the cosmetics today.”

With those words, I thought of the person who made me remember today’s plan.

It was the most difficult moment, when I was called a villainess and despised by everyone.
I never had anything like a visitor, but I suddenly received a visit request.
Even though it was normal for the duke’s employees to neglect caring for me and serving me,
They too cast a look of suspicion at the sudden visitor and quickly let me know.

“Danitel Benalton? I never heard that name.”

It was a name I didn’t know, but it was so unexpected that I became rather curious.
There were a few people who knew that I had the power of blessing, but few even knew in detail that it was the blessing of growth.
I desperately hid the fact that I possessed the blessing of growth, but everyone interested in me focused only on my evil deeds anyway.

‘Why would someone come for a villainess who was jealous of her sister?’

Was this another trap, or a trick?
Or maybe she simply came here to laugh at me.
I wanted to know. Even if she didn’t have good intentions, why did she come here using the ‘blessing of growth’ as an excuse?

When I opened the parlor door, a haggard, middle-aged woman was waiting for me there.

“Young Lady Primrose. I heard that you have the blessing of growth.”

The area under her eyes was dark, and her disorderly gaze gave a gloomy impression.

“You may find it hard to believe what I’m going to say from now on. … I really need the Young Lady’s help.”

However, it didn’t take long to realize that she was too uptight to mess with someone.

“My name is Danitel. I am an alchemist.”

Her eyes, sunken with tension, soon lit up with a strange excitement, and there was a clear conviction in her previously trembling voice.
Jiksen’s blessing of the sword, and Lilika’s blessing of healing. Compared to that, my blessing of growth was too insignificant.
However, she was not interested in the ‘villainess’ or the ‘Duke’s daughter’ Yuria Primrose, but in me, who had the ‘blessing of growth’.
I was deeply immersed in the explanation about alchemy Danitel was describing.

“What is possible with the blessing of growth? I have gathered some really hard-to-find materials, but I am lacking some of the most important herbs.”

Then, when I heard the herbs she needed, I shrugged.

‘Why does she need this?’

It was a rare herb.
But at the same time, it was a dangerous herb.

‘Didn’t the alchemist who was studying this herb go missing?’

I was ignorant about the rumors of the social world, but I knew this much.
No one would be gathering this herb, and no one would be growing it.
No one even knew how to get it anymore.

‘She didn’t come looking for me for no reason.’

“I have a rough idea of what you’re doing and why you came to visit me. But you only give me vague answers about what you want to make.”
“…”
“Do you think I’ll cooperate if I don’t know what you’re making?”
“… If you know exactly what I’m going to make, you could be in danger, too. But you are the Duke’s daughter. You can draw a line since you don’t know what will happen later because of this.”
“So did you think I would accuse you of that danger before then?”
“I did.”

I thought she would be frightened, but her immediate answer was nothing but calm.

“But I can’t ignore people’s suffering anymore. I placed my hopes on the last possibility.”

But…
Before I could give Danitel an answer, I was dead.
At the hands of my father and brother.

‘Thinking about it now, I think the alchemist was trying to make an Elixir.’

Elixir.
The end of alchemy.
You could turn lead into gold, give people eternal life, and reattach severed limbs…

She said many things, but, recalling what she said at the time, I could infer that the research was already in progress and only certain materials were missing.
If the Elixir, the Alchemist’s Vigil, was completed, it would be comparable to the power of the saintess.
But I didn’t think it was possible.
What I noticed was the level of alchemy skill that had been built up to create the Elixir.

‘If I were an alchemist studying the Elixir, what would that skill level be?’

I didn’t want to reattach severed limbs.
However, it was a strength only allowed to the few people who possessed divine power.
I wished it would reach many people.

‘There have been rumors that quite a few studies have been conducted, mainly by alchemists who made anesthetic drugs and went missing.’

Apparently, several alchemy studies were going on, not just the Elixir.
Then, to make the research go even better…

‘I’ll find it first in this life.’

I brought Serian with me to the bank and withdrew a large sum.
He seemed frightened by the amount of gold coins and jewelry filling the bag.

“What on earth are you going to do?”

I winked calmly, without giving in to Serian’s questioning.

“Now that I’ve made money, I need to spend it.”

***

The alchemy guild was a little different from a normal guild.
Not only was it not a building of such overwhelming size that it could be found everywhere, like other guilds, but it was even in the dark basement of a bar on the outskirts of the city.

Squeak—

“Damn it, it’s noisy today.”

Perhaps because of the late hour, the bar upstairs was noisy as the worn-out floor creaked with the many people that stepped on it.

“Come on, let’s not worry about it. It’s been a long time since we’ve gathered.”
“Isn’t a bar supposed to be a noisy place?”

They complained for a moment, and as time passed, their concentration quickly shifted to the topic they wanted to discuss today.

“The disease I talked about last time. The aspect of the patient…”
“Still, it is difficult to get medicinal herbs in our province…”

The people who had dragged their chairs to the table and sat around it had serious faces.
They brought and handed over herbs that were only found in their own provinces and shared the research results.
They were all passionate.

At that moment, there was a voice that cut through the building filled with excitement.

“It’s always nice to see your hard work.”
“Ah, our Leader.”
“I have an important message for you today, so please stop what you’re doing and pay attention.”

Even if it was the basement of a shabby pub, it was a place that the guild leader had personally spent his money on and offered to the guild members.
Both those who prioritized research and those who prioritized their work stopped what they were doing and focused on what the guild leader was saying.
However…

“A new guild leader will come from today.”

The news he conveyed to the guild members was like a bolt of lightning.

“Sorry? That’s ridiculous!”
“What’s going on, all of a sudden? Is the Leader sick?”

The alchemy guild building was instantly filled with astonishment at the news that the current guild leader, who had done so much so far despite the persecution of alchemy, was steadfastly withdrawing.

“Otherwise…!”
“Be quiet. And from now on, the new guild leader will be the Duchess of Primrose.”

The guild members couldn’t take the situation any further and were thrown into confusion.

“We didn’t hear wrong, did we? Duchess who?”
“Are you talking about the Primrose duchy?”

Yuria, who had been listening to this in one corner of the basement, straightened her back, anticipating the confusion of the people.

‘As expected, their reactions are intense. Thank goodness I didn’t step up as the leader of the guild from the get-go.’

It was Yuria’s idea to bring the alchemy guild to her side.
The only reason she could be calm even though she was listening to their complaints was because she was confident.
Confident that she would be recognized by them.

Nevertheless, the first button had to be pressed with caution.
The reason for borrowing the name of the duchess was that Yuria herself was afraid that she would be harmed by her reputation as a villainess if she came to the front.

With the hood covering her face, she thought about hiding the fact that she was Duke Primrose’s daughter and establishing a different identity, but that too was a bit disturbing.

‘Since this is an alchemy guild that receives the people’s fierce eyes, I must be trusted even more with an imposing identity.’

So, what she thought was that she would present the Duchess of Primrose as the guild’s leader, but she would act as a proxy herself.

——