Chapter 21 - Deep

Geraldine slowly went inside the sheer fabric with her hand covering her nose, she sits at the corner with trembling hands and slowly removed it to inhale the air. She could feel the pollens going inside and sticking into her lungs, making it hard for her to breathe.

"Mana circle," She mumbled and close her eyes, feeling the mana surrounding her heart. Red, all she sees is red around her heart, the mana that was used to be transparent in her past life changed.

Using the poison she inhaled, Geraldine slowly combined it with her mana, creating another spark of her power but it was not enough to bring back what she used to be.

"I should take it slowly," She mumbled while trying to cultivate her mana.

Timepass by, Geraldine stayed inside her the basement, only getting out when her body is screaming in pain. More blood has been vomited on the floor as she laid with her eyes closed.

She realized that it was too early for her to inhale the poisonous pollens when her body is too fragile to handle stronger magic.

Taking the petals from the flower, she washed it thoroughly to wash away any pollens before putting it in a clean cloth and takes it outside to dry. She had planned to make it into a tea powder as the petals of the deshia flower only contain a bit of poison.

While walking outside and thinking of her plan, she met Aurelie and Alexjin carrying washed clothes ready to hang to dry.

"Master!" Alexjin greeted her with an awkward smile while his mother is giggling.

"Lady Geraldine, I apologize for my son's behavior earlier, he's still immature," Aurelie slightly bowed her head while holding his son's head to bow much lower than hers.

"It's fine, it's not a big of a deal. Although, I have something to discuss with you two, please come inside after you're both done," she showed them a smile before turning her back and went inside the house. Alexjin and Aurelie only looked at each other and shrugged and went back to their work.

-----

"I had planned to build a pharmacy in town to I'll sell my pills," Geraldine revealed her plan to the two who were expecting this as soon as they saw the pills for the first time, weeks ago.

"A ph-pharmacy? that's great but what concerns me the most is that people might not take an interest because it's different from what is common," Aurelie said with worry all over her face, she doesn't want to see Geraldine be disappointed if her plan didn't work out.

"Well, we won't know if we don't try," Geraldine sipped her tea, she was confident on her plan to work out even though it would take a while.

"I want you to be the acting owner Aurelie as I want my identity to remain hidden," Geraldine added, "and trust me, it will work out."

Aurelie looked at his son's eyes, she could see that he trust his master so much. A smile formed on her lips, "I'll gladly do what you wanted me to do, lady Geraldine."

"That's great, thank you, Aurelie," Geraldine clasp her hands together with a smile then she looked at Alexjin at her side, "We'll get more herbal plants from now on so that I can have enough time to make pills before we opened, so for now, we need to find a place to settle the pharmacy first," Geraldine said and stands up, "Let's go Alexjin," She cocked her head to one side as she waited for him to follow her.

"Are we going now, master?" He asked while scratching his head, he wanted to tell her that he has much work to do at home but choose to stay silent, "I'll go prepare the carriage master."

-----

Walking around the town, all the stalls are full with no vacancies left for them to rent or buy.

"Master, we have been searching for hours but we can't still find an empty place for our pharmacy," Alexjin whispered into her ear which makes Geraldine pissed even more as if he's not saying something obvious.

"Let's go to the deeper part of the market," She slightly pushed Alexjin in front which took him by surprise, "Lead the way."

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at the deeper part of the town's market which has fewer visitors compared to the main one. The sellers are also selling weird stuff such as reptile's skin and those that are alive, different kinds of plants that are illegal because it's endangered which caught her attention and mentally noted to visit the store later.

At the very far end, there was a small wooden store, so old and crusty that if it was caught on fire, it would be gone for seconds. Both Geraldine and Alexjin are standing in front of the sign outside the store that says, 'House and Lot for Sale.'

"Are you really going to buy it, master?"