I Am Young Again

Chapter 5 – Alchemy Professor

I turned to face him in wariness.

“What do you mean …….”

“I want to test you,” he said bluntly. “If you agree to allow me to experiment on you and monitor the changes and effects within your body, you won’t have to pay me back at all.”

“You want me to pay you back by allowing you to use my body for your experiments?” I asked appalled.

“Not experiments.”He rolled his eyes. “You already started this current experiment by taking the experimental liquid of your own accord. I’ll just be completing the process of something that you’ve already started.”

“What are the contents of this drug? If the goal was to make people younger, you’ve already succeeded. What is the point of doing more research when you’ve already achieved your goal?”

“The contents of the drug?” He asked with a slight smile. “This drug is made from an extremely lucrative resource that grows only in the Taran Forest.”

The Taran Forest?

The forest was where the monsters who attacked me a few days ago lived. But it was home to a lot more than a bunch of terrifyingly strong monsters. The forest also had many mysterious plants with unique photosynthesis and energy cycles.

These unique and rare resources were only available to the Acruge family and its monster inhabitants. However, there were rumors that the Valkanus Empire would one day take back control of the Taran Forest from the Acruge family.

“This entire experiment is being conducted with the full support of the Valkanus Imperial Family,” he continued. “The liquid that you took was an experimental liquid that contained a special flower, Heisha, from the Taran Forest.”

“What?!” I exclaimed in shock.

One of the rare plants that grow in the Taran Forest is a flower called Heisha.

This flower is especially special because it could greatly increase a wizard’s mana. Many articles have been made on how it positively impacts an individual’s chi.

The Heisha flower is not something that can be easily paid for.

“This is top-secret information, so I really shouldn’t be telling you this, but I want to be clear with you. This experiment is not some side hobby that I’ve been doing in some buildings within the Academy. This experiment has been commissioned to me by the Imperial Household of Valkanus, and is researched for the betterment of the Empire and its people.”

His last sentence made me speechless for a moment.

This whole time I had not thought nor minded why or how this Professor was doing this experiment, but now that he had told me it had completely changed my perspective.

There was a huge difference between accepting to become an experimental rat for personal gain compared to becoming one for the prosperity of the Empire.

“To be honest, your condition is not normal. Becoming young is an unsolicited side effect of this experimental liquid. Your reaction towards the liquid should not have happened, according to my studies.”

With his words, I was reminded of the caged experimental rat he had shown me a while ago.

I unconsciously shivered.

“I should’ve died, right?”

“That’s right. You’re extremely lucky. Not only are you still alive, but you’ve also even miraculously gotten younger.”

“Young Lady Perrington,” he called, getting my attention. “Let’s make a contract.”

“A contract?”

“Yes. I will study you and develop drugs and medicine for you. This way, you will be able to repay me for taking the precious liquid. In fact, it is not a bad offer for you either. Just think of it as you getting health care from me. Besides, you never know what will happen in the future. You may be young for now, but there is no telling how the experimental liquid will continue to affect your life in the future. There is no reason for you to hesitate in taking this offer since it is extremely beneficial for the Empire as well.”

“How am I sure that you’ll do these things for me?”

This experimental medicine had an astronomical price tag to it. Instead of forcing me to pay its price and leave me in debt, he was suggesting that I become a subject of research.

I may have stayed with my mother for 20 years, but that didn’t mean I was overly naive. The entire contract details were way too favorable towards me.

It was slightly suspicious.

“You came here for an interview as an assistant pharmacist right? You’ll get the job as soon as you accept my offer,” he said, noticing my hesitation.

I blinked as my resolve wavered with his charming business proposal.

His conditions were so perfect that I almost nodded right away.

But I stopped myself. Whenever I made a hasty decision in the past, I had always regretted it.

I knew that I couldn’t just go ahead and agree with a verbal contract without researching and making sure all the information he gave me was true or not.

“Look, I understand what you want me to do, and the overall premise of the contract, but I’d like to have some more time to think about it some more.”

His expression hardened with what I said. Perhaps he didn’t expect my refusal.

“I have to let my family know that I’ve changed,” I stumbled, trying to think of an excuse.

The word ‘family’ made me remember my sisters, and my disappointment towards them.

Although I was not on the best terms with them at the moment, I couldn’t hide something like this from my family.

I had just attended my mother’s funeral not too long ago, and they are probably worried that I had not come home in days.

“Please allow me to talk to my family before making such a life-changing decision. Although I don’t mean to insult you either, I also need to see if the liquid is truly expensive enough to allow you to experiment on me and give myself up to you.”

“Have you forgotten the specimen I showed you earlier?” He asked, shock mixed with irritation. “You are in danger now. If you stay away from me, you’ll die.”

I winced at the thought of death, but that still wouldn’t scare me enough to blindly sign a contract.

Not to mention that his sudden anger towards me was even more strange.

“I understand the danger, but I can’t decide to become a living experiment just by trusting you when I just met you today. The more that you’re pushing me to make the decision immediately, the more I think that this entire thing is suspicious!”

He glared at me in response, offended that I would throw suspicion on him.

“As I have told you before, I’ll discuss it with my family first and give you an answer. If you have anything to say to me before I contact you back, please send me a letter for the house on Perrington Street.”

“Do as you please,” he sighed. He looked displeased, but he probably knew by now that it was useless to stop me.

“I’ll get going now then.”

He lightly nodded, and I left the office lab.

Outside, the Academy guards who dragged me all the way here were still standing, but this time they didn’t block my way like before.

I glanced at them and quickly hurried away.

Perhaps I was too elated by meeting with the Duke, but I had really never noticed how loosely my dress hung on my body.

Every step I took made the dress shift uncomfortably on my shoulders.

I really have turned back into my 20s.

The face that I saw in the mirror kept running through my head.

Bringing my hand up at the memory, I could still feel no wrinkles on my face.

Everything felt like a dream.

***

I couldn’t figure out what kind of situation I had experienced.

So much happened in the last few days that it was hard to keep my head clear. Rather than be happy that I was back in my youth, my mind protested through headaches. The fact that I had become young again did not sink into my mind. I still felt like none of this was truly real.

With the aching of my head, I pushed the familiar gate, with only the thought to lay down and rest quickly.

Yet, the gate, which would always creak open, didn’t open with a push.

My headache quickly cleared, and I looked around casually wondering what had caused the holdup.

Then something caught my eye.

Instead of the name “Perrington,” which should’ve been written onto our gate, the name “Kenevano” was there instead.

It is customary for a nobleman in Valkanus Empire to write their last name on the entrance so that people would know who lives within the estate.

An ominous premonition struck me, but I shook my head and denied it.

No.

It can’t be.

I had already fought with my sisters about this matter, and I thought that they had dropped it already.

It was only three days ago that I had left for the Academy on a spur of the moment interview. It didn’t make sense that they would be able to sell our mansion in such a short period of time.

Even though I was blindly trusting in my sisters, I knocked on the gate with trembling hands. No matter how many times I blinked, the name on the gate didn’t change.

Soon, a woman in a neat maid’s uniform appeared from the home and walked up to me.

My heartbeat grew with every step she made towards me.

I felt the blood in my head wash away.

I didn’t have a maid in my house.

I lived here since I was born, and I have never seen this woman before.

“Who are you?” The woman asked.

“I…”

At that moment, my throat choked up and I couldn’t say anything.

Tears began to form in my eyes, threatening to pour out.

This isn’t happening.

Right?

This is a lie.

Right?

I felt like the ground I was standing on was crumbling.

Was I falling?

I wasn’t sure.

If I was falling, when would I hit the ground?

It was endless despair.

The woman in the maid costume watched me in displeasure.

“I said, who are you?”

“I-I live here!” I yelled in desperation.

She looked down at me with impatience. “Someone as crazy as you would never live in such a nice home as this. Besides, my husband had bought this house from its owner, the wife of a Baron, two days ago. Even if you had lived here before, this house is no longer yours anyway.”

I grabbed the gate with both of my hands, the metal poles still separating us.

“The wife of the Baron, her name is Medina de Hesling, right?”

“Yes, that’s her name,” the woman said, taking a step back from me.

I smiled joyfully at her answer.

“That’s my sister! The contract you made with her is invalid. This the house that my mother and I have lived in for the past 20 years! I have a stake in it. How can there be a deal without my permission?”

“Look, the eldest daughter, Baroness De Hesling sold this house because there were no male heirs within the family. In cases like these, it is natural that the eldest daughter has the right to decide what to do with the remaining property. My husband has already paid the amount she asked for. If there’s a problem within your family don’t come here to argue and yell at me.”

The woman’s cold-hearted attitude gave me the strength to grip onto the gate even tighter.

To my own frustration, she was not in the wrong. The law dictates that the older members of the family have more authority than I do.

But it’s been twenty years.

Twenty years since I was holed up there taking care of my mother with no end in sight.

“…no.”

“What?” The woman stepped forward to clearly hear my muttering.

I grabbed her through the gate and slapped her with all of the remaining strength in my arms.

The tears I had been holding back were flowing freely down my cheeks.

“This house is mine!”

“Are you crazy?!” The woman screamed, trying to get out of my grasp.