Volume 11 - Chapter 2

The Apothecary Diaries

Rahan’s Daily Life #

Rahan’s father-in-law returned from Saidou.

For Rahan, it was a mixed blessing.

“Father-in-law, you’ll be attending court from today. Please be on your best behavior on the first day.”

Rahan looked at Rakan eating porridge with sleepy eyes. By Rakan’s side were three children, Sufan (Fourth), Ufan (Fifth), and Riufan (Sixth), whom Rakan had picked up as orphans and who now pretended to be servants in the residence.

Sufan was diligently feeding Rakan spoonfuls.

For Rakan, eating was just as effortless as doing nothing, but to others, it might seem like a childish hobby. However, if left to eat alone, he would take forever to finish like a child, so there was no choice.

Besides the three children, there was also an unfamiliar young boy present, who had not yet come of age and was a head shorter than the petite Rahan.

“Pardon me, but who might you be?”

He had arrived at the residence with Rakan yesterday. From his looks, it was clear he was from Jukeishu, but Rahan didn’t know why he had come.

“Was he picked up by Father-in-law?”

Rakan had a habit of picking up people from anywhere. He might have brought this child he took a liking to in Saidou. It would be fine if he was an orphan, but it would be troublesome if he had parents.

“If you want to go back to Saidou, just say so. It’s Father-in-law’s blunder, but since you’re family, I’ll take responsibility and send you back.”

For Rahan, his father-in-law’s return meant he could evade responsibility while also having to clean up a lot more messes. Sending back one child would be easy compared to the time he tried to blow up the rear palace.

“No, I came here for work. For now, I’ve been instructed by Lady Tsuki to take care of Mr. Rakan.”

“Lady Tsuki’s orders, huh. I should at least ask your name then?”

He decided to ask since he didn’t know the intention behind assigning the boy to his father-in-law.

“Yes. My name is Kanshunsai.”

“Kanshunsai…”

Rahan was quick-witted. Hearing the familiar name without his brother present, he immediately realized the reason for the unfamiliar boy being there instead of his brother.

He hadn’t received a report yet due to the chaos yesterday, but it would come eventually.

“I see.”

Rahan nodded. To him, his brother was a perpetually broke handyman, always drawing the short straw. He was probably still left behind somewhere far away, desperately working.

Rahan didn’t dislike his brother, so he wanted to introduce a capable woman to him someday.

“Lord Rahan.”

Sanfan (Third) came over.

“What is it?”

“My apologies. I found this among Lady Tsuki’s belongings and brought it.”

The document Sanfan handed over was simple yet exuded a noble fragrance. While the sender was unclear, Rahan could tell who wrote it from the penmanship – elegant yet slightly forceful strokes.

It was a letter from Lady Tsuki, explaining in a roundabout and apologetic tone why the boy “Kanshunsai” was present and asking Rahan to look after him until his brother returned to Saidou.

It was mostly as Rahan had imagined. He felt bad for his brother, but this would create a debt he owed Lady Tsuki. He wanted to keep accruing debts until they became impossible to repay.

He would have to write a reply later.

Rakan seemed to have finished his porridge, with Sufan wiping his mouth. Ufan and Riufan brought over desserts.

“Father-in-law, I’d like to report on the current situation before you attend court.”

“Hmm. Everyone’s been handling things, right?”

“Indeed, but things start to fall apart after being away for a year.”

Rahan brought a shogi board in front of Rakan. Rakan used the shogi pieces to represent his subordinates, positioning them on the board to illustrate the situation.

At first, Rahan didn’t understand, but after observing repeatedly, he began to see the patterns. While not complete, he could grasp what Rakan wanted to convey through the board.

“How are the pieces moving?”

“Well, this one is doing this, and that one is doing that.”

Rahan moved a silver piece into the enemy camp, capturing a pawn. However, a lance piece was captured by a knight.

“The lance, huh. It had momentum but was a bit dishonest.”

Rakan didn’t involve himself in political factions. However, even without his intention, a “Rakan faction” naturally formed.

During Rakan’s absence, his subordinates kept an eye out to prevent opposing factions from taking advantage. The unwritten rule of not harming Rakan if you wanted to live had weakened considerably over the year.

One of Rakan’s subordinates had defected to another faction. On the other hand, they had also succeeded in recruiting someone from a different faction.

Before leaving for Saidou, Rakan had only given his subordinates one order:

“Keep things exactly as they are until I return.”

The result was losing the lance and capturing a pawn. For the subordinates, who were not adept at political maneuvering, maintaining the balance of power in the court was probably too much to ask. Still, Rahan thought it was a passing grade, but he didn’t know how Rakan would react.

“For now, let’s keep an eye on that captured pawn.”

“Understood.”

Rahan took up a brush. Ufan and Riufan had prepared ink and paper, so he wrote instructions for his deputy, a man named Onso. Despite reuniting with his wife and daughter after a year’s absence, Onso had to attend court the next day. As Rakan’s deputy, he had no holidays.

“Is this the imperial court? It’s much bigger than the government office in Saidou.”

The young boy with the same name as his brother looked around wide-eyed as he got off the carriage.

Rahan considered what to do with the boy who had come from Saidou. He could have simply left him with Sanfan, but a problem arose.

The lodgers, or rather Yao and Ennen, stuck their noses in and tried to ingratiate themselves with the boy Shunsai.

Sanfan and Yao seemed to have a poor relationship, causing sparks to fly. Rahan preferred to feign ignorance about the reason for their quarrel.

For now, he decided to assign the boy as a page boy to Rakan since they appeared to get along. This would reduce Onso’s burden, which would be helpful for Rahan in preventing paperwork delays, though he didn’t expect things to go smoothly.

“Hey Ennen, is my fringe messy?”

“Not at all, you look as beautiful as ever.”

Those were the voices of the lodgers behind them. Since Rakan was being sent by carriage, Rahan had decided to send the ladies by carriage as well. One carriage was borrowed, but he couldn’t make them walk.

“Lord Rahan. While being kind to women in general is good, is it really necessary to go to such lengths?” Sanfan whispered.

She had served as the coachman today. Honestly, it would be more efficient to have her do other tasks, but since she wouldn’t listen, Rahan had no choice.

“Sanfan, that’s not something for you to interfere with.”

“…Understood.”

“I’ll escort Father-in-law, then.”

He planned to have Onso take over from tomorrow. Rahan had no intention of guarding Rakan every day.

“We’ll head to the medical office.”

With Yao and Ennen leaving, Rahan felt a bit relieved. Since Manman had returned, he intended to have them return to their lodgings.

“Well then, Shunsai, see you later.”

“Yes. Yao and Ennen, please work hard too.”

“You don’t need to be so formal.”

Yao seemed oddly friendly toward him. Rahan had thought she disliked men, but perhaps she was being kind because he was still a child.

“From now on, you’ll be assisting your brother and uncle.”

As Yao and Ennen were about to leave, Rahan stopped them.

“You two seem to be under a misunderstanding.”

“What do you mean?” Yao tilted her head.

“Yes, I have the ‘Kan’ surname, but I’m not actually related to Mr. Rakan and his family by blood.”

“But yesterday Mr. Rakan said ‘Shunsai? My nephew, huh’ when he saw you,” Ennen replied, unnecessarily mimicking his voice.

Now that Rahan thought about it, Ennen had been making dim sum in the middle of the night, probably trying to ingratiate herself with Rakan. Rahan shuddered slightly.

“No mistake there, but definitely a difference. I don’t have time to explain now, I’ll do it later.”

It was a miracle Rakan even remembered his brother’s name. However, he didn’t recall his face. As a result, the boy Shunsai was categorized as ‘probably a nephew’ despite some doubts.

Rahan felt a stronger urge to get his brother married soon.

“Um, is my name causing some kind of problem?”

“Well, it’s complicated, but don’t worry about it. More importantly, could you push Father-in-law’s back? He’s dozing off again.”

“Understood.”

Rahan and the young Shunsai pushed Rakan’s slouching back as they walked.

They were supposed to simply escort Rakan to his office and be done with it.

But—

“What’s with all this noise?”

“I wonder what’s going on?”

Rahan and Shunsai exchanged glances.

Onso, the deputy, was in front of Rakan’s office.

“Sir Onso. Has something happened?”

“Lord Rahan. Well, you see—”

Onso looked towards the office, implying it would be faster for them to see for themselves.

“…Woah.”

What hung there was not a pleasing sight.

A man had hanged himself from the rafters of the office.