The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 6 (Light Novel)

you hate me so much?” he asked, his face now less like a wild dog and more like a puppy. Love, hate—some people wanted the world to be so black and white. Why wouldn’t he give her the choice of a gray area?

“I suppose I don’t hate you as such,” she said. She might even think of him favorably. Certainly, she regarded this noble more positively than she had back when they’d first met.

Jinshi pursed his lips, not very pleased with this evasive answer. Maybe he was hoping she would come right out and say she loved him, but quite frankly, Maomao wasn’t at a point where she could bring those words to her lips. The best she could manage was that she wasn’t without a certain affection for him.

Jinshi first heard this story when he was more than ten years old, after Gaoshun had seen him teasing Basen for trying to keep his distance from the ladies-in-waiting.

“Women are such fragile creatures,” Basen said. “I think it’s too soon for me.”

What could Jinshi say to that? There was nothing. Instead, he held out his cup, silently asking for more juice.

I’m not certain I can control my strength—but may I hit you?”

He didn’t want to relinquish the sensation that still lingered on his lips.

o. Be quiet.”
Jinshi focused his imagination: he was picturing not his milk brother, but the person he wished to best. He had to strike before the mouth spoke, the mouth that was usually so inarticulate, but grew voluble and clever at the oddest times. He took Basen’s chin with his free hand and pressed his thumb to his lips.
“M-M-M...” Basen had gone complete

When Maomao and Jinshi got word, they rushed to the tower by horse. There was no time to arrange a carriage; instead, they commandeered the mount the messenger had come on, with Jinshi at the reins. Maomao didn’t bother to ask for his permission as she jumped up behind him. He only said, “We’ll be going fast. Don’t fall off.” She took that as an okay. She pressed her face into his back, which smelled of perfume, and braced herself, trying to remain upright.

The door clattered and she looked up, wondering who it was, to find that the visitor had dropped something at their feet. Something wrapped in cloth—it looked like a branch. Maomao reached out, her eyes glowing. It was a deer’s antler! And not just that—it was still soft. An antler that had been in the process of growing, not one that had simply calcified and fallen away when the deer grew a new one. It was nearly one shaku long, and she knew exactly what it was.

“A velvet antler!” she exclaimed.

It was the newly grown antler of a deer. That freshness, that was the important thing when you were selling them—they were harvested first thing in spring, and the very tips were a particularly prized and particularly expensive form of the product. Yes, the tip was attached to this one. It was quite long, but judging from the softness and the way it was covered in fuzz, it would

you still don’t believe me, then let me tell you a little secret,” Suiren said, and then she whispered in Jinshi’s ear.

His eyes went wide. “Is that true?”

“Yes. I was administering a bit of punishment when I discovered...”

Suiren’s “secret” had no bearing whatsoever on Jinshi’s work—but it was very useful information to him personally. He wondered, though: what was this punishment she was talking about? He decided that for the moment, some questions were better left unasked

You poisoned him!” Lahan exclaimed.

“It’s just alcohol,” Maomao replied. The strategist was as vulnerable to liquor as he had always been. If anything, she thought he seemed even less able to hold his drink than before.

Thoroughly not interested in seeing any more of the man’s naked body, she brought a blanket from the bedroom and draped it over him. Lahan and Rikuson carried the freak to the couch with looks of exasperation.

“Maybe I was lucky I only have sons,” Lahan’s father said with a droll smile.

The freak was grinning in a most distressing way. “...ake a...” he mumbled, slurring in his sleep.

I guess it’s tough, having a daughter,” Lahan’s father commented sadly. “Not that I was able to get through to him on my own.”

“Just watching it breaks your