What Witch? A Deadly Apothecary!

Chapter 21 : Dinner Is Livelier When Everyone Eats Together

Chapter 21: Dinner Is Livelier When Everyone Eats Together

More than an hour later, Leon brought Rena from Estuary Village to Melissa’s home to conduct another diagnosis for Sally.

After continuously taking the medicine for two full courses, Sally’s symptoms had gradually improved.

Just earlier that day, amid a wave of pain, strength had returned to her upper limbs, allowing her to move them again and even sit up with someone’s support.

But at the same time, she had suddenly started coughing.

Leon could not tell whether this development was good or bad, so to be safe, he hurriedly borrowed a horse, rode out of the city, and invited “Bishop Leona” over.

Rena treated Sally for about ten minutes.

In the end, she calmly nodded to the worried Melissa at the bedside and said, “The medicinal effects are the same as expected. Mrs. Sally’s bodily mobility is recovering. As for the coughing, it occasionally appears during the experiments and may be related to the gradual adaptation of internal sensation. It usually eases after a couple of days. I brought some commonly used medicine with me—taking it should make her feel more comfortable.”

“So… that means she’s getting better?” Melissa asked cautiously.

“It would be more accurate to say that the medicine has tentatively taken effect,” Rena chose her words carefully.

“In that case, we can continue administering it at the current dosage. After another two to four courses, if the effects continue to match expectations, her lower limbs may also recover a certain degree of mobility.”

“I still have a chance… to walk on my own?” Sally leaned against the pillow propped at the head of the bed and turned her face toward Rena as she asked.

“Judging from the current situation, yes,” Rena replied.

Melissa was overjoyed and hugged Sally’s arm.

“Mom! Did you hear that?”

“Mhm…” Sally smiled and raised her hand to gently stroke the back of her daughter’s hand.

When she realized that the back of Melissa’s hand had become much rougher than she remembered, undisguised heartache surfaced in her eyes.

“Melissa, you’ve really suffered during this time…” Sally sighed deeply, extending her trembling hand to gently touch the area around Melissa’s ear, where the side hair had already been cut clean.

Melissa’s nose tingled, tears welling up in her eyes again, but in the end she broke into a smile and shook her head at her mother.

Being able to see her mother improving made all the hardships she had endured finally feel worthwhile.

After quite a while, Melissa calmed herself, wiped the corner of her eyes, and turned to Rena.

“Bishop… um, even if she can recover to the point of walking, is there really no chance of a cure?”

She still remembered Rena saying that the medicine could not completely cure the illness.

But seeing such a clear improvement in her mother’s condition, she could not help but begin to harbor further hope.

“I’m very sorry. At present, the medicine can indeed greatly restore mobility, but the erosion of the internal organs can only be slowed slightly. Although it can extend lifespan somewhat, in the end I’m afraid… you should still prepare yourselves mentally,” Rena lowered her gaze, avoiding Melissa’s eyes.

“Thank you, Bishop. I already came to terms with it long ago—I was probably never meant to live very long,” Sally said with an open expression, reaching out to pull Melissa into her arms.

“Being able to live like a proper person again in this final stretch, to have the chance to hold my Melissa once more—I have nothing left to ask for!”

Looking at Sally and Melissa, Rena suddenly remembered how her grandmother had once sat by her bedside like this, gently stroking her hair and holding her while saying similar words.

After a long moment, she spoke softly, “I’ll continue having Inquisitor Set bring the medicine over. Since the drug trials here have shown results, I’ll stay on for a while longer. These results are very important to my research, and I’ll continue studying them.”

“Thank you, Bishop. We will never forget your kindness.”

Amid Sally and Melissa’s repeated expressions of gratitude, Rena rose to take her leave.

Melissa then escorted Rena downstairs.

Leon was still waiting below.

Upon hearing the results of the treatment, he also let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s good that she’s improving. Melissa looked so frightened earlier—it really scared me. I thought something had happened to Mrs. Hesh.”

Although he had long prepared himself mentally, if Rena’s medicine had caused anything to happen to Sally, he certainly would not have felt good about it either.

“I was just too excited… suddenly seeing Mom get up by herself…” Melissa said shyly.

“In any case, it’s good that the medicine works. I’ll continue following up on this. We’ll still need your cooperation for my research going forward,” Rena turned to Leon.

“Inquisitor Set, I’ll trouble you to see me off.”

She herself was still not very skilled at riding horses.

This entire trip had been made with Leon escorting her on a borrowed horse.

Sharing a horse with Leon was somewhat awkward, but it was still better than her, a young woman, walking alone out of the city at night.

Leon smiled slightly when he heard this.

“Bishop, have you had dinner yet? If you don’t mind, would you like to stay and eat together?”

“Well, I—”

Rena was just about to decline when Leon continued, “I happened to receive a bonus today and bought a whole roast suckling pig, with some butter-roasted potatoes. It’s probably a bit cold by now, but reheated it should still taste good. There’s also a bottle of passable apple cider from around here. It’s rare that I can barely scrape together something decent to host you—please don’t dislike it.”

Melissa looked at Leon in surprise.

She had not known he had brought back such a feast.

“Roast suckling pig…” Rena also stared blankly at Leon and subconsciously swallowed.

She usually lived quite frugally and rarely had the chance to eat so well.

“Would you be willing?” Leon signaled to Rena with his eyes.

Fortunately, Melissa was still in shock and did not notice the rather undignified look on this “Bishop Leona’s” face.

“Ah…” Rena snapped back to her senses, quickly adjusted her expression, and replied in a deliberately calm tone, “With such hospitality from the Inquisitor, how could I possibly disdain it? Very well—please forgive my intrusion this evening.”

“I—I’ll go tidy up first!” Melissa reacted at last and rushed into the hall in a fluster.

“Oh right, if Mrs. Hesh can already sit up now, would it be possible to have her come down to eat together as well? If that’s okay, I can carry her down,” Leon suddenly suggested.

“Well, with her current condition, if getting up poses no problem, then it’s not impossible. But you must be careful—don’t let the patient fall,” Rena replied after some consideration.

“Brother Leon, you don’t need to go to all that trouble. I can just bring the food upstairs later,” Melissa tried to persuade him.

“I’ll go ask Mrs. Hesh whether she’s willing,” Leon said with a smile as he headed upstairs.

“Dinner is always livelier when everyone eats together.”