I Will Create a Good Ending for the Yandere Villainess

Chapter 557: Concoction of Medicine?

"Are you here to check on the progress?"

"If you don’t mind."

The Gardener moved out of the way to allow Lillian entry.

Lillian took a good look around her surroundings, taking in the sight of the room’s polished, clean, white surfaces.

Glass beakers and vials were arranged orderly on the shelves of the room. Tools neatly stashed away inside cupboards and drawers.

Lillian then slowly passed by a massive test tube filled with an odd green liquid that bubbled with heat.

Eventually, both of them reached what seemed to be a large black cauldron that exuded an impressive aura. Lillian could see the mana around the cauldron react intensely to it.

Looking inside, Lillian found a strange and viscous black liquid that periodically turned white. It had an earthy, dark, and potent smell to it - and Lillian doubted it would taste good.

The Gardener, ignoring Lillian’s reaction to the smell, said:

"I must say, to have such expensive and rare flowers like a [Verdant Veil Lily] or a [Umbravine Bloom] is rather impressive... Even I would find difficulty in retrieving these myself. And with the other materials you gave over, which increased the compatibility between the two, I don’t doubt that the success of this medicine would be large."

It was a secret between him and the Crown of Roses that the medicine he had been supplying to Marionette didn’t have the greatest effects in stabilising her condition...

The supplied medicine would only relieve Marionette temporarily, but not for long if she didn’t focus on containing the True Darkness with her magic.

Sensing the Gardener’s awe, Lillian puffed out her chest.

In the game, by acquiring these materials, the player would be able to concoct a dampener to dampen Marionette’s abilities - a sort of non-lethal poison or debuff, you might call it.

But what if the materials she acquired were used more towards the positive side of things instead of the negative?

By having the Gardener concoct a medicine that would only dampen the negative effects the True Darkness had on Marionette instead of her overall abilities, that would be a much better solution.

"Could you put this over there?" The Gardener asked, handing her a used knife before turning away.

Lillian nodded and turned, but suddenly...

"Eh?"

She dropped the knife.

Lillian hurriedly tried to catch the knife, but found it bouncing away from her grasp - she was now unintentionally juggling it.

It was like a fish out of water, trying to flee from being caught!

The Gardener, who was unaware of Lillian’s trouble, rummaged through a drawer with his back turned.

With her hands flying about, her necklace somehow escaping from under her uniform, she finally caught the knife that was right above the cauldron.

She sighed in relief, "Finally..."

But when she was about to pull it away... It somehow slipped out of her hand again - slicing through her palm and allowing her blood to leak out.

Drip...

Flinching back with a hiss, Lillian finally caught the knife and glared at it. She then looked down at the cut on her palm, wincing at the pain.

’This might need a health potion...’

Shifting her gaze away from her palm, Lillian gazed at the inside of the cauldron - her eyes blinking between her injured palm and the cauldron.

She watched as the black and viscous liquid inside transitioned into a whitish colour periodically; concern flashed through her eyes.

’Hopefully, my blood didn’t fall in there...’

It didn’t look like her blood fell in there...

’I should probably ask...’

"Sir, I think my blood might’ve fallen into the cauldron...’

"Excuse me?"

Turning back around with a different kind of knife in his hand, he quickly rushed over to the cauldron, bending over and peering into it before grabbing Lillian’s hand and inspecting her palm.

Lillian then watched as he twisted his head back and forth from her hand to the cauldron, making it a somewhat comical sight because of his plague doctor’s mask.

With his eyes enhanced with mana, the Gardener leaned back with a loud and exaggerated hiss of frustration, "You fool, you absolute fool!" he shouted angrily.

"Your blood has now fused with the contents of the cauldron! This is unusable now!" He gripped the rim of the cauldron, staring at the cauldron’s viscous contents, which underwent a subtle change.

When the black liquid goes white, one would be able to notice a subtle pinkish tint to it - symbolising that her blood had indeed affected the substance.

"H-HUH!?" Lillian exclaimed in shock, "B-but surely just a single droplet of my blood isn’t enough to tamper with it, right?! Maybe, just a little impurity, but still—"

"Impurities, yes. But don’t you know the blood of a person is used in alchemy?!"

Lillian racked her brain, trying to find the answer, but couldn’t. Lillian never went too deep in studying the recipes of the game to the point that she would know them by heart!

The Gardener scratched the side of his head, frustratedly, as he asked, "Do you have more of those flowers? Materials?"

With hesitation, Lillian answered, "I gave you them all..."

The Gardener paused and muttered, "And I used them all..."

He turned back at the cauldron, watching as the contents of it continued to bubble with heat, mixing itself together with the help of the cauldron. The Gardener then gritted his teeth; he refused to allow such rare ingredients to go to waste due to incompetence.

Turning his entire body towards Lillian, he inquired:

"If you had to put risk your life for my Niece, would you?"

Lillian, stunned by the question, unconsciously nodded, "Y-yeah, I would. May I ask why—?"

"Imbue the contents with your mana, this instant." The Gardener ordered, moving around the cauldron.

Lillian, who was surprised by the sudden order, began to filter her mana into the cauldron - mixing her mana with the black, viscous liquid.

Just as she was about to ask for the reason why, she found the Gardener to have suddenly dashed towards her; she flinched back, but was immediately caught by the arm, which was swiftly brought above the cauldron.

And in the next second—

Swish...!

—The Gardener slit her wrist.