Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing

After Leon finished his meeting with his grandfather, the atmosphere among the servants was far from pleasant.

The reason was simple.

“Ugh, another one is leaving. Another one.”

Hannah, the maid who cleaned Leon’s room, sighed deeply as she watched a servant quickly pack up and disappear.

“What? Someone else left?”

Hearing her muttering, John, a footman, widened his eyes in surprise and asked again.

“Yes! How can they all just quit because of some strange rumors about the young master? Isn’t that too much?”

“These guys, they used to love working for him, saying he was easy to serve and handsome, and now they’re running away? If you join a noble family, you should stay loyal to the end, not act without honor!”

If it were just one or two, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but it was rare for servants to leave en masse.

Once hired by a noble house, it was common to remain affiliated with them for half a lifetime.

Especially if that house was the Marquisate of Asteria, a prestigious magic family.

Serving a noble house with dedication was considered a virtue, yet now…

“Haah.”

Because of those ridiculous rumors, Leon’s household staff had been drastically reduced.

The reason? No one knew what repercussions might come to those connected to the death of the great magic family’s heir.

“Are the rumors… true?”

Hannah sighed deeply, hugging a basket of laundry.

“Our young master may be frail, but he’s not dying. Didn’t he survive mana shock three times? And lately, he’s been more active than ever…”

Not to mention,

He even started making potions recently.

That meant he had an incredible talent for alchemy, yet people were leaving just because of some baseless rumor about him having a terminal illness.

“Of course not. Where else would you find a noble like our young master? We’re the proof!”

At John’s words, Hannah nodded.

“Exactly! Do they not realize how much they’ve benefited from working here? They won’t be treated as well anywhere else.”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

“John, let’s put an end to these rumors about our young master!”

“Which rumors, exactly?”

Huh?

At the sharp voice behind them, John and Hannah stiffened.

“L-Lady Sylvia.”

Seeing the elderly woman in her neat attire, John and Hannah quickly bowed their heads.

‘The head maid heard us…’

‘No, John. This might actually be a good thing.’

Really…?

John glanced at Sylvia.

Head Maid Sylvia.

She had been managing the estate long before John and Hannah were even born.

No one knew where she was from, what her hobbies were, or anything about her past.

More than that, she always appeared out of nowhere whenever there was trouble in the mansion and swiftly handled it.

The reason the estate functioned smoothly even without a mistress was entirely thanks to Sylvia.

“Surely, you two don’t believe such ridiculous rumors, do you?”

Sylvia despised anything that tarnished the Asteria family’s name.

Especially rumors like these.

“O-Of course not. It’s just that more and more people are quitting because of this, so we were… a little worried…”

Sylvia’s raised eyebrows gradually lowered.

“I see. That’s enough. Pay no mind to the rumors. I’ve already taken care of everything.”

“…”

Taken care of…?

Now that they thought about it, the person suspected of spreading the worst rumors had been missing since yesterday.

‘T-Terrifying…!’

A chill ran down their spines.

“Hehe.”

Sylvia chuckled kindly as she passed them and entered Patrick’s office.

“Well, at least it’s resolved now.”

“Yeah…”

It was resolved, right?

If the head maid handled it herself, the rumors were surely silenced.

The question was, what would happen to those who left…

‘Hmph, if they were swayed by such baseless rumors, they can figure things out on their own.’

John decided not to dwell on it.

* * *

“So that’s what happened.”

“Yes. So this old woman handled it personally.”

“Well done.”

“But you don’t look well today either.”

As Sylvia tidied up the scattered documents on Patrick’s desk without permission, she asked.

Even for someone who had managed the Asteria household for so long, it was unthinkable to act so casually in front of an 8th-circle grand mage.

Unless she was of equal or greater strength.

Yet Patrick made no complaints.

In fact, he found it comforting.

“I’d like you to take a look at this.”

Patrick pulled out a potion bottle from his pocket.

It was the potion Leon had made a few days ago.

“This is… the one from before.”

She had already examined it once.

It seemed like a mana recovery potion, yet strangely, it contained no detectable magic power.

“Yes. I’d like you to inspect it again—with a witch’s eyes.”

“…”

A witch.

A race that lived for a thousand years, a hybrid of demon and human.

Sylvia’s murky, aged eyes gleamed faintly with light.

“Wasn’t the inspection already finished?”

Inside the bottle, a single sip’s worth of potion swirled lightly.

It wasn’t difficult, so Sylvia took the bottle, swirled it, uncapped it, and sniffed the contents—then suddenly froze.

“This is…”

It was no ordinary potion.

Beyond its quality, the fundamental recipe of this potion…

Patrick nodded silently.

“Hah.”

It was astonishing.

“This is not something the young master could have created.”

Sylvia.

Not the head maid, but the witch bound to the Asteria family, recognized it immediately…

“This is the Hero’s Potion.”

The Hero.

The legendary figure who ended the war against the demons fifty years ago and then vanished.

No labyrinth could contain him, no god dared challenge him.

And…

Perhaps the only one capable of finding the ‘contract’ binding Sylvia within the labyrinth owned by the Asteria family.

Sylvia stared at the potion again.

The opened bottle emitted a faintly cool scent, but that was all.

It had no significant effect on her.

“This is something only a Hero could acquire.”

“We can’t be certain yet. The Hero’s Potion would be even more potent than this.”

Patrick paused mid-sentence.

‘If that boy is truly the Hero…’

A Hero always emerges alongside a great evil.

Just like in the past war against the demons.

‘No, it’s impossible that he’s the Hero.’

Patrick resumed speaking.

“Regardless… I want him to make an even better potion than this.”

“For what purpose?”

“I want my sister to experience the same liberation I did.”

“…For me?”

Sylvia knew exactly what he meant.

She recalled the distant past, the time when she lived as a witch and opposed humanity.

The then-head of the Asteria family, who had been ordered to execute witches, took pity on her and captured her alive. To ensure mutual safety, they crafted a special contract:

[The witch Sylvia may not leave Asteria’s domain.]

[The witch Sylvia may live as a human within Asteria’s domain.]

[To prevent misuse, the contract shall be stored within the Asteria family’s ‘Library.’]

Thus, she had obtained the position of head maid.

Due to her long lifespan, she would retire when the time was right, return with a new body, and continue managing the estate.

This had been going on long before Patrick Asteria became the family head, and over time, Sylvia gradually softened her hostility toward humans and adapted well.

But every situation had its side effects.

No matter how many times her body changed, Sylvia was, in essence, repeating the same role for centuries. And slowly, she grew weary of it.

That was why Patrick had brought up this conversation.

A potion that had worked well, even for him, an 8th-circle mage.

He wondered if drinking it might help her feel better.

Patrick was worried about the witch who had watched over him since childhood.

He was even calling her “sister” again—a term he hadn’t used since he was a boy.

“Haha… Ahahaha!”

Sylvia burst into laughter at the sight.

“Do you know what the most useless thing in the world is? Worrying about a witch.”

As if emotional exhaustion was something to be concerned about.

She had lived for a thousand years and never fallen ill.

And that wasn’t all.

She was born with immense magical power and various innate abilities.

On top of that, if she wished, she could maintain eternal youth.

“So there’s no need to burden your adorable grandson with unnecessary concerns. I’m perfectly fine.”

Yes. Truly, she was fine.

And if she wasn’t? Well, what of it?

“You know that kind of potion wouldn’t even affect me.”

“…Then, if he were to create a potion that does work on you, I’ll take that as a promise that you’d drink it.”

“That won’t be easy.”

That would take an actual Hero to accomplish.

Sylvia concealed the witch’s expression once more and returned to being the head maid.

She straightened her attire and bowed politely.

“In that case, this old woman shall take her leave.”

Whoosh.

As if sinking into the shadows, Sylvia vanished once again.

Patrick stared at the empty spot where she had stood, remaining silent for a long while before making a decision.

He called for a servant and gave a brief command.

“Go summon Leon.”

♦♦♦

“You called for me?”

Leon headed straight to his grandfather’s room.

Last time, he had a reasonable excuse for being late, but this time, he had none.

That meant he had to at least appear diligent.

I should also check if he drank the potion properly.

With that in mind, he opened the door and stepped inside…

“Is something troubling you, Grandfather?”

“What trouble?”

Patrick’s demeanor was noticeably different from usual.

Ordinary people might not have noticed, but Leon had a keen sense—one honed from his past as a businessman.

It was obvious.

That was the face of a man with something weighing on his mind.

“Or did you have trouble sleeping last night?”

“No.”

“Lack of exercise?”

“No.”

“Maybe because of your age, your digestion isn’t as strong when eating greasy foods?”

…This brat.

Just as Patrick’s expression darkened with irritation, Leon casually muttered:

“Then it must be because of my potion.”

“…”

Patrick abruptly fell silent.

Just as I thought.

Leon briefly glanced at the emptied potion bottle before shifting his gaze back to his grandfather.

“Yes. I called you here because of your potion.”

Patrick admitted it surprisingly quickly—meaning this was something urgent.

“Can you make a potion of even higher quality than the one you made last time?”

“May I ask what you intend to use it for?”

“Hmm.”

After a long pause, Patrick finally spoke, albeit somewhat hesitantly.

“I want to give it to the head maid.”

The head maid… He must mean Sylvia.

Well, she certainly works tirelessly for the family.

But if the potion was meant for Sylvia, even a 2-star potion would be more than impressive.

And yet, he was asking for something better than the last one?

Not to mention… even making a 2-star potion is out of the question right now.

There weren’t any more 1-star herbs left, and even if he gathered better ingredients, there was no guarantee of another stroke of luck like last time.

A 2-star potion was, objectively speaking, Leon’s current limit.

However—

Without a doubt, this was an opportunity he had to seize, no questions asked.

“It will take some time… but it’s possible.”

Leon’s instincts were screaming at him.

This was definitely a pink-tinted moment between his grandfather and Sylvia!