The duo's eyes followed her practiced movements, but the Herbalist turned to Rhoda, "That child is quite intelligent and bold. See, when we first arrived I thought she was a mute"
He spoke in a light and cheerful tone, rhythmically tapping the empty tea cup in his hands.
Rhoda remained unimpressed, then gave a rather forceful sigh. She stood up once more and gave a curtsy to them.
"Firstly, I'd like to thank you for coming to the rescue of me and my child…"
She said to the apprentice who hurriedly replied, "It was no problem at all"
She nodded at his modest gesture and continued speaking, "Secondly, I'd like to know why you came back here. I believe the village head has settled the payments and if there were any problems, we would have discovered it during the past five days. So I wonder what brings you two back here?"
The herbalist stared on for a while, then with a soft smile he said;
"We came back here because we discovered something about your child"
Rhoda's gaze flickered with changing emotions, and she wanted to ask what was wrong with her baby, or if that was the reason he hadn't opened his eyes yet, but the Herbalist continued speaking the moment he noticed her panic.
"And we took this long to return because we were getting the proper equipment to confirm his condition. But you don't need to worry too much, because it should be nothing too serious. But since you're this easily startled then that means you don't know what's wrong with him."
He said calmly, his voice tinged with slight delight, but turned away from Rhoda's worrying gaze and to his assistant, who shook his head.
'Then it must be his father. Hmm… This is going to be harder than I thought…'
He mused to himself, frowning softly.
Since the Herbalist had no idea who Rhoda's husband could be, or who was the father of the baby she had just birthed, he could only tread with caution and continue to observe her.
He had tried asking the villagers and even investigated himself, but he found nothing and the villagers were very tight-lipped with what they knew, even though they were scared of him.
And when he tried to ask Greta, she acted as though she were a parrot who could not speak of its own volition and could only repeat what it had been told or had heard.
He thought Rhoda had a formidable background because of the silence and wariness he received from the villagers, and her bearing and noble demeanor but it turned out the baby's father was the true powerful figure.
But if this were the case it would be difficult to get her to agree to his first request, as for his second request… it was too boring to consider but it was quite bearable and would probably turn out fine in the end.
'But what good was fine when it didn't bring in any profits?'
Finally he smiled and faced Rhoda once again.
Rhoda frowned at the Herbalist's words and his weird interaction with his assistant.
She fidgeted with her fingers as she studied the Herbalist with a frantic heart. She tried to control her emotions but she could not help but feel dread at the thought that there might be something wrong with her child.
'Could there be some sort of ritual that had to be performed when the child is born? Is it too late to go back to the capital?'
Rhoda became more anxious the longer the silence dragged out, but seemingly experienced, she managed to veil that anxiety under vague concern.
The assistant seemed to have sensed her anxiety and became even more uncomfortable in his seat. He didn't dare to say or do anything without his master's permission.
Finally, unable to take it any longer, she asked.
"What do you think is wrong with him?"
The Herbalist smirked, but gently replied, "The problem is his mana. I must have said it earlier but my assistant can see mana and on the day of your baby's deliver he saw his mana"
"His mana?"
Rhoda, who had been anxious and uneasy to the point of squirming uncomfortably in her seat, visibly relaxed as she asked the Herbalist softly.
"Yes, this is a mana stone used for testing the affinity a child has with mana and the estimated amount of mana they have"
He placed an object on the table, it was dark purple in colour and had a circumference of about 15 centimeters.
Rhoda examined the stone without touching it. Truth be told, she has never come in contact with such a thing before, but she had enough knowledge to not get duped.
"And this is a man-made mana stone capable of absorbing mana and expelling it."
He placed a similar stone on the table, it had the same shape, but bore a purple tint that was more ominous than the first one.
'Alchemy…!'
Rhoda exclaimed internally, and turned to the herbalist.
How did he manage to get an Alchemist' product from the Western empire and bypass the East's strict borders?
The herbalist smiled ambiguously in response to her questioning gaze.
Once she saw that, she could only put aside her curiosity and ask the important questions.
"So what do you want in return for helping me?"
She moved her slightly surprised gaze and met the Herbalist's thoughtful one, there was a sudden silence between them that she did not break.
She sat quietly and sipped her tea to ease the atmosphere, it was then the Herbalist leaned in, his expression morphing into one of utter seriousness as he said with a low voice.
"Your son"