Chapter 40: "A letter from your best friend.”

Two weeks had passed.

Selene sat in her room, carefully crafting potions. With an abundant supply of soul essence, she decided to put it to good use by creating various potions and alchemical items. Thanks to her efforts, she had even unlocked the Alchemy skill.

At the moment, she was working on a rather… unconventional potion—an aphrodisiac.

The farmers had attempted to use regular aphrodisiacs on their bulls, but for some reason, they had no effect. Since livestock reproduction had never been an issue before, no one had ever needed to develop a specialized animal aphrodisiac. As a result, they had no idea what the correct dosage should be.

The farmers had considered the alternative—artificial insemination—but they weren't keen on the idea. Since the whole thing had been her suggestion, Selene decided to take responsibility and make a specialized potion for the bulls herself.

To prepare, she purchased a potion-crafting book, various alchemical ingredients, proper tools, and even a hazmat suit from the system's store interface.

Of course, she could have simply handed the recipe over to a professional, but she had three very good reasons not to:

She wanted to make a test product first to ensure it worked.

She needed to improve her Alchemy skill.

She didn't want the formula falling into the wrong hands and being used for criminal purposes.

In other words, this was a secret operation.

Not even Magnus knew about it—because if he did, she knew he wouldn't approve. That was why she had Merly stationed at the door to warn her if Magnus was approaching.

Besides, Magnus had enough on his plate already.

The Dr. Valmont incident was still under investigation, and things had only become more complicated. It was recently discovered that a total of three bandit gangs had been involved. On top of that, Magnus had been assigned a secret investigation into the Minister of Finance, Trade, and Agriculture.

And as if things couldn't get any worse, just yesterday, they had been forced to deal with another problem.

Selene turned her gaze toward her bed, where a two-year-old boy sat, watching cartoons on an iPad.

His name was Noel.

He was Dr. Valmont's son.

After Valmont's arrest, they had managed to purge the drugs he had been administering to his 14-year-old wife. However, the moment the drugs wore off, the girl completely lost her mind—which, given what she had endured, was understandable.

Magnus had immediately arranged for her to be sent to the temple for cleansing before she could be marked as tainted.

In this world, being sexually assaulted did not automatically mark someone as tainted. The status was only bestowed upon those who, in response to their trauma, engaged in acts deemed ungodly—such as excessive promiscuity, drug abuse, or anything considered morally corrupt.

The Tainted status was a divine punishment issued by the Goddess herself.

Once afflicted, all of a person's skills and attributes would be permanently weakened by 50%.

The only way to remove it was to undergo cleansing at the temple—and even then, it would only work if the individual truly repented and believed that what they had done was wrong.

Unfortunately, the same day the girl's body was freed from the drugs, she had attempted to murder her own son.

She didn't believe she had done anything wrong. In her mind, the child should have never existed in the first place.

Since sending her to the temple would be pointless, she had ultimately run away, leaving Noel behind.

The big decision they had to make yesterday was what to do with the little boy.

Sending Noel to Ravencroft Orphanage would have been the easiest option. But there was one major problem.

It was well known that abandoned children often struggled with depression and developed attachment issues, latching onto someone they viewed as a motherly or fatherly figure.

And the person Noel had chosen was Selene.

It all started the night before.

Selene had gotten up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water from the kitchen. On her way back to her room, she saw Noel, sitting in a dark corner, silently crying.

Of course, her "Noona mode" activated instantly.

She comforted him, picked him up, and brought him back to her room.

That one act of kindness had sealed her fate.

From that moment on, Noel latched onto her completely—following her everywhere, crying whenever she left him alone, and throwing a fit when he was being taken to the orphanage.

Selene was completely perplexed by the situation.

She was only 12 years old, and yet a toddler had somehow decided that she was his mother.

However, what puzzled her even more was Magnus's decision yesterday—he decided to adopt Noel.

Magnus had explained that, despite being young, Noel was aware of his situation. Simply abandoning him at an orphanage would only make his abandonment issues worse.

Besides, Magnus and Evangeline had no plans to have any more children.

Selene had been curious about why, but she decided not to meddle in her parents' personal business.

As for Noel, she had placed him inside the calming barrier on her bed, allowing his fragile mind to settle.

With a sigh, she turned back to her work, holding up a finished potion bottle.

However, she wasn't done yet.

She needed to convert the potion into a powdered form, so it could be easily sprinkled onto the cattle feed for the bulls.

Just as she was about to start, Merly walked in.

"The Duke and Sir Alaric are coming."

Selene froze, then quickly shoved everything into her inventory before dashing into the bathroom to remove her hazmat suit.

By the time she stepped out, Magnus and Alaric were already sitting on the couch.

Both of them had dark circles under their eyes.

Selene sighed. "How are things going?"

Magnus let out a deep sigh. "The way things are going… we're going to have to report this to the King."

Selene rubbed her forehead at those words.

In the game, it had been Eri who discovered the drug trafficking ring and reported it.

If they wanted to keep the storyline intact, they needed to find a way to fix the issue within the duchy—without alerting the king.

But that was easier said than done.

If Magnus was seen handling the situation secretly, it could look like he was trying to cover it up. And when the time came for Eri to uncover the truth, the investigation could trace back to Magnus—which would be a disaster.

Magnus sighed again, then reached into his coat and pulled out a letter, handing it to Selene.

Selene frowned, confused. "What is this?"

Magnus looked at her and said, "It's a letter from your best friend."