Despite this being a backward fantasy world, it had its advantages. One of them was a testing regent to see if a potion would be harmful for humans to use or not.

The potion, a complex blend of highly reactive substances, was challenging to brew. Its sensitivity to the smallest stimuli made it the most dependable tool for testing the safety of other potions.

The system had assured Layla that the reagent was 99.9% accurate most of the time, but the potential danger of that 0.1% was a constant source of suspense… for most people.

Because Layla had the system, she could run her potions through it to ensure they had no side effects. However, all her creations had side effects, so she did not try to

Except for her latest creation. It was the first recipe with no drawbacks, except that the herbs were difficult to acquire. But it worked well on the rat, which was a plus.

"Did you finally succeed in creating your potion? Should we check it out?"

The elf asked as he held the small amount of reagent out for Layla to pour her potion inside it.

There was no reaction, indicating that the potion was completely safe. It was a revolution looking to happen.

"Looks like you finally achieved your goal. What are you going to do now?"

The elf asked in a bored voice.

He had been distant since he had promised Layla that he would see her as more than her family name.

It was disappointing how this elf did not treat Layla the same way he treated the Female Lead, but it seemed like a better deal on second thought.

After all, the elf's love had bordered the romantic spectrum for the female lead, but Layla did not intend to deal with this nonsense.

"I want to mass-produce this potion for the common people as well. I would need to cut back on the supply cost to do that. The best way to do that would be to acquire land where I can grow this and then hand that task over to an expert. Hmm, money is the issue again."

Any plan Layla made came back with the same issue - money.

Duke Lockhart had a lot of money, but that did not mean that Layla also had all that money.

"My allowance is not going to cut it, right? And no one would loan a kid like me money. Then, I have no choice but to win the Duke's favor and ask for this money."

This solution sucked, and depending on the Duke, it sucked even more. Layla did not doubt that the Duke was planning something with all the kids he was gathering. However, the original novel does not mention this premise.

The world had ended when the Duke's plans were released. It felt like a disappointment when Layla had been reading the novel, and now it felt like a shame not to know anything.

"Young miss, if you want money, then I-"

"It has to be the Duke's money. We will need to explain where all this money came from, and the most accurate way to do that would be to pin the wealth on the Duke."

Even if this was an ancient world, the money was tightly regulated. Any power that would become wealthy would attract the royal family's attention.

Layla knew that Mary had much more to her than she let on. She was also powerful and resourceful enough to catch the Duke's eye.

But would this be enough to oppose the royal family, which the main character would have as an ally in the future?

'The original story was quite fairytale-like in that sense. How can any human with any sense of pride forget what they went through just because they fell in love and their lover asked for it? I'm sure that the Male Lead was suppressing anger inside it.'

That was why Layla would give him an outlet once she was in a position to do so.

But first, she needed to build a foundation.

"You…Are you sure you are a kid? What you worry about is not something that adults would worry about. Are you some kind of ancient spirit that had been cursed to be reborn as a child? But your energy waves feel humanoid-"

The more the elf asked this question, the loser she got to Layla's face.

It was beginning to make Layla uncomfortable.

Just when Layla thought she should react, the other man was flung far away from her by Mary.

"Oops, I forgot to control my strength! Next time, I will make sure to hit you more gently."

Mary promised, but the light in her eyes spoke differently. She held her axe at ready like a bat and swung it on its flat side to show that she would hit the man in front of her again if he tried anything funny.

The elf made an annoyed face as he stood from where the axe had flung him. Despite the hard hit he sustained, the elf looked unharmed, and he dusted himself off.

"Be more careful if you are going to attack me. You almost made me break all my precious flasks with these precious potions. It could have caused a small explosion."

The elf scolded, but Mary's smile showed she could not care less about it.

"Oh, I see! Is that so? I guess I made a mistake. My apologies. I will make sure to aim for your face next time."

Mary assured her that she would put her axe down as she cracked her. It made an impactful sound as it hit the ground, and the elf professor flinched.

Layla had already tuned out the duo's familiar routine and focused on what she needed to do next.

'Hmm, I need to know the next famous competition for my age group. Once I enter and win it, the Duke would have to offer me a reward. There should be a few that I can take advantage of.'