"Tomorrow? Then let's set the time for tomorrow during lunch. At that hour, the guards have a shift change," Milan planned.
The three of them agreed.
Immediately afterward, the four of them discussed a few more details of the plan, bringing the council of their alliance to a close.
While Croll was fine staying, Milan had her own duties to attend to and couldn't linger here forever.
As they were parting, Leona suddenly called out to the others.
"Um, could you help me prepare a few things before nightfall? I guarantee that if I get these items, our chances of success will increase greatly," she asked unabashedly.
"What things? Just say the word," Milan agreed with a nod. She still held a certain degree of authority within the palace. At worst, she could go to that fellow Theran, who would always find a way to get what Leona wanted—so long as the requests weren't too unreasonable.
Leona recalled what she had read in the leather-bound book and said, "Three stalks of Silver Cup Grass, one Full Moon Stone, and a bucket of water—preferably morning dew, or stream water if that's unavailable, but absolutely not well water. Then add one iris flower and one pearl.
"This is the bare minimum amount. Of course, the more, the better."
The three fell silent for a moment, gazing with peculiar expressions at the book cradled in Leona's arms.
"What's wrong? Are these things hard to get?" Seeing their silence, Leona assumed she had asked for something too difficult.
Aside from the water, she had never even seen any of the other items before.
"It's a bit difficult, but not entirely impossible. So... does that book left by the Queen really record alchemy?" Milan asked, pointing at the leather-bound book.
If Leona could read it, it meant she possessed the potential to become an alchemist.
What was an alchemist? Even in the Glaze Kingdom, less than ten had ever appeared in history, and now there was only one left—the current King of the Glaze Kingdom. One could say that if Leona hadn't appeared, alchemists in this world would very likely have gone extinct.
"I suppose so," Leona replied.
She had flipped through the subsequent pages earlier, but they were blank.
It was a feeling—no, when Leona opened the leather-bound book, she seemed to truly resonate with God. She had seen Breya, as if time had frozen in an instant.
Breya had told her that the contents following required completing certain rituals to unlock, such as receiving a kiss, finishing a dance with a girl, waking up someone pretending to sleep, spending Christmas with an orphan...
Although absurd, such was the reality. Furthermore, she could not actively bring up these rituals herself, nor could she leak them to anyone; otherwise, all the remaining content would disappear.
And the only single page Leona could currently see recorded a recipe for making an elixir to heal eyes.
She truly believed now that Breya possessed the power of prophecy!
Nothing was more important than healing her eyes; otherwise, she would never have agreed to something as dangerous as rescuing Grant.
"I see." Milan nodded, and after pondering for a moment, she said apologetically to Leona:
"However, I can't guarantee I'll get all of these. Stream water is no problem, a few iris flowers were planted in the garden before, and Silver Cup Grass is quite common—you can spot it just by taking a stroll outside. As for the rest, I'm afraid I'm helpless."
Milan shrugged with a look that said she would do her best.
"I have a Full Moon Stone." Croll lifted her skirt, revealing a dagger strapped to each thigh. Reaching into the strap on her right side, she pulled out a smooth stone that glowed with faint blue fluorescence.
"Used for sharpening blades." Croll calmly handed the stone to Leona.
Leona took the stone with a smile, unable to repress a slight shudder.
Truly worthy of being a knight's daughter, carrying weapons on her person everywhere she went.
Just then, Anna nudged Leona's arm and removed the bracelet on her wrist.
It was strung with genuine, real pearls.
"Is this enough?" Anna asked worriedly.
"More than enough, My Princess," Leona said, filled with delight. She only needed a few grams of pearl powder. Once Milan brought the other materials, her eyes would finally have a chance to be healed.
...
The sun set, ushering in Leona's third night.
Before setting off to steal from the King, she had to try something she had never experienced or even seen before—concocting a secret elixir.
In the afternoon, Milan brought what Leona needed as promised. The materials were all prepared, leaving only the concocting itself.
Alchemy mainly served two purposes: one was concocting secret elixirs, and the other was creation—gifting an object traits it wasn't meant to possess.
In the dim secret passage, Anna brought three oil lamp bowls and arranged them at three points according to Leona's instructions. The spot where the moonlight shone down happened to be the exact center of those three points.
Leona opened the leather-bound book once more. Every page was thick and heavy, but the handwriting on them was clearly legible.
She pressed her hand onto the very top of the only page whose words she could see. On it was written: "Leona, I hope this elixir that heals eyes will be of help to you.
"It is called the Gift of Sight. It can restore vision to the blind, and perhaps it has other effects unknown even to me. As for what those might be, I have no idea—after all, it can only be crafted by you. My dear, beneath the location of my statue lie the tools you need. Simply stomp lightly twice and heavily once to obtain them."
Leona didn't know how Breya could have known she was coming, let alone known her name. But shouldn't Leona be the protagonist of Little Red Riding Hood? How did she get entangled with Snow White?
Unable to figure it out, she simply stopped dwelling on it. Perhaps only time could answer the doubts in her heart. The urgent priority now was concocting the secret elixir.
"Gift of Sight Recipe: Three portions of Silver Cup Grass juice (one stalk per portion), 1 gram of Moonstone powder, 30 ml of pure water, five iris flower petals, 3 grams of pearl powder. Condition for consumption: Eat your own eyeball."
Leona read the main contents aloud softly to etch them into memory.
She stood up and walked over to the seat of the woman with the wreath as Breya had directed, stomping lightly twice and heavily once on the ground nearby.
At the sound of turning metal gears, a massive stone slab on the ground opened, revealing a dazzling array of neatly arranged instruments.
Balances, funnels, weights, keys, graduated cylinders...
Leona felt as though she had returned to a laboratory.
"Anna, who on earth was your mother?" Leona couldn't help asking Anna beside her.
"My mother? A princess of the Glaze Kingdom, an alchemist, and the Queen of the Kingdom of Ferent. I don't know what you're trying to ask, Leona, but those are all the identities I can think of," Anna replied.
Well, Anna had been only a few years old when Breya passed away. What could she possibly know?
"I hope this elixir works," Leona murmured softly as she began her very first attempt at alchemy.
Rate on N.U.
