Before her power calmed down, the recipe wouldn't leave her line of vision making her flustered. After a whole day of thinking about how to dispel this strange vision, Sterne reluctantly did as it instructed. 

Well, if you're not going away. Let's do what you say! Is what she thought that time. 

Finding and extracting for tincture sounded easy, one must only gather the pistils of mature crane flowers then grind it to paste before extracting the essence. Naturally, she has plenty of those flowers, it's just that she did not anticipate how many pounds of pistils were shredded before she could collect a spoonful of extract.

Sterne’s heart cried bloody tears after seeing the devastation. Her lovely flowers… It was like looking at the head of a handsome man with a huge bald spot on top. Imagine how that looks and see if you don't feel bad!  

The 'Moonshine' in the recipe was quite vague. It gave her a few waves of headache and killed plenty of her brain cells before discovering what that mysterious thing was.

Was it a literal moonshine where you leave it overnight under the moonlight or is it some sort of a mixture as well? Digging at the deepest part of the Lost Recipe was a task especially when she is just new to this. She was forced to explore this ability called Archaic Recipe or Lost Recipe something and after suffering from a few bouts of dizziness thankfully she found the right item.

She was able to breathe in relief after discovering it was a kind of special moss that sticks to trees with red leaves and speckled trunks. A moss? Really! So armed with a small knife and a basket she went out of the manor in search of it. 

Unexpectedly, her way towards the woodland did not turn as smoothly as she thought it would be. She encountered a few problems. A merchant carriage was blocking the way, what was worse is that the owner was the nasty merchant Mr. Kief. A fairly well-known annoying and disagreeable person. Of all places, he had to be stuck with it turned to be the only path towards the woodland. 

Currently, the man is roaring at her friend Dorn.

"You stinking brat! What do you think you're doing putting rocks on the road?!"

"You are not allowed to pass!" Dorn belligerently answered back with his chin up and arms crossed.

Come hell or high waters, he would not budge. 

"You… you have no respect for your elders."

"Oh, so you recognize yourself as an elder now? Tell me, does this so-called elder usually trick children?"

Mr. Kief's face turned an ugly red. He pulled the stockwhip one with a sturdy wooden handle and long leather tail rolling it on his palm.

"If you don't remove those stones right this instant you will be sorry."

"Aye, I have been sorry. Sorry enough I'm going to tell everyone not to do business with--"

*CRACK*  

The whip slithered like a snake hitting Dorn's left shoulder. The crisp sound made Sterne flinch but Dorn didn't seem to feel it and only glared reproachfully at the man.

Mr Kief menacingly warned, "Go ahead and tell everyone see if they believe you. I, on the other hand, will tell them that you intend to rob me."

According to the conversation, the tricky merchant did not pay the children the right amount of coins when they sold their goats. When Dorn found out he ran towards the road intending to stop the man.

One doe is equivalent to three silvers but Mr. Kief only gave them a hundred fifty coppers which only amounted to half of the original sale price Sterne felt indignant as well. If Dorn didn’t find out about the actual cost from the other merchants visiting the fief this nasty man will continue to go about his shady business while cheating the people.

"Be grateful I bother to do business with you wretch. Without my help for many years now wouldn't you be more pitiful? Where do you think the coins you put in your purse come from? If it wasn't for my charitable venture you wouldn't be able to see actual coins!"

"It's a trade! You know it." Dorn screeched back. "But you're robbing us."

"Rob you? Little shit, know your place." Mr Kief looked under his nose with disdain. "There's nothing in here that's worth grabbing. One word from me and all the other merchants will never step foot in this abominable wasteland. However, you and your gang of rags, I will tell everyone you stopped my carriage to take my goods!"

Sterne's hands shook. Although he is only a peddler he still belongs to the Merchant Guild, once the word gets out it will affect the trade of goods inside the territory. In recent years, more and more merchants have refused to enter here. Crop yield is low and the farms do not have many animals left aside from horses. With no other products to trade, it is only natural that they choose places that will be of benefit to their business. However, to just agree on being taken advantage of…

Does he really have that much authority? The branch she had been holding on to snapped. This vile man!

"Don't move milady." Sir Thais appeared from behind holding her shoulders, with a softened tone he said. “It’s not appropriate for you to show yourself. Allow me to handle it."

When did he come? She was sure she left the manor alone, not even Emilia knows where she went.

"Good day to you Mr Kief." Sir Thais came out from the other side of the tree, walked towards Dorn and the merchant.

The latter spat on the ground. His fox-like eyes thinned, even more, making him look terribly sly.

"I have been listening for quite some time and it seems you two are in a lot of arguments."

"Oh, great a knight." Mr. Kief scoffed. He knew all too well that knights in this territory are hard to get along with. None of them receives any favour nor wants to curry favour towards merchants despite the poor condition of this land. "He tried to rob me."

Sir Thais gave Dorn a brief glance. Of course, he knew Dorn. They both met at the Hell Course for training.

"Although I am not a merchant myself, I must say that you did trade for quite a low price."

"Of course he's lying, just look at him. In fact, I'm the one feeling more aggrieved since what those bastards sold me is a stinky small goat. Instead of being grateful they dare throw accusations at me! I have been in this business for long but I have never met children so shameless despite being young. I wonder how their parents raise them." He snorted and glared at Dorn. "But that's not the issue here. This brat wants to steal my goods!"

Feigning a sigh, Sir Thais moved to Dorn. "Is this true?"

Dorn smirked seemingly unaffected when Mr. Kief cursed his parents. "As if I have any interest in what's inside his broken wagon."

"Why you… all of these items are first class just so you know! Don't try to deny it, you have been eyeing my goods." Mr. Kief roared indignantly with his saliva sputtering.

Sir Thais held his head as if trying to stop a headache. The man just wouldn't stop yapping. "May I ask why did you block the road?"

"I want to confront him." Dorn answered readily. 

Mr. Kief scoffed. "Confront me or accuse me?"

"Both." Dorn muttered with an eyeroll.

"You see that?" The merchant pointed a finger, he was so riled up he unwinded the whip once again. "I'm going to teach you a lesson since your wretched parents failed to. Stinkin' rats who grew up in sewers knew nothing of manners."

When he brandished the mean looking whip once again Sir Thais stopped his hand.

"When children are being unreasonable, we don't whip them here." He said frostily. The handsome face of the youth showed a hint of lethality making the merchant balk. "However, I don't see this kid being unreasonable. Why don't you just answer him and be on your way if you're not guilty?"

"You…" Mr Kief shouted again. "How dare you order me around! You're just a soldier, in the end, you're still a dog who listens to orders who you think pay for your salary. Scram!"

"Salary? Since when do I owe you my pay? You make it sound as if the money the knights earned came from you."

"All of you… I'm going to report you to the Merchant's Guild!"

"The Merchants Guild you say?" Sir Thais smiled thinly, "I wonder what opinions your fellow businessmen would have once they learned that you'd cheated a few helpless children when doing your trade?"

Mr Kief blanched, "W-What are you talking about?"

"The guild house in Aurea is very strict when it comes to implementing rules to its members since there are many out there who engage in fraud. I could only imagine what will happen to you by then, in the most severe case you may even lose your license and your reputation in the circle. It's possible that you may not be able to sell even scraps at all."  

As Thais described the horrific future he did not want to see, his courage to use the guild's name to intimidate them melted away. He was still a lowly peddler after all. 

"You know I'm back by the Viscount Bragg." He tried to struggle at the last minute. 

"You seem to have messed up the hierarchy." Dorn snickered. 

"What did you say?" He shouted. 

Dorn shot him an annoyed look, "Between a viscount and a duke, who do you think has much higher authority? Oh yes, doing fraudulent business within the duchy is..."

Sir Thais touched the hilt of his sword making Mr Kief jump. "Don't kill meeeeee!"

 

"Heh, coward." Dorn snorted.

Sir Thais dug something from his pocket and tossed it to the panicked merchant. "Hurry along and leave Nachtwald. Don't ever think of coming back."

Mr Kief caught the shiny gold coin greedily appraising it with his eyes when suddenly his face stilled. 

"Th-This is… Wisteria."

"You can exchange that for a hundred thousand gold pieces." Sir Thais said unemotionally.

Mr Kief shuddered and returned it almost immediately. 

Dorn stifled his laughter seeing how miserable he looked. Indeed the special token with insignia costs quite high. The only problem is that, once it's sold he will be arrested for theft and most probably be hanged to death. Crossing a noble is not a very nice experience.

Sterne heaved a sigh of relief knowing that the argument was over.

"Dorn, remove the stones. Let the old man pass, he is not coming back here again."

Dorn did as told, and while Mr Kief was not looking he moved his hands. 

Sir Thais pretended not to see it, "Collect your extra training allowances at the barracks treasury later. Consider it your bonus for expelling a pest."

Although afraid, Mr. Kief still felt enraged when he heard the last sentence. You will see, one of these days… 

As the carriage rolled away, Sterne came out from hiding startling Dorn. The three of them stood on the stone highway looking at the carriage  as it grew smaller and smaller.

"Dorn, what did you do to the old cow's wagon?" 

Dorn rubbed his nose. "Hehehe... nothing much. I noticed that the axle was quite tight so I loosened it a bit. For Mr. Kief's safety."

Sir Thais "..." 

Sterne bit her lip to keep herself from laughing. 

"As for Lady Sterne," Sir Thais suddenly turned to her. "You know you are not allowed to show yourself out here unchaperoned." 

"Sterne is going to be in trouble." Dorn teased. 

The little girl hid her face in her hand. "I won't do it again." 

After a few scoldings as to why she went out alone and settling the issue with the plague of a merchant, only did she remember the reason why she came in this area. Sparing no time, Sterne went back to her work with the elixir. 

Mixing the tincture to dew drops and adding moss by continually stirring, the murky colour became clearer. The muddy texture also gradually turned more fluid until it became as clear as water.

Hesitant at first, Sterne took a peek in it. There were only two words.

[Regen Solution.]

After a day of securing ingredients and another day of mixing, she seems to have succeeded. 

And it had been days since that experiment. 

A couple of weeks to be exact since she felt the strange sensation in her eyes. She later realized that, aside from the Lost Recipe, she seemed to have another ability. 

Stern finally got used to seeing words overlapping with her vision. At first, she felt a little nauseous and constantly lost her balance alerting everyone in the manor. She noticed that the atmosphere turned tense whenever she would show the slightest sign of fatigue. 

Perhaps she should slow down studying her newfound abilities. 

As the well-known sick child, it was only natural that everyone’s attention was mostly focused on her every move but it could sometimes be a problem since she could not sneak out as she wished. Emilia is by her side watching like a hawk twenty four seven and for some reason, Sir Ahmose is also keeping an eye on her. She didn’t understand why her teacher was particularly concerned about her condition. On one occasion, Sir Ahmose looked absolutely pale when she accidentally bumped her head on the pillar and crumpled to her knees.

It was her fault for being clumsy though. She apologized for making them worry and felt the need to assure them that she is now quite healthy. Worrying people made her feel immensely guilty.

It’s been so long since she had fallen sick but everyone just can’t put their guard down.

In fact, ever since the light from the sky came, she felt a lot more energetic. She was convinced that it was the main reason why she received these gifts. Although she has not told anyone else about it yet, her teacher might have more or less figured out that something has changed within her. Regarding this, she didn’t plan to hide it from her family. Aside from them, there is Sir Ahmose too. He is a trustworthy person she can confide with about the Lost Recipe. Besides, she just knew that she cannot keep this secret from them, her family and Sir Ahmose will find out sooner than later.

She spent her night studying and after days of effort Sterne felt that she now had a better command of her power. The foundation and principles of magic, it was much easier than the ones written in textbooks thus she absorbed it voraciously. 

Sterne looked at herself in the mirror. Nothing changed in her physical appearance, but her eyes were a different matter. Somehow they looked more clear. She blinked and a row of words was displayed right before her. 

It was the detailed information about herself. 

Now then, is it safe to assume that what she has is the legendary Herald’s Eye? Maybe. 

From the scattered information of every little thing she puts her sight into, she can now consciously make the words and phrases appear by her will. It was an ordeal but controlling the Herald's Eye with sheer willpower and stubbornness worked.

"Milady?" Emilia prompted.

Sterne pulled herself back to the present. Right now, Emilia is helping her brush ther atrociously long hair she has. Emilia, her assigned handmaid, is a sweet girl only three years older than her but her manners and demeanor already resembled that of an adult. She is also fair in her chestnut hair.

Ack~ she could hear her meagre confidence shatter.

Facing the bronze mirror Sterne saw a girl with a bony face and excessively huge metallic grey eyes.

"Say Emi, can we just braid it all from the roots to the tips? It's going to get in my eyes when I practice swords later."

"Sorry milady, I was specifically instructed by Miss Amy to properly groom your hair for today's lesson. You don't want it?"

"Well, I aim to be practical." Truthfully the waist length wavy blue-black hair was getting in her way that she very much wanted to chop it off.

She had every intention to do so because it was hard to move yet for some reason the three men in the family shouted their vehemence in perfect sync, odd they usually bicker from disagreeing in every little thing. Anyway, the hair was just an irrelevant matter compared to the barrel she was keeping in the garden. What to do about that, huh?

How was she supposed to go about telling father that she made the Regen Solution when she doesn't know what his reaction would be?

Thinking of him becoming overjoyed would be exaggerating a lot. Her father being a soldier himself is a bit on the stoic side. To some, he may seem hard to approach. Cynical? Yep, that's the general impression even from the people in the Royal Capital she heard. At thirty-two he looks very youthful and striking with his signature blue-black hair tied up with a strip of red ribbon.

Her brothers? They are… she doesn't know how to phrase it correctly without being rude.

The eldest Kyrios is an excellent knight studying under the Warrior Division of Royal Academy along with her second brother Dio.

Both of them are good looking men (no exaggeration there). The eldest is a neat carbon copy of the lord duke, a cold and aloof type of beauty with a steady and calm deportment. A complete opposite of her second older brother who is more like their late mother. Carefree, and charismatic, with a constant bright smile on his face. A bit wild? He is! Based on the rumours that drifted on her little ears, she learned that when they come to report to Aurea there is always a grand parade where ladies are throwing flowers-- to an extent even themselves at their feet.

Sterne felt embarrassed for some reason. Isn't that dangerous? Her brothers come on horseback. A person doesn’t just throw themselves down there, they will get squashed! 

The most depressing thing was when she was caught musing about it, people in the house suddenly erupted in laughter.

Oh well, she doesn’t know about the women in the royal capital but she thinks that risking a broken neck was a little extreme for them to get her brothers' attention. 

Ugh. No good, I'm digressing. She chided herself. She should be thinking about the barrel out there… 

"It's done milady." Emilia's voice dragged her flying thoughts back to the present. When she gazed into the mirror she saw the elaborate handiwork of Emilia. It was a gorgeous waterfall braid entwined with cream coloured ribbon.

"Chin up, back straight my lady, lessons will start--."

""CRASH""

A loud sound enough to startle the dead came from the front yard along with the ominous groans. She and Emilia rushed to the balcony.

"Enemies." Emelia asked alert. 

"No," Sterne hesitated. "T-That looks like elder brother Kyrios' cavalry and--" Her pupils shrink in fear. "I can't seem to see where Father and big bro Dio are..."

At that very moment Sterne felt like her heart dropped at her feet.