‘The message to Brish was sent; now I need to focus on the next step,’ Bruno thought to himself as he walked through his new laboratory in the castle, bathed in the warm rays of the morning sun. Some of the glass equipment reflected the light, creating a breathtaking scenery. The beauty of it didn’t come necessarily from the view itself; there was one more part whose significance could not be denied—the freedom. He was no longer a prisoner. His status lacked a proper definition yet, but he was sure it would change soon.

Just as the laboratory changed with a little push thanks to the power he now possessed. One order got him a large iron bowl, with a special tripod on which he could hang a cauldron to boil the content added inside over an open flame. Not a perfect solution, as he would prefer a stove, but something that was able to cover his needs.

Without the guards, or some poorly educated overseer, looking over his shoulder, Bruno approached the alchemical table and began the work. He didn’t have all the necessary ingredients, but that was not a problem.

‘He is going to bring everything soon, so I need to do some preparations, to obscure the process. He might be a poor alchemist, but he still has some knowledge,’ he thought to himself, rearranging some of the glassware as well as a few pieces made out of copper. ‘When the time comes I’m going to make a formal request to the king to set up a proper laboratory within the city walls.’

He sighed deeply, briefly contemplating getting rid of the leech, or herbalist as he called himself, but the man had his use. ‘He can be dangerous, but if I play this right, he will reinforce my position. I’m still not as trustworthy, in the eyes of others, as I would like to be. I can’t afford to be reckless. At least not as long as Bahir is alive. I need to move fast. He has to be executed.’

With those thoughts, he began working, mixing some of the ingredients. Quite a bit of time passed for him during this endeavor. Enough to prepare some of the concoction and hide the crucial mixtures that would later need to be combined. He managed to squeeze enough time to fake some of his work before a man burst into his laboratory.

It was the older alchemist, bent due to a large bag on his back and holding an additional basket in his hands. „I-I got everything y-you wanted!” the man announced.

„Good. Put it on the shelves, and then help me here. I wouldn’t mind an additional pair of hands,” Bruno said, smiling at him.

„Y-yes,” the man stuttered in response, before quickly starting to move again.

It was crystal clear that he was afraid for his life, desperate to get out of the situation he found himself in without losing his life or getting harmed. Bruno did his best to appear as an ally while they worked together with a brief pause to eat, eventually putting everything in a state where they only needed to combine everything into a single concoction.

"We are almost ready. Would you mind asking a guard to find the king and ask him if he will find the time for us?" the young alchemist questioned.

"Of course," the man bowed slightly before leaving the laboratory.

Bruno seized the moment, immediately adding all other pre-prepared and hidden parts of the mixture to the cauldron, where the other half of the elixir was already boiling. He stirred it to accelerate the mixing process further, finally taking it off the fire.

He placed it on the stone floor and grabbed a clean, empty bucket, a piece of fresh cloth, a metal ring, and a ladle. He wrapped the fabric on top of the bucket before securing it with a metal ring, then began pouring the hot liquid from the cauldron into the bucket, carefully to not spill any of it.

It took him a bit of time, but it was eventually done. He placed the filled bucket on the alchemical table before seizing the cauldron to throw everything left inside of it into a bucket in the corner of the laboratory, prepared for all the garbage.

With the evidence mostly cleared, he finally had the time to begin pouring the elixir into bottles. While still in the process, the older alchemist returned.

"I sent the guard," he informed.

"Good. Now help me here, please."

"Of course," the man smiled.

The two of them began working together, which didn't necessarily make the process faster, but it was never Bruno's goal. They were mostly done when a soldier burst into the room.

"The king is ready to see you," he informed.

"Good. We will finish here, and go visit him. It will be only a moment," the young alchemist retorted, only to switch back his focus to the work.

This was enough for the guard to leave. Several minutes later, he was ready. From the row of a dozen bottles, he chose one, which he took.

"Let’s go, and show the fruit of our labor to the king," he encouraged his older companion.

"Y-yes," the man stuttered, clearly showing signs of happiness due to the fact he was included.

In the corridor, the soldier awaited them, ready to escort them upstairs, to the king’s chambers where Katyan awaited, for the first time dressed properly. With the long fur coat still on his back, but now he also had pants.

He was on the balcony, looking at the sea in the distance, beyond the cliffs quite a distance away from the castle. Hearing the noise produced by the opening door, he turned around and came inside.

"Your majesty," Bruno greeted him with a slight nod, which was repeated by the older alchemist as well. "We prepared a medicine for you. It will strengthen your body, accelerate the recovery, and give you more energy. It will get rid of the damage inflicted by the poison on your body," he said, presenting the bottle.

"Do I have to drink it all?" Katyan raised his eyebrows.

"No. Only a sip after every meal will be enough," the young alchemist explained, approaching to give the bottle to the king, who immediately took a sip.

"It tastes like herbs," he concluded after peeling his lips off the bottle.

"It’s a herbal medicine. The knowledge of my herbalist fellow alchemist was crucial in making it," Bruno smiled, briefly pointing at the leech.

"I see… You will be compensated for your efforts," Katyan nodded, only to approach the table to put down the bottle.

"All I need is to return to the work I was doing before the old man interrupted me. The farms and mines of the kingdom still need me," Bruno pointed out.

"Yes…" The king agreed before going silent for a moment. "Are you good with numbers?"

"Of course, your majesty. Every alchemist needs to be good with numbers," he smiled.

"Bahir is in the dungeon right now, so he can't do what he was doing before. I need somebody to temporarily take over."

"I would be honored to serve you," Bruno bowed slightly once again.

"Good," Katyan smiled, clearly happy with the outcome he achieved.