The Fourth Princess of the Empire, Lilian Vivarana, was in a foul mood at this moment.
Just now, her carefully planned scheme had been completely disrupted by a fool who had—literally—fallen from the sky.
Lilian remained seated on the ground where she had landed, one hand pressing against her painfully bruised forehead, the other stealthily clenched into a fist at her side.
If it weren’t for years of courtly training and practiced composure, she truly wanted to leap up and hit this reckless fool with an Improved Explosive Elixir of Royal Alchemy.
“Li-Lilian, Your Highness? I’m so sorry! Are you all right?”
Camilla Vellrit’s voice was tinged with obvious panic, and through blurred, tearful eyes, Lilian observed her.
Black hair, red eyes, a face so delicate it bordered on excessive—yes, it was indeed her, one of the key figures in Lilian’s plan, the younger sister of Ophelia Vellrit.
Ever since their last encounter, Lilian had been trying to forge a connection with Ophelia, that so-called “prodigy among prodigies,” but there hadn’t been the slightest bit of progress.
That woman was like a walking glacier—outside of classes and training, she occasionally visited the library, but only to read Combat Magic Tomes. Lilian had tried two “chance meetings” and “asking for advice,” but the results were less than ideal.
Helpless, Lilian had to shift to a secondary approach—starting with those close to Ophelia. After gathering some intel, she set her sights on two targets: Emma Gattuso and Ophelia’s sister, Camilla Vellrit.
Emma was relatively easy to approach—simple, hardworking, and eager for knowledge. Lilian had actually planned to seek her out today under the pretext of “discussing alchemy questions.”
As for Camilla… Lilian’s original plan had been to start with her, since she was Ophelia’s sister and thus presumably closer, but the girl was so astonishingly lazy that Lilian hadn’t found a suitable opportunity to approach.
And now, the very target who’d been giving her a headache had stumbled right into her lap.
Lilian’s mind raced.
Opportunity—this was an opportunity.
She quickly adjusted her mood, letting the tears in her eyes gather even more, her lips trembling slightly as she spoke in a frail and aggrieved voice.
“I-it’s all right… It’s my fault, I wasn’t watching above as I walked…”
She deliberately let her gaze fall on the scattered shards of alchemical equipment all over the floor, timing it perfectly so a single teardrop slid down her cheek—it wasn’t entirely an act; the equipment wasn’t cheap, and she was actually a bit hurt from the blow.
“These instruments… sob… The professor lent them to me… I was supposed to use them to prepare a very important potion…”
Sure enough, Camilla’s expression became even more guilty.
“I’m so sorry! I’ll pay you back, no matter the cost!”
Lilian smirked inwardly. Pay for damages? Of course she would—but that was just the start.
She lifted her tearful face and said in her gentlest, most harmless tone,
“But… some of this equipment is a limited edition model. The Alchemical Workshop in the capital might not be able to restock until next week… B-but I need them urgently now…”
She watched Camilla’s reaction. According to her intel, this girl had a powerful older sister, but she didn’t put on airs and didn’t seem particularly wealthy either.
Lilian planned to wait for her to squirm a bit before “considerately” suggesting, “Would you come help me look for replacements, or maybe explain things to the professor?”—thus binding them together for a while.
However—
“Limited edition?”
Camilla blinked, then let out a sigh of relief.
“That’s not so bad, then.”
“Huh?”
The black-haired girl patted grass off her skirt, then squatted down and started rummaging through the pile of broken equipment, muttering as she did.
“Let’s see what’s broken… Standard Magical Conduit Flask, three-neck, 500ml… Condensing Tube, serpentine, 300mm… and a few volumetric pipettes, accuracy 0.1ml…”
With every item she listed, Lilian’s eyebrow twitched—this girl actually knew her alchemical equipment?
But the real shock came after.
Camilla finished sorting the fragments, stood up, brushed her hands, then started pulling items from her utterly unremarkable-looking storage bracelet.
A brand-new three-neck flask.
Two serpentine condensing tubes.
A full set of volumetric pipettes, ranging from 0.1ml to 10ml.
There were even several accessories Lilian hadn’t mentioned, like a thermometer stand and a magnetic stir bar.
“Will these do?”
Camilla piled everything up in front of Lilian, her expression earnest.
“They’re all standard academy spec. I checked, the calibration is fine. If there’s anything missing, I probably have more in my bracelet… Ah, I used to buy a ton of alchemy gear out of boredom, but later found alchemy too troublesome, so I gave up.”
Lilian stared at the heap of alchemical equipment worth nearly a thousand gold coins, momentarily at a loss for how to react.
This girl… carries around a full set of alchemical gear?
Bought a ton out of boredom?
Gave up because it was too much trouble?
For a moment, Lilian began to wonder if she’d been set up—maybe this girl had bumped into her on purpose, just for the chance to hand over this equipment and…
No, calm down.
Lilian quickly dismissed that thought—based on the earlier collision, the other girl had clearly been just as caught off guard. There was only one explanation—she really was just an utterly incomprehensible eccentric.
“It’s… it’s enough…”
Lilian managed to maintain her fragile expression, nodding with mixed feelings.
“That’s good.”
Camilla let out a breath, helped Lilian to her feet, and even kindly brushed the grass off her skirt.
“By the way, Your Highness, what are you planning to do with this equipment? If you don’t mind, I can accompany you to the Alchemical Classroom. After all, I caused this, so I should see it through.”
Lilian’s eyes lit up.
Another opportunity had appeared.
Though her plan had been disrupted, the other girl’s offer to accompany her was much better than having to find an excuse herself.
“It’s about Emma…”
She spoke softly, watching Camilla’s reaction.
“She said she’s trying to improve a basic magic recovery potion formula, but she’s run into stability issues… I know a bit about alchemy, so I borrowed some equipment, planning to help her with the research…”
Sure enough, Camilla looked interested.
“Emma? You know Big Ai, too?”
“Big Ai? Uh, you mean Emma, right? Yes, we know each other—we agreed to meet with the Department of Alchemy’s supervising professor today to brew potions together.”
“Wow, what a coincidence! So you’re the friend Big Ai mentioned yesterday!”
Camilla gathered the equipment from the ground, quickly packed it into a hand-carry case she’d produced from who-knows-where, and naturally took Lilian’s arm.
“Can you still walk? Is your head all right?”
“I-I’m fine…”
Lilian allowed herself to be supported, quickly adjusting her plan.
Though her excuse about the equipment was gone, appearing before Emma together with Camilla was an excellent start. The three of them could study alchemical problems together, and naturally establish a connection, then…
The two made their way through the academy’s central courtyard toward the Alchemical Tower. Along the way, Lilian kept sneaking glances at Camilla.
Camilla Vellrit seemed even more unusual than the intel had suggested. Her older sister Ophelia was pure strength, sharp as a sword drawn. This little sister… was more like a patch of mist.
Lilian stole a sidelong glance at the black-haired girl beside her. The latter was humming a tuneless melody, skipping lightly, while the slime familiar in her bag was dutifully cleaning itself with a tiny brush.
Despite her lazy, carefree appearance, her grades ranked among the best, she could produce a full alchemical kit at a moment’s notice, she was as fluent with alchemical terms as any specialist student, and was nimble enough to jump out a seventh-floor window…
Very well, young lady, you’ve succeeded in catching my interest.
Lilian said to herself.
Before she knew it, they had arrived outside a classroom on the third floor of the Alchemical Tower. Even through the door, the mingled scents of various potions wafted out, accompanied by voices from within.
“This should be it…”
Lilian murmured, reaching out to knock on the door.
But just as her fingers were about to touch the panel—
BOOM!!!