'Since it'll take some time for the potion ingredients to be gathered, I should probably be doing something productive in the meantime,' he thought. His gaze drifted to his chamber door. 'Oh, there's still the library. Although it doesn't have any magical texts, I could use it to broaden my knowledge. There's nothing wrong with becoming more literate. A noble should know his own history.'

The decision made, he left his room, the secret now a part of him, and made his way through the quiet, sun-dappled halls of the manor toward the library. The vast, high-ceilinged room was a sanctuary of a different kind. Sunlight streamed through tall windows, illuminating motes of dust dancing in the air.

He browsed the towering shelves, his fingers trailing over spines. He selected a few volumes that seemed foundational, a bestiary of local fauna, a treatise on Gruneville's founding principles, and a thick, embossed tome titled 'The Chronicles of the Dark Ages and the Dawn of Kingdoms.'

Settling into a worn, but comfortable armchair by a window, he opened the history book first. The prose was formal and dense, but he read with focused determination.

'During the Dark Ages, when all the races of the continent were plunged into chaos by an external threat of shadow and devouring cold, three beings of unparalleled power emerged from the turmoil…'

Lucius leaned forward, captivated. This was not the sanitized, heroic history taught to children which he'd read in his previous world, but something completely different.

'…the Dragon King, who united the scattered draconic clans, Her Majesty, the Witch of Eternal Night, who marshalled an untold amount of magics and the Elven Queen, Keeper of the Tree of Life, whose song could heal the blight upon the land.'

The names resonated with a weight he could feel through the page. To the people of the continent, these were no meer people but legends in their own rights, and were presented as historical fact. He read on, engrossed. The book detailed not a glorious, unified war, but a desperate, brutal series of conflicts against an enemy that was described only in ominous, vague terms.

" Which I can't see here at all... strange." Lucius thought but continued on.

The alliances between the three beings were fragile, born of necessity, fraught with suspicion and cultural chasms.

'After countless battles that scarred the very geography of the continent, and following the enigmatic retreat of the external enemy, two of the beings settled to forge order from the ruins.

' The dragon king, set out and brought all the supernatural races underneath his rule, while the witch of Eternal Night was able to unify all the human nations, into one single kingdom, Gruneville.' Lucius smiled, feeling that such was a satisfactory ending, but his expression turned perplexed when he saw that he'd only gone half way through the book.

' There's more?' He wondered, after reading for a while more, his expression turned complicated.

' After several years of peace, it was unfortunate to discover that the dragon king had manipulated and betrayed the witch of ever night, severing their alliance, While instigating war on Gruneville.'

' The people of Gruneville fought valiantly against the supernatural scourge, and with the help of her majesty, the queen of Eternal Night, they narrowly achieved victory, but at a grave cost. In other to bring down the dragon king, her majesty had sacrificed her own life for her people but, not before laying a terrible curse on the supernatural creatures.'

' With their leader gone, the supernatural creatures forces were thrown into disarray, and with time, they gradually broke apart but even then, the kingdom of Gruneville still filled to purge them all.'

Lucius closed the book in front of him, his expression one of helplessness.

' So even in this world, things like war aren't negated.' He sighed. But he was also glad he was able to learn a few things from reading it.

Like how the capital of Gruneville was named after her majesty, and was called the capital of Eternal Night. And how the ruler of Gruneville was chosen not through generational royalty, but from the most talented mages in the kingdom. Or to be specific, the most talented witches in Gruneville.

' That would explain why it's so hard to get a hold of magical items... Those noble families must be hogging it all for themselves.'

' A kingdom run by women... Well I won't say I'm against it, It's just a new change I wasn't expecting.'

' A kingdom run by women should mean a matriarchal society or am I wrong and the noble families are run normally why the only one who needs to be female are the rulers of the kingdom... Or, it is quite possible for males to be branded as witches too, correct?'

' Now that I think about it, I'm not quite sure.' Lucius sighed, thinking about all this wasn't doing him any good. He picked up his next book and began reading.

A few hours later, Lucius heard a soft knock on the library door before someone walked in.

" Young master Lucius, all you asked for has been purchased and are accounted for in your chambers." Su stood by the door, awaiting further instructions.

Lucius closed his book and nodded. He got up and placed the books he'd gotten back where he found them before approaching Su.

" I need you to run to the kitchen quickly and bring a..." Lucius's words paused at the end as he began to wonder.

' Isn't it a bit too much to brew an entire pot worth of potion..., even a bowl seems a bit too much. I don't really plan on having any left over.'

" Su dear, I want you to get me a chalice and bowl." Su nodded but then put her hands forward, showing him some coins.

" These are the remaining coins after the guard bought all that you had asked for."

" Oh..." Lucius muttered, taking the coins.

' I was kind of expecting them to keep the change... I guess I might've underestimated my own reputation.' Lucius chuckled inwardly.

Having given him the money, Su left to complete his order. Lucius then left the library and arrived back at his room.

He saw a few new items in a tray, placed on desk in his room.

Lucius approached the desk and began going through them.

' Everything really is here.' He felt satisfied with the results, now with the Ingredients all here and accounted for, all he had to do was wait for Su to return so that he may begin his potion making.

True to her timely nature, Su walked into his room and gave him the equipments he'd asked for.

" Thank you." Lucius collected them and began to proceed with his potion making.

' An adequate amount of water mixed with one drop of goats blood.'

' The eyes of a crescent horned frog.' After adding this item, Lucius was amazed to see the bowl begin to bubble, the water changing colour.

' Scales from a blind mamba.' he added the next ingredient and the colour changed once more, bubbling like prior.

' 3 centimeters of blue Lilly's stem.'

He continued to add item after item, at a point, the bowl began to release a strange colourful mist.

Su frowned at the peculiarity since she hadn't seen such before, but Lucius on the other hand grew excited.

' And now for the final ingredient!' He tossed in the final item without hesitation. The brewing potion shot out a jet of colourful mist, like steam from a pressurized valve.'

Following the Grimoire's instructions, he sat and waited for a while for the mist to calm down, gradually it did, until the must vanished, leaving a grey coloured liquid in the bow.

Lucius carried the potion in the bowl and poured a cups worth into the chalice, strangely enough, nothing was left in the bowl because the entire product of his brewing amounted to only a chalice worth of potion.

" Young master...if I may?" Su spoke up all of a sudden, her expression looking worried.

Lucius nodded, approving her request.

" I don't think it's a good idea to drink such a thing...."

" And why is that?" Lucius asked in a soft voice, his heart was strangely amused at the fact that she was actually worried about him, which told him that at least she had begun to forgive his past transgressions, though he wasn't sure by how much.

" We have no idea if it'll work or not." Su said, her face turning a bit pale.

" But I got this book from Emily's mother? Are you saying you don't trust her?" Lucius questioned in an inquiring tone.

" Of course not young master... I just believe that since it's your first time practicing magic, perhaps they're are chances that...."her voice trailed off at the end, her lips trembling all of a sudden.

" Go on." Lucius replied calmly, showing no signs of other emotions.

" I just feel that there might be room for error. You've never practiced magic before so I.. I.." Su began to stutter, her heart filled with fear of him getting enraged and worry towards him getting hurt without realizing it.

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