Chapter 29 - CHAPTER 28

"Come in, come in", the old woman welcomed them after entering the tent, contrary to their expectations, the tent is not THAT dark. It is being lighted by candles all over the place.

"Are you sure the candles will not set this place on fire?", Lucius can't help but answer. "Oh! Don't worry, this tent is protected by magic", she said as she even tried lighting the tent in fire but it didn't work.

"Have a seat", she said as both Eli and Lucius sat down in front of her while the 2 knights stood behind them, between them is a table with a shining ball.

'A fortune teller'

Eli stared at the ball as she confirmed what that old woman's identity is, but she still remained alert. She WILL remain alert until the questions on her head were finally answered.

"So, how about I start with you first?", she said facing the young duke first. She held out her hand,

"May I?", reluctantly, Lucius put his hand on hers as she grasp it carefully. The woman closed her eyes and a few seconds later, she smiled a bit before reopening them.

"Soon, you'll be able to find what you've been searching for years", Lucius who was startled by her words immediately retreated his hands, still staring at her while holding them, but the woman just looked at Eli next and held out her hands to her.

Eleanor put both of her hands on the old lady's as she grasped them both on hers. She closed her eyes but then her hold tighten a bit but not to the point of it hurting the girl. She then opened her eyes and looked at Eleanor with very serious eyes.

"You….you who experienced the world's cruelty was given a second chance", Eli's eyes widen at what she mentioned. 'Is she…talking about the unexpected accident that killed me? The second chance is my second life'

"But this second chance have a price….you're given a mission by the sun. But you should be careful, this mission is not as simple as you think", silence filled the place. A few more minutes, it was broken by Lucius putting a bag of gold on the table.

"We're leaving", he said as he walked out of the tent, the 2 knights followed him out. But Eli stayed for a bit, she held the old woman's shoulders and asked her. "Are you….the one who doesn't belong in this world?", she asked, suspecting that this old woman might be the INTRUDER.

But instead, she just laughed. "I am not the person you've been seeking, child", she said with a smile. She then gestured for her to come closer and whispered on her ear.

"The things that are happening all around you…they're just preparations. You should prepare yourself as well", Eli looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean by that?"

"A wildflower might grow up as a common and unimportant flower at first, but, things might start changing and that unimportant wildflower can change into a beautiful, valuable rose with the sun's light directed to it", the old lady stated.

Eli looked at her still not getting what she's been talking about, but then, all of a sudden, a memory came to her mind. It is what the old woman told her that brought her to her tent,

"Oh, you're quite an unusual person. An extra on the spotlight"































"Eleanor", Eli soon came face to face with Lucius and the 2 knights who were waiting for her to come out from the tent. She didn't even realize when she came out from that tent.

What she remembered last was her conversation with the old woman, and especially the things that she said last.








"What do you mean by that? What…"

"Prepare yourself child, this world is not the one you know previously. So you should expect that some things might change as well. When the spotlight started coming towards you, will you still avoid it?"

"I…"

"I'm only a fortune teller but I can still give you one advice based on the cloud of obstacle that I saw in your future. Don't just look back at where you came from, remember your past but for you to be able to look forward to your future, you also need to accept the reality of the present"







"Miss!", she snapped back again with the 3 guys looking at her. Looks like she spaced out again. "Oh, ummm", Lucius sighed and patted her head. "Let's just get going", as he started walking away from them.

The knights nodded to him, gesturing for the girl to follow their young master, which is what she did. She walked from behind Lucius then looked back at the tent where they came from at the end of the alley. But what she saw is nothing. Her eyes widen.

"When the spotlight started coming towards you, will you still avoid it?.... Don't just look back at where you came from, remember your past but for you to be able to look forward to your future, you also need to accept the reality of the present"

Lucius looked at the girl who, for the nth time, was yet again lost in her thoughts. He slowed down and then waited for the girl before pulling her out of the way when she almost bumped into a pole.

"I'm not gonna ask what the old woman told you, but well…ahem! If you need any help or just wanted a person to talk to about that weird fortune teller, I'm willing to lend an ear. Well…as a thanks…for umm…for the tour today"

The girl stared at him and soon a smile started to form on her lips. That smiled turned into a grin as she looked up at the taller male. "Thank you young master!", Lucius sighed and can't help but pat her head after that, shocking the 2 knights watching them from behind, but they both decided to act like what they saw, which is something unexpected for them, never happened at all today.

The 2 looked at each other and at the two youngins who both started walking again farther from where they stood. They then followed the 2 as they head back to their hotel.

What a day full of UNEXPECTED things.
























"And a little drop of this. Eli! Can you please give me umm, hmm, oh! Give me that herb on your right!"

Eli nodded reaching out to the herbs stocked on her right. They're yellow in color and have a scent that is similar to a lemon. She took at least 5 leaves, closed the jar where they're being kept, and proceeded to hand the leaves to Meridia when the door of the lab room opened.

Ren came inside, still panting, putting his bag on the corner of the room. "You're late rascal! Eli has been helping me here for at least 3 hours now", Meridia scolded him but still continued and focused on the leaves she's been grinding given by her assistant earlier.

"I'm sorry master, there's an emergency in our house and I have to take care of it first before going to work that's why I'm late", Ren apologized as he carry on putting his gloves and working coat, which is a cloth that serves as an apron for them while working.

He then came close and peeked at the potion Meridia's been making. "How many more do we need to make master?", he asked. "We completed at least 65% of the needed quantity of ordered potions so…oh pass me that flower….so we need to at least make a lot more….and pass me at least 3 of that seed as well", Meridia answered him with a few orders mixed in the answer.

"Well, I'm enjoying this. Looking at master creating potions with different kinds of effects and different ingredients can be quite fun in its own way too", Eli said with a smile while handing Meridia a tool she can use in stirring the ingredients.

Ren just smiled and patted her head. The 3 then focused on the potion that they've been making in silence after that. 6 more hours passed and after finishing a few more batches of potions, the 3 then soon stopped and decided to finally take rest.

"Be careful on your way home"
"Yup, I always am"
"Okay, okay. See you tomorrow"
"See you tomorrow Eli"

Eleanor bid Ren farewell and soon turn back to go back to her room to rest after not being able to see him anymore when she heard Meridia's voice. "Did he go already?", she asked while holding a pouch. Eleanor nodded at her and looked at the pouch, sighing after realizing what is going on.

"He left his pouch again? This is the 13th time now", she groaned and came close to the alchemist. "I'll give it to him master, this is the pouch where he's keeping his money, he might need it", she said as Meridia handed the pouch to her.

"Then, be careful and come back soon"
"YUP!"















"Ren! REEEENNNNN!!!!"

The young man who was busy fidgeting with something halt and look at his back seeing Eli who's running towards him holding a familiar pouch.

He patted his pocket and confirmed that what the girl is holding is indeed his pouch. "Eli", he called out to her and held her shoulders while she panted in front of him. She held out the pouch in front and faced him with a pout on her face after recovering.

"This is the 13th time Ren", she scolded as the young man laughed and patted her in the head. "I'm sorry, I'm just preoccupied, that's all", Eli noticed that he didn't want to talk about it and so she just shrugged it off and handed the pouch over.

"Get back to the academy safely okay? Or do you want me to walk you…"

"No thanks, I'll be fine. I'm a big girl now!"

Ren laughed when his friend cut him off. "Take care on your way home!", she shouted as she ran while waving her hands on him.

"Master I'm back!", Eleanor shouted as she opened the lab doors but what welcomed her is not Meridia but,

"Oh…Ummm, greetings Duke Lucian", she immediately said after coming face to face with the serious-looking duke of Donati. She immediately touched a part of her head before touching her pocket. She sighed after confirming that she's not wearing her hair clip and it is instead hidden in her pocket. She decided not to wear it more often ever since the duke and the young duke came to Orien just to be safe because of her weird encounter with the young master Lucius. She looked everywhere and looks like Lucian noticed it.

"Meridia is not on her lab. I came to check on the progress of the potions but she's not here, but I have more time available so I decided to stay and wait for a few minutes", Lucian stated while looking at the girl who slowly closed the door after coming inside.

"Oh, maybe Master went out to do some things since I still haven't come back yet, your grace. If you still have a lot of time to spare, you can continue waiting for her sir if you want to", Eleanor said.

The duke nodded his head in response. After seeing him nod, the girl went out of the lab leaving the duke sitting there in silence. He sighed as he stared at the wall full of different kinds of potions and his mind started to wander.

ELIZABETH LUINA CHRONOS. He met that girl in an unexpected place. In prison. He can't help but laugh whenever he remembers the time when he saw her lilac-coloured eyes glaring at him. His mother and father died when he was still 10 years old, and so he needs to grow up fast. For 8 more years he endured everything and became the most powerful and youngest duke that time.

He just turned 18 years old when a knight called and informed him that they caught someone sneaking inside the Donati Mansion during the celebration. He excused himself and immediately went to the prison only to see a girl with lilac-coloured eyes and flowy ash-grey hair glaring daggers at him while inside the prison cell.

That was the day LUCIAN HAVEN DONATI, an S class wizard, met ELIZABETH LUINA DONATI, an A class wizard with great strength that she got from her father.

The 2 fought with each other (bicker) at first. Their paths crossed often ever since Luina was caught sneaking inside the mansion just because she's trying to find the squirrel who stole her sandwich, yeah, for that dumb reason.

For Lucian, that reason was funny enough for him to call it dumb. Like….who in their right mind would chase a squirrel and trespass a property just because it stole her sandwich? Welp, Luina did anyways.

At first, they just irritated each other whenever they meet, but after some time, they started becoming friends, and soon, he started falling for her. It was hard for him to confess to a girl like Luina, she's not like any other girls who like wearing girly outfits or dresses; she's also reckless and is hot-headed. But, she's very creative.

She's happy-go-lucky, and she is very optimistic. And when he was finally able to confess to her, he had his very first rejection at the age of 21. He continued persuing her, and at the age of 23, the 20 year old girl finally accepted and reciprocated his feelings after being rejected 6 times.

The 2 continued to date for 2 more years before he proposed to her. Because she's a low class noble they had a hard time making it happen, but in the end, they still were able to marry each other at the ages 22 and 25. Their wedding day was the 2nd most memorable moment of his life. Her walking in the isle with her elegant wedding dress and sweet smile made his heart melt.

After being married, Luina immediately got pregnant, and at the ages 23 and 26, LUCIUS ETHEL DONATI was born with his electric blue eyes that he got from his father and ash-grey hair from his mother.

That was another one of the happiest and most memorable moments of Lucian's life. Their peaceful life continued and soon, 5 years later, Luina got pregnant again. The 2 boys took care of her, but, on the day she gave birth, an unexpected situation occurred that caused his first child to be broken, for his second child to go missing, and for him to lose his wife forever.

"Your grace?", the duke snapped back to reality after hearing a familiar voice calling him. He looked at the girl who paused from serving him tea and started staring at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's rude to stare, I know, but ummm, here's some tea for you while you're waiting sire", Eli awkwardly said as she continues on pouring him some tea.

He smelled the tea and slowly took a sip after nodding to her as thanks. His eyes widen after recognizing the familiarity of this tea. "Chamomile", he murmured.

Eleanor who heard him murmur smiled at the adult. "Oh yes sire. This might sound rude so please excuse me but I noticed some bags under your eyes, so I thought this tea could help you since it has some calming effects", the duke stared at the girl who looked down while explaining herself.

He sighed and a small smile was formed in his lips for a split second. "I appreciate it", he said as he continued sipping on his tea again making Eli smile in satisfaction. The silence was soon interrupted when the door of the lab opened with Meridia entering the lab holding baskets with herbs on her left hand.

"Oh, what brought you here your grace?", she asked after noticing Lucian who is busy sipping on the tea that Eli served to him earlier. The duke put down his cup and looked straight at the alchemist. "Meridia. I only came since I have some free time. I want to check on the progress of the potions", the alchemist handed the basket that she's been holding to her assistant as Eleanor started sorting those herbs on the table not far from them.

"Please come this way", Meridia said as she led Lucian to her office. While the 2 talked about the progress of the potions that the duke ordered, Eleanor continued sorting the herbs and after that, she proceeded to store these herbs on their respective jars.

The 2 adults soon came out of the office. "I will send you a notice as soon as I complete them sire, no worries", Lucian nodded and faced Eleanor. He nodded as she bowed to him, bidding him farewell as he exited the lab.

"Now, if you're done with the herbs, why don't we have a rest to prepare ourselves for tomorrow's work again?"























"Just 2 more drops of this and....done!"

Eleanor wiped her face as she looked at the bottles of potions in front of her. Finally, after 2 more weeks, they were able to complete the amount of potions the duke ordered.

"Why don't you two store those potions on their boxes while I go send the duke a notice", the alchemist instructed both of her assistants as she proceeded into making a notice for the duke on her office.

Eli nodded and tightened up her ponytail as she started putting the potions into the boxes prepared for them. She noticed how uncharacteristically silent her friend Ren is. It's been days since this started.

Everytime they work he just kept silent which is the complete opposite of what he usually does everytime they work. Whenever she tried asking him what's wrong he will always smile at her and say that nothing's wrong, but Eli knows that he's lying based on how tired and stressed out his face is.

She looked at the potions she's been packing and nodded to herself. This day, she'll really try to find out what's wrong with him; after all, today is a special day. It's the festival day for celebrating the finished reconstruction of the main city of Orien.