After my encounter with Rowland, I became less gloomy and despondent about life. Maybe it was because of the hope he gave me, he promised to rescue me before the day of my demise.
Maybe it was just seeing him again that got me going. Which ever one it was, I was glad for it.
I remembered the parcel he had said Papa had kept for me in his care. I wondered what it could be. Was it the instructions for the infirmary? Papa had hoped to make it bigger and better. I was really curious to see what was in the parcel. When I got to see Rowland again, I would ask him for it.
I sat in my little lab room in the royal infirmary preparing the ingredients for the medicine I would feed the Mr Kellan tonight.
He must really be sick because he showed no resistance to the medication. He drank it as soon as I brought it. But that was also probably to get me away from his private space quickly. He didn't seem to like being around people and preferred solitude.
After I had found out about his true identity as the Dark Lord, he stopped playing the character of the king's right hand man, Mr Kellan.
I was too glad to have to see him just once a day and I sometimes wished I could go back to the time when I was living obliviously in the castle. How ironic because I had been too eager to meet him after I had been brought to the castle.
A knock came on the door. Miracle came in with a tray that contained my lunch. I wonder what Mr Roman had made for me today.
"Miss Frieda, how is the medicine coming along?" she asked, her curious eyes taking in everything on my table.
"It's all fine. I'm preparing the ingredients for later." I told her.
She picked up a piece of ginger and sniffed it.
"These are all fresh." she dropped it and picked something else. "What is this?"
I looked up at what she was holding. "That is a red sage leaf." I explained the medicinal properties of the red sage to her. But as I explained she became more curious and asked more questions about its effectiveness in the medicine I was making. I laughed at her curiosity but answered all her questions anyway.
"You know, you have a great mind. A curious one. You'd make a good physician."
Mirabel turned red at my words not expecting me to compliment her. She continued to ask questions about the rest of the ingredients and I tried to answer them all to the best of my knowledge.
Finally, she asked about the last ingredient on my table. "What is this? It looks quite familiar though."
I looked up and found the stalk of a plant in her hand. It was the nightshade. I felt the color drain from my face.
How was I so careless as to leave it on the table when I knew anyone could walk in and see it. Thank goodness my assistant was out of an errand to get fresh water.
"Uhm," I began. "That is a... weed."
"Yeah. It looks quite familiar. It's a common weed, isn't it?"
I didn't know whether to nod or to shake my head.
"What is it doing here? Is it part of the medicine too? What does it do?" she asked me. I guess she didn't know what it was. I could still save the situation.
"No it's not part of the medicine. I must have plucked it by accident since it looks like the red sage. Give it to me." I collected the stalk from Mirabel and threw it out of the window.
"Thank goodness you saw it on time, who knows how it would have affected the quality of the medicine." I led through my teeth and Mirabel smiled, glad she could be of help to me.
"Well, finish up your preparations and have your lunch. I have to go back and help clean the throne room." Mirabel told me.
"The throne room? Why?" I asked. The throne room was usually cleaned in the morning and then cleaned again if there was a need for it.
"There is going to be a meeting today. The Dark Lord is expecting emissaries from the outskirts of kingdom and they are to arrive this evening." she informed me.
Mirabel left the infirmary and went back to the castle. As soon as she stepped out of the room, I ran to the window to check if the stalk of nightshade was still there. That was my main ingredient. Luckily for me, it was still lying on the stone pavement waiting for me to come and pick it up.
I counted slowly to twenty, hoping that by the time I was done, Mirabel would have left the infirmary. I ran downstairs to the back of the building and found my stalk of nightshade was gone. Someone must have taken it while I was hurrying down.
Who could have taken it within such short time? I needed it because I couldn't leave the castle again to pick a fresh stalk.
I looked around to my left and right to find who might have carried it from the pavement. Then I saw a sharply dressed fellow with a green stalk in his hand.
It was the butler, Gilbert and there was my stalk of nightshade in his hand. He was going to dispose it because he detested littering. Without wasting and time I ran to him and stood at his front.
"Oh, Miss Frieda. What brings you out here by this time? You're normally in brewing medicine for the king." Gilbert pointed out In surprise.
"Yes," I quickly replied."The laboratory room is a bit stuffy with all the preparation going on there. I came down from the room to get some fresh air."
Gilbert nodded, twisting the stalk between his fingers absent mindedly. He wasn't supposed to twist it that way, the stalk would be bruised.
"Oh, thank goodness I've met you here Miss Frieda. His Majesty has a meeting this evening, he might not take his medication today."
I frowned. "But he has to. He must take his medicine regularly and immediately. That's the only way it'll work."
"He says he is feeling better already and that you are doing a tremendous job already, so he might not need to take any medicine today. I was about to come up to tell you." Gilbert said and gave me a bow, his way of telling me he was done talking to me.
I stood and watched his back as he walked back into the castle with my fist clenched. What did he mean by he was feeling better already? Did it mean the medicine was actually working?
No! It's not supposed to work, it was supposed to eat him up slowly. I wasn't going to let Mr Kellan get away with this. He would take his medicine tonight, whether he liked it or not.