Apparently, Olivia came from a family of Awakened Mages. The founder of House Ignarion had once been an adventurer, later earning the favor of an Emperor who granted him both land and title.

  “But the magic in our blood had already run dry,” Olivia explained.

  “Until you came?” I asked.

  She laughed hysterically. “No, I’m not an Awakened. But there are a lot of books in our library about the Golden Runes. When I was young, I used to spend hours reading them. I even thought I was fated to awaken…”

  Olivia whispered the last part like it was something to be ashamed of. I pretended not to hear it.

  “Doesn’t magic only work if you’re born with it?”

  “Before, yes. But now, Enchanted Scrolls can be bought in most cities. Even normal people can cast basic spells like lighting a fire, summoning a dog to find lost things, or even calling forth a golem to fight for them. What we need is an Enchanted Scroll for Potion Crafting. It’ll allow us to cast a magic circle and complete our potion.”

  I stood beside Olivia, arms crossed. “If these scrolls are so easy to find, why did you wait this long to escape?”

  She exhaled slowly. “I feared for our house’s reputation.”

  I tapped her lightly on the back. “Well, now there are two of us worrying about our houses' reputations.”

  That made her smile. She glanced at me briefly before turning away, reaching for a hidden compartment in her cupboard. From it, she pulled out a thin, leather-bound book. Golden ink glimmered on its cover, a grimoire.

  Olivia handed it to me. “I bought this on one of our weekend outings. It has a recipe for creating a smoke bomb.”

  “Why would you buy something like this?”

  She grinned. “At first, I thought it would be fun to trick Madrina and her friends. Maybe pull a prank. But after reading through it, I realized using it could get me expelled. That’s my plan now. I want to get expelled.”

  As I stared at the book, I couldn’t help but wonder, why would Olivia choose expulsion over reporting Madrina for harming her?

  “Do you really have to go this far? You could just report them to Madam Wyldesage or to any other Academica Advisor.”

  I didn’t think much of Wyldesage, but I still believed she would act if Olivia asked for help.

  A faint smile touched Olivia’s lips. “I tried. They didn’t believe me.”

  It felt like cold water had been dumped over my head. I’d been so na?ve thinkink there was something redeemable in that woman.

  I fell silent, flipping through the grimoire. The pages were worn and smelled faintly of earth. The pages contained long passages detailing the steps for preparing a smoke bomb, with sketches of the ingredients and an illustration showing thick, dark smoke billowing through a room.

  As I read through the grimoire, a notification flashed before my face. I had reached level four in my Brewmaster Class. Something in me clicked. I could do this. I knew I could do this, even if I’d never made one before.

  It was hard to describe the feeling. It wasn’t confidence. It was certainty as though the knowledge had always been there, waiting to surface.

  “Okay, I think we should start by collecting the ingredients listed here.”

  Olivia opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, then closed it again. I wondered what she held back.

  “That’s good,” she said instead. “The weekend’s coming. We might find everything in the Old Plaza. Some merchants there might have the items.”

  The next two days dragged on, long and agonizing. I blamed my restlessness on how close I was to escaping this place. I even started dreaming about the day I’d finally be free. But every dream ended the same with my parents dragging me back to the capital to become an empress.

  Those nights, I woke up drenched in sweat. I’d lie there, whispering to myself that it was just a dream. Just fear. Everything would go according to plan.

  Saturday finally came.

  For the market trip, I chose a simple white and yellow dress with a layered skirt. I paired it with a wide-brimmed hat tied with a blue ribbon, and swapped the ribbon around my neck for a matching one.

  Olivia waited by the gate in a brown and green dress.

  “You look great, Lady Morgana.”

  “You look good too,” I replied. “Did you bring the list of what we’ll need?”

  She nodded and tapped the bag slung over her shoulder.

  We headed to the Old Plaza. As expected, it was packed. I’d visited it a few times before, so the crowd didn’t faze me.

  I guided us toward a narrow alley that led to a quieter street lined with shops and restaurants. Olivia looked surprised.

  “I didn’t know this route even existed. The first time I came here, I had to fight my way through the crowd just to look around.”

  I laughed. “I just followed where the people were going.”

  As we walked, we spotted a patrolling knight and approached him.

  “Is there a place around here that sells magical items?” I asked.

  “Turn right at the first intersection,” he said. “You might find what you’re looking for on that street.”

  We followed the knight’s instruction. Turning a corner, we were greeted by the sight of dozens of market stalls. Some merchants had simple tables with their goods haphazardly arranged, while others sat cross-legged on the street, displaying their wares on colorful cloths and shouting at the top of their lungs to attract customers.

  As we wandered through the street, we passed small stores selling swords, wooden staves, and even bows carved from white bone. We eventually stopped at a stall claiming to sell magical items.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  A man in a red and black coat stood behind it with silver chain with an emerald pendant hanging around his neck. A sign that he was a registered mage.

  We pretended to browse until he finally acknowledged us.

  “Are you looking for something, my lady?” he asked.

  “Do you sell enchanted scrolls?” I replied.

  His eyes lit up. “Yes! I have quite a few. Are you perhaps looking for an Enchanted Scroll of Item Finding? I hear noblewomen often lose things. You might need help locating them.”

  I raised a brow. As a noblewoman myself, I felt mildly insulted.

  “No, sir. I don’t need a scroll for finding lost items. But do you happen to have one for preparing potions? We need it for our potions class.”

  He nodded and began rummaging through a sack at his side.

  “I think I have what you’re looking for,” he said, placing two brown scrolls on the table. Each was sealed with a dab of blue wax.

  “This is an Enchanted Scroll for Potion Crafting. All you need to do is burn it before you start preparing your potion.”

  “We’ll take both,” I said.

  “That’ll be thirty silvers, my lady.”

  I paid him, then handed the scrolls to Olivia, who slipped them into her bag.

  “That’s one item off our list,” she said. “We still need four more: Ashenroot Powder, Nightshade Ink, Emberstone Dust, and a Sulfurous Crystal.”

  We roamed the plaza in search of the next shop. Olivia spotted a small stall owned by an old woman in a black robe. She looked small and stooped, almost doll-like in stillness. For a moment, I wondered if she was cursed or frozen in place by some spell.

  “Go’morning. How can I help you?” the old lady rasped.

  We both flinched. I quickly recovered and returned her greeting with a smile.

  “Do you happen to sell crystals?” Olivia asked.

  The woman squinted at us before speaking again.

  “I’d like to buy some Sulfurous Crystals if you have them,” I added.

  “I’ve got about ten pieces left. How many do you need?”

  She revealed a jagged yellow-green stone, about the size of a pebble. As soon as it rested in her palm, it released a sharp, foul smell like rotting eggs.

  Snatching it back, she pulled out a bronze coin and scratched the stone’s edge. A puff of acrid yellow smoke rose from the mark.

  “That’s how you prove a Sulfurous Crystal is real,” she said proudly.

  Olivia clapped beside me.

  “We’ll take all the pieces you’re willing to sell.” I said nudging Olivia.

  As she wrapped the crystals in paper, she asked, “Need anything else?”

  “We’re also looking for Emberstone Dust. Do you have any?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “But I know where you can get some. Two streets from here, there’s an old wooden building that looks more like a house than a store. The owner there used to be a palace magician. He sells powders and dusts of all sorts.”

  She scoffed. “Bit of a personality, that one.”

  Olivia and I exchanged a glance.

  “You’ll see what I mean,” the old woman said, grinning.

  We thanked her and headed off in the direction she’d described.

  “She seemed intense,” Olivia murmured.

  I nodded. But I wasn’t surprised. Most of the elders I’d met in my past life had strong personalities. And that was how they survived. I learned from them to never show weakness. The Imperial Court was a cruel place like a forest filled with predators.

  The next store was harder to find than expected. Without her directions, we might’ve missed it entirely. The shop was owned by a man in his twenties, wearing the same mage pendant as before.

  He looked like someone who permanently resented the world. It reminded me of what the old lady said that he was a former palace magician. I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to bring him here.

  To our relief, he had both Emberstone Dust and Ashenroot Powder in stock. But the longer we lingered, the more irritable he seemed to become.

  His attitude irked me. I made no effort to hide my displeasure.

  “I’ll buy ten packs of Emberstone Dust and the Ashenroot Powder.”

  He handed the packs to me, and I placed the payment on the counter, eager to leave as soon as possible.

  The moment we stepped outside, Olivia let out a heavy breath. She clung to my arm like her knees might give out.

  “What was all that pressure about?” she asked. “Why were you two staring each other down like that? Do you have a grudge against him or something?”

  “He finds us annoying,” I said with a shrug. “So I responded with the same energy.”

  She tried to pry more out of me, but I changed the subject before the conversation dug any deeper. Just thinking about the way he treated us made my skin crawl. Maybe that attitude was why he got fired from his position as a palace magician.

  The last item was easier to find. We stumbled across a stationary store and asked if they had Nightshade Ink. They did. We bought ten small bottles for fifty silvers.

  The moment the transaction was complete, a message appeared from the Golden Runes.

  “Now that we’ve bought everything, how about we grab lunch here before heading back to the university?” Olivia suggested.

  I glanced at the clock attached to the nearby lamppost, but a sudden gust of wind forced me to grab my hat before it could fly off.

  “I think that’s a great idea.”

  She lit up with a smile. We made our way back to the New Plaza, taking the stairs tucked into a quiet alleyway.

  “Finally, we’ve got everything!” Olivia beamed. A spark lit up in her eyes. “I hope we succeed,” she added dreamily.

  “You should’ve said that earlier, when we bought the Nightshade Ink,” I said with a laugh.

  “But arriving at the New Plaza feels like the real end of our trip. Celebrating back at the Old Plaza would’ve been too soon.”

  As we walked, strange thoughts crept into my mind. In her past life, how did Olivia react when she finished collecting the ingredients from the grimoire? Did she celebrate like this? Did she smile proudly at her accomplishment?

  Something in me cracked at the thought. But before the emotions could consume me, I shoved them aside. The past didn’t matter. What I had was now—and now, I could change things.

  “Let’s eat first,” I said. “And don’t worry about whether we’ll succeed. Your plan will work, even without me.”

  “I don’t even know my way around here,” Olivia said, following close behind. “Of course it’s working because you’re helping me.”

  She led me to a small restaurant tucked in the plaza and told me to eat as much as I wanted and order anything I liked.

  I didn’t hold back. Roasted beef, two servings of mashed potatoes, and for dessert, two slices of strawberry cake. Olivia’s eyes widened as the plates kept coming.

  She didn’t know it, but I was still holding back.

  We ate while chatting about our lessons at the university. After dessert, we made our way back. But as soon as Olivia spotted the guards at the entrance gate, she stiffened.

  Everyone entering the city had to go through an inspection. It was an effort made to prevent smuggling of illegal items within the university.

  “Will we be able to avoid suspicion with these ingredients?” she whispered. “They’re all flammable! Of course they’re suspicious!”

  As we moved closer to the checkpoint, I thought quickly.

  “Give me some of the items,” I whispered.

  Olivia quickly passed me the packs of dust and powder. I slipped them into my bag and stepped forward, subtly pressing two gold coins into my palm.

  “Next,” the guard called out.

  The first guard scanned my clothes for anything out of place, then asked me to open my fist when he noticed how tightly I was holding it.

  I opened my hand to reveal the two coins, gleaming under the sunlight.

  He met my eyes and understood. I gave the slightest nod toward Olivia behind me, silently signaling that she was with me and should be allowed through without issue. Olivia, nervous as ever, didn’t notice the exchange.

  The guard snatched the coins from my hand, then made a show of glancing at my bag before waving me through. It was a trick Griffin once used when buying potions in the city.

  I waited just past the gate as Olivia stepped up. She looked like a statue as she handed over her bag, her eyes darting around anxiously.

  They let her through. She rushed over, pale and breathless.

  “They didn’t suspect anything!” she said, stunned.

  I opened my mouth to tell her the truth. But seeing how shaken she was, I held my tongue.

  Someday, I’d tell her. It would make a good story for her to tell her grandchildren.