Warren approached and reached out his hand to Laura, who was still lying on the floor.

With his assistance, Laura managed to get up.

“Ah…”

She felt a throbbing pain in her back.

It seems like she would need to drink a magic potion as soon as she returns to the archducal residence.

“Are you hurt?”

“My back is a bit sore, but I can bear with it.”

“If you’re uncomfortable, I can give you a potion.”

The potion Warren mentioned was a medicine that only relieved pain.

“Thank you, but I’m okay. I don’t need to drink that potion.”

There was no need to drink an unfinished potion when there was a magic potion that could cure anything in the glass garden.

Warren, who was about to go get the potion, halted at Laura’s polite refusal.

“Um… are you the Archduchess?”

Laila, who had been listening to their conversation, cautiously interjected.

“Yes, I am the Archduchess of Lucendorf.”

“I’m sorry! I caused trouble for the Archduchess because I’m so clumsy.”

“It’s alright. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

“No! I’m perfectly fine!”

Laila smiled brightly.

Although her pretty face and upturned eyes made her appear somewhat cold, she turned out to be a cheerful child.

“Well then, please continue your conversation!”

After a cheerful greeting, Laila ran off along the path.

The surroundings suddenly fell silent. Laura, feeling somewhat awkward, cleared her throat and spoke.

“Lord Warren, I wonder if this visit was sudden.”

“No, Your Grace. By the way, what brings you here?”

“I wanted to see the laboratory. I should have made an appointment in advance, but I was in a hurry…”

Laura lowered her eyebrows. She couldn’t treat him rudely if she tried to look as apologetic as possible.

“No, it’s fine. Welcome.”

Warren smiled with his eyes.

Surprisingly, he welcomed her visit and stepped aside, gesturing for her to come in.

“By the way, who was that girl? She didn’t seem like a magician.”

Laura glanced back as she walked into the building. Laila had disappeared.

“Oh, Laila is an apprentice.”

“Is she learning magic?”

“Yes.”

“But this isn’t a school…”

“Of course, this is a private laboratory. If you want to learn magic professionally, you have to go to the Phaede Kingdom.”

“But why is she here? I heard that only magicians from the Phaede Kingdom are in this research lab.”

“Laila has been assisting me since she was in the Phaede Kingdom. I brought her with me when I came to the empire.”

Warren explained calmly.

Laura stared at him.

‘He’s really good at lying.’

She had boasted that she knew Warren well until now. But she had to revise that.

She didn’t know anything about this person named Warren.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Warren tilted his head and looked down at her.

“It’s nothing. Is this the laboratory?”

Laura hurriedly pointed to the half-open door.

“Yes.”

Warren opened the door wide on both sides.

The scenery inside the room was fully revealed due to the sunlight shining through the large windows.

Books piled up on every wall, antique desks and chairs, various glassware and boxes on the desk, and white smoke of unknown origin filling the room.

The laboratory, made up of two or three rooms, was as big as the one she stayed in when she was in the Phaede Kingdom.

No, it would be appropriate to say that they brought the laboratory here as it is.

“It’s exactly the same, isn’t it?”

Seeing the magicians who worked in that laboratory were all here, she burst out laughing.

At that moment, a magician who was rummaging through something with tweezers on a desk near the door raised his glasses and asked,

“Who are you?”

Laura witnessed what the magician was doing.

“It’s an white ant, isn’t it.”

The magician was dissecting an ant.

Her face involuntarily crumpled at the sight.

“I asked who you are.”

The magician stood up from his seat and suspiciously looked at her while covering the desk with his body.

The magician had a bad habit of doubting everything, although he had good skills.

He was probably suspecting Laura, who entered the laboratory.

Even though she was clearly with Warren.

“I am the Archduchess of Lucendorf.”

Laura clenched her jaw.

“Oh, yes. I see.”

The bespectacled magician still looked at Laura suspiciously.

“Please continue with your work…although I don’t know what you’re doing.”

“What did you say?”

At her quiet muttering, the magician frowned.

“Oh, this laboratory is amazing! It’s much larger than I imagined.”

Laura quickly changed the subject, pretending not to hear him.

“You’re too kind.”

“What is he doing?”

Laura pointed to the magician’s back with her finger.

At her suggestion, the magician, who was trying to move the dissected ants to one side with tweezers, paused.

“He killed a lot of poor ants.”

“This…”

Warren approached and glanced at the desk piled up with ants and the magician.

“Got it! This is an ingredient of Elixir, right? The heart of a white ant!”

Laura clapped her hands together.

“That’s correct.”

“So the rumor was true?”

“What rumor?”

“The rumor that you completed the Elixir! It’s really amazing. Can you show it to me too?”

Laura clasped her hands together and looked at him earnestly.

Then Warren scratched his cheek with a perplexed face.

“It’s not possible, is it? I understand. Actually, I’m grateful just to be invited to the laboratory. Oh, is it possible that I’m not supposed to be here?”

“That’s not true. And I’m sorry to disappoint you, but that rumor was wrong.”

“Why?”

“Because the Elixir hasn’t been completed yet. And even if the madam were to see it here, you wouldn’t be able to make the Elixir.”

“I see. Then what is he doing?”

“He’s investigating the ingredients of the Elixir. There hasn’t been much progress yet.”

Warren shrugged his shoulders.

What a jerk.

Laura secretly glared at Warren and muttered under her breath.

The last ingredient of the Elixir that she discovered just before she died was the ‘heart of a white ant.’

At that time, Warren had been negative about it.

Now he is actively trying to complete the Elixir, even collecting and dissecting the white ants that he saw as the most negative aspect.

She wondered what he was thinking.

“But you found the phoenix, didn’t you? You said even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

“That’s…right.”

Warren answered ambiguously and turned his gaze slightly.

“Has the phoenix hatched?”

“…Not yet.”

He looked troubled.

Laura secretly smiled wickedly.

‘That’s phoenix poop. No matter how long you wait, a phoenix won’t be born from poop.’

“Can I see the phoenix egg?”

“Of course.”

When Warren took her to the desk with the birdcage,

The magician blocked their way.

“Warren, you can’t show something so important to just anyone.”

“Just anyone?”

Laura replied coldly with a stern look.

The magician faltered back at her attitude.

“How dare you stop me. Magic research is good, but how about keeping your ears open since you came to the Empire? Don’t you really know the reputation of Archduke Luchndorf?”

As she took a step forward and put subtle pressure on him, the magician blinked his bewildered eyes.

The next moment, Warren stepped forward to protect Laura and spoke to the magician.

“It’s okay. Anyway, the phoenix is already known to the public.”

Only then did the magician grumble and return to the desk.

“Please understand, Your Grace. Elixir is the Emperor’s top priority, so everyone is sensitive.”

Warren whispered as he walked towards the desk with the birdcage.

Soon, the black cloth covering the birdcage was removed.

Inside the birdcage was a black lump.

“It’s beautiful!”

Laura exclaimed with a formal exclamation.

She had no interest in phoenix poop.

Her interest was solely focused on the box placed right next to the birdcage.

It looked like a jewel box, covered with fancy patterns even on its surface.

“What is this?”

Laura opened the lid of the jewel box.

“Oh, that’s…”

Warren reached out his hand in surprise.

But it was already too late.

“Oh my.”

Laura lost her mind at the blue gem inside the box.