"Would you like to partner with me, Alice?" Richard asked Alice with a slight smile.
Prince Julias, standing next to Alice, raised an eyebrow, looking sternly at Richard while holding Alice close. "Don’t you see that Alice is already partnered with me?"
As Richard chuckled, Alice smiled gently. "His Majesty is right, Richard. I wish you had come sooner."
Though Richard’s expression fell, he managed a forced smile. "I’m sure you and the Prince make a great team."
Then a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes as he looked at the Prince. "After all, he’s his father’s son... Smart, hardworking, successful(!)"
Prince Julias narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists in anger. Who did this man think he was to mock his father?
With narrowed eyes, Prince Julias glared at Richard. "I accept your compliment with honor, Richard. I hope you’re adjusting well to the kingdom."
Richard nodded, his eyes briefly gleaming with cunning as he looked at Alice, then turned to the Prince. "I am adjusting, and as luck would have it, I had the chance to meet a lady as lovely as Alice."
Richard gently lifted Alice’s hand, his lips brushing her hand in a graceful and gentlemanly manner.
Alice was surprised and squealed happily. "Thank you, Richard! You’re such a good friend!"
As Richard smiled meaningfully, the Prince trembled with rage, nearly consumed by his anger, until Alice’s hand slipped between his fingers.
"Come on, Your Majesty! Let’s go!"
Hearing Alice’s desire to leave, the Prince calmed down, and after giving Richard one last warning look, he departed.
Once Alice and the Prince had walked away, Richard looked at his sister.
Rachel seemed to have already decided to partner with Morrigan. Still, after scanning the room, Richard only noticed Adrian was available, so he walked over to him.
Adrian’s eyes turned to Richard. Richard smiled. "I’m looking for a partner. I hope you don’t have one yet."
After eyeing Morrigan for a moment, Adrian’s gaze shifted back to Richard. "I don’t."
Richard nodded. "Good, then your new partner is me."
Though Adrian was surprised by Richard’s boldness, he didn’t care much. He casually walked over to where the Professor was waiting.
By now, everyone had chosen their partner: Alice-Prince Julias, Adrian-Richard, Marcus-a random student, Harvey-a random student.
Morrigan and Rachel had also partnered up. Ten minutes later, the Professor looked at the pairs and began speaking kindly. "Now that partners have been chosen, I will demonstrate our first lesson practically."
Professor Vanya took an empty pot brought by Rodrick and bent down. "Watch closely, I won’t explain this a second time."
She then dipped the pot into the ground, and once it was filled with soil, she lifted it and placed it on the large table in front of her.
"Now, observe carefully and take notes."
Morrigan took out her notebook just in case, while Professor Vanya continued. "First, you will drop the Rabbit’s Heart in front of you into the water, which has not yet boiled."
Professor Vanya pointed to a small cauldron on one side of the table. As Rodrick continuously stirred the cauldron, Professor Vanya tossed the Rabbit’s Heart into it.
"Remember, your partner must keep stirring the Cauldron filled with Magic Water." The Professor said seriously. "Then we will add the ingredients."
Vanya picked up a small seed from one end of the table. The seed looked like an ordinary tree seed.
Calmly, Vanya dropped the seed into the cauldron. She then moved to another side, holding two bright red crystals, and slowly and carefully placed them into the cauldron.
"These crystals are called Spirit Crystals," Vanya explained. "Spirit Crystals temporarily draw a massive amount of mana and pump it into the Magic Water."
"Spirit Crystals can be used for many purposes, but that’s not relevant for now," Vanya added with a smile. Steam was already rising from the cauldron Rodrick was stirring.
Then, Vanya picked up a glass containing green liquid and showed it to the students. "This liquid is the life energy of trees."
Morrigan noted this as Vanya leaned over the cauldron and dropped a single drop into it.
Vanya then looked at the students. "This liquid contains the life force of a 5,000-year-old tree. Each drop equates to 50 years of life."
"Now stir the cauldron two turns every four seconds," Morrigan instructed. Rachel nodded and stirred the cauldron.
Then, Morrigan added the tree seed into the cauldron, which glowed for a moment and turned into a faint pale brown color.
Morrigan observed the others for a while. She was surprised to see everyone rushing as if in a race.
While Rodrick was stirring his cauldron with measured turns and speed, the students were simply stirring the water in their cauldrons rapidly.
Even though water was spilling from some cauldrons, neither Professor Vanya nor Rodrick intervened.
Continuing, Morrigan took the two bright Spirit Crystals and gently placed them into the cauldron. Then, she looked at Rachel. "Stir the cauldron every three seconds."
Rachel stirred the cauldron as Morrigan instructed. Soon, the color of the magical water in the cauldron changed to purple, then red.
Finally, Morrigan took the Life Essence in a small vial and carefully poured it at the bottom of the cauldron.
As one drop of Life Essence fell into the cauldron, with a soft puff sound, the magical water turned a dark green shade.
"Stir the cauldron quickly, two turns every second," Morrigan instructed. Rachel nodded and sped up.
Soon, as the dark green magical water began to decrease, Rachel stopped. "Are you sure this is right?"
Morrigan nodded while looking at her notes. "Yes, I did exactly as my notes said."
Morrigan and Rachel watched the cauldron carefully. The magical water inside slowly decreased and was absorbed into the tree seed.
Two minutes later, Morrigan gently took the seed, which had taken on a crystal form.
"Rachel, could you fill the pot with soil?"
"Leave it to me." Rachel took the pot and began filling it with soil.
Meanwhile, Morrigan examined the crystal seed in her hand. The seed had something inside that glowed red, as if it had a heart. Its exterior was green.
The red glow mixed with the green made it look like a beautiful jewel. After examining the seed for a while longer, she placed it in the soil Rachel had brought and waited.
"When will this work?" Rachel asked with a frown. Morrigan looked at her patiently. "We’ll wait for 30 seconds."
After 30 seconds, the tree suddenly began to grow, and both Rachel and Morrigan were delighted. Morrigan was especially pleased to be the first to finish.
At that moment, everyone’s attention turned to Morrigan and Rachel. Some looked envious, while others seemed curious.
"Truly an incredible talent!" Vanya exclaimed with joy. "Congratulations, Lady Morrigan and Lady Rachel!"
While the professor was overjoyed, Morrigan simply nodded, trying not to appear arrogant. Despite Morrigan’s efforts, Rachel gave a haughty and mocking glance.
"If Lady Morrigan can do it, why can’t I?" Alice sighed, looking at her soil-stained hands. No matter how much her partner, Prince Julias, tried, they still couldn’t succeed.
Finally, Alice puffed out her cheeks and gave up. Prince Julias, not caring much about the lesson, stopped trying when he saw Alice give up.
After all, he was the prince of the kingdom. What use would botany be to him?
"Alice, don’t worry," the prince said calmly. "This lesson won’t be useful in your daily life anyway. You don’t need to bother."
Though Alice nodded, she was still upset, but her mood improved slightly at being comforted by the prince.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"It’s nothing."
Meanwhile, Vanya sighed as she watched the prince and the saint give up from afar, while a mocking gleam flashed in Rodrick’s eyes. "If this is the kingdom’s future king, we’re in trouble..."
Though reluctant, Vanya agreed. The kingdom needed a hardworking and responsible king.
"If he put as much effort into his studies as he does flirting with the saint, he’d perform better than anyone," Rodrick teased.
Vanya chuckled and then stopped watching the saint and the prince.