Taking advantage of the fact that the somewhat eerie Duke wasn't back yet, Ellie Miller shook off the maid, slipped into the washroom, and locked the door behind her, entering the once again.
The three Magical Plants were still stuck in the mortar like a "bug".
Ellie Miller immediately pulled out the "Fire Bell" and "Terra Root", casually placing them on a convenient empty spot.
[The medicinal effects of "Fire Bell" and "Terra Root" are dissipating rapidly, please process them into an alchemy potion as soon as possible.]
Ignoring the prompt, Ellie Miller quickly crushed the "Water Flower" in the mortar.
Simultaneously, she tilted a long-handled spoon, pouring the water-based liquid into the crucible, then scattered the "Water Flower" powder into the base liquid, finally pulling the bellows to heat it with a large flame.
Soon, the liquid in the crucible began bubbling "gurgle, gurgle", the colorless aqueous solution gradually turned light blue, then deepened slowly, finally becoming a pure sky blue.
At this moment, Ellie Miller swiftly smashed the Terra Root, pounding it into coarse sand-sized particles, then poured it into the crucible, stirring it.
After evenly mixing, the blue liquid in the crucible gradually turned pale red, then orange-red, and finally became a bright red.
With a faint "bang", a weak explosion occurred, and pale red smoke slowly rose from the crucible, twisting in the air, gradually forming a "Red Heart".
Once the heart-shaped smoke dispersed, Ellie Miller immediately transferred the orange-red potion from the crucible into a clean, empty glass bottle.
[Alchemy successful, you have obtained a bottle of Mid-Effect "Healing Potion".]
Ellie Miller's emerald-green phoenix eyes widened, "This is the first time I've made a mid-effect alchemy potion!"
The prefixes divide the alchemy potions into three levels: Weak Effect, Mid-Effect, Strong Effect.
With this bottle of "Mid-Effect" Healing Potion, Ellie Miller felt more confident about restoring Joanna's husband's health.
[Due to prolonged neglect, your "Magical Plant" Fire Bell has lost significant potency.]
"Ah!" Ellie Miller hurriedly placed the forgotten Fire Bell back into the mortar.
The poor little yellow flower, originally plucked looking just like a small bell, and its body exuded a scalding heat. But now, it resembled a flattened bell without any warmth when touched.
"Shrewd merchant! This is just forcing me to exchange my reputation for the 'Magic Plant Preservation Cabinet' from the !"
Occasionally, a small truck would appear outside the fence of The Rear Garden, offering numerous magical items that could only be exchanged with considerable reputation. Ellie Miller's "Mind Reading Technique" was exchanged from there.
At that time, she had hesitated for a long time between choosing the "Mind Reading Technique" or the "Magic Plant Preservation Cabinet". Ultimately, considering the peculiarities of the Campbell Black Market, she prioritized using 500 Evil Reputation to exchange for "Mind Reading Technique".
Don't ask her how she acquired 500 Evil Reputation, but one day, a bashful little boy came to buy a [Burning Potion] from her, and the following day, she gained 500 Evil Reputation.
At that time, she was completely stunned.
Ellie Miller took a deep breath, feeling pained but not regretting her initial choice of "Mind Reading Technique".
Leaving the , she washed in the washroom, accompanied by the persistent knocking of the maid.
As long as she didn't open the door, the maid outside would keep knocking.
Facing the mirror, Ellie Miller tilted her head slightly.
According to the original memories, she was supposed to be the mistress of Kostanyn, but Ellie Miller had lived here for only a few days and felt it didn't have that "taste".
For instance, these maids were usually polite but not reverent. They treated her more like a distinguished long-term guest staying in Kostanyn rather than its mistress.
So why did the Duke of Coldcrest insist on "bringing" her back?
She felt the Duke was playing a very big game of chess.
Ellie Miller sighed, her resolve to leave Kostanyn growing stronger.
She "gurgled" spat out her rinse water, then unhurriedly opened the door, climbed into bed under the watchful eyes of the maids, and snuggled into the covers.
Sleep!
...
The next day, before dawn, Ellie Miller was woken by a clamor of hooves.
She groggily lifted the curtains, got out of bed, rubbing her eyes and yawning, peered down from the window.
It was Artor Coldcrest and the group of knights he had taken with him returning.
Ellie Miller was about to turn back to continue sleeping when she saw people tied up like "silkworm cocoons" being tossed to the ground by the knights.
What the hell!
Ellie Miller snapped awake.
She looked closely at the people on the ground, and if she wasn't sleepwalking, they were wearing the robe of The Radiance from the Radiant Chapel, right?
Ellie Miller's scalp went numb.
"You butcher! Disrespecter of the divine authority of The God of The Radiance! The brilliance of The God of The Radiance will never shine upon any knight of The Coldcrest Knights! I..."
This Divine Office personnel from The Radiant See weighed over 300 pounds, and his booming voice was clear to Ellie Miller, who was eavesdropping by the window.
However, a silver blade suddenly pierced through the hysterical Bishop of The Radiance, impaling him directly.
"Ah—" Ellie Miller involuntarily let out a short, sharp scream.
Even though she quickly covered her mouth, Artor Coldcrest, with his exceptionally keen senses, still caught the sound.
Those icy blue eyes suddenly looked her way, and when their eyes met, Ellie Miller immediately crouched down, hiding behind the wall.
Thump, thump, thump.
She could almost feel her heart beating wildly.
Not until there were no more sounds outside did Ellie Miller stand up.
Sure enough, outside, there was no trace of the Duke of Coldcrest, the knights were gone, leaving only a glaring bloodstain trail on the ground.
The butler came out with a few male servants carrying water buckets. Soon, the bloodstain was gone too.
Ellie Miller snuggled back into her bed, tightly clutching the [Healing Potion] she made the previous day.
Coldcrest captured the people from the Holy Court, so it must be to heal the knights' injuries.
If those missionaries from The Radiant See agreed... wouldn't her Healing Potion go to waste?
What to do?
What should she do?
Without reputation, the barren Rear Garden would cause the Alchemy House to completely shut down.
Near lunchtime, as Ellie Miller was going downstairs, she overheard some male servants chatting quietly in a corner.
"...Food is being sent to the Dark Cell below."
"...The situation isn't looking good, I heard those people still haven't confessed."
"Today, a few of the gentlemen from the Order of Knights' wounds worsened, nearly dying..."
"Cough, cough!" Her Personal Maid behind her coughed heavily.
The male servants chatting in the corner immediately went silent.
Ellie Miller turned and asked the maid, "Where is the Duke?"
The maid replied politely, "The Duke is busy with official duties."
"I asked where he is, I want to see him." The Radiance Missionaries captured this morning made her feel anxious.
The maid repeated, "The Duke is busy with official duties, madam."
If it were the original Ellie, she would have started hysterically throwing things by now.
But Ellie Miller merely glanced at the maid's expressionless face, nodded slightly, and said, "Alright."
Ellie Miller turned and returned to her room, no longer going for the meal, directly entering the washroom and locking the door behind her, then entered the .
Indeed, today The Rear Garden yielded nothing.
Ellie Miller stared blankly at the barren Rear Garden and, feeling the time was right, got up and left the .
Sure enough, when she emerged, she "harvested" a ready-to-explode Duke.
"You'd better have a good excuse." Artor Coldcrest carried at his side the same sword that killed the missionary in the morning.
Ellie Miller took a deep breath, took out the [Healing Potion] that had gotten somewhat warm due to her grip.
"This is a [Healing Potion], capable of healing your knights, how about a trade?"
Coldcrest's deep blue eyes slowly shifted downwards, giving the blood-red potion in the bottle a glance, then asked, one word at a time:
"You're suggesting that my knights drink an unknown witch medicine?"