Chapter 38: A Royal Opportunity

“A Royal Pharmacist?” Lu Yuan murmured, mulling it over.

The Pharmacist’s Guild of the continent categorized its members into several tiers: apprentice pharmacists, official pharmacists, master pharmacists, grandmaster pharmacists, and so on.

In the Sollefer Kingdom, the highest title a pharmacist could be granted was that of Royal Pharmacist.

It wasn’t a rank, but a title of honor bestowed by the king himself—a symbol of status and identity.

It was the ultimate goal for which every pharmacist in the kingdom strived.

Across the entire kingdom, there were only seven active Royal Pharmacists. The woman before him was one of them.

Lei Yin, in his previous life, had also fought tirelessly for this very goal.

Logically, if Lu Yuan were to continue playing the part of Lei Yin, he should pursue the same objective.

However, becoming a Royal Pharmacist wasn’t as simple as concocting a few potions.

Reputation and skill were both indispensable.

Even if Lu Yuan had inherited Lei Yin’s pharmaceutical knowledge, what of it? The counterfeit medicine incident had already shattered Lei Yin’s reputation. Even without it, Lu Yuan was just an unremarkable master pharmacist in a small, obscure branch of the guild.

Countless others far surpassed him in both fame and standing.

How could the honor of Royal Pharmacist possibly fall to him?

Stella seemed to read his thoughts and offered a faint smile. “It certainly won’t be that easy. But an opportunity has presented itself, and I think you should try for it.”

“What opportunity?” Lu Yuan asked.

“It has to do with the kingdom’s greatest prodigy pharmacist I just mentioned, the little princess Daelothys.” Stella tapped her fingertips lightly on the table. “Princess Daelothys is the king’s most beloved youngest daughter, and her mother was once the king’s foremost pharmacist. Ever since the queen passed away, the princess has been taught by a host of senior pharmacists from the Royal Pharmacist Headquarters.”

“However, many pharmacists have their own exclusive schools of thought. By studying under so many different mentors, the princess has inevitably encountered conflicting or even contradictory philosophies. For this reason, the king has long wished to find a single, dedicated senior pharmacist to guide her. And whoever becomes the princess’s tutor will also be granted the title of Royal Pharmacist.”

So that was it. Lu Yuan was beginning to understand. The title of Royal Pharmacist would never be bestowed lightly, but in this case, the king was seeking a tutor for his daughter. Anyone who secured the position would be granted the title directly. It was indeed a rare chance.

Still, something didn’t quite add up. “If that’s the case, why not just have one of the current Royal Pharmacists take the princess as a student?”

Stella gave a wry smile. “That’s the biggest problem. It’s not that the active Royal Pharmacists don’t want to teach her, it’s that the other masters simply can’t spare the time…”

‘Can’t spare the time?’

Lu Yuan glanced at the woman before him, his mentor in name only.

Wasn’t this one right here looking rather idle?

The wry smile on Stella’s face deepened. “My situation is a bit… unique. I’m not suited to be the girl’s teacher.”

Lu Yuan noticed the peculiar look in her eyes as she spoke and suspected there was more to the story. He had no interest in prying into others’ private affairs, however.

“Although I can’t be her teacher, as one of the seven Royal Pharmacists, I still have the authority to recommend you to His Majesty.” Stella looked at Lu Yuan. “So, what do you think? Are you interested? This is a chance to soar to new heights.”

‘Soar to new heights?’ Perhaps for others, but it held no appeal for Lu Yuan. He would much rather be alone, researching his own path, than tutoring some little girl he had never even met.

Cultivation was a long, solitary journey, and Lu Yuan was accustomed to solitude.

He had already decided to refuse.

“Let’s do it! Aim to become a Royal Pharmacist! Go be a teacher to that noble little princess!” little Meilin declared, tugging on Lu Yuan’s sleeve with an air of triumphant authority.

Lu Yuan frowned, his eyes full of questions. “Why?”

“Because I’m already your apprentice! If that little princess becomes your student too, she’ll have joined after me, which makes her my junior sister, right?” Meilin counted on her fingers. “If I’m the senior sister to the kingdom’s greatest prodigy pharmacist, I can order her around however I want! That would feel amazing!”

Lu Yuan was speechless.

“Well? Uncle! Are you in or not?!” Meilin scurried in front of him, looking up at him with pleading eyes from a perfect forty-five-degree angle of innocence.

Lu Yuan’s brow furrowed even deeper. “Is that really what you think?”

“Of course,” Meilin replied with a guileless smile.

Looking at her pure, innocent face, Lu Yuan felt a strange sense of unease.

‘This girl seems to be plotting something. Her reasoning doesn’t sound credible at all.’

Meilin, of course, had her own agenda. Her motivation was hardly as shallow as wanting the princess to be her junior.

She had personally witnessed the humiliation Lei Yin suffered at the hands of wicked people when he was at his lowest. If Lei Yin could become a Royal Pharmacist, the most respected position in the entire kingdom, then those who had once tormented him would never dare to bully her uncle again.

To have her uncle become the strongest in the nation, so that no one would ever look down on him again—that was Meilin’s secret wish.

Lu Yuan was oblivious to Meilin’s little scheme, but since the girl had put it that way, he couldn’t bear to disappoint her. He turned to Stella and nodded. “Alright, Mentor. Please, let me give it a try.”