My daughter received the Occupation of Alchemist at her Baptism.
It wasn’t a profession a noble family would necessarily be thrilled about. She’d shut herself in her bedroom as soon as we got home. Compared to Healers, who could use recovery magic to treat the sick and injured and were considered one of the most prestigious Occupations, Alchemists were seen as more utilitarian. They created potions and helped to make up for the shortage of Healers. They also lacked the glamour of serving on the front lines as part of the royal court’s Order of Mages. Because of this, Alchemists weren’t particularly popular among the noble families.
There were some legends that Alchemists could create elixirs of immortality or a Sage’s Stone that contained the entirety of human knowledge, but there were no records of those things really existing. Most Alchemists just ran workshops that sold potions to cure minor injuries and ailments.
The reason they were limited to such low-level potions was because books were very expensive in this kingdom, and thus quite difficult to acquire. As a result, Alchemists rarely attempted to create the medicines, alloys, or special fibers described in those books, nor did they work to improve the quality of the potions they did know, even if those books held the hard-won wisdom of the Alchemists who came before them.
Before long, most Alchemists learned their craft by apprenticing to a master. The art of potion cultivation came to rely heavily on intuition and experience, and gradually the skills of this kingdom’s Alchemists plateaued. The brilliant discoveries of their predecessors faded into history, and Alchemists became content in their roles of entry-level apothecaries.
The profession’s unpopularity among noble families also stemmed from the belief that noblewomen Alchemists had poor marriage prospects. When marriage offers did come, they were often from elderly men seeking to remarry, or their families looking for a caregiver—hardly the kind of marriage offers a young woman would hope for.
And as for men, if they were the eldest sons, they might even be disowned to avoid the Occupation being passed down through the family line.
Now, what to do…
I, Henry, pondered this. My beloved daughter Daisy was still crying in her bedroom after receiving the Alchemist profession at her Baptism. As her father, I needed to decide what to do about this situation, and how I would express that to my daughter.
Now that her occupation had been decided, there was no going back. Our religion wouldn’t allow any refusal of the job. Under these circumstances, whether my daughter would lead a happy life from now on depended on how we, her parents, reacted and supported her. Even if this wasn’t the result we wanted, there was still a way forward. And if I could just give my daughter the proper guidance, I was certain she could live a happy life.
It was common practice in this kingdom to disown or reject children who received unfavorable Occupations, but I could never consider such a thing.
There was no point in fretting about the matter on my own. I decided to consult my wife and went to her room to speak with her.
“Rose, are you in there?” I called out to my wife Roselia as I knocked gently on her door.
“Yes, I’m here. Elly, open the door, would you?”
Elly, the maid, obediently did as instructed.
I went inside and gave my wife a kiss on the cheek. “I wanted to talk to you about Daisy’s future. Do you have a moment?”
Roselia kissed me back and gave me a beautiful smile. “Of course I do, Henry. She’s our beloved daughter, so as her mother it’s only natural to be concerned.” She beckoned me over to the sofa and I sat beside her.
Elly prepared some tea for us, then gave us a bow before leaving the room.
“It’s about Daisy receiving the Alchemist Occupation, of course.”
Rose nodded.
“Everyone says that it’s difficult for a young noblewoman to lead a happy life with such a job. It’s said to be an unfavorable Occupation. You know that, don’t you?” I asked.
Rose nodded again. Her expression was just as melancholic as mine.
“She’s dreamed of being a Mage like her siblings for as long as she can remember,” she said. “That’s certainly what I had expected to happen as well. But you know, being an Alchemist might not be a bad Occupation for her, depending on how you look at it.”
I was surprised to hear her say that, and uttered a noise of curiosity. “What exactly do you mean, Rose?”
She took a sip of tea before answering. “I’ve been thinking that Daisy is very gifted in academics compared to other children her age. She’s already mastered reading and arithmetic even though she’s only five years old. Her manners and speech are at an even higher level than those of our other children. She’s incredibly curious and passionate about plants to the point of reading encyclopedias about them for pleasure.”
I had no idea Daisy’s interests went that far—this was my first time hearing about it.
“She has a very rare combination of academic giftedness and passion,” Rose continued. “Although some might say Alchemy is an unfavorable Occupation, if it’s aligned with her interests, why can’t she have a happy life despite what everyone else thinks?” My wife looked at the roses blooming in the garden, which Daisy had tended to herself.
I mulled over Rose’s opinion and then nodded. “Then our first task should be to have her explore Alchemy so she that develops a passion for her Occupation. And we can help her do that.”
Rose was a wonderful mother who took good care of our children. She thought for a moment and then offered a suggestion. “In that case, why don’t we find her some books on Alchemy along with the tools of the trade? She might surprise us and take to it right away.”
“That’s my Rose!” I wrapped my arms around my wife and pulled her close, giving her a kiss on the lips. “I’ll go out and buy everything she needs right away!”
All my sadness disappeared in an instant and I quickly left the room. Now, what shall I buy for my daughter?