A short time later, the city was still abuzz with rumors when Father and I were summoned to the castle. We were led into a small room meant for private meetings. The king stood by the window, waiting for us.
“I asked you here today to apologize for bringing someone so young into such an ugly political struggle. However, thanks to you, I was able to secure the safety of my beloved family. Daisy, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Bright sunlight shone through the window where the king stood. Outside, I could see the queen, the young prince, and the princess taking a walk in the garden, smiling together among the beautiful flowers. The happy sound of their laughter softly drifted into the room.
The king turned to me and spoke. “It was all thanks to your potion, Daisy. I will grant any wish you may have, so long as it is within my power to do so. What would you ask?”
“Please promise me you will never order me to make such a potion again,” I said. “I am still very inexperienced. I agreed out of a sense of justice, but I made that potion without truly understanding what it meant, and without the judgment or resolve to handle the consequences.”
I knew it was bold to say such a thing to a king, but I’d only just begun to realize how little I understood about my power as an Alchemist, and how much I was still an inexperienced child. That was why I’d decided that I would never participate in such matters again.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel ashamed before the king and lowered my head.
“No one would blame a child so young,” he said. “So then, there’s nothing else you wish for?”
“When I turn ten, I would like to become an independent Alchemist and open my own workshop in the city. If you can make that happen for me, I don’t need anything else,” I answered quietly.
“Very well. I shall see to it that you have everything you need to establish your workshop. I will also send you suitable compensation for securing my family’s safety.”
“Thank you very much.”
Through this incident I’d realized how much I still needed to learn. Even though I was a naive child, I’d grown up, just a little.
The workshop I’d always dreamed of would be a place where I could learn more about the world, meet many kinds of people, and grow from those experiences.
With that in mind, I began to prepare for my independence.