That night Auther rested well for reasons unbeknownst to him, Viola she was worse but her story is a bit later coming.
He woke up touching grasping and feeling the mattress something he had always meant to question where it came from.
Being from Earth he was used to it but in a medieval world why would they have functioning mattresses or even modern clothing as modern as you can get with wool and silk as your only materials.
He chalked it up to a difference in worlds what really surprised him was the complete journals of the invention from famous alchemist all over the human world that is four kingdoms collectively called Laurentia.
They matched completely with those from his world at one point he had created a theory that maybe a select few scientist are brought into this world sometimes.
Before thinking about what shackles Hopelys meant he just wanted to get a random alchemy related class and bring electricity to this world but now...
He had plans to visit the girl he saw the training yard the only hunch he had was she was from the alchemy department nobody else wears lab coats in the entire palace.
"Hopefully she wasn't visiting."
Lucky for him Lana was knee deep in boredom staring at her notes, usually she had noting to do, today was worse there was nothing wrong with potion supply chains.
Lana had been tasked with making potions in times of fluctuations in the royal city supply chains as hard as the job sounded it was actually pretty cushy she did nothing all day yet got paid handsomely by the queen.
Occasionally she makes potions but maybe three hundred a day at most, the royal city was too well supplied to lack something as basic as potions.
Due to her inactiveness the other alchemist usually didn't like associating with her. But some...
"Hey Lala or something can you help me skin this?" A male coworker of her came over dropping a live snake on her table. Spooked she jumped away from it.
"You don't even have the spine for this, who dd you sleep with to get into my prestigious lab?" He said. Lana could have responded but how he was Neon Gold her boss and the greatest Alchemist in Laurentia.
"I'm sorry sir," there was a slight pause where she looked at him with a murderous glare before it faded "I'll get to it." She ended up tying the snake up in so many different ropes before killing it.
Stuck in the middle of scaling it commotion erupted in the hall. Something or someone important was coming.
"Fucking sheep." she spat under her breath before proceeding to ignore whatever was happening.
That was before Neon's obnoxious voice came to her again with very perplexing news.
"This is Lala she couldn't be who you are looking for your highness."
Looking up she blushed a bit before hiding it, Auther was a handsome person it's only that Viola had seen too many handsome men Lana was only 23 how many men had she seen.
Still the blush faded instantly when she realized it's the untalented prince. Though she herself had a low rank she absolutely despised his untalented stature.
Auther unaware of what was happening in her mind simply smiled at Neon then at her. It was a bit too natural they both felt it everyone always did.
"This is her Mr. Neon you can be on your way on then." He replied.
Lana found herself in a problem, she barely knew the boy, never met him, she herself was unknown yet he was here, the one boy whom the entire empire will be on it's feet just to see in a few days time was here looking at her.
"What is it a bit too cartoony for you?"
That flew over her head, he smiled before explaining
"I meant unreal."
That word had always been his litmus test too unassuming for anyone to notice but too concrete to disprove. Though it completely failed to catch those who came after his age or before to him time was linear.
"No it's just why are you here if I may ask."
"Do you know of a primordial by the name Hopelys Starborn?"
"Yes and I am a firm believer of the Goddess Hopelys as much of an alchemist I might be. Why do you ask?"
"No I meant do you know her personally?"
"Well they say we all know her personally so in a way yes."
"You know what I mean." He was getting angry
"I do not know what you are implying I do not know her personally."
"Of course you don't what was I thinking it can't be that simple can it?" He meant to talk to himself but it spilled outwards.
'Strange fellow is he turning insane before his awakening?' Lana soliloquized.
"Then why were you drawing me yesterday?"
That simple revelation caused a sequence of events in Lana's life that would completely reshape it unknown to anyone in the room.
"Let's go somewhere private my prince, this matter is a bit too sensitive to speak of it here." She said.
Now when they left they sealed the case for so many curious folk in the lab. As busy bodied as they might have been pretending to be they saw everything.
The rumor flying around was that Lana was Auther's muse. Slowly t built up evidence for itself, inconsequential maybe real that did not matter to anyone in that room