But Olivia had caught it. Now, hearing Stanley mention a missing graduate student, the connection clicked instantly, ‘Could it be the same case?‘ she wondered.

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Coincidentally, she also had some business to deal with in Montisara, apelling reason to investigate while she was there.

A short whileter, Victor emerged, holding a ck overcoat. His voice was calm and pleasant. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Let me take you home.”

Both lost in thought, they walked slowly in silence. As they neared Willow Lane, Victor finally spoke, his voice soft. “How have you been all these years?b” /b

Olivia arched a brow, sidestepping the question. “You say that like you’ve known me for ages.”

Victor nced down, a quiet chuckle escaping. “Yeah, I do.”

Olivia kept her expression neutral, studying Victor from the corner of her eye. A flicker of familiarity tugged at her memory, but she didn’t dare acknowledge it. In her world, mistaking a friend for a foe–or vice versa- could have dire consequences.

“You really don’t remember?” Displeasure edged Victor’s voice, tinged with something like hurt. “How could you forget me?” Of all people–him, the one who’d doted on her the most.

“My apologies,” Olivia said, feigning a bored yawn. “I tend to lose track. One can’t be expected to remember every passing acquaintance.”

“Merak,” Victor said, urgency seeping into his tone. “You really don’t remember? It’s me–Dubhe!”

Disbelief shed across Olivia’s face, her poised stance faltering briefly. She hadn’t heard the name Merak in years. It was the code name given to her during her time in Mystic Phytoria.

Mystic Phytoria was a valley famed far and wide for its unique cultivation techniques and vast reserves of rare medicinal herbs. Blessed with a perpetually mild, spring–like climate, it was an ideal environment for nurturing nts.

However, it was also veiled from the world in an isted reach, its paths opening only to those the valley itself summoned.

Olivia had stumbled upon the valley by pure chance after fleeing the NecroFlora Labs. The master of Mystic Phytoria found her poisoned and on the brink of death. He brought her back and saved her life, and ultimately epted her as his disciple.

Disciples of Mystic Phytoria received rigorous training in herbology and pharmacology. They mastered the properties of countless ingredients and excelled at crafting potent elixirs that could enhance one’s constitution or cure devastating diseases. Each disciple was an exceptional apothecary.

The name Merak was given to Olivia by the Master, drawn from the constetions he revered. Merak corresponded to the Big Dipper asterism’s second star, symbolizing wisdom and strategy, a guide for the discerning. Noting Olivia’s sharp intellect, he deemed it fitting.

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Dubhe marked the lead star, symbolizing divine authority andmand–a star under which great heroes were said to be born.

Dubhe was Mystic Phytoria’s eldest disciple, and he had always cared for the younger ones. Yet he always wore a mask, his true face a mystery to all. After Mystic Phytoria fell, they were separated, contact lost entirely.

Moreover, Mystic Phytoria’s destruction robbed Revival Grass of its ideal environment. The few sprouts Olivia had taken with her became thest of their kind in existence. This irrevocable loss made refining the Refreshing Pill an impossibility.

Olivia had tasked the Shadow Syndicate with finding those behind Mystic Phytoria’s ruin. The investigation yielded nothing solid save one tenuous lead: a link to NecroFlora Labs.

Now here stood a man iming to be Dubhe, calling her by her old codename. Hope surged, shing with deep–seated caution. ‘Could it truly be him?‘ she wondered, unable to be sure.

“What are you talking about?” Her voice stayed carefully neutral, features schooled into nk confusion. Victor, knowing her wariness well, didn’t push. Instead, he replied with calm certainty, “By the root that heals.”

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