Lucian smiled grimly at the mention of Roxanne. “I’ll just need your help to check that there are no mistakes with the medicinal herbs.”
Peregrine nodded and asked Linda for a pen. Then, he scribbled a few more medicinal herbs at the bottom. As he wrote, he clicked his tongue in admiration. “She’s truly talented. What a genius! I can’t believe she figured out that the antidote from Jack was only a medicine to delay the effects of the poison and even managed to work out an antidote based on that. Impressive!”
His words of praise for Roxanne did nothing to lift Madilyn’s spirits. Even if she’s a genius, she still didn’t manage to escape from experiencing such pain. Soon, Peregrine had finished tweaking the prescription.
Linda was so anxious that she stood up and suggested, “Since Archie isn’t here yet, why don’t I help prep some of the herbs first?”
“These medicinal herbs listed here aren’t very common, so you must be careful. Make sure not to take the wrong ones,” Peregrine cautioned while handing her the prescription.
She hummed in acknowledgment. When she lowered her head and glanced at the prescription, however, she was somewhat dumbfounded.
I assumed Old Mr. Lomax meant that only a few aren’t that common. This prescription contains over twenty medicinal herbs, but I never thought they’d all be rarely used herbs! Although I’ve worked at the research institute for some time, I’ve been handling more administrative matters for the most part. That’s why I’m not very familiar with where each medicinal herb is stored, and the ones I do recall aren’t even listed here.
Afraid that she would only create more of a mess for Roxanne, Linda had no choice but to abandon her good intentions and gloomily return the prescription to Peregrine. “I’m sorry, Old Mr. Lomax. Let’s wait for Archie to get here first.”
Peregrine drew his brows together in confusion. “Our research institute has hundreds of medicinal herbs. We had them sorted and categorized previously, but finding these twenty-old rare medicinal herbs is still a little difficult for me. Only Archie can remember where they are,” Linda explained. The mention of Archie’s name again piqued Peregrine’s curiosity further. “Who’s this Archie?”
Linda’s eyes flitted to Lucian.
“He’s my and Roxanne’s son,” Lucian answered. Peregrine nodded in understanding. “Ah, no wonder! Children of parents with brilliant minds usually turn out to be gifted as well.”
Madilyn’s expression changed slightly, and she glanced at Lucian suspiciously. From his tone, it sounds as though he already knows Archie and Benny are his children. On second thought, that isn’t very likely. Roxanne shouldn’t have had the chance to tell him. He probably only said that because he has genuinely accepted them as his own.
As that thought crossed her mind, she felt a wave of bittersweet sadness wash over her. It’s the day we’ve finally been waiting for! Oh, I do hope nothing happens to Roxanne!
The group continued waiting anxiously for Archie to arrive. Ten minutes later, a flurry of footsteps sounded from the corridor.
Everyone in the laboratory sprang to their feet in unison and rushed to the door. There, they saw Jonathan hurrying toward them with the three children..
Jonathan was walking so fast that the kids had to jog to keep up with him, yet they did not complain about feeling tired.
“Daddy!” Spotting Lucian at the door, Benny and Estella sped up and threw themselves into his arms. Archie, however, restrained himself and hung. back. He looked at Madilyn and said, “Aunt Madilyn, let’s go and gather the medicinal herbs.”
I haven’t forgotten why I’m here, and I understand just how urgent the situation is. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been necessary to send Mr. Queen to get me in the middle of the night.
Seeing him put on a strong and mature front made Madilyn emotional, and she was quiet for several seconds. Then, she forced a smile and held out a hand to take his.
