found potion laboratories calming.
There was something about the way the lights reflected off the beakers, the rainbow-range of ingredient colors, and the symphony of delicate sounds created by the clinking of glass, grinding of mortars, and audible puffs of smoke released when brews reacted in a cauldron.
Ladies were traditionally supposed to be modest, and I was. However, the plain truth stood that I was excellent at many princess things—communicating with animals through song, ballroom dancing, social etiquette, and so forth. These skills had served me well over the years at school and at home, but in our ever-changing world, I feared they would become increasingly obsolete, as would a lot of what made me exceptional. A great deal of my personality was rooted in the old world, and it
