For Anca's recipe, choose hot water first, then three spoonfuls of herbs. Before returning home, open Instructions from Anca in your quest items and read it, because the cauldron sequence does not let you reopen the note. After the brew, tell Esme a story when she refuses it, then choose “Just a sip.” The recipe is not a crafting minigame: it is a fixed sequence of dialogue choices.

Read the instruction before you reach the cauldron

  1. Complete the part of Withering Away where Anca gives you the herbs. The objective should then mention bringing them to Pieter and reading the recipe.
  2. Open inventory, switch to quest items, select Instructions from Anca, and read the full note. Do this while walking home, before handing the herbs over.
  3. The note says to brew three scoops with water that is hot but not quite boiling. That wording resolves both cauldron prompts, so do not rely on memory after the scene begins.

The in-game note is the strongest first check. Once the brewing dialogue starts, the game does not show the recipe again, so reading it early is part of the route rather than optional flavor text.

Return to Pieter and begin the medicine scene

  1. Follow the quest marker back to the family house in Laslea. Pieter is outside; wait for his conversation to finish, then hand over the herbs.
  2. After the short scene, enter the house and approach the cauldron. There is no skill check, crafting screen, timer, or need to search for a second ingredient.
  3. Slow down when the choices appear. The first answer is about water temperature, and the second is about the herb dose; choosing through them quickly is the usual cause of a failed brew.

Select the two correct cauldron choices

  1. At the water prompt, choose “Use hot water.” Do not choose boiling or cold water; “hot, but not quite boiling” is the wording from Anca's instructions.
  2. At the herb prompt, choose “Add three spoonfuls of herbs.” This is the dose specified by the same note.
  3. Wait for the brewing dialogue to finish rather than trying to reopen inventory. The game checks whether these two choices match the recipe; it does not ask for a manual input sequence or a separate crafting action.

These two selections are the direct answer to the puzzle. If you are already at the cauldron, make them in that order: hot water, then three spoonfuls.

Help Esme take the medicine

  1. When Esme refuses the brew, choose the option to tell her a story. It brings her back enough to accept the medicine.
  2. Then choose “Just a sip.” This completes the immediate medicine scene and moves the quest sequence forward.
  3. Watch the handover after the scene. Pieter inviting Coen outside to spar means Withering Away has advanced, but the later Mass is the story check for whether the medicine itself was brewed correctly.

The page gives the direct path without detailing the alternate scene. The important practical point is that the recipe choice matters, unlike ordinary role-play dialogue in the surrounding sequence.

If you chose wrong or cannot find the note

If you are still before the cauldron, open the quest items tab and read Instructions from Anca. If you are already at the two prompts, use hot water and three spoonfuls. Do not look for another herb item or a hidden pot interaction; the cited walkthroughs describe only these two dialogue decisions.

If you chose a wrong option and want the intended result, reload the nearest autosave from before the cauldron and repeat the scene. The later consequence is not corrected by revisiting Anca or collecting another herb bundle, so the safe recovery point is before you make the two brew choices.