Servant of the Lake Day 3 Walkthrough: All Puzzles
Servant of the Lake Day 3 walkthrough covering the cat search, the alchemy lab, dinner-seating rules, the harp puzzle, and the final escape sequence.
Day 3 is the story's final act: finding the missing cat, brewing the elixir in Aldous's secret lab, preparing a three-course farewell dinner with strict seating rules, and escaping the estate as the family turns on itself. This page summarizes the full day; the wine box code and full achievement list get their own pages linked below.
Finding the cat
Aldous leaves a note describing a symbol sequence to unlock his lab: hat, gun, boar, crow — a four-step version confirmed directly by a player on Rusty Lake's official Discord, correcting an earlier five-step "hat, rifle, bear, eye, crow" reading that misidentified the boar as a bear. Finding the cat itself is separate: lure it away from the window with a thrown stone, then check the armchair, behind a statue, and inside the oven.
The alchemy lab and the elixir
Repairing the servant's quarters and Aldous's damaged portrait comes first — William leaves graffiti calling out a "traitor" nearby, a sign he already suspects something is wrong.
Confirmed softlock bug — read this before you start
Rusty Lake's own team has confirmed a real, sequence-sensitive softlock tied to pouring acid into Aldous's cup during the elixir puzzle — it isn't a case of misremembered steps, it's an acknowledged bug the developers are working on. Finish the full symbol board first, pour the acid last, avoid unnecessary dialogue with Aldous mid-puzzle, and if the scene locks up, replay the chapter from your notebook rather than continuing to force it.
The symbol system maps to numbers, directions, and five liquids (water, oil, blood, juice, acid). One additional step easy to miss: before handing the finished elixir to Aldous, feed a portion to the parrot first — this triggers the Assisting in Alchemy hidden achievement. Once the elixir is done, Aldous drops the act: "They've played their part. I no longer need them," and announces the farewell dinner.
Preparing the three-course dinner
Cooking runs through shrimp soup, roasted potatoes, and a sealed cake, decorated with a bar across the top, a vertical bar at the bottom center, a lemon slice on the right, a spiral beneath the top bar, a blueberry on the far left, and two strawberries flanking the bottom bar. Partway through, Aldous hands you a poisonous mushroom and tells you to add it to the soup — this is a forced story beat, not an optional choice, so don't expect an alternate path around it.
Dinner-seating rules
The final dinner enforces a fixed set of preferences across three courses:
| Course | Rule |
|---|---|
| Appetizers | Two per person for everyone |
| Mains | Aldous is vegetarian and allergic to broccoli; William eats twice Aldous's portion and wants variety; Alexandra prefers meat over vegetables |
| Dessert | Aldous eats only cheese; chocolate can't be served alongside cheese; William dislikes yellow desserts; William always gets one more dessert than Aldous |
This isn't a bug
Rusty Lake's own team has responded directly to players who assumed the allergy rules contradicted earlier scenes with the potatoes — it's confirmed as an intentional, deduction-based puzzle rather than an inconsistency.
The wine box and the harp
The wine box puzzle returns on Day 3 with a new year code — see the wine box page for both days' confirmed codes side by side. Later, Alexandra plays a note on a harp and asks you to mirror it back on the opposite side of the strings — it's a symmetry puzzle, not a memory sequence, despite some early guesses to the contrary.
The ending
The final confrontation forces a direct conflict, and Aldous goes down wounded. In the cellar afterward, pull the object from his wound, fetch water, and bandage him — he then admits "I misjudged my brother. He wasn't the bad one," and asks you to protect baby James and stop Alexandra from using the elixir. The finishing ritual triggers the elixir's true effect and the blood moon rises as "the Lady of the Lake" returns.
Frequently asked questions
What's the correct symbol order for Aldous's lab?
Hat, gun, boar, crow — a four-step sequence confirmed by a player directly on Rusty Lake's official Discord.
Is the elixir puzzle bugged?
Rusty Lake has confirmed a real softlock tied to pouring acid into Aldous's cup out of sequence. Finish the symbol board fully before adding any liquid, and replay the chapter from your notebook if it locks up.
Do I need to feed the parrot during the elixir puzzle?
Yes — feeding the finished elixir to the parrot before giving it to Aldous unlocks the Assisting in Alchemy hidden achievement.
For achievements and the full ending, see the achievements page and the secret ending guide, or return to the full walkthrough hub.