[V1C2] The Sparkling Prince and the Witch's Love Potion

Isaac Walker, the (self-proclaimed) disciple of the Silent Witch Monica Everett, basically occupied Monica’s house for more than half of the month. However, due to his agreement with Monica, he returned to the Erin Territory for the rest of the month to attend his duties.

Having chosen a trustworthy deputy lord, and with Isaac himself being adept at his job, there wasn’t much for him to do.

However, when it came to dealing with visitors, Isaac couldn’t simply leave everything to his proxy.

Isaac’s public face was that of Felix Arc Ridill, the second prince of the Ridill Kingdom. Even if he had renounced his right to the throne and retired, there were still a few who wouldn’t leave him alone.

The guest of the day, Felix’s uncle Tobias, was one such person.

Tobias, who was set to become the next Duke of Crockford, seemed to want to solidify his position by marrying his daughter Loletta to the second prince.

(…I, the second prince, have forfeited my right to the throne. However, if I ever sire a son, then he can inherit the right to the throne according to the laws of this country… How incredibly unpleasant.)

Sighing inwardly, Isaac made his way to the tea salon. He had to entertain the aforementioned Miss Loletta at a tea party.

When Felix entered the tea salon, the well-built girl sitting in front of the tea table looked up in surprise.

“Long time no see, Your Highness… Or rather, Your Lordship, the Duke of Erin.”

“Hey, sorry for keeping you waiting, Miss Loletta.”

“No, I apologize for taking so much of your precious time.”

The 19-year-old Loletta bowed her head, seeming genuinely apologetic. With her chestnut hair and amber-colored eyes, she had an atmosphere more on the quiet side. Although the dress she wore was elegant, it had a mature design considering her age.

As Felix’s cousin, she had met with Isaac several times before. In fact, he had seen her a few times during his childhood——back when the real Felix was still alive.

Either way, Loletta had been attending a girls’ school until last year. She seemed unfamiliar with men and still appeared quite nervous.

Despite her tall and robust appearance, she was rather timid.

(…No, the reason for her nervousness isn’t just that.)

Most likely, she had been strictly instructed by her father, Tobias, to seduce the second prince.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had tea in private, Miss Loletta.”

“Yes, indeed… Um, please enjoy the black tea.”

Loletta’s offer of tea was stiff with tension. Moreover, her gaze was nervously wandering from side to side.

Isaac sensed that something was amiss and lightly tapped his pocket, signaling to Wildianu, who was on standby inside.

Lifting the tea cup with a natural gesture, he noticed a faint scent of roses tickling his nose.

“What a lovely fragrance. It has the scent of roses.”

Upon hearing those words, Loletta shivered, her shoulders trembling.

Internally sighing at the girl’s poor acting skills, Isaac glanced down at the tea cup.

——Beware when served something that smells of roses.

This was a saying passed down secretly among the royals for generations.

In his pocket, Wildianu secretly manipulated magic. For a greater water spirit like him, purifying water was not a particularly challenging task.

After Isaac drank the tea purified by Wildianu, he smiled at Loletta.

“This tea is delicious. The scent of roses is wonderful… Ah, this rose fragrance resembles the roses in the royal palace garden. That’s why it feels so comforting.”

Despite Isaac’s many skills, he wasn’t particularly skilled at discerning the difference in rose scents. This was all a bluff.

Nevertheless, Loletta visibly flinched and averted her gaze.

“…Uh, I-I’m glad you liked it…”

Loletta’s face was glistening with a slight sheen of sweat. Additionally, she blinked an unnatural number of times.

Isaac lifted the corner of his mouth slightly and placed the cup back on the saucer.

“Speaking of the royal palace garden, do you know that it has been managed by the Thorn Witch for generations?”

Loletta gasped and stiffened, providing a very obvious reaction to Isaac’s words.

Isaac suppressed a laugh and continued speaking.

“The Thorn Witch comes from a lineage skilled in imbuing magic into plants. They’ve apparently bestowed various effects on the flowers in the garden.”

“I-I see…”

“At times, they even use magically enhanced plants to create medicines.”

Now, Loletta’s complexion had gone past pale and taken on an earthy hue.

This tea contained a magic potion created by the Thorn Witch.

Moreover, it was likely an aphrodisiac… no, considering it was a magic potion crafted by the Thorn Witch of the Seven Sages, it would be appropriate to call it a potent love potion.

The faint clattering sound could be heard. It was the noise of Loletta’s trembling teeth colliding.

Gazing at the pitiable young lady, Isaac smiled with the benevolence of a prince.

“Did your father make you use this potion?”

“Uh…”

“If you confess honestly and hand over the potion, I’ll overlook this matter. I know, we can say I accidentally spilled the tea.”

At Isaac’s words, Loletta collapsed into tears.

＊　＊　＊

Returning to his room, Isaac placed the confiscated vial on the table.

The bottle, small enough to be cradled in his hands, contained a swaying light pink liquid. This was the potion Loletta had added to Isaac’s tea.

Wildianu emerged from Isaac’s pocket and transformed into the appearance of a valet. He glanced at the vial and furrowed his brows.

“It appears to be a potion with a very potent aphrodisiac effect. Moreover, it seems to have a targeted brainwashing effect… It wouldn’t be incorrect to call this mental manipulation magic, I daresay.”

“Yeah, I suppose so. This is the traditional Witch’s Love Potion.”

Isaac lifted the vial and opened the lid. The overpowering scent of roses was suffocating.

“I’ve developed resistance to poisons, but not even I can resist magical potions. Thank you for purifying it for me, Wil.”

“…Incorrect dosage might lead to mana poisoning. Why was such a dangerous substance circulating in the first place?”

In response to Wildianu’s questioning tone, Isaac grunted and crossed his arms.

Wildianu, being a spirit, excelled in handling magic, but his knowledge was limited when it came to human magecraft.

“To explain the situation with the Witch’s Love Potion, I need to talk about imbuement magic. There are roughly two types of imbuement used to infuse mana into substances: permanent imbuement and temporary imbuement.”

Permanent imbuement is a technique mainly used in the creation of magical tools. It can infuse powerful and complex magical formulas into substances, but the drawback is that it takes time for the imbuement to stabilize.

On the other hand, temporary imbuement refers to immediate imbuement. Applications include temporarily infusing mana into a sword to turn it into a magic sword, or sending mana into a substance to manipulate it. It’s employed for situations where a short-duration effect is needed.

“In simple terms, permanent imbuement can imbue complex and powerful magic, but it takes time to stabilize. Temporary imbuement activates quickly, but it’s challenging to infuse complex magical formulas.”

“And how does this imbuement relate to the Witch’s Love Potion?”

In response to Wildianu’s question, Isaac lifted the small vial and casually shook it.

“Can you guess whether the Witch’s Love Potion was made through permanent imbuement or temporary imbuement?”

“…Considering the complexity of the magic, I’d say it’s permanent imbuement.”

Indeed, magic potions of this kind were typically made by applying permanent imbuement to the ingredients, then processing them accordingly. Temporary imbuement wouldn’t offer the same level of effectiveness.

However, there were exceptions… like the Thorn Witch lineage.

“The Thorn Witch has a bit of a unique lineage. Their family has studied imbuement magic on plants for generations, and they have the ability to infuse incredibly powerful magic even with temporary imbuement.”

For an average mage, applying temporary imbuement to a plant would only allow for minor movements or slight enhancement of medicinal properties.

However, the Thorn Witch could achieve much more sophisticated effects with temporary imbuement. For example: reinforcing a plant to the hardness of metal, intensifying the toxicity to the point of killing beasts, or applying complex magic like sound amplification.

“The Thorn Witch lineage seems to have very high compatibility with roses, so their rose enchantments grow even more powerful. It’s said that the Thorn Witch can make a rose capable of withstanding the Artillery Mage’s most powerful offensive magic.”

Raul Roseberg, the fifth generation Thorn Witch, may not be adept in combat, but he’s virtually invincible in a rose garden.

“Going back to the discussion of legal regulations, permanent imbuement is heavily regulated, because it can do so much. On the other hand, temporary imbuement doesn’t face such strict regulations. After all, what you can achieve with temporary imbuement is limited, so there’s no need for extensive regulations.”

“…However, the exception is the lineage of the Thorn Witch, House Roseberg.”

“Correct.”

Magic potions specially made with temporary imbuement by the Thorn Witch were not subject to legal regulations.

Nevertheless, since they were created using imbuement magic, there’s always the possibility of them becoming regulated at any time.

The reason why temporary imbuement potions were not yet regulated was that the royal family relied on the Thorn Witch’s potions in times of crisis. Therefore, the royal family intentionally avoided regulating temporary imbuement potions as much as possible.

House Roseberg also preferred to remain unregulated, so they didn’t openly advertise their potions.

As a result, the royal family defended the Roseberg family, and the Roseberg family, in turn, supported the royal family by not allowing the excessive circulation of magic potions——an unspoken understanding that had persisted for many years.

However, there was someone who broke this agreement.

“I can’t say it loudly, but the previous Thorn Witch had some behavioral issues. Well, to put it bluntly, she secretly sold magic potions to the domestic nobility for money.”

When the rest of House Roseberg noticed this, they hastily removed the Fourth Thorn Witch from the position of head, replacing her with the then-16-year-old Raul.

Thus, the magic potions sold by the previous Thorn Witch ended up remaining in the hands of some nobles, even to this day. The potion Loletta attempted to administer to Isaac was likely one such item.

“I must admit, I never thought that they would come into my possession though.”

Saying this, Isaac put the vial of the magic potion into the drawer of his desk.

Rather than disposing the magic potion, Isaac chose to keep it on hand. Wildianu looked at Isaac with a rather reproachful expression.

“…What do you plan to do with the Witch’s Love Potion?”

“I’m currently an apprentice mage. How can I not research a rare magic potion specially made by the Thorn Witch?”

Despite Isaac’s casual shrug, Wildianu’s concerns did not clear.

On the contrary, the Wildianu continued questioning him with a very suspicious look. He had been very critical of his master lately.

“…You’re not thinking of using it on someone, are you?”

“No, of course not. Because that’s no fun at all.”

His late friend would be saddened if he chose such a means to fulfill his wishes.

Isaac wanted to hold himself with pride in front of that friend, as well as Monica, the girl who saved him.

“Besides, do you really think I’d resort to something like this to get the girl I like, Wildianu?”

“You have a tendency to choose any means necessary for your goals.”

Those words were harsh, but Isaac avoided a response, deflecting the statement with an ambiguous smile. There was too much truth to it, after all.

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