kscans

Chapter 152 - A Small Magic, A Big Feeling

After the discussion, Ariel went to see Crown Prince Elliot. Adrian and Kyle were flusteredly looking after him.

"I apologize, I'm completely refreshed now. Your Highness Elliot, thank you for waiting. Let's make a Potion for your father right away."

Mireille also stepped in to help.

"This brings back memories, Master. After I first learned to make a Potion, I made it over and over until I got it right."

Mireille was already on the verge of a breakdown, her tear ducts ready to burst.

"That's right. And Adrian taste tested them so many times," Ariel said, laughing at the memory.

The Potions made by a small child were unstable and didn't always have good effects. They weren't harmful to the human body, but they could make you unable to stop laughing or crying, or taste far too sweet. Anything that Ariel deemed 'OK' was passed along to the others.

Moreover, they were made when she was still small, as if she were playing house. Even so, Adrian and Darius had desperately drunk them.

"I never thought she'd become such a fine alchemist, though," Adrian said with a smile.

They had gathered fresh magic herbs and mana water. It all depended on how Crown Prince Elliot's honest mana would react.

Elliot, who was helping prepare the magic herbs, seemed to be a serious child. He got frustrated when he couldn't do as he was told and shrugged off Ariel's help, wanting to do it himself. Ariel didn't interfere, simply enjoying the peaceful time with a gentle smile as she looked at Adrian.

She only helped a little with the final step of infusing mana. Elliot was captivated by the sight of the Potion reacting to the mana, sparkling before his eyes.

The finished Potion looked like plain water, unlike the ones made by Ariel or Mireille. Ariel swirled it lightly, appraised it, and grinned. Mireille and the others felt their hearts jump.

"I'm going to switch with Albert-sama. Elliot, have your father drink this."

With that, Ariel left, humming a tune that wasn't quite a song.

Mireille was dying to appraise that Potion. Everyone else was on edge, wondering what she intended to have him drink. But in front of the sparkling, happy Elliot, they couldn't bring themselves to question the contents.

---

"Albert-sama, thank you very much. Thanks to you, I was able to get a proper rest. His Highness Elliot says he would like you to have the first Potion he has ever made. I will take my leave here, so please, go to him."

At a moment when he was drenched in sweat, dizzy, and his spirit was about to break, Ariel approached him with a straight posture and spoke.

"So... I've resolved to become your disciple. You don't have to be so polite. It makes me feel like I lost to someone of lower rank. I'm sorry. I was separated from my son, and my heart couldn't take it unless I blamed you."

Albert gazed at Ariel. Between yesterday's duel and today's explanation of the Magic Furnace's problems, he was no match for her at all. He realized that without her, the living weapon, their country would have been destroyed by a major power long ago.

"That is, um... I apologize." Ariel hung her head in shame. Albert sighed and smiled. This must be what made Darius feel so protective of her.

"Well, it's fine. I'll take a short break." Albert waved his hand and hurried to Elliot's side.

"Father, I made a Potion." Elliot happily offered the Potion. It looked a little different from the Potions he was familiar with.

The gap between the tension of the onlookers and Elliot's innocence was painful.

"This makes me happy. Thank you." Albert steeled himself and drank it all in one gulp.

This is... hm? What is this? I don't really understand. But Elliot's sentiment makes me happy.

"Thank you. Father feels much better now." Albert patted Elliot's head.

The two of them then spent some time together happily in a room on the second floor before leaving.

"So, what was the effect in the end?" Adrian and Kyle quietly looked at the empty bottle. Mireille appraised the tiny bit of Potion left on the rim.

"Effect, Healing. Characteristic, Kindness."

What was infused in the Potion was more than just mana or medicinal properties.