38: Love Potion 1
“I really can’t eat anymore… ugh!”
Although she said she would take me to try everything, she really meant it.
Elsa felt like she wouldn’t need to eat for three days after this.
“You’re full already? Then let me buy you something to drink—”
“No, no need, really no need!!”
Clinging to her arm, she almost cried out these words.
“Then let’s rest a bit before continuing.”
Evie is too terrifying when she’s in a good mood!!
“Come one, come all, don’t miss out, take a look—absolutely nothing left out!”
Following the hawker’s call, Yvonne’s gaze drifted to the lively stall not far away.
“…They really do sell everything at festivals.”
“Shall we go take a look?”
To quickly escape the snack hell, Elsa made a timely suggestion.
But… she soon regretted it.
Because this was just jumping from one hell into another.
“Look—Dorothy!! They even have a handwritten copy of ‘The Elite Register of Body-Tempering Heroes’ here! This one too!! Goodness… to think I could find such treasures here!!”
Holding the old book she had found, Yvonne flipped through the pages, her eyes growing brighter the more she looked, clearly very pleased.
Her shopping desire fully aroused, the young lady began to indulge in various interesting small commodities.
How could a noble daughter be so interested in street market culture?
Well… although this side of her is very cute too.
“It’s already very late, I think we should head back…”
Elsa tugged at her sleeve, tentatively asking.
Although she was reluctant to interrupt Yvonne when she was so happy, rules were rules.
The monastery had a curfew at night. Sister Delia certainly wouldn’t be cruel enough to lock them out for a whole night for violating curfew, but if they returned after curfew, a lecture would be inevitable.
Although Delia had a gentle personality, listening to her recite God’s admonitions for two hours with a loving smile was a painful experience no matter what.
“Just a little longer, just a bit! We’ll go back right after.”
“Only a little while, okay? It’s really late.”
There’s no helping it, Elsa thought helplessly.
Given Yvonne’s background, experiences like browsing night markets must be rare for her, right?
Better let her enjoy herself to the fullest here.
“Boss, what’s this?”
In the corner of the stall, an inconspicuous small glass bottle caught Yvonne’s attention.
The delicate glass bottle was engraved with peculiar floral patterns.
She had seen it in books before, this special magical symbol was only used by alchemists.
If she wasn’t mistaken, this could very likely be some valuable magical potion!
She picked it up and gently shook it. Inside the transparent bottle was some kind of clear, crimson-purple liquid with unknown effects.
The bottle wasn’t large, with the cap it was only about the length of a palm. The volume inside was even smaller, just this little bit – if opened carelessly, spilling two or three drops would probably lose most of it.
“—Young lady, you have a good eye! This is indeed a fine item.”
The lean man wearing a hat was the owner of this temporary stall opened for the festival. Seeing the item Yvonne had chosen, he approached with the cunning smile unique to merchants, rubbing his hands together.
Years of business had honed his ability to read people, telling him that this blonde girl before him was clearly a big-spending young lady! A fat lamb ripe for the slaughter!
“How is it good?”
“Hmm… Actually, this potion wasn’t made by me, but was sold to me by a traveling alchemist years ago in exchange for travel expenses,”
Saying this, the boss lowered his voice mysteriously:
“He told me that this is a perfume that can enhance a woman’s charm.”
Looking at the small bottle in her hand, Yvonne nodded thoughtfully.
“Enhance charm… Wait a minute?! Isn’t that just an aphrodisiac??”
After hearing the item description, she finally reacted, blushing as she put down this dangerous potion.
“Do you need it? Regarding the price, I can give you a discount, young lady! Of course, your privacy regarding the purchase record will be respected—”
“…I don’t need this kind of thing.”
As soon as she heard it was that kind of suspicious drug, Yvonne immediately waved her hands repeatedly, giving up the idea of purchasing.
After all, this was a magic potion with special effects, not something to be trifled with.
“Ah—Right, Dorothy, wait for me here for a bit. The book seller over there should have found the books I requested earlier. Let’s head back after I get the books.”
“…Mm.”
Left behind, Elsa obediently nodded, watching her figure jog towards the used book stall.
“……”
After Yvonne left, looking at that tempting potion left in the corner, she suddenly had a new idea.
“Um, boss…”
“What is it, young lady?”
“You said earlier that this magic potion can significantly ‘enhance a woman’s charm’, so does it also work for someone who is also female?”
“Well… theoretically, it should work.”
In all his years of business, this was the first time the boss had been asked such a question.
“Then how much is this potion? I’ll buy it.”
⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱
To think she actually bought it in a moment of impulse…
Looking at the potion in her hand, Elsa was now experiencing intense moral condemnation.
Even if she felt regretful about her earlier failure, how could she resort to such underhanded methods—
This is clearly cheating!!
It must have been a moment of confusion that made her buy such a thing.
…It must be!
Just as she was about to seal away the potion,
That familiar, silk-like beautiful golden hair fell within her line of sight.
“—The bathhouse is free now, you know?”
“!!”
The voice startled her, making her hand tremble slightly.
She hurriedly hid the potion in her palm, tucking it into the corner of the blanket.
Looking up, Yvonne was smiling down at her.
“Evie, you’ve already finished bathing?”
“Yes.”
She was wrapped only in a white bath towel, water marks still on her body, giving off a slight steam under her body temperature.
If one smelled carefully, they could detect a unique citrus scent emanating from her.
At first, Elsa thought it was because she always used the same scented soap to bathe, but after coming here and switching to the same ordinary, unscented soap as everyone else, she realized that the fresh, pleasant aroma like fresh lemon leaves actually came from Yvonne herself.
“…Strange, where are my clothes?”
Muttering softly, she held the collar of her towel with one hand while searching the room for her change of clothes.
Despite being the same age of 16 as herself, Yvonne had a strikingly different, graceful curve.
The bath towel seemed a bit short on her, unable to fully cover her ample bosom, which looked like it might spill out with just a few movements around the room. The dangerous length that just covered to the top of her thighs also made Elsa’s heart race with each slight movement of Yvonne’s legs.
This scene, even without heart disease, one might be scared into having it.
Thank goodness, thank goodness she was a girl.
If it were a man, it would probably be hard to maintain rationality in such an alluring scene, right?
Although there were no men in the monastery, and the children were all asleep by this time, coming back from the bathhouse wrapped only in a towel didn’t seem to fit her usually strict and conservative style…
Or… had she let her guard down because it was in front of Elsa?
Thinking of this, Elsa felt her heart start to pound again.
To Yvonne, was she someone who could be trusted…
“Hey, aren’t you going to take a bath?”
“I’m going right away!”
“Pfft… Why are you so nervous? I’m not going to eat you.”
“…………”
Elsa was momentarily at a loss for words.
Although the other party said this half-jokingly, what she was actually more worried about was that in this situation, she might have impure thoughts and devour Yvonne instead…