Published at 1st of November 2019 02:00:09 PM
Chapter 79
Chapter 79 – Good Visitors, Bad Visitors (2)
Afterwards, each of the ladies-in-waiting went to their usual business . Before I went to sleep, I lay in bed and stared at the bottle .
‘What was the intent of the person who sent this?’
Did they pity me for losing my husband to Rashta? Or was it a poison?
Ah…right . Grand Duke Kapmen graduated from the magical academy, so perhaps I could ask him . Prince Heinley seemed to be good at using magic as well, but he was only a transfer, so he may be weak on magical theory…
The next day .
There were discussions about diplomacy with Rwibt to be had, so I took the bottle and went to one of the vacant rooms in the palace . I scheduled Grand Duke Kapmen and I to meet here, and he soon arrived .
“I heard you were looking for me, Your Majesty . ”
“Have you written the export and import prospects we talked about previously?”
“About half…”
“Let me take a look . ”
“What are the total number of traders crossing from Rwibt to the Wol continent?”
“I don’t know if there are any traders who are really doing this . ”
“We need some meaningful numbers before we can create a state-led business . There needs to be a minimum guarantee of safety . We may want to make a preliminary deal first for market research purposes . ”
“Yes . ”
“Is there anything else you can trade from the Hwa continent to the rest of the world?”
At the suggestion of trading with other countries, Grand Duke Kapmen furrowed his brow .
“I don’t know . ”
“I’d like you to find out . Trade between the two countries is good, but we can create the infrastructure where our two countries become intermediate distributors between the continents and receive commission . ”
“I see . ”
After some more discussion, we finished the conversation, and I took the chance to tell him about the love potion .
“I heard that you were at the top of the magical academy…”
“Yes . ”
“You don’t know about magic potions, do you?”
Sponsored Content
Grand Duke Kapmen looked at me as if asking why I was talking rubbish . I suspected this man disliked me . He did recommend me as an important trade representative, and he did listen carefully to my opinions, but I could sense his opinion on other things .
‘Does he hate personal relationships?’
“No . ”
“What?”
“…I know about potions . ”
“Ah . Yes . ”
Oh . I thought he had answered in the negative . The timing made my heart skip a beat . I pressed my hand against my chest, and then pulled out the pink bottle .
“Will you take a look at this, if you don’t mind?”
“What is it?”
Grand Duke Kapmen lifted his eyebrows and took the bottle to inspect it .
“A love potion…”
“What?”
Sponsored Content
“It came in as a birthday gift, and the note said it was a love potion . ”
He frowned even deeper .
“I don’t believe it’s true . And I’m uncomfortable because it was sent anonymously . ”
I thought I looked foolish for keeping it, so I added that I expected no benefit from it . But there was no change in Grand Duke Kapmen’s expression .
“But it’s a gift, so I don’t want to throw it away . If you don’t mind, can you confirm whether it’s harmful or not?”
With slightly dismissive look, Kapmen said something completely unexpected .
“I don’t know if this is harmful, but these potions are on the black market . It works to some extent . ”
“I’ve never heard of this potion before…”
“Even if it’s only distributed on the black market, it’s a genuine drug . ”
Grand Duke Kapmen seemed quite interested, and he said “Wait” then shook the bottle . After that, he opened the lid and smelled it . After a few inspections, he spoke in a noncommittal tone .
“It seems to have some effectiveness . ”
“Then if someone drinks this…?”
Sponsored Content
“They will fall in love with the first person they see . Well, it’s not exactly love, but it gives them the physical symptoms of love—the heart beats faster, the face turns red…hmmm, and so on . ”
I burst into laughter because it was so strange . Was the love potion given to me not out of malice, but out of pity that I lost Sovieshu to Rashta?
Grand Duke Kapmen briefly glanced at me before continuing .
“You can use it on Emperor Sovieshu if you wish . Just make sure that the first person he sees is you . ”
I was taken aback, and he shrugged as if he hadn’t said anything strange . I smiled awkwardly and gave a murmured agreement .
It hurt my pride to attract Sovieshu’s attention, and frankly speaking, I couldn’t trust the potion itself . Grand Duke Kapmen assured me that it was alright, but there had to be a reason why I never heard of it . Besides, a simple sniff test couldn’t give that much information…
Did my face show signs of disbelief? When I reached out to take the bottle back, Kapmen pulled it possessively back towards him . “You don’t believe me…” he said, then opened the cap .
“I’ll prove to you the results . ”
“No, you don’t have to—”
“I have the antidote . ”
“The antidote?”
Before I could ask why he had something like that, Grand Duke looked at me and took a sip . My eyes met his in surprise .
The door suddenly opened and someone came in .
“Empress?”