Chapter 32

‘Wait a second, if this really is a love potion, that’s a huge problem!’

A love potion was said to make the person who consumed it fall in love with the one who gave it. The person who gave this chocolate was that nameless boy.

Which meant Felix might end up liking that boy…

‘No way.’

Regardless, Felix was her childhood friend. Elena felt it was her duty to protect the honor of her childhood friend.

Moreover, Felix’s condition looked much worse than what Penny had described about Neville. Penny hadn’t mentioned anything strange about Neville.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

“Hah… Elly…”

“You’re acting strange. I’ll find out what’s in this and bring back an antidote! Don’t move from here, okay?”

Elena scolded Felix and ran at full speed toward the training grounds.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the boy who had given her the chocolates earlier was still practicing there.

“You! Hey, you!”

The boy noticed her and smiled brightly.

“Elena?”

Elena ran to him and bombarded him with words.

“What did you put in that chocolate?”

“W-what?”

The nameless boy visibly panicked. It seemed like he had indeed put something in it.

“What exactly did you put in it?”

“N-nothing…”

“Don’t tell me it was a love potion or something?”

The boy flinched violently.

“No, I just added what a friend gave me…”

“A friend?”

“They said it would help with confessions…”

No matter how she looked at it, it sounded like a love potion. She wanted to curse out loud, something she rarely did.

“Who’s this friend?”

“Well, um…”

“Never mind. It’s probably someone from the Swordsmanship Department, isn’t it?”

Even if she tried to track them down, she wouldn’t be able to find them. Elena decided to look for someone she already knew instead.

But before that—

“What’s your name?”

“Me?”

The boy blushed.

“Ron Fessy.”

Ron Fessy. 

Elena made sure to remember that name.

“I’ll see you later.”

With that, she started running toward the Magic Wing. In the distance, she spotted the person she was looking for.

“Penny!”

“Huh? What?”

Elena grabbed Penny’s arm, pulling her away from Neville, with whom she had been chatting.

She dragged Penny to a spot away from Neville and interrogated her.

“Who made that love potion?”

“Senior Jonathan from the 8th grade…”

Elena recognized the name. She didn’t even wait for Penny to finish speaking and started running to find Senior Jonathan.

How many places in the Magic Wing had she run through? Finally, she spotted Jonathan in the distance, surrounded by students.

“Senior!”

She didn’t know where this strength came from, but she pushed through the swarm of students like a raging bull and reached him. Jonathan recognized her immediately.

“Oh? Isn’t this Elena? Are you here because you need ‘that’ too?”

Though he referred to it as ‘that,’ Elena instantly knew what he meant: the love potion.

She shouted urgently.

“No, it’s the opposite!”

“The opposite?”

“Yes! I need an antidote!”

“An antidote?”

Jonathan bit his lip in discomfort and then said, 

“There’s no antidote for that.”

“What?!”

“Why would you need an antidote? Did the boy you like drink it and confess to another girl?”

“That’s not it!”

She almost yelled but then looked around. The gathered students were staring at her with amused expressions, as though they were watching a drama unfold.

Elena grabbed Jonathan’s arm and dragged him to a place away from the crowd.

At first, the students tried to follow, but when Jonathan told them to wait, they obediently stayed behind like trained puppies.

Once they were in a secluded spot, Jonathan asked, 

“What’s going on? There’s no antidote, but since it seems to be caused by my potion, I’ll help as much as I can.”

Elena began explaining what had happened to Felix.

“My friend took a potion that must have been in the chocolate. After taking it, he suddenly got a fever and started saying strange things.”

She deliberately avoided mentioning that her friend was a boy, fearing Jonathan might start teasing her about liking him.

Jonathan’s face turned serious as he listened.

“What kind of strange things?”

“He grabbed my hand, told me not to leave, and asked me to stay by his side… But that’s not important right now! He has a fever!”

“Ah.”

Despite nothing being resolved, Jonathan nodded as if he had understood everything.

“Do you know something? Don’t keep it to yourself—tell me!”

“By the way, Elena, were you always like this?”

“Huh?”

“I thought you were quiet, but you’re more assertive than I expected. Who’s this friend, anyway…”

“Senior! This is serious!”

Seeing how relaxed Jonathan was, despite the urgency of the situation, made her angry.

Felix’s condition was entirely his fault!

“Alright, alright. Oh, by the way, this is a secret.”

Jonathan scratched his head.

“That’s not actually a love potion.”

The unexpected statement left her dumbfounded.

“…What?”

“There’s no such thing as a potion that makes someone fall in love with another. It doesn’t exist, nor should it.”

“Then what is that potion?”

He winked.

“A courage-enhancing spell.”

“What?”

“Everyone has something they want to do but lack the courage to attempt. This potion helps them do it.”

“Then how does it become a love potion? There are people who’ve confessed after taking it.”

“It’s simple. The person who gave the potion probably mixed it into chocolate or something and gave it as a gift. The one who ate it subconsciously realized that the giver had feelings for them. With the potion’s courage-enhancing effects, they confessed.”

“So Neville confessing to Penny means he already liked her?”

“Oh, Neville and Penny? Didn’t you know? Among the boys, it was a well-known rumor that Neville liked Penny. I guess the girls didn’t know.”

So Neville had liked Penny all along! 

Elena’s earlier theory that there was no such thing as a love potion was correct!

But there was no time to celebrate. She still had unresolved issues.

“Then what about my friend? Why does he have a fever?”

“Maybe one of the ingredients triggered an allergic reaction.”

“Is the nonsense he said also because of the allergy?”

Jonathan gave a vague answer.

“Well, maybe. Or maybe not.”

So it was likely due to the allergy.

“Then tell me the ingredients.”

“That’s a trade secret…”

“Senior!”

“Alright, alright. But don’t tell anyone else, okay?”

Jonathan held out his pinky. Elena quickly hooked her pinky with his and promised.

“Got it. Now, tell me.”

Even though no one was around, Jonathan whispered the ingredients to her. Elena repeated them under her breath to memorize them, then ran back to Felix.

“Felix!”

He looked worse than before.

“Powder, roots, Jephrin petals, leaves. Do you have an allergy to any of these?”

Felix answered between labored breaths.

“Jephrin petals. When I drank Jephrin petal tea as a kid, I got a fever.”

“Wait here! I’ll go to the infirmary!”

This time, she sprinted toward the infirmary at full speed.

“Teacher!”

“What’s wrong?”

“My friend consumed something with Jephrin petals and is having an allergic reaction!”

The infirmary teacher was startled and scolded her.

“Why would someone eat something they’re allergic to?”

“He didn’t do it on purpose! Please hurry!”

The teacher clicked her tongue but handed Elena allergy medicine. Elena carefully carried the medicine with both hands and ran back to Felix.

Before leaving, she turned back to the teacher.

“Teacher! There’s someone selling a strange potion called a love potion at the academy right now.”

The teacher reacted strongly.

“What? A love potion? These kids are at it again with their nonsense!”

“And Ron Fessy from the Swordsmanship Department gave me chocolates with that potion in them!”

“My goodness. I’ll report this to the principal immediately. Thank you for letting me know.”

“You’re welcome! Goodbye!”

Mission accomplished. Jonathan, the mastermind behind all this, would surely face punishment.

She wondered if reporting him was too much, but ultimately, Jonathan deserved it. Exploiting people’s feelings for profit was despicable.

‘I hope Ron Fessy gets punished too.’

After all, the buyer was just as bad as the seller.

With that thought, she ran back to Felix.

By now, red blotches had appeared on Felix’s neck and arms.

She managed to help him sit up. Felix leaned heavily against her shoulder.

She quickly placed the medicine in his hand.

“Felix, Felix! Take this.”

Thankfully, Felix was able to drink the medicine on his own. She had been worried she might have to feed him.

Elena sat beside him, watching his condition. Gradually, his breathing calmed. However, the red blotches on his neck remained.

She asked with concern.

“How are you feeling? Any better?”

“Can you be quiet? You’re loud.”

“Hearing you complain means you’re fine now.”

She laughed. Normally, his sharp words would have annoyed her, but now she was just relieved he was okay.

Finally, her tension eased, and she felt her strength leave her body. She rested her head against Felix’s.

“…Elena?”

“Do you remember the nonsense you said earlier because of the allergy?”

“…No.”

“Well, it’s probably better that you don’t.”

Remembering would only embarrass him.

She stood up with some effort.

“Alright, I’m going. Running around so much has exhausted me. I need to rest.”

“Wait.”

Felix rummaged through a nearby bag and pulled something out. It was a neatly wrapped box of chocolates, tied with a large pink ribbon on a brown box.

It was clearly from the most famous shop in the city.

‘Why is he showing me this? Is he bragging?’

As she stared blankly, Felix said something unexpected.

“Take this.”