episode_0046

In the end, I went into the department store empty-handed, but when I came out, I ended up carrying shopping bags in each hand.

I felt a bit embarrassed as the items I shopped for were only underwear listed by color, which I thought would fly off as a bill to Matthias, making me look like a solemn princess.

So, in order to minimize the attention drawn to the large expenditure on sexy underwear, I bought a lot of unnecessary items, trying not to stand out.

After buying them, I realized most of them were items used for dressing up.

Jewelry, necklaces, bracelets, rings, dresses, shoes, and so on…

When I came to my senses, I found that things I would never have bought before were packed into the shopping bags one by one. The shopping bag itself was not a paper bag, but a bag made of high-quality leather.

It seemed like I wouldn’t have enough hands to carry everything to the academy, so, following the suggestion of the store manager, I arranged for the department store staff to move everything to the entrance of the academy.

Since outsiders are not allowed in the academy, from the entrance to the dormitory, Yuriya and I would have to figure something out….

I still wanted to explore the commercial district more.

I needed a bigger change in mood. This level of activity wouldn’t be enough to relieve the shock I received today.

I asked the department store staff to take care of our luggage at the entrance to the academy and wandered through the commercial district with Yuriya again.

The atmosphere of the commercial district was delicate in many ways.

If the buildings of the academy were grand and majestic, this place was soft and delicate. If the academy had a linear image, the commercial district had a curved one. In fact, many of the buildings were curved in shape.

Before I knew it, the street was filling up with people enjoying a break at the café terraces as the sun was setting. The music flowing out from the cafes and the ensemble of street musicians blended together seamlessly, creating an atmosphere that wasn’t silent, yet not noisy either.

So, in many ways, it was delicate.

It was a street where the balance between bustle and elegance fit together well.

I liked this place.

The place was more appealing than the Primula Kingdom, where the peacefulness of beautiful nature resides, or the majestic landscapes of the Montreaux Empire Academy. I preferred this place, where the modest evening scenery of the university town I used to live in overlapped.

Feeling the breeze against my face, my hair gently swaying, I felt good. It seemed Yulia noticed it too; she looked more at ease. She had a tendency to laugh when I did and to be sad when I was. For her sake, I wanted to maintain cheerfulness.

We walked aimlessly without a set destination.

Before we knew it, we found ourselves on a street where a night market was opening. It seemed more like an event that anyone could participate in rather than a daily market.

It looked more like a festival than a market.

There were many merchants, but ordinary citizens also occupied stalls to sell things they had made or brought.

I went to a noticeable stall. Various colored liquids were contained in small glass bottles. They looked like potions and also like perfumes.

Tap-

“Wow, it’s pretty. Is it a potion?”

I pointed at the glass bottle with my hand.

“There are potions and perfumes…”

The man behind the stall didn’t finish his sentence. When I raised my head to look at him, he hastily turned his robe inside out. He had put on our uniform. More precisely, he seemed surprised when he saw our uniform…

In that brief moment, I recognized his face.

…Who was he?

“Is it okay if I try the scent?”

“…Yes, go ahead.”

“Yeah, it’s not working well… How do you spray it?”

Pretending to be bad at it on purpose, I handed him the glass bottle.

Thanks to that, I could see his face as he had to look through the gap in his robe to check the bottle.

“Huh? Professor…?”

“……”

Inside the robe was a professor from the academy.

It was the magic potion professor who almost died in the magic potion lecture hall. The one I had saved…

“What are you doing here?”

“T-the students who are doing that…”

He said in a sneaky voice, “I didn’t want the students to catch me selling perfumes and potions at the night market.”

“We just came out for fun and happened to stop by the night market.”

“I see. Well then, enjoy the festival…”

Indeed, it seemed that the night market was not open every day but was a temporary festival.

Ignoring the professor’s words, I picked up and examined the glass bottles on the counter. Frankly, there was no other counter in this night market that captured my interest besides this one.

…?

The professor looked bewildered as he saw us still not showing any sign of going elsewhere.

It felt awkward.

Tsk, tsk—

I sprayed the perfume from the glass bottle into the air, shook the paper, and sniffed the scent.

Not bad. It was a complex fragrance, quite deep and surprisingly well-made for an amateur who supposedly had another profession.

Before I became possessed, I had shallow knowledge about perfumes, gained from researching and personally smelling them all night while considering a gift for Yeonghee. So… I could somewhat boast about knowing a bit about women’s perfumes.

After becoming a woman, I never even touched perfume. It seemed like once I wore the captivating scent of a woman, I wouldn’t be able to turn back. But now, for some reason… I didn’t feel a strong aversion.

“Sniff, do you like it?”

“….”

“Would Julia like to try it too?”

Handing her the paper, I spoke.

She, with her delicate and cute appearance, brought the paper to her straight, prominent nose and quietly breathed in without making a sound.

Nodding her head, she subtly indicated her approval of the scent.

At this moment, I picked up a few more glass bottles to choose a perfume to give to Julia.

Sniff, a floral scent would suit her. As for me…

In fact, I had already chosen Julia’s perfume.

It was a perfume full of a floral scent, almost identical to the one I chose for Yeonghee as a gift. In fact, it was so similar that it could be considered almost the same fragrance, enough to bring back memories from that time.

However, I am still experimenting with fragrances.

I’m trying to find a perfume that suits me… a perfume that suits Beatrice.

Since this is not modern times, there should be no synthetic fragrances. How can such an amazing scent be created?

I soon concluded that it was a foolish thought. With magic, nothing is impossible. The man in front of me is a professor of magical potions. By mixing various magical herbs and mana, he could produce a convincing result.

“…Huh?”

I had been holding my breath for quite some time, so I hadn’t noticed, but now I could sense a bit of mana inside the glass bottle.

“Do you normally infuse mana when making perfume?”

“……”

The professor was suddenly sweating cold sweat.

“T-that’s… the topic I’ve been researching lately…”

“…?”

I didn’t really understand what he was saying.

Having only smelled women’s fragrances, my nose was getting used to it, and I couldn’t distinguish them. At this point, I should probably smell a men’s fragrance to neutralize it.

I picked up a glass bottle containing men’s fragrance from the opposite side of the counter. Spraying it into the air, I pondered.

…A scent that would suit him.

A scent fitting for his exasperatingly relaxed smile.

A scent suitable for his indifferent golden eyes.

Above all… a diverse scent that would suit a man who embodies affectionate, cold, and unreserved qualities.

….

“…!!?”

As I sniffed the fragrance, a strange sensation came over me.

This was definitely mana. However, it felt slightly eerie and chilling. Unpleasant, yet addictive. In other words, it contained a very intense scent and energy.

Startled by my reaction to the scent, the professor had already taken off his robe and widened his eyes.

“A-are you okay..?”

“….”

I furrowed my brow and looked at him.

“…Professor.”

“W-what’s wrong?”

The uncomfortable professor.

The professor feeling uneasy as someone who knows him comes as a guest.

A peculiar perfume made using mana.

A perfume with a sharp scent.

A strong perfume with a slight stench.

This means one thing.

“What on earth have you made?”

“!!!”

The professor, who had been sweating coldly at my chilly voice, widened his eyes.

With my shallow knowledge, it’s clear that what he’s making is something like so-called “pheromone perfume.”

A powerful scent that spells body odor but reads as stench, filled with pheromones to seduce the opposite sex. He made it into a perfume. Probably by adding some strange ingredients and mana…

It was only then that I could see the sign written on the counter. It was a sign written in chalk on a wooden board.

[Love Potion]

…

It was the moment I discovered the secret life of the potion professor.

It would have been better not to know about his private life…

*

“Haha, it’s all part of the research.”

“….”

“This is fate too, so just take the first perfume you chose. I can’t take money from my students!”

The professor tried to hide his embarrassment as if nothing had happened.

He put the floral-scented perfume he had chosen for Yulia, which seemed to be a bribe, into a paper bag.

He stared at the paper bag for a long time.

When I didn’t take it, the professor’s hand holding the paper bag began to tremble little by little. It seemed like he was begging me to take it, pleading with me.

“I want to choose one more.”

“…Huh?”

“I need mine too. I want to choose one more.”

“Oh, right. That’s true! I should choose one more. Two people came, so I can’t give only one, haha, let me get my mind straight.”

Swish-

After much deliberation, I picked out a musky, powdery perfume and handed it to the professor.

The professor quickly wrapped the glass bottle in a paper bag and handed it to me. When I took it, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh! Students… Just in case, I’m saying this, but the fact that I’m conducting research here today is a secret-”

“Yes, I will never tell anyone that the professor is selling suspicious perfumes or potions at the night market.”

“….”

In fact, it was almost like saying it could be spread at any time. It was such an untrustworthy answer. The professor looked crestfallen. So, I decided to stop teasing him at this point.

“It’s a joke. I won’t really say anything. Thank you for the gift!”

It turned out to be a day where I unintentionally received a lot of gifts.

….

But, I’m a little curious.

Unable to overcome my curiosity, as I turned back towards the stall, the professor was startled.

“Do you need anything else…?”

“But Professor, what about the potions? Are they for drinking?”

“Oh, those are…”

As I stared intently, he reluctantly replied.

“Most of them are for skincare, condition recovery, insomnia treatment to help achieve deep sleep without dreams… There are also stamina enhancers…”

As his response grew longer, his voice trailed off.

“…Ultimately, what I am researching is an elixir that steals the heart of reason… an impossible goal.”

“Professor.”

“I know too! It’s foolish and seemingly unsavory research…!”

“Please take me on as your student.”

His potions, his research, there were many things I needed from him.

“W-what did you just say?”

“I want to try that research too.”

Yes, they are definitely necessary things.

Perhaps.