The black mist gradually turned gray, and it was soon completely white. The mist was simply blown away by Amelie’s gust of wind, and soon the white smoke wrapped around her body. Milena somehow looked unfamiliar to Amelie with her eyes looking down.
“Milena! Look at this. It’s a success!”
Amelie said with a big smile.
“……!”
Milena came to her senses, as if she had woken up from a dream.
“Did you succeed?”
“Yes, it’s purple, isn’t it? It’s a success.”
Milena approached the pot and peered inside. A clear, deep purple liquid was still slightly boiling in the pot. At first glance, the concoction appeared to be a magical potion with special powers entrancing anyone who looked at it.
The procedure to bottle it was simple. The drug was divided into two jugs, one containing lard and the other containing sunflower seed oil. Then began the process of adjusting the liquid’s concentration to make it easier to drink and apply. Then it was poured into medicine bottles after it had boiled a little more in that state. Each type had enough for 5 bottles, for a total of 10 bottles.
It was satisfying to see a line of bottles full of clear purple liquid.
After a small bit of testing in the room Amelie deemed the potion a success. With just these 10 bottles the strict guards and not even the high walls of the palace could stop her. Amelie felt one step closer to true freedom.
******
Amelie gained confidence after successfully creating the flying potions, and she challenged herself to make more magic potions whenever she was alone. She felt proud as the successful potions piled up one by one, as if looking at a safe full of gold. Milena had already received some of the finished magic potions as a gift.
If there was one thing that bothered her, it was the fact that she was deceiving Serwin. Since they had went out of the palace together, the two had grown closer. They would drink tea or wine before going to bed and talk about a variety of topics. Serwin returned with a stressed-out expression and fed Amelie a snack. The more at ease he felt with Amelie, the more guilty she felt.
As a result, the newly made broomstick had not yet been able to look outside and be used.
Other than the fact that Amelie was suffering from a guilty conscience, time was passing very peacefully.
But the peace didn’t last long. About a week later, Amelie heard shocking news from Milena.
“Mrs Enard and Count Manverse came into contact.”
Milena kept a close eye on Mrs Enard the entire time. She believed she could sell her information at any time. Milena, who was watching her every move, paid the owner of her neighbor’s house to keep an eye on Mrs Enard’s house.
And not long ago, she got information that Count Manverse’ butler had entered Mrs Enard’s house. It was with a suspicious old woman. When they contacted the maid of Mrs. Enard’s house through an elderly neighbor’s house for more information, the maid stated that the old woman had repeatedly memorized strange spells while drugging the child. The child then stopped coughing as if cured, ate well, and laughed. When the maid was surprised, the old lady laughed and said she was a witch
Milena said she would let Serwin know if Amelie would let her. But Amelie stopped Milena. If Serwin found out that Mrs Enard violated the order of silence, she would have died. But there was no way to leave her alone because she was bleeding just by pouring water.
‘What if Mrs Enard dies? Who would want to take in a sick kid?’
Amelie kept getting over the child. Milena said she shouldn’t care because Mrs Enard was someone who wouldn’t change, but in fact that was just speculation. Who knows who Mrs Enard would be loyal to for the sake of her child.
‘And that old woman. I mean, it’s totally suspicious.’
Amelie had never heard of any method of healing like that before. Normally when using a healing potion magic is needed for purification in the production stage, but there doesn’t need to be additional chants once the potion is complete.
‘It could be a scammer. Of course, I don’t know all the magic in the world, so she could be a real witch.’
If that old woman was a real witch, Amelie needed to meet her even more. If it’s an older witch they might know about the disaster or about how Amelie’s soul was exchanged. Even if the old woman doesn’t know, she might have connections with other witches who know something.
Amelie got Mrs Enard out of her room, got up and got ready to go out. She changed into the clothes she had brought from the house in the forest and took out her broom. In case of any unforeseen circumstances, she sprayed a potion at the entrance of the door. It only causes confusion for a short period of time, it is mainly used to drive away uninvited guests. The affected person forgets what they were trying to enter the room to do and goes off to do something else.
After a while, Amelie opened the window, checking to see if anything or anyone was around, seeing nothing she quickly straddled her broom, readying herself to fly. Amelie kicked her foot, flying at full speed from the start, soaring rapidly into the sky.
******
Amelie flew at full speed. It wasn’t hard to find Mrs Enard’s house. In the tour of the city Serwin took her on, he had brought a map of the capital and showed Amelie some of the staff living quarters.
It might have been difficult to remember if she had to walk to it, but there were no confusing streets in the sky. It would have been enough if she simply flew down to the same place she saw on the map.
Mrs Enard’s house was a small two story house. Although it was old, it was a house that had a fairly good location in this area.
‘She said the neighbors were watching, right?’
Amelie deliberately approached the back of the house and landed on the ground. By now Mrs Enard would have been guarding the door in front of the bedroom. While Mrs Enard was away working, only a nanny, a maid and a child were left in the house. As soon as she got to the ground, Amelie laid her broom in the corner and turned into an animal.
This was why witches preferred broomsticks. No matter where they put it, it naturally melts in the background, so they don’t have to worry about storage. Of course, it was a disadvantage that she could also forget where she put the broom if she was too careless, or even worse, someone might accidentally take it and use it.
Amelie took a second to proudly look at her new broomstick, then jumped into the house.
‘The house is a mess.’
The outward appearance was clean. But in Amelie’s eyes, the dirt was clearly visible. It was sticky under the table, and dust was rolling around in the corner of the room. She could see how roughly the maid of Mrs Enard was working.
Sure enough, Amelie found Mrs Enard’s maid lying on the living room sofa. She was flipping through magazines with a bored face.
The child’s room was on the second floor. Her room was clean, as if the maid was hired only for this one room only. The room was so clean that it could be compared to the Imperial Palace, and even then the numerous maids of the palace were on the verge of losing.
In the middle of the room sat a child who looked just like Mrs Enard. She had a fairy tale book open, but it didn’t look like she was reading it.
Mrs Enard said her name was Ellie, right?’
Amelie approached Ellie with care. Amelie heard she was 10, but she only looked about 8. Ellie was much smaller than children her age because of her long illness. Her small body was thin, and the face was pale. She had a very sick complexion on her face. While Amelie was watching Ellie, Ellie also looked at her blankly.
‘Huh?’
Amelie felt uncomfortable. Usually, when children see an animal, they react to it whether they like it or not. But Ellie just stared at her quietly.
‘That’s weird?’
Amelie made eye contact with Ellie. Looking at the child’s large pupils, her eyes were loosened. The child was not in a normal condition. Not only that, but the child’s breath smelled of strange grass. Amelie felt a coldness tracing down her spine.
‘The symptoms are similar to when someone takes a drug that’s too strong. I bit her finger, but she stayed still. She doesn’t feel pain, and the reaction rate is slow. What the hell did they feed this kid?’
The old woman was obviously a fraud. The medicine that made the child in this state could not have been the right medicine. Mrs Enard must have been deceived by Count Manverse and the old woman.
‘How can you pretend to be a witch and poison her—!’
Amelie was furious as hell. She thought she shouldn’t leave this swindler alone. This was an important matter for witch safety and honor.
******
Amelie stood next to the child, waiting for the scammer to come, clenched the child’s fingers, and hovered around to keep an eye on the condition.
‘Hang in there. After I catch the scammer, I’ll figure it out right away.’
Purifying magic to get rid of the poison could not be used because the child’s body could not stand it. Instead, there was an antidote among the magic potion she brought just in case. Amelie couldn’t bear to watch Ellie in such a state and wanted to cure her right away, but then the swindler might notice the child’s condition had changed and run away.
After waiting for a while, she heard the voices of the maid and the old woman. The maid was delighted that the child had become very calm after the old woman came. Amelie hid in the corner of her room, holding back a thousand fires rising inside her.
The old woman came into the child’s room. The old woman was hunched over, fat, and covered in black robes. A large nose, protruding chin and gray hair were there as if she was a perfect stereotype of a witche.
The old woman approached the child, glanced at the child, and pulled out a glass bottle from the inside her robe. The glass bottle contained a dark green liquid.
“Come on, let’s take the medicine.”
The old woman brought a bottle of medicine to the child’s mouth. Then, the child turned her head and resisted. It was the child’s first violent reaction. Amelie couldn’t stand it any longer.
Amelie screamed and ran frantically towards the old woman and blew herself away. It’s a little rabbit, but it’s going to be a big shock if she hit it with her whole body.
Kung!
When Amelie’s fluffy body hit the old woman’s body, the old woman suddenly let the bottle slip.
‘Evidence!’
Amelie grabbed the vial with her telekinesis. At the same time, she dispelled her transformation and returned to human form.
“Hiik! What is this! Is there a person?”
“You swindler!”
Amelie floated the fleeing old woman in the air and shook her hard.
“Kyaaak!”
The old woman screamed. The old woman’s robe came off, looked, and a gray wig fell to the floor in a shuddering heap. The old woman was a bald old man.
“He’s not even a woman—!”
Amelie was astonished.