Harold had a list of things he wanted to ask her because now there were a lot of potions circulating in the palace. He also wanted to be sure of the right antidote for Alpha's plight and needed to know if they were hiding any information on how to quickly flush out the poison from Alvin's body without much pain. Also wanted to know what he had been fed on the day of the banquet, learn more about Beta's nightmare, and every other thing he could think of. So he turned to look at her, looking all serious.
"I heard there is a potion that makes someone appear in another form?"
What were you expecting? He has his priorities!
"I think... someone may have used it to appear as the maid who testified today in court." He explained when he noticed her confusion, baiting her.
The woman looked at him keenly before shaking her head as though saying it was not possible.
She went to the chair at the corner of the room and sat in it while Harold followed and sat down, glad to see she was beginning to get comfortable with him.
"There... is a potion. Camelion's water. But that is not how it works."
Harold's eyes almost lit up when he heard it did indeed exist, but the last part of the sentence made him a bit wary.
"The potion came into existence hundreds of years ago. It was used to show people in their true forms."
"True forms?"
She nodded. "When humans were at war with our kind, it was used to identify the werewolves hiding among them since humans cannot really tell. But over the years, people have been made to believe different things about the potion."
When she noticed he looked kind of like he wasn't getting it, she explained. "If a werewolf is made to drink the potion, he appears in his true form as a wolf. So anyone who entered their city was made to drink the potion first."
"Like the person's soul?" He asked with interest.
She pondered and nodded. "I think you can put it like that. But the effect doesn't last for long. It may only last for a few hours and stop."
Did it mean he could really see the real Alicia, even if it was just for a short while? Alicia's case was complicated, so he couldn't ask her outright. He really wished it would work. Because he also wanted Alicia to see herself since he could guess it was not easy living in someone else's body, especially someone she was prettier than.
"What if the person takes it again?"
She shook her head. "It is dangerous. We do not know what lies within one's soul. Summoning it twice could either cause havoc or kill the soul."
He frowned. "I didn't know humans made those kinds of things." He muttered.
"Anything is possible in this world. As long as there are witches in existence."
The room was suddenly too quiet and cold as soon as she said that.
"You also believe that she is a witch?" He asked her gently.
She hesitated before she said, "I do not believe anything that has not been proven."
"She was fed Beta's nightmare. You do know about Beta's nightmare, right?"
She looked hesitant but nodded. Williams and Susan told her this.
"If I tell you all I know, you must not get my children involved or ask them any questions." She bargained.
He didn't like bargaining with people. But this was different.
"Will you really do that, aunt?" He asked in such a meek tone and with such gentle eyes that it made the hairs on the woman's skin rise. Why did everything he did, even innocently, feel so eerie?
"This... is a taboo topic." She whispered. Whenever she thought about it, it made her uncomfortable.
She went on to tell him everything Williams had told him about the Beta's nightmare. He tried not to interrupt as he tried to see if he could get anything new from what he already knew about the potion. But when she was done, he was rather disappointed because it was the same thing. However, he was a good judge and could easily tell that she was hiding a lot from him. Unfortunately, he could not enter her head. He still wasn't sure how that worked for him.
"Tell me the untold story." He said this, startling the woman, whose eyes widened in surprise. And that just confirmed he was correct. There was more to it than she was letting on.
"Why... are you digging into it?"
"Someone is still using it. Within the palace. And if we do not find the person, we will not be able to go anywhere with the investigation."
"How... is that possible?" She asked tensely as she began to rub her palm over her arm.
"The Beta's nightmare is not an ordinary potion. And like I told you, they were all destroyed many years ago under the former King's orders. So it can't be remade."
Harold kept his prying eyes on her. And the woman realized he was not going to drop it until he got an answer.
"Promise me... you are going to protect my children if I tell you all about it." She pleaded in fear. It seemed like whatever she was going to share was really important for her to act this way.
Harold nodded. His nod alone was worth more than a thousand vocal promises.
She swallowed nervously and said.
"There... were no herbs my family did not know how to create."
He knew that.
"The late king constantly had a lot of ailments, so my family took care of most of the herbs. My father worked together with the head royal physician, Sir Wilson."
He also knew that, but he paid attention, careful not to miss a word.
"At a point, none of the medicines were working well for his headache, and they needed something... stronger. Something potent. Otherwise, it was going to drive him crazy."
He knew that too.
Her voice went lower as she said, "The royal physician came one day. I... was practicing making invincible masks for my scent, so they didn't know I was in the room listening to them. He... he said he had found a secret ingredient that could cure the king's headache."
That was new.
He raised a questioning brow at her.
"It was..." she swallowed. "It was... the ashes of a witch."
He had not expected that.
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