“I-In love?! Don’t kid me! S-She’s just a friend!
Yvonne slapped the table as she shot up. Seeing the smirk on the other woman’s face, she realized she’d lost control of her emotions and furiously sat back down, red in the face.
“Come now, don’t get so worked up. Let me clear up your misunderstanding.”
The corner of the wise woman’s mouth lifted. Yvonne could all but envision the wicked grin hidden under that shadowy hood. This woman seemed to delight in toying with her. Yvonne ground her teeth at the realization.
“No substance in this world can conjure up feelings that didn’t already exist… So it’s not the potion that made you have those thoughts.” Slim fingers picked up the transparent crystal bottle containing succubus blood. “When you get down to it, this potion is just a catalyst that magnifies feelings and desires. You wouldn’t have had such a strong response if you didn’t already harbor affections for that girl.”
“That’s impossible…”
Yvonne wanted to passionately deny this claim like she had just before. She wasn’t in a position to do so. The other woman had effortlessly laid bare what she had always kept buried deep inside, never willing to acknowledge. Yvonne even felt that she was like a newborn baby before her, exposed with nowhere to conceal herself.
“Just admit you like her. If she was only a friend, how could you become so flustered just from a touch of her hand?”
“You must have gotten something wrong! I’m pretty sure my heart would start racing even if it were a stranger who’d suddenly grabbed my hand!”
Of course. That increase in heart rate just meant she’d been startled. Yvonne wouldn’t back down, still stubbornly refusing to say it.
“…Well, you’re certainly headstrong,” the wise woman sighed. “Would it kill you to acknowledge your feelings?”
“…You don’t know anything.” Yvonne clenched her fists. She’d thought that she would blow up when the other woman kept overstepping with her probing questions, but she only felt wretched right now. “She’s the one person… I can’t have those feelings for.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t like her but that she couldn’t. As long as she was the villainess, she couldn’t escape the clutches of fate.
Until she found a solution, having such selfish feelings would only end up hurting Elsa.
“…”
The wise woman fell silent. After a few seconds, she reached into her cloak and brought out a green potion.
“Alright, I’ll give you the antidote. Take it.”
“…Huh?”
Yvonne was surprised. She had thought that the other woman would be bothersome and difficult to get the antidote from. But for some reason, her attitude seemed to have changed.
“…How much?”
“Just think of it as a complimentary gift.”
Yvonne would have felt better if the other woman had pounced at the opportunity and given an astronomically high number. She understood her even less now. The other woman was clearly talented, given that she could brew such potions, but wasn’t looking for money and didn’t seem to be seeking out some other benefit either… So just what was she up to?
“That potion will clear out the remaining magic in your system once you drink it. Although, it’ll take about two to three days before it’s completely out.”
“There won’t be side effects again, right?”
Yvonne apprehensively examined the bottle the wise woman was holding. Murky green liquid swished about inside. It looked sticky and made her think of unpleasant things.
“Don’t worry, this is a purely herbal potion made of all-natural ingredients that won’t cause unintended side effects. Nothing bad will happen.”
Seeing her hesitant look, the wise woman poured a drop onto the back of her hand and licked it off before handing the potion to Yvonne.
Although Yvonne was still skeptical, her intuition told her that the other woman wasn’t a bad person.
She took the antidote, uncorked it, and downed it in one draught.
…It was bitter as hell!
“Hehe… You should have some honey water.”
Appearing to have predicted that Yvonne would be almost bowled over from the bitterness, the wise woman promptly handed her a mug of honey water. The bitter taste finally receded after the sweetened water washed over her tongue.
“This doesn’t happen often, so why don’t I tell you your fortune?”
As she said that, the wise woman pulled open her cloak. Her bold attire and stunning figure made Yvonne redden. Completely unlike how she was covered from head to toe on the outside, on the inside she was wearing an outfit composed of just a few leather straps, similar to the straitjackets found in manga. It showed an unexpected amount of skin and was unexpectedly brazen.
The wise woman unclipped something that resembled a cross between a pocket watch and orrery from her belt. Noticing Yvonne’s gaze, she smiled in amusement and purposefully drew open her cloak even more.
“What? See something you like?”
The provocative motion made Yvonne’s face warm and she hurriedly looked away.
“…Yeah right! Also, I don’t need my fortune told!”
“It’ll be for free, of course. Just treat it as compensation for the magic potion, okay?”
She had acquired the antidote and Elsa had been the one who bought the magic potion without thinking things through. She guessed that they were equal now. And since the other woman had proposed doing a fortune-telling for her for free, Yvonne’s interest was piqued. Although she wouldn’t admit it, she was curious about this mysterious woman. Even if she was going to trick Yvonne, Yvonne wanted to see how she’d go about tricking her.
“Then alright, how are you going to tell my fortune?”
There weren’t any instruments next to the wise woman that Yvonne could see being used for fortune-telling, such as a crystal ball, only a delicate… pocket watch used to keep track of time. And even that she had placed off to the side after taking it out, seemingly without any plans to use it.
Since magic existed in this world, things like divination weren’t just superstition. Yvonne had also heard that some skilled astrologists could predict future disasters.
However, Yvonne still couldn’t make sense of what the wise woman did next.
“I’ll do a sediment reading.”
The wise woman nudged the wooden mug that Yvonne had just finished drinking from between the two of them.
…That was it?
Speechless, Yvonne held her head in her hands. She’d thought that it would be something more elegant and sophisticated, not just reading the dregs in the bottom of her cup.
“Let me see now… Hm…”
Rotating the mug by its handle until it faced her, the wise woman scrutinized the remaining traces of fluid, her eyes moving imperceptibly.
“The shape of confusion… This represents that you’re restrained by something right now. If you face yourself and set free your real feelings, you might be able to obtain your desired answer.”
Hmph… So this was what she was going to pull on her?
Yvonne raised an eyebrow, amused. The other woman had spent forever doing the reading and still only gave some vague platitudes.
Statements like “you long for love and are somewhat insecure about yourself” or “you’re sometimes outgoing and like to hang out with others, but at other times you’re withdrawn and untalkative” applied to most people, and anyone could find something of themselves in them. This was termed the Barnum effect in psychology.
When vague and unspecific descriptors were used to characterize someone, it was common for people to take them at face value and interpret it as specifically being about them. Star signs and other methods of fortune-telling relied on the same principle.
Unfortunately, Yvonne was a person from another world with modern-day knowledge. She wouldn’t be tricked by a stunt like that.
“Hehe… Are you thinking that this fortune isn’t accurate enough?” The wise woman gave a small smile and moved her hand away from the mug.
“Duh, it’s too imprecise. It could apply to a lot of people,” Yvonne pointed out without hesitation. “No one alive is completely free, right? And how many people are actually fully honest with themselves about their feelings? Your fortune’s not all that accurate.”
There was no way she’d buy into it with so little substance.
“Hm… You’re right. I’ll be a little more specific then.” Taking her refilled wine glass from the tavern owner, the wise woman took a sip. Underneath the hood, her gaze was no longer directed at Yvonne but straight ahead at something off in the distance. “You’re being controlled by something right now and made to do things that you don’t want to do, right?”
“…!”
Yvonne felt her skin crawl.
Was she talking about the system?
No… There was no way. It had to be a coincidence. She’d stumbled upon the right idea through sheer luck at most.
How could a game character know more than what was allowed by the game and learn of a concept like the system that didn’t even exist in this world?
However, the hairs on the back of Yvonne’s neck stood up as the wise woman continued to speak, “I know what you’ve been agonizing over. You want to be free of its control, right? It’s not impossible. As long as you open a completely new route, you’ll be able to reach the ending you want.”
‘Route.’
Yvonne’s mouth fell open.
The other woman had just said a phrase that only a transmigrator like her could understand.
“However, what’s been bothering you won’t appear again for a while. You should seize the chance to not have any regrets.”
Like a bolt out of the blue, the game world’s fourth wall came crashing down around her as if toppled by an invisible hand.
Yvonne was on her feet in an instant, looking at the woman sitting across from her in disbelief.
She was still smiling, the rest of her face hidden in shadow.
“…Just who are you?”
A thousand possibilities flashed through Yvonne’s mind. Had she been reincarnated like Yvonne? Was she a new character in the game who was all-knowing and all-seeing? Whatever it was, Yvonne felt chilled to the bone at the thought—and unimaginably excited.
“I’ll tell you the next time we meet,” the wise woman said, smiling as she stood up.
“What is that supposed to mean?! Please explain to me now!”
Yvonne was about to pursue her, when she unexpectedly heard a familiar voice calling out from within the crowd.
“Eeevie! Eeeevieeeeeee!”
A familiar, anxious-sounding voice was coming from somewhere within the throng of people.
Yvonne quickly realized who it was.
“Stupid, what are you doing here?!”
She turned towards the direction of the voice. Sure enough, she saw her tiny frame among the crowd of girthy drunkards.
“Ah! There you are!” The worry on Elsa’s face immediately transformed into a relieved smile at the sight of Yvonne. “Geez… It’s the middle of the night. Why in the world did you come someplace like this by yourself? I had to ask around everywhere before finding out you were here.”
Carefully skirting around the rowdy men playing drinking games, Elsa seemed angry as she walked towards Yvonne.
“Well, I came here looking for whoever made that potion, and I was talking to the person sitting over there right up until—Huh?!”
Yvonne turned her head in search of the wise woman and discovered that the seat next to her was empty.
The wooden mug on the table with traces of alcohol at the bottom was the only proof of her existence.
What was going on…? Even if she could basically teleport, she still couldn’t just instantaneously disappear from within the tavern, right???
Just what was her story…?
“No one’s there, from what I can see.” Elsa began to look at Yvonne with some concern. “E-Evie, are you going to become a delinquent who stays out all night drinking?”
“Of course not!!!”
Sometimes, Yvonne really had to hand it to Elsa for her imagination.
Plus, she hadn’t drunk a single drop of alcohol! She was squeaky clean!
“Anyway, I should be asking you that! Why would you come someplace like this by yourself?! The place is full of inebriated guys. If something were to happen to you-”
“So it’s safe for you to come here by yourself and not me?”
“…Uh.”
Arms crossed, Elsa tossed out a strong counterpoint, stopping Yvonne in her tracks.
“Let’s go back, Evie, okay?”
Her outstretched hand paused in midair after Yvonne instinctively shied away from it.
“Evie… Are you still mad at me?” Elsa wouldn’t let the matter go. She stared at her with slightly teary eyes.
That puppy-like expression made Yvonne extremely agitated.
What Yvonne didn’t consciously realize was that part of her agitation came from not being able to touch Elsa.
…Oh well.
Yvonne helplessly tutted to herself.
It didn’t matter what would happen.
She reached forward and grabbed Elsa’s hand, as if trying to prove something.
In reaction to Elsa’s shock, Yvonne flushed and looked away, playing with her hair with her free hand. “Let’s go. Sphynx is still waiting outside.”
Seeing that Elsa was still rooted to the spot, she added, “Like I said, I wasn’t mad at you in the first place.”
“…That’s great.”
Pain shot through Yvonne’s heart at the expression on Elsa’s face. Why did her saying something so simple make this girl look so happy that she could cry?
Yvonne felt regret, she felt guilt, and she also felt that she was hopeless.
The pads of her fingers, her fingertips, her palm…
The sensation of touching her was magnified a hundred times more than normal.
Her hand was a little smaller than Yvonne’s own and also softer.
When their fingers laced together, it felt like their whole bodies were connected.
Yvonne wanted to keep the blood rushing to her head in check and did her best to not think about those heightened sensations.
But her heart rate continued to accelerate.
Their hands were touching, that was all.
And yet her whole body felt odd.
They’re a result of falling in love, young one.
You’re conscious of her every move because you have feelings for her.
That… wasn’t… possible…
She wanted to deny it, but the wise woman’s words lingered in her head.
riverFlower 
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