The Love Potion 41 - 42

This guy's epaulets have a K on it; how else would we know he's king?!

41 Ernest: His Majesty’s Miscalculation

After she had gone, Ernest went into the garden where he found her hair ornaments and shoes. They must have been the source of the strange sounds he heard while she was crying.

He wondered about the facts of the matter.

The next day, he asked Matthias. He had been correct about her being the second Lady Reinfeldt.

Iris had introduced her potential fiancé to Leticia, but he fell for Leticia at first sight. That wasn’t Leticia’s fault, in truth, but from what he had come to know about Leticia, he thought she would have likely said something that made Iris look bad in front of others and would have also batted her tear-filled eyes at her sister’s beau.

But on the other hand, a man who fell in love with a woman with a husband was a fool as well.

Iris had been devastated.

Though a part of him felt sorry for her, another part of him was darkly happy.

It was a shame that a man was deceived by teary eyed words that invited sympathy while disdaining a pure and clever woman.

But Iris’ beauty could not be appreciated by such crass men.

More importantly, there was absolutely no man who loved and needed her more than himself. (Zuben: stalker tendencies activated) He was deeply relieved that she had not become such a foolish man’s wife.

But a problem arose.

Maybe it was because she had been heartbroken at a royal ball, because Iris did not attend the Royal ball the following month. And Ernest could not attend the balls held by the high nobility due to security issues at the time.
When she had not attended, he had been filled with hopelessness when he had not seen her in the ballroom and Matthias had told him she had not come.

Feeling a keen sense of bitterness, he raised a beast like roar. (Zuben: A bit melodramatic don’t you think?)

But for her, that man had been someone she had thought she was going to marry. It may be necessary for her to wait for her heart to heal from the hurt.  

But he was desperate to see her; he wanted to see those strong eyes. But he had to be patient. He had to push that intense longing that was about make him rush out into the night.

He waited for two months; staring at her shoes. He waited for three months; enjoying the scent of her hair on her hair ornament. Thinking about her beautiful tears that night, he waited four months. Remembering her pure heart – he could not wait five months.

In the meantime, Ernest masturbated.

He never thought the day he would have such endless need would come. If he had not encountered her, he would have gone through his life unresponsive to anything.

Staring at the expelled spirit in his hand, he thought of his intense love for her and he got hard again.

He waited half a year without being fully satiated.

But Iris’ heart did not heal after half a year. On the contrary, it looked like she had given up on marriage.

Every time she went to a ball, she greeted the hosts, stayed a short while and left early.

Matthias told him that Iris was thinking about moving to her family’s villa on the outskirts of the city, which had been left to her by her parents.

Hearing this, Ernest was filled with despair. (Zuben: zetsubou shiita!)

Still, he tried to meet her.

He attended a ball being held by Sirius, the Duke of Schneider, knowing that she would attend. But he did not get to met her. She was quick to get away.

He became frustrated by his own carelessness and the speed at which she escaped.

Unfortunately, as the King, he could not keep attending balls of every noble because it could lead to a clash between noble families.

He decided on a new strategy when he gave up trying to meet Iris at balls.

His sister, Rosemary, needed new dresses for her social debut. He went along with her to the famous tailor, trying to casually meet Iris. He had been told that Iris visited the tailor, Mrs Macy, to deliver the filet lace she created. 

He asked Mrs Macy for her cooperation, and asked her to call Iris for a visit on the same day he would be coming with Rosemary.

But this operation also ended in failure. According to Matthias, while he was away, Leticia came down with a fever. She began to cry that she wanted Iris to tend to her, because of her anxiety.

There were many maids in the Reinfeldt house, why did she have to insist on Iris? In addition, Leticia was not a child, but a married woman. Why would she cry for her sister just because she was ill?!

So although Iris was usually hurt by her sister’s careless behaviour, she decided not to forsake her and take care of her. (Zuben: Leticia is a demon)

Hearing of her kind heartedness, Ernest’s heart burned with love for her. On the other hand, he began to think of Leticia as a demon.

Ernest’s heart and mind was full of love for Iris.

When he was shown her beautiful delicate embroidery that Iris made, his deep desire came spilling from his lips and he inadvertently asked Mrs Macy to secretly make a wedding dress for Iris. So what if he was doing this the wrong way round, he was going to marry her no matter what.

Ernest head was so full of love for Iris that it did not work normally any longer.

‘Ernest,’ Matthias said one day, ‘if you love her so much, why don’t you visit our manor and ask for Iris directly?’

Why was he waiting for a chance meeting?

If he really wanted her, he could use his status as King to capture her forcibly. (Zuben: Matthias not everyone subscribes to your mysterious yandere magazine)

That would be sick, he told Matthias, even if he did really want to do it. But he really didn’t want to rip her from the arms of her family. No matter how much he wanted, Ernest could not do it.

42 Ernest: His Majesty's Calculation:

While the wedding gown was being made, he had to think of his status. He was the King; a king who was known not to be good with women.

What would happen if he visited her just like that? Iris would surely be forced to marry him. She would have no choice.

He really could not force her into such a situation.

It wasn’t just that - he was really scared.

If Ernest asked for her hand, she would be suspicious. Why would Ernest, who she had never met, propose to her?

Why would he want to make a woman who had a bad reputation Queen? Iris was probably not the kind of person that would be over the moon at the opportunity to be Queen. If she was that conniving, she would never have lost her beau to Leticia.

She, of course, she would doubt Ernest’s feelings.

He really could not tell her that he fell for her when he spied her hiding and crying. He would be seen as a pervert with a weird fetish – and that would be the end of everything.

Such a conclusion was scary enough that he didn’t even want to contemplate it.

It was the first time that Ernest had ever been in love; he had never had to employ stratagems to woo a lady. He really did not have the ability to make her love him despite the doubt. He had no confidence. He had no confidence to imagine a future with his beloved.

But, the situation would not change if he just kept waiting.

Then Matthias informed him, Leticia had got it into her head to find a husband for Iris after she turned twenty that summer, without permission.

But it was causing friction between then, because when Iris rebuffed her, Leticia cried.

It became an endless vicious cycle that Matthias enjoyed since he took a dark pleasure in Leticia crying and clinging to him. Ernest cursed, angry enough to kill him. But without his cooperation, he could not approach Iris. If his friend did not keep stopping his wife, she would choose a husband for Iris.

As it stood, he may never be able to get Iris.

Ernest was upset. He was filled with such frustration, unable to sleep. He kept sniffing the hair clip she had thrown away. (Zuben: Unless you have kept it in a vacuum, that scent should have gone by now)

How? How could he get her before Leticia complete her hare-brained plan?

He racked his brain, getting more and more annoyed; he felt like his time was running out.

Then it came to him…

"The love potion."

More than a decade ago, his sister Tierra fell in love with a Prince of a neighbouring country. She put an impossible problem before her brother.

"Ernest, are you free?  I want you to get me a love potion from the apothecary."

She wanted to manipulate the mind of the Prince, so he could fall in love with her and a love potion appeared in the novel Tierra enjoyed reaching at the time.

Always overbearing, she ordered Ernest to find it.

But there was no magic in their country.

And of course, there was no such thing as love potion that could manipulate body and mind. But Tierra would not listen. So after much thought, he handed Tierra a bottle of soluble sweets and told her they were the love potion. If it didn’t work, he would tell her that is was an imaginary item in the first place and she was the wrong one.

Tierra dissolved the sweets in wine and gave the wine to her Prince. And got married.

Because of the “love potion”, Tierra took bold action and invited the prince to her private rooms. It turned out that he also liked her, but Tierra only took action to show him her feelings because of the potion.

Remembering this; Ernest decided to use this plan. Matthias told him with Leticia running amok, she would select men who like her for Iris with her cruel innocence. (Zuben: More like major arseholery)

Iris understood this would happen and she was anxious about it. If so, Iris would eventually have to take matters into her own hands to stop Leticia. Simply put, she would be forced to find her make some man into her fiancé as quickly as possible.

So Ernest gave the sweets to Matthias.

Matthias will convince her to choose a man that would suit her needs, someone who would leave her in peace. Convince her to use the sweets at the next royal ball. Where Ernest would drink the wine under the guise of chance, as a result, become her fiancé.

With Matthias’ help, Iris got the sweets, and recommended a gentleman who seemed harmless to humans and animals.

That evening, he watched her every move. The moment she put the sweets into the wine, he sent innocent Rosemary to retrieve it. He downed the glass before her, pretending to be under the effects of the love potion, he made sure that she would not escape him.

His thought was that with her knowing he was under the effects of the love potion, she would have no doubts about how he felt about her.

And the plan was successful; he was able to get Iris. He was so delighted; he thought he would be able to marry her at long last, but now…

‘Hey, stop sighing; you’ll sink your office.’ Matthias said bussing his shoulder.

But he could not stop sighing.

Ernest disliked his foolishness. He felt like a foolish, pathetic man.

But he loved Iris. He wanted to cherish her for the rest of her life, but he also wanted her to love him.

He had only used the love potion because he wasn’t confident she would love him. Using that cowardly scheme, he captured her forcibly. He found himself foolishly relieved she didn’t want to confess that she had used it on him. As long as she believed that the love potion was real, she would never leave his side.

Three months. It was only three months.

Despite his trick, he would marry her in three months. If in the mean time, she got pregnant, she would have to stay beside him forever. Whichever came first, Ernest would tell her the truth; when there was no possibility of her running away. He was willing to exploit her guilt.

In return, he would love her completely. Promise to always make her happy, so she never regretted marrying him.

For not being able to tell the truth, Ernest thought himself selfish, pathetic and timid. He was no different from those other men.

He was so frightened of losing her, in his fear; he tried to keep her next to him by deceitful means until they were married.

He had patiently waited for her to forget her former beau. It felt like he had had to wait forever for the day she would be married to him. He had to have her, he had to keep her. He did not want her to be taken by someone else.

He was a truly despicable man.

He had to tell her everything, he decided. Confess and apologise.

Even if he had to kneel and knock his head on the floor and cry. Even if she looked at him with contempt, rejected him coldly; for the sin of deceiving her, he would have to bear the hurt. But he would get her forgiveness. He would never let her go.

Being with her this past month, he have begun to love her even more deeply he could no longer see straight. If he lost her, he surely would not be able to live any longer.

As Ernest clenched his fist in determination, there was a knock on his door.

‘Yes?’ Matthias answered, ‘my Countess is…?’

Matthias’ face was thoughtful.

When the door closed, Matthias turned to Ernest,

‘Ernest, I have good news.’

‘What?’

‘My pretty Letty came with an antidote.’ (Zuben: Your "Pretty Letty" is going to screw things up)

‘An antidote…?’

Iris had asked for the antidote,

‘But the love potion is just sweets. What on earth are you talking about an antidote?’

‘The antidote is just blue sweets.’

Why would Matthias get such a thing?

Ernest rushed up to him and grabbed him by the collar, but before he could Matthias held his hands up in surrender and said,

‘Why don’t you redeem yourself with this chance?’

‘What do you mean?’ Ernest growled.

‘Iris is meeting Leticia in a reception room. Let’s resolve the misunderstanding.’

Ernest stopped; he had one more peach sweet in his pocket. If he took the last one, and took the “antidote”, then confessed that he loved her, Iris would believe his feelings for her were true.

He had to do this to at leave gain a modicum of trust. If he didn’t tell her the truth and beg for her forgiveness, she would believe that the love potion as real. He had to dispel her guilt. If he didn’t it would only hurt her more.

He had to apologise, he could not hold on to any pride before Iris.

 If she told him to bark and howl like a dog, he would do it. He loved her, and would do anything for her forgiveness.

Ernest ran out of his office.

Ernest will come to regret his idea.

But he wanted to drive himself to the ends of hell, more than Matthias who created this situation. More than he would like to kill Leticia for hurting Iris. (Zuben: Some lines really don’t make any sense to me.) 

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