The Mind-Reading Mate: Why Is the Lycan King So Obsessed With Me?!-Chapter 90: Forbidden Ingredients

Salem kept sniffing the herbal powder over and over again, but no matter how many times he tried, he still couldn’t catch the scent of any poison inside the leather pouch.

Still, his instincts wouldn’t let him believe the medicine was completely safe.

After nearly ten minutes of careful inspection, Salem finally looked up and met Primrose’s eyes, his expression more serious than before. "I don’t think this poison was made from toxic plants or anything natural."

Primrose’s brows drew together in confusion. "What do you mean? If it didn’t come from nature ... then where did it come from?"

She might not know poisons as well as Salem did, but according to the herbal books she had read, most poisons were made from plants—either naturally toxic ones or a combination of herbs that, when mixed, became harmful to the body.

There were also poisons made from powdered minerals or rare natural elements, though she wasn’t as familiar with those.

Salem took another sniff of the powdered medicine before saying, "Magic," he said flatly. "I’m not completely certain yet, but this poison might have been created through magic."

Primrose looked even more puzzled. Since she hadn’t had any magic energy in her first life, she had never studied anything related to it, not even the basics.

It wasn’t because she didn’t want to learn.

But every time she tried reading about magic, she would end up feeling bitter, jealous of those who could use it freely.

She used to think that if only she had magic, she would have escaped the beast kingdom or at least protected herself from being captured by the Emperor of Vellmoria.

Actually, she still didn’t know if she had magic in this life or not. She had never tried measuring her magic energy again.

Yeah, she could read people’s minds now, but she wasn’t sure if that came from magic or if it was simply a gift from the heavens, like a small compensation for the utterly miserable life she had been forced to live.

"Is that really possible?" Primrose asked, her brows slightly furrowed.

Salem nodded. "Yes, it is. There are some forbidden books that teach how to make deadly poisons that are nearly impossible to detect. These kinds of poisons aren’t made from plants or natural things. Most of them are created through rituals."

He continued calmly, "Basically, they just need a bowl of clean water and perform a ritual to turn it into poison."

Primrose blinked. "That sounds way too easy."

"In a way, it is," Salem admitted. "The ritual itself isn’t complicated. What makes it difficult are the ingredients. Most forbidden magic requires blood as part of the process."

"Sometimes it has to be virgin blood, or even a fetus that hasn’t developed into a baby yet. And in some cases ... they use a corpse that’s freshly dead."

He said it so casually that it made Primrose’s skin crawl.

[Honestly, it’s not that hard to find those ingredients. The real problem is whether they’re willing to risk imprisonment or worse, execution,] he thought with a quiet sigh. [The law really is troublesome.]

Primrose’s eyes twitched slightly. Suddenly, she was very grateful the law existed. Without it, people like Salem might be out there hunting innocent lives for poison-making.

"I’ll need more time to study this one," Salem said, closing the pouch and slipping it into the inside pocket of his coat. "I’ll let you know once I’m sure about what’s inside."

Primrose nodded in understanding. But just as Salem turned to leave, she spoke again. "Wait," she murmured. "Do you ... have anything for my fever?" Her voice was softer this time, almost like a child asking for help after a long, exhausting day.

Salem raised one of his eyebrows and looked at Primrose carefully. "You’re fine, Your Majesty. Just a good night’s sleep and your fever will go down by morning."

Primrose touched her forehead, which was still throbbing, and let out a soft groan. "At least give me something for the headache," she whispered. "I can’t sleep when it feels like my head’s about to explode."

Besides, Salem hadn’t even examined her properly, so how could he diagnose her condition with just a glance?

[What a weakling.] Salem grumbled in his mind. [Still, if she’s still sick tomorrow and someone mentions I was here, I might get dragged into trouble.]

[Even if Her Majesty asked the guards not to say anything, I should play it safe.]

[It’s not that I’m scared of punishment. I could escape easily.] He sighed. [But this palace is basically heaven, and I’d rather not lose all the nice things I’ve got here.]

"I don’t have the exact same medicine as the one in the pouch, but I do have something even more effective," he said finally, pulling out a small glass vial filled with blue liquid from his coat, "but I have something even better."

He handed it to Primrose. "Drink this before bed, and I promise you’ll sleep soundly and wake up refreshed."

The medicine looked a little strange. Its bright blue color made it seem more like something from a fantasy book than real medicine.

Still, based on Salem’s thoughts, he didn’t seem like he was planning to poison her since he wanted to stay in the palace and enjoy his comfortable life for such a long time.

Primrose accepted the vial and quietly tucked it under her pillow. "Thank you for the medicine, Sir Vesper."

"It’s always a pleasure to help, Your Majesty," Salem replied.

Then he bowed slightly and left the room.

Moments later, Marielle came back in to help Primrose change into her nightgown, ready to end what had been a very long, very tiring day.

"Where is the medicine, Your Majesty?" Marielle asked when she noticed that the leather pouch had disappeared from the table.

"Don’t worry about it." Primrose waved her hand. "Sir Vesper already brewed the medicine for me earlier, so you don’t need to do it."

[Really? But why does the medicine burner still look clean?] Marielle tilted her head slightly. [Maybe Sir Vesper cleaned it already.]

"I understand, Your Majesty." Marielle said nothing more after that, noticing the queen’s expression had turned less friendly.

As she was tying the ribbons on Primrose’s nightgown, Primrose suddenly asked, "Marielle, would you like to become my personal maid permanently?"