[Rebecca's POV]
I quietly sneaked towards the back room in hopes that I wouldn't be noticed by the alchemist who said he was the creator of the paternity test potion.
As I approached, I could hear loud banging and the alchemist rambling. It was so loud that I was confident that I could slightly open the door without him noticing.
With a crack in the door just large enough so I could look with one eye, I saw the mess in the room and the alchemist frantically trying to find something. There was papers and alchemy ingredients scattered everywhere.
He shrieked, "this damn woman! Why didn't she put exact quantities! I don't know how much a pinch of sage is! If I had a week, I could perfect the recipe, but I told the Duke it would be ready by the end of the day…"
I had to fight back the urge to laugh out loud. This man made it as obvious as possible that he was not the original inventor of the paternity test potion. Was he not afraid of being found out?
I was hoping to do some daring detective work, but instead I just needed to slightly open the door and the mystery was solved!
Now I felt especially bad for the woman I talked to earlier. Even if she isn't the person who invented the potion, it has been proven that we jumped the gun when trusting the first person to claim being the creator.
I quickly returned back to the corner with the woman alchemist. I revealed, "I saw everything. I promise to talk to my husband and make sure you are fairly compensated for your potion as long as you can prove that you can make it properly. Now, before it's too late, go pitch another of your potions and see if you can get double recognition. My husband might even promote you. He takes good care to cultivate the talented people around him…"
The woman finally stopped frowning, now she looked a little hopeful. "I'm Jennifer. You know, that paternity test potion was the very first potion I researched and created when I first started working here.
I was an orphan for as long as I can remember and with my alchemy prowess, I always dreamed of making it so children can always know who their parents were. Even if they were left and abandoned, they could use this potion to find them and get answers."
I was curious, "what happened when you tried it? Did you learn who your parents were?"
Jennifer smiled bitterly, "when I took the potion, the two light spheres that usually go to your biological parents went down into the ground for me…the reason I was sent to the orphanage was because my parents died.
Luckily, the spheres went all the way to their grave, so I was able to learn who my parents were and how they died. There was a robbery one day and my parents both past away trying to protect me. They were just ordinary people, so the city sent me to the orphanage to be raised."
I listened to her story earnestly, "It must have been nice to learn your parents didn't actually abandon you and loved you enough to sacrifice themselves for you."
Jennifer wiped a small tear from her eye. "Yes, it was tragic, but it was good to know my parents loved me. I had a happy childhood at the orphanage, so I can't be bitter."
I nodded my head, "your potion works pretty great, how come the Duchy hasn't been producing it already?"
Jennifer got annoyed again, "the rest of the alchemists agreed that this potion should not be made because it would get men in trouble by forcing them to acknowledge their illegitimate children. It was my lifetime goal to make this potion to help kids and the first thing these men think about is how it could implicate them…disgusting!"
I shook my head, "I'm sure a lot of noble men will be mad if we made this paternity test potion readily available, but serves them right! They should have to provide for any children that they brought into this world!"
We were already going to anger plenty of noble men once our new laws were passed, so we didn't need to be scared of offending anyone with the produce of this potion.
Jennifer smiled, "I'm glad you agree with me, Duchess. Us women need to stick together and make sure that men take responsibility of their actions! Now you just need to convince your husband…I know he is a renowned playboy. He might have hundreds of illegitimate kids out there…"
I knew this was something that we would have to overcome once I first heard that Nick wanted to create a paternity test potion…the orginal Nicolas slept with countless women and it would actually be more strange if he had no illegitimate children.
My one hope was that our Kingdom had a 100% strength birthcontrol potion that could be dranken before sex to make sure a child is not concieved that day. If we are lucky, the original Nicolas was very strict about using those everytime even though they are pretty expensive.
I responded to Jennifer, "don't worry. My husband is a changed man and if it is revealed that he does have illegitimate children, we will do our best to provide for them. They deserve that much for not being raised with a father."
Jennifer seemed to like my response. "Yes, it is never the kids fault for the sins of their parents."
I gave Jennifer a slight push on the back. "Now come on and go show a different potion to my husband before he is done looking for the day. I wanted to see what other things you have up your sleeve."
Jennifer's eyes started to sparkle. She muttered, "I do have one great potion that these battle hungry idiots have ignored for too long…"