The potion Morgan brewed truly had no side effects. But precisely because it was a potion, its taste had never been a priority.
The result was that Shiomi felt as if his whole body, inside and out, was steeped in the smell and flavor of potion.
Baobhan Sith brought him some refined sugar, which only barely managed to suppress the lingering bitterness in his mouth.
Sticking out his tongue, he left the medical room and headed back to his own quarters.
On the way, Shiomi even considered going to the workshop to brew something himself to counter the taste in his mouth.
But then he remembered that his knowledge of potions could generously be described as knowing six out of seven basics. Even with authority at his disposal, he couldn't just rely on that and start messing around.
So he gave up the idea.
After returning to his room and taking a shower, Skadi came to find him while he was changing.
"So you were here. No wonder you weren't in the infirmary," she said with a smile. "If I couldn't find you on the ship, I might have had to track you with runes."
"Don't be ridiculous. If I really wanted to move in secret, you wouldn't be able to track me anyway," Shiomi said. Seeing it was her, he finally relaxed and slipped his arm back into his sleeve to continue dressing.
In truth, Skadi had been startled as well. But compared to the early days, when she would occasionally run into him changing, scream, and turn away in embarrassment…
Now she would come closer on her own, blushing as she studied his body, even reaching out like this to poke his firm abs or the line of his waist and back.
That body which had collided with hers countless times had clearly become an indispensable part of her daily life.
"Have you had your fill?" Shiomi asked, holding back a laugh.
"Ah…" Skadi froze, gave a small cry, and quickly withdrew her hand, telling him to finish getting dressed.
Shiomi didn't hurry to fasten his buttons. Instead, he picked Skadi up, spun her around the room twice, then dropped onto the bed and let her sit astride his lap.
"How about I keep you company for a while first?" he asked seriously.
"That wouldn't be bad," Skadi said. Her ears and her body both grew warm at once, with no trace left of the ice goddess. "No, but I actually came to talk to you about something."
"What is it?" Shiomi asked, holding her by the shoulders.
The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them, completely forgetting what Morgan had said earlier in the infirmary.
He should have just pushed Skadi down a moment ago. That way, he could have avoided what was coming now.
"You were the one who fought the hardest earlier."
Skadi took a small bottle out of her pocket. The liquid inside glowed a pale green, like jade.
The bottle was the same model as the one Morgan had used, probably Magecraft equipment supplied by Chaldea.
"Uh…" Shiomi hesitated.
"When we left Hecate Island on the Storm Border and when we docked at Astraea Island, we went ashore to gather materials both times," Skadi continued, looking quite pleased. "This is a potion I made myself. It helps restore mana and relieve fatigue."
"Ah… well… thank you," Shiomi said, doing his best not to let his face turn into a mask of suffering. "I'll take it for now. Thanks for going to the trouble."
As he spoke, he reached out to take the bottle and slip it into his pocket, but Skadi caught his wrist.
"Since you've just gotten up, you should drink it now," Skadi said, blinking. Her eyes were full of sincerity. "I'd like to see how effective it is. I don't usually make potions in Scandinavia."
"I feel great right now. I'll drink it later, before I go to sleep," Shiomi said, scratching his cheek.
Fortunately, Skadi didn't have Fairy Eyes and couldn't see through his lie.
He really didn't want the bitterness in his mouth, which had only just faded, to come flooding back again.
"Wouldn't it be better to drink it now?" Skadi asked.
"Well…" Shiomi couldn't answer right away.
Skadi immediately put on a wronged expression. "I've already given myself to you. I would never betray you. This potion isn't poisoned. Please believe me."
"N-no, you don't have to take it that far," Shiomi said, flustered.
On the battlefield, the goddess was unstoppable, but she was still a Lostbelt goddess who had lost her homeland.
All she could rely on were the marriage Odin had arranged for her and the man right in front of her… him.
Put bluntly, if Shiomi didn't trust her, it would shake Skadi to her core.
It wasn't that her resolve was weak. From the very beginning, she had been forced to shoulder the responsibility of holding the Scandinavian world together, facing the broken aftermath of Ragnarök on her own.
Goddess Skadi was already tired.
"I know," Skadi said, resting against him. "I panicked and said too much…
"As for the potion…"
Shiomi stroked her hair and looked away. "T-to be honest, I'm just not good with bitter things. A potion made from plants of the Age of Gods and the flesh and blood of Phantasmal Species… there's no way it's going to taste like ambrosia, right?"
"Is that so?" Skadi sat up and took the bottle back from his hand, clearly torn.
No matter how good it was, if it only made him suffer, then it defeated the whole purpose.
But she remembered Scáthach telling her how to care for a patient… mainly how to deal with Shiomi.
There had already been a few precedents. If one day Shiomi ended up bedridden and needed someone to look after him, taking medicine would be unavoidable.
So learning how to get him to swallow painfully bitter medicine was something she needed to know.
"Then…"
Skadi pulled out the stopper, took the single mouthful of potion into her own mouth, then leaned down and pressed her lips to Shiomi's.
The potion flowed in, bitter and icy, with a faint warmth returning as it passed between lips and teeth. Caught off guard, Shiomi could only accept it, and since Skadi had gone this far, he might as well treat it as something to savor.
Only after Shiomi had swallowed it all did Skadi pull away, grimacing as she stuck out her tongue.
"…So bitter. Even I can barely stand it."
"The potion's really well made. I can feel the mana running through my Magic Circuits and reaching every part of my body," Shiomi said. "But next time, can you at least think about the taste first? Otherwise I'll have to ask the Lady Goddess to keep feeding me medicine mouth-to-mouth."
"I… suppose that isn't out of the question," Skadi whispered, blushing.
It was bitter, but surprisingly not unbearable.
If anything… it made her happy.
Taking care of someone, or rather, serving someone, wasn't troublesome at all. Not when the person was this man.
"By the way, who taught you to make potions?" Shiomi asked, deciding to talk about something else so he wouldn't have to focus on the bitterness flaring up again in his mouth.
Skadi's eyes lit up. "Goddess Freya taught me. She even taught me how to make a potion that would make my husband obsessed with me."
"Hey…"