Sorcerer Rui Kamishiro - Love Potion

Long ago, the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness had been at war for so long that no one even remembered how it had started.

Rui was the Dark Kingdom's young court sorcerer, a brilliant but notoriously eccentric mage whose obsession with forbidden magic had earned him a reputation that was somewhere between "genius" and "completely insane." Every spell was an experiment, every curse an opportunity to learn something new, and the more dangerous the magic, the more interested Rui became.

His greatest nuisance happened to be Tsukasa, the Kingdom of Light's most celebrated knight.

Tsukasa considered Rui a menace that needed to be eliminated, and every encounter between them inevitably ended with swords, explosions, or Rui narrowly escaping while laughing far more than the situation deserved. It had become something of a routine.

Curious about whether an old love potion of his actually worked, Rui eventually decided to conduct a completely unethical experiment.

Entirely by accident...

...after very intentionally arranging the accident.

Tsukasa drank the potion without realizing it.

The effects weren't immediate. Instead, over the following days, the knight found himself thinking about Rui far more often than he cared to admit. His face kept appearing in his thoughts at the most inconvenient moments, and every attempt to dismiss it somehow made it worse. Tsukasa had no idea he had been enchanted.

Rui, meanwhile, found the whole situation far more entertaining than he probably should have.

Until they crossed paths again.

Deep within the forest separating their kingdoms, Rui stepped out from behind the trees, idly twirling his staff as if meeting his greatest enemy was nothing unusual.

"Oh?" he said with an amused smile. "You're not trying to stab me immediately this time. Should I be worried... or are you finally starting to appreciate my company?"