Lilli sat on the log, a short way over from Princess Natalya, watching in disappointment as the dwarfs tried to break the spell.
She had flown overhead of the Princess and the band of dwarfs as they carted their plunder, both human and textile, through the Bueswood to their forest hideout. Outside their little wooden cottage, they tied the unconscious Prince to one of their chairs, winding him in plenty of rope to restrain him. The dwarfs and the Princess were a bit wary of the swan watching them, but Lilli made sure not to approach too closely until they were comfortable with her presence.
That space shrank once Prince Ludwig awoke and captured their undivided attention. He immediately started crying, and complaining about how he needed to be taken back to his queen. The colourful language he used to describe his lovesickness made Natalya and the dwarfs quickly realize that Ludwig was under the Queen's spell, and that the spell needed to be broken.
So that's what they tried to do. Slapping the Prince in the face, blowing loud horns directly into his ear, ritualistic dancing with burning incense, the dwarfs tried everything they could think of to break the spell and bring Ludwig back to his senses. At the moment, the dwarf named Emil was holding up a rotting fish to Ludwig's nose and making him gag.
No effect, nothing was breaking the spell.
"Please," Ludwig whined, "My only pain is being absent from my Queen!"
"Enough already," the dwarf named Mikkel shouted at him while Emil gave up and walked over to dump the fish on the table.
The familiar cawing of a raven echoed through the sky not too far away, so Lilli took the opportunity to stretch out her wings and leap from the log. She didn't have the time to see if Natalya or the dwarfs were watching her suspiciously as she flew away from them and looped through the trees up to the clear sky.
As she cleared the top of the trees, Lilli circled around as she looked for the cawing raven, finally spotting it fly in from the east. Sure enough, the bird sped straight for her, and joined her in circling around the treetops.
"There you are," Naktakė greeted, "I've led a group in, they're almost here."
"Natalya and the dwarfs are straight down below us," Lilli reported, "Ludwig is under a spell that needs to be broken."
"We're in luck then," Naktakė told her, "Lovino and Feliciano are in my group, they'll be able to help!"
"Perfect," Lilli said, "Bring them in!"
"Will do, see you shortly!"
Naktakė broke away and flew back the direction she came from, dipping below into the cover of the trees. Lilli gradually lowered as well, looping the trees as she descended back down to the cottage. As she approached, Lilli noticed that Natalya was watching her, an eyebrow raised in either curiousity or suspicion. She landed back on the same log, near the princess, hoping that she was still not intruding as she did so.
"What's your deal, swan?" Natalya grilled, "Are you spying on me for Erzsébet?"
Lilli shook her head in dissent, hoping that Natalya would understand the negative response. After closely observing her another moment, Natalya relaxed and nodded in satisfaction.
"Okay, you can stay for now," Natalya decided, "Just don't do anything suspicious."
Lilli nodded in compliance, showing that she understood the instruction. Before anything else could happen, the neighing of horses was heard nearby, bringing Natalya and the dwarfs to attention.
"Do we have company?" an unnamed dwarf asked as they all stood up and prepared themselves.
First to enter the clearing was Naktakė, who swooped above them and started circling and cawing. Seeing another of the unnamed dwarfs pull out a slingshot to aim at the raven, Lilli took pre-emptive action by leaping into the air to circle around with Naktakė.
"Hold off, Eduard," Natalya warned, correctly interpreting Lilli's message, "The swan knows the raven."
"How is that supposed to be a good omen?" another dwarf tested.
Before anyone could deliberate that, five riders rode into the clearing and captured their attention. Lilli was pleased to see that Basch and Lenka had ridden in with the Prathagean twins, and they brought a fifth rider with them. They stopped their horses and dismounted, then Basch approached the dwarfs with the fifth rider.
"Your Highness, gentlemen," the unknown rider hailed as Lilli and Naktakė swooped down to the log, "We come in peace, we're here to help you take down Queen Erzsébet."
"We'll allow it," Mikkel approved as the birds sat down to watch, "Who are these people with you?"
"I am Basch Zwingli, the Duke of Gaeniel," Basch announced, "I am Ludwig's cousin, and second in line for the throne of Ixaidel."
"I've heard of Gaeniel," Natalya answered, "You're going to help us stop Erzsébet then?"
"Yes, that is the plan," Basch elaborated, "The other half of our party stayed in Tark to confront her, while we came out here to find you. Kiku here told us how Ludwig seemed to be under a spell of some kind, Lovino and Feliciano can figure out how to break it."
As he spoke, Basch pointed out the twins behind him, who had just helped Lenka off her horse and were now approaching.
"We'd appreciate the help," Natalya accepted, gesturing towards Ludwig, "He's obsessed with returning to the Queen, and we can't get him to stop whining about it."
"Let's see about this," Basch commented as he approached the restrained Prince, "Ludwig, how are you?"
"Basch, is that you?" Ludwig recognized, before dropping back into his whining, "You must take me back to my precious Queen, I yearn for the nectar of her skin!"
"The nectar of her skin?" Basch questioned, "You've lost your fucking mind, haven't you?"
"He's got it bad," Lovino chuckled, "Feliciano, let's figure this out."
The twins circled the bound Prince, and put their hands on Ludwig's shoulders to read the spell.
"Well?" Naktakė quietly cawed, "Am I missing anything interesting?"
"Not quite yet," Lilli recapped, "A bunch of introductions, assurances they're on the same side, and now they're checking the spell."
"Not again," Lovino groaned, "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"
"It's a love potion," Feliciano explained to everyone, "A puppy love potion, to be precise. Ludwig has been enchanted to love the Queen as if he were a hyperactive puppy in love with its master."
"Puppy love?" Basch checked, "And the cure?"
"Something I've already seen today," Lovino moaned, "I'm going to kill Arthur for telling us about it in the first place."
"What is it?" Kiku pried.
"True love's kiss," Lovino revealed, "The way to break the effects of this love potion is for Ludwig to be kissed on the lips by his true love."
"And where are we supposed to find his true love?" Lenka inquired, "He doesn't have a significant other, does he?"
"No, but there is a possibility," Kiku suggested, "Before the love potion got involved, he was very interested in Princess Natalya."
At the mention of the name, everyone looked at the Princess, who noticed the blatant attention being paid to her.
"What?" Natalya gasped, "You think it's me?"
"It's worth a shot, Your Highness," Kiku insisted, "In the short time he's known you, you've managed to capture his attention in a way I have ever seen anyone else manage to do. Surely if there's anyone Ludwig has ever known who might be able to break the spell, it must be you."
"I suppose that makes sense," Natalya mused, "Never thought I'd be doing it this way, but if I must, then I must."
"Wait a second, Princess," Lenka interrupted, "Is this your first kiss?"
Natalya softly nodded at the statement, blushing a bit at the personal question.
"We can do better than this," Lenka declared, "A first kiss needs to be romantic, special, and without an audience of four men and seven dwarfs. Gentlemen, can we bring the Prince into the cottage?"
Within moments, Lenka was directing the dwarfs and having them drag Ludwig and his chair into the cottage, and leading Natalya in afterwards.
"What are they doing now?" Naktakė asked, "Did they figure it out?"
"It's a puppy love potion, and the cure is true love's kiss," Lilli summarized, "They figured out that Natalya should try to kiss him, and it looks like Lenka's going to set up the scene in the cottage so that they have some privacy."
"True love's kiss?" Naktakė checked, "I did see a hole in the roof, maybe we can watch?"
"Sure, let's go see," Lilli agreed.
The two birds leapt into the air, and glided through the air to the roof of the cottage. Through the hole in the roof, Lilli spotted where they had positioned Ludwig. She and Naktakė both swept down to land on the edge of the roof where they could look inside and watch. Down below, Lenka was swiftly braiding Natalya's hair down her back.
"Just a quick styling, Your Highness," Lenka assured, "At least you can look pretty for this."
"I'm just not used to this, that's all," Natalya admitted, before glancing up at Lilli and Naktakė, "Is that swan on your side?"
"Oh yes, she's a friend," Lenka explained, "Her name is Lilli, she'll turn human again at sunset. The raven is Naktakė, she brought us here. Her master Tolys is in the other group, he can talk to birds."
"That's all good to know," Natalya acknowledged.
"There, hair's done," Lenka said, "I'll wait at the door, take all the time you want."
Lenka patted Natalya on the shoulder one last time before walking away to the door of the cottage, leaving Natalya alone in the room with the bound Ludwig. Now that the couple was alone, Lilli noticed that Natalya's strong and confident demeanor had been replaced with uncertainty and nerves.
"Please don't do this," Ludwig whined as the spell encouraged him to resist her.
Natalya ignored his plea and gently moved forward, coming close to him before sitting on his lap. He kept muttering in resistance as she did so, before resorting to moving his head as far away from hers as possible.
"Just close your eyes," Natalya whispered, the blush returning to her face.
Ludwig shut his eyes, and also tried to tuck his lips away inside his mouth so that Natalya could not kiss them. She rolled her eyes skyward, before bringing her hand up to his chin. With her fingers, she pulled at the skin so that a bit of his lip was exposed, and quickly pecked him there with her lips.
"That was fast," Naktakė scoffed, "Was that enough?"
Natalya immediately leaned back and sat up straight to watch Ludwig's reaction, her cheeks now fully blushed. His eyes were still closed, but the rest of his face immediately relaxed as he no longer fought to resist her. After a quiet moment, he finally opened his eyes and looked straight at Natalya.
No words were said as he leaned forward to kiss her back. Natalya shyly leaned in to accept it, letting this one last a little longer. After their lips parted this time, she stayed close and looped her arms around him for another.
"Yes, I think that was enough," Lilli confirmed as the couple below them kept kissing with more fervor.
"Well, well, well," Naktakė remarked, "If that's what a true love's kiss is supposed to be like, maybe I should convince Tolys to kiss Madeline after all."