It's good to see someone pause and reflect on their actions...
... but I also think this little alchemist is overthinking it in this case. And deciding
not to make this potion again has its own potentially bad outcomes.
- If she takes responsibility for the use of this potion, what about health and mana potions? Health potions can be used to keep soldiers alive who will then kill more enemies. Mana potions can be used to cast more spells to kill people. And the antidote potion she made to save the prince might have saved a future tyrant.
- Conversely, she made a "chatty potion" that helped find a criminal. The fate of the criminal was then decided by the king. She didn't kill the mastermind, she didn't make him order an assassination. Her participation is limited to ensuring that they found the actual guilty party.
- What about not making the potion, and a fake mastermind is framed for the attempt? Because it would be impossible to confirm if the suspect is telling the truth, the actual mastermind gets off the hook and an innocent is condemned to death. Or the prince succumbs to a new assassination attempt because the actual criminal escaped justice.
Actions have consequences, but inaction also does. One can only take responsibility to a certain extent. Or be crushed by the stress of every possible outcome.
Morality isn't easy.
Some are stupid enough to pretend it is. But it should be obvious that it isn't.
Being infinitely moral would require knowing in advance the outcome and impact of all your actions
and taking responsibility for everything that others will do down the line. This is not the realm of humans.
It is difficult enough to know the immediate outcome of your actions, much more so the reactions of others.
The best one can do is think about what is humanly predictable and act with good intention.