Nothing happened.

“Huh?” Winter said in confusion.

Inside the pocket watch wasn’t remarkable. In fact, it was even broken. The dial, numbers, and arms were of low-grade quality. A round mirror under the lid had a crack on one side. Some pieces were missing. 

He held it up to his ear and heard the gears. TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK. The time matched the clock on the wall, so that function was fine. 

But that didn’t explain the whisperings that scared him out of bed because he thought someone was here with him. Yet, there was no one there. Winter was positive it came from this wat—

“Here.”

It was louder now with the device open. Yes, those were what he heard. It was like several voices saying the word at once, uttering it as quietly as they could. The sound was unsettling but not threatening; more like they wanted to tell him something. And he just couldn’t shake off the missing memory that this wasn’t the first time he heard them—like a dream he had forgotten and couldn’t recall after waking up.

Winter lifted the watch closer to stare at his reflection. With the crack in the way, it cut across the right side of his face. He squinted at the lost sections and touched it with his pointer finger. Mysteriously, he felt deeply saddened for this watch, as if sensing it had gone through some unimaginable pain an—

Wait, this is a pocket watch. Why am I feeling sorrow for something not even alive? Don’t be silly. 

“Anyway, why would King Taerynn of Myrkrheim carry you around? Where did the whispers come from?” Winter asked no one and studied it for a few more minutes. 

He began to assume it was his imagination. Perhaps his mind was losing it from being around fae for too long, not feeling well, or was having a mental breakdown after all the traumatic bullshit he had experienced since being here. He went to close it and put the stolen thing asi—

There was a flicker in the mirror right before he shut the watch. His reflection swirled to the center and left a pitch-black image. Winter tilted it around in astonishment. The mirror was really gone!

I’m actually losing my mind. How is this possible?

Several flashbacks of elf kings, talking spiders, hellhound attacks, chests glowing with mana, and short naked fae men holding water buckets went through his head. Oh. Since all of that occurred, then why not a damaged pocket watch that could supposedly disappear? Winter didn’t know how much more he could handle. 

A picture slowly appeared in place of the mirror. He couldn’t stop staring as it grew brighter, wondering if he should even be holding this weird item in his hand. For reasons Winter could not explain, his heart felt like it was being pulled toward the gloomy image that was now clear and visible. 

It was of a dreary forest, like a mini painting meant to evoke eerie emotions and ominous vibes. This would fit right in with all the framed artwork throughout the castle. It was hard to tell whether it was day or night above the treetops. The dark shade made it seem like the time was in the dead of night with a dim, red haze in the distance—when scary things roamed, unknown noises screeched, and the sense of being watched. Fog coated the ground. A shadow moved an—

A shadow?!

It disappeared. So this… wasn’t a painting? Winter swore he saw movement near the top of the tree. Maybe a squirrel? He scrutinized the “mirror” so close that his nose almost touched it to see better, totally mesmerized. Upon inspection, the leaves did seem to sway ever so slightly.

What sort of magic is this?

His fingertip barely touched the depressing forest scene from a horror story. A grayish glow ignited and illuminated his finger. Winter yelped and dropped the pocket watch. CLANG. He tried to wipe the sun-like shine off his hand that had now spread to his wrist… then arm… and shoulder. 

“What is this?!” he yelled. Winter took many steps back in terror, knocking over various items from the table.

But he couldn’t run. The rest of him glowed. His limbs started to get sucked into the watch like he was nothing more than air. 

Before he could cry for help, the whispers said, “Here.”

Then, the rest of the prince vanished. 

The room was quiet. If it weren’t for the curse attached to the pocket watch on the floor, it would’ve reached out from under the bed to take it. Even the whispers frightened it.

***

(Taerynn’s point of view)

“My Lord?” an annoying voice said. He came to the more they urged him to awaken. “My Lord?”

Taerynn slowly fluttered open his eyes. “What…?” 

His head servant stood over him, looking the most worried he’d been in quite a while—years. The last time Taerynn fainted in such a shameful way was... Hmm, perhaps in the months following when the curse was first placed on him. Back then, he was trying to figure out its limitations and boundaries, which pushed the king past his breaking point often—physically and mentally.

The first realization was the condition of his soul core. It was back to its usual damned self where the corrupted Gray mana had a cap amount. Taerynn questioned if that incredible sensation of being back to his prior self was just a hallucination. But given he had abnormally lost consciousness until early morning and the burned bed, well, that definitely occurred.

Taerynn slapped Rowan’s hand away, who kept fussing over him, and slid off the bed. For a second, his vision spun. Attempting to take out the shard had done a number on him.

I despise how weak I’ve become. 

As he took a moment to collect himself and review what had happened on the bed, Rowan and another elvish maid helped him change clothes—his usual black attire, long gloves, and the crown had been polished. When he was more presentable, she was told to leave. They had private matters to discuss.

“Where’s Snow White?” Taerynn growled and adjusted his hair. Though he didn’t have a mirror since they were banned, he knew how to style it without looking. “I need to question him.”

In a more calm manner. I lost my temper before. 

It frustrated him how aggressive he was toward Snow White. He was not shocked often, but to say he was surprised yesterday was an understatement. Shellshocked was a better way to word it. Taerynn hadn’t felt his true power—and not in a vile way that oozed from his core—in many decades.

“I confirmed he returned to his assigned room after I walked in on the… scene, My Lord. You have actually reminded me that I need to deliver his breakfast soon.”

“Hmm. Is he finally eating?” 

“After I confirmed with him that the food I bring will not bind him to the fae, that fickle thing has been eating most of it. He’s a very cautious human.”

The king placed the crown on his head, an accessory passed down through every Myrkrheim ruler. The glamour magic he embedded into the twisting, golden leaves framing his ears brought the castle to life. When he stepped into the enormous structure, it hid any curse that had this property in a chokehold. But whenever Taerynn stepped out of the building, Myrkr Castle reverted to its true state. 

Except Snow White’s room. He went through the painstaking effort to make sure glamour covered the guest room at all times out of hospitality… much to Rowan’s disapproval for “wasting his precious mana on such small, cosmetic purposes.”

“May I suggest resting a bit longer after I fix the damage, My Lord?” 

“No. I must take the next steps to retrieve that shard and my mana. The sooner the better. There are not many pieces left. Unfortunately, the ones remaining are in places I knew would be most difficult and dangerous to retrieve.”

“Right. You began with the easiest mirror shards to find,” Rowan agreed. “And many of those areas are or were in a constant time loop because of the curse extending there.”

And I believed Snow White’s case would be one of the easiest when I realized my only obstacle was a cave. But now, it is the most difficult of any shard I’ve found.

Taerynn’s gloved hand touched his pocket out of habit to confirm his watch was ther—

It was gone. He glanced around spots where he always kept the Magic Mirror’s small form when it wasn’t on him. Taerynn grew alarmed when he realized it was missing. As a last resort, he went to his knees to look under the bed. Nothing. He recalled what he last did with it. 

I had the watch in my hand to show Snow White the broken Mirror. I wanted to reveal its true shape to him and see if he remembered anything. My panic got the best of me at the moment. After that… after that…

The elf didn’t recall anything. He must have blacked out from exhaustion. Rowan and all other fae souls were forbidden from touching the Magic Mirror, mainly to prevent the curse from latching onto someone else as deeply as he was. So if the watch wasn’t here and no one else would’ve taken it…

Rowan saw him thinking hard, staring around, and clutching onto his pants where he usually kept the little Mirror. Realization dawned on him that his king did not have one of the most powerful weapons in his possession. Their wide stares met. Both came to the same conclusion—Snow White.

“Did you see him take it?” Taerynn growled.

“I did not. It’s possible he….” Rowan paused and frowned. “That human did seem suspicious when we entered your room. I wonder if he had…”

He took the Magic Mirror.

The notion was terrifying. Taerynn did not know the consequences of a mortal possessing it and handling the curse. Without wasting a second more, he rushed out of his room and wove through the corridors. Rowan was right behind him. The fae servants they passed who were waking up for the day cowered upon feeling his intense aura. He was not to be trifled with right now.

They arrived at the wing of Myrkr Castle for guests, when they used to have esteemed visitors before the curse took effect. He didn’t bother knocking despite the early time. Taerynn prayed he would see a peeved prince being interrupted. Please.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Snow White was nowhere to be seen. But he had slept in the bed. The covers were messy. His shoes were near the door so he couldn’t have gone anywhere, even though the weather was warmer since the sudden snowstorm ended quickly—Rowan explained that it had strangely cleared up after the mana-extraction attempt.

Taerynn saw a half-eaten meal. It was yesterday’s dinner. The meat was untouched, and it was all over the floor. Someone knocked it off the table.

“Did you not return here to retrieve the dirtied silverware?”

“Since Snow White was sleeping, I didn’t want to disturb him. The floorboards are creaky, My Lord. He may be a mere and stupid human, but he’s still the Prince of Ascelin. I try to be respectful of his space.”

“And that respect of yours has allowed him to leave this castle on his own without your knowing… twice.” Taerynn side-eyed Rowan with a dangerous glare.

Rowan looked away with shame. He knew he had slipped up. They both had. Neither were their former selves. The curse had affected everyone for the worse.

Taerynn marched over and opened the balcony door just in case Snow White was out there. No one was. The crimson moon was almost under the horizon since sunrise would come anytime. Just the top half was visible. That red moonlight gleamed on an object next to the bed. 

He noticed it and breathed out with relief—the pocket watch had been recovered.

Where could Snow White have gone to? There are not many places.

The king leaned to grab what was his and saw it was open. The brief solace that the Magic Mirror was okay turned into worry. No one, other than him and its creator, had ever opened it. He hesitated, hand paused over the watch. He had a hunch that something was very wrong.

Handling the watch carefully, Taerynn flipped it over to see the inside…

And his heart sunk into his stomach. The reflection under the lid was a portal. Back when Taerynn was inexperienced with the Magic Mirror as a child, he was occasionally transported this same way—being sucked into another territory while the watch stayed behind. The damned thing was a weapon still created by fae, so it had a tricky mind of its own sometimes and played around with the bearer. By now, Taerynn knew how to handle its occasional pranks. But for someone as ignorant as Snow White... Oh, heavens.

This was a cruel joke, too.

“My Lord? What is it?”

He didn’t explain and barked out an order. “Bring me my coat and Veran. Hurry.”

Rowan did not question it and dashed to retrieve his long coat from the royal wing.

In the meantime, Taerynn was beside himself that the Mirror sent Snow White to an unforgiving place within Myrkrheim’s forests. It was a specific place he chose, where only he visited because of its excluded and isolated location—the doors leading to the remaining shards.