Chapter 191

I quickly changed into the clothes Emily had handed me, checking I had everything I needed, before leaving the room. I wasn’t sure if Ivonne had done something or if it was because it was still lunchtime, but the manor was eerily quiet both inside and out. Wearing the magic bracelet given to me by Derrick, I swiftly scrambled through the hole in the wall and hailed a carriage.

“We’ve arrived at the guild street, Sir.”

The horseman informed me as I stared intently out the window, worried that someone might already be in pursuit. I paid the fare and then launched myself from the carriage, dashing down the alley. I’d never arrived at the guild via carriage before, only teleported, so walking through the barely familiar streets felt rather odd.

I arrived at the end of the alleyway before long, quickly finding the worn door that bore the familiar rabbit design. I rushed up the stairs and knocked, still uneasy, not knowing if I’d been followed. Despite the way I pounded on the door it didn’t open.

Is he not here? Do I wait until he returns? Casting my eyes around the empty alleyway, lost in thought, I eventually decided to grab the doorknob. If I found it to be locked, I was of half a mind to just march right into the Verdandi residence. The door creaked open without resistance.

“What...”

Without even a moment’s hesitation, I threw it fully open. I was met with a man wearing a familiar rabbit mask, who’d just been passing through the hidden door located on the opposite side of the office.

“Y-you... ugh!”

It appeared as if he’d lost control of his spell momentarily in his surprise, since the wall had begun to close up around him. He struggled, half of his body embedded in the wall. I was in such a hurry that it didn’t even occur to me to laugh despite the absurd sight.

I closed the door behind me, however, afraid someone would spot me. Rushing to his side, I whispered, “I need some money.”

“I’m... sorry?”

“I’ve come to collect some of the money I entrusted to you.”

“I don’t... just give me a moment, damn it.”

With a soft curse, Winter muttered a spell. The secret doorway expanded again, and he stumbled free of the wall. “Why the sudden visit... and request, my lady?” he asked with a sigh, brushing the brick’s dusty residue off his clothes.

The only thoughts in my head were of getting my money and fleeing the capital. I chewed my lip, mumbling, “I just need some of my money.”

“Please have a seat first. We can talk more comfortably.”

“No, I have no time—”

“Your hands,” Winter interrupted my protests, pointing at my hands, clutching my threadbare bag. “Your hands are shaking as badly as the first time you were here.”

I looked down and found that my pale fingers were quivering pitifully.

I’m too worked up. I realized that my neck was damp with sweat. The fury simmering in my gut was fading away, replaced by fear.

“I’ll lock the door. Please sit down,” Winter insisted again.

I trudged reluctantly over to the sofa. He sat opposite me, waving his hand around twice. I heard the locks falling into place and watched as a teapot and cups drifted over to set themselves on the table. I’d seen this same procession of floating porcelain enough times now that I was no longer surprised by it. Pipping hot tea poured itself into the teacup after it had come to rest in front of me.

“Please tell me what’s going on now,” he said gently once everything had settled onto the table.

I suddenly felt drained, the urge to just confess everything to him almost overwhelming. Resisting the urge, I spoke slowly. “Nothing is amiss. I just need to... make some purchases.”

“Are you running away from the manor?” he asked, getting straight to the point. His directness deprived me of words.

I’d hoped to avoid telling him that I was running away if I could.

“You’d entrusted your money to me without knowing anything about her existence...”

“And I feared you’d disappear with that money were the duke’s daughter to return!”

I’d always considered our relationship to be strict and professional, but after his confession the last time we met, I was concerned that he might try to ruin my escape plans. I knew it was probably paranoid of me, but I’d already experienced how betrayal could strike when you least expected it thanks to Eckles. It was a horrible and suffocating feeling to watch all your plans crumble around you, forced to sit and wait for death.

“Where do you intend to go? I’ll help you.”

Winter’s calm offer took me by surprise. I stared at him with wide eyes, but slowly his words helped me to regain a semblance of my composure.

“You still have the mirror fragment, right?” It was true I planned to run away, but I also had many things I needed to tell him.

Though I’d responded to his question with one of my own, Winter answered easily, “It’s being kept somewhere safe.”

“I know its appearance here must have been very sudden. Thank you for helping me. If you could please return it now, as well.”

“The fragment, you mean?”

Ivonne’s brainwashing technique was far more powerful than I could have ever imagined. Originally, I’d determined it would be safer to leave it in Winter’s care since he didn’t live in the manor, but that monster already knew exactly who he was. I had to re-evaluate how safe it was here.

“Yes. Return it to me. I’ll hold on to it.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not an item that should be in my lady’s possession. It’s far too dangerous.”

“But...” I began, about to protest.

“Did you bring it back from Solael that day?”

I nodded reluctantly.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’d brought it back with you? You saw how dangerous the artifact is, just as I did...”

Winter trailed off, reeling in his anger. His gaze was stern.

How was I supposed to know it was such a scary artifact? To me, it had only been a system reward. I felt like a child being scolded for doing something naughty. I hung my head, glancing at Winter uncomfortably through my lashes. I asked cautiously, “Do you know what the Mirror of Truth is?”

“The Mirror of Truth? How did you come to know that name?”

Winter’s eyes were wide with surprise. I’d asked just on the off chance he knew of it, and realized, based on his reaction, that it had been a good idea to do so. He knew exactly what it was.

“What is it, exactly? And where is it?”

“That’s not... a topic we can just talk about out here,” Winter’s expression was troubled as he stared at me, shaking his head. He rose to his feet. “Come with me for a moment, please.”

“Just give me the money and the fragment, and tell me where the mirror is. I don’t have much time—”

“The money and the fragment are both this way.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I stared blankly at him, then slowly stood. It would probably be safer inside his secret chamber than sitting out in the open in his office, anyway.

As I approached Winter, who was standing in front of the wall that contained the hidden entrance, a light flashed before my eyes.

<SYSTEM> Hidden quest!

You have been invited into the sorcerer’s secret chamber.

Would you like to enter? (Reward: Unspecified.)

[Accept / Decline]

This damned game... I wondered if I was currently in the process of walking the path to the game’s hidden ending, regardless of my desire to flee and leave this all behind.

Seeing the system window came as a relief, but at the same time, I felt a mounting sense of despair. After the steep drop in affection score, I’d experienced the last time I stepped foot inside that stupid chamber, I’d sworn never to venture inside again, but here I was, being invited in.

I stared with trepidation at the purple affection score bar that no longer featured a numerical indicator, then made my decision. The wall rumbled open as soon as I selected [Accept].

“The Mirror of Truth... is an artifact that was created by mages during the war with the Laila. Their souls were consumed in the process of making it, and it has the power to seal the Laila away,” Winter began as we traversed the broad corridor. He had obviously decided to share some of what he knew about the mirror with me.

I listened, feeling like I was experiencing an in-game tutorial.

“The Laila, after absorbing countless lives, further strayed from their original forms, becoming more and more like monsters that were essentially immortal. By that point, they couldn’t even be considered human anymore.”

“...”

“When they reach that point, the power inside becomes too much for them to control any longer—they fall into a rampage and destroy themselves in doing so. That’s why the Laila always seek hosts that allow them to maintain a human form.”

“Hosts?” I asked.

Winter nodded. “Yes. But wearing a shell that isn’t their own doesn’t make them human. There is one flaw that makes their monstrous nature apparent.”

“They have no reflections in water or mirrors, right?”

Winter stopped dead in his tracks. “How did you know that?”

Because I witnessed that very thing not too long ago. I didn’t say this out loud, however, just continued walking.

Seeing that I had no intention of replying, he quietly continued, “The longer the war continued, the number of humans sacrificed to become hosts for the Laila increased exponentially. The ancient mages, unable to allow this to continue, chose a last resort—they sacrificed their lives in order to create a magical tool capable of sealing the Laila away.”

We’d finally arrived at the end of the corridor, which opened up on a vast chamber.

“It reflects the true nature of any formless Laila and traps them. That is the Mirror of Truth.”

The chamber was like a museum, just the same as it had been the last time I was there. Sitting in the center of the large room was a mirror so large it nearly reached the ceiling.