Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who's the Witch of Fate’s Great Call - Chapter 24
For she is a witch, Your Majesty, clear and bold,
Thy visage stirs no sickness in one so cold.
But the mirror answered Vylon as if dismissing any hope he held. The cold response almost made him punch the mirror to pieces on the spot.
The mirror clarified that Grimdelwald’s curse caused only humans to feel revulsion. Since she was a witch, not human, the curse didn’t affect her—completely irrespective of emotions or relationships.
Several witches had come to steal the magic mirror before, but they had always been hostile toward one another, so he had never considered this perspective.
“I thought she might be able to break my curse. Was that a pointless hope?”
Of course. Just as he was about to turn away in bitterness, the mirror offered a sliver of hope, something he hadn’t heard in years.
No mortal may break Grimdelvald’s dread snare,
Yet a way to avoid it lies in her witch’s flair.
Vylon stepped close to the mirror, asking exactly what this method was.
If thou wed her and sire a child by her side,
The curse may be swayed, its power denied.
This mirror, oblivious to human emotions, was suggesting he marry and have a child with her? Vylon was astounded, pointing at the mirror in disbelief and cursing it.
After a while, he felt a deep sense of regret. What was the point of cursing the mirror? It only reflected himself pointing fingers back at him.
Realizing this futility, his mind began to clear.
Wasn’t she a witch he had intended to kill anyway? Trying the mirror’s suggestion as an experiment might not be a bad idea. At least, following its advice might allow him to avoid the curse.
He continued these strange thoughts all night until dawn arrived, and he hadn’t slept a wink. Vylon sighed deeply, feeling weary, and dressed himself. Before leaving his chamber, he stood in front of the mirror again.
“If you’re lying, I won’t let you off.”
I speak no falsehood, Your Majesty Vylon,
The truth I bear, as clear as dawn.
The mirror answered with its usual calm tone, unshaken by his threats.
He sincerely hoped it was telling the truth. With that, he headed to the dungeon.
* * *
Back to the present—
Harriette glanced at the colorful, mysterious light-filled vials and hesitated. Her face plainly displayed her unease.
“They work, I guarantee it. You’ll see they work amazingly well.”
This one’s a digestive aid, this one’s for colds, this one’s for this and that.
Kalynia excitedly explained each one, confident that everyone would want them and that they would sell out immediately. After all, they always had before. She had even earned her family’s living expenses by selling potions.
But she overlooked one important fact. In the past, she had sold potions to humans, but they hadn’t known they were made by a witch.
Now, however, everyone knew that the potions Harriette was carrying were made by a witch.
“Are you telling me to take a witch’s potion?!”
When Harriette offered a potion to a maid who was suffering from relentless diarrhea and couldn’t leave the bathroom, the maid recoiled in horror. Harriette returned without giving away a single potion, while Kalynia raged, unable to believe it.
Determined to handle it herself, Kalynia joined Harriette in distributing the potions. Unfortunately, people weren’t any more interested just because the witch queen was handing them out personally.
“No, Your Majesty, I’m not ill!”
Even someone who looked on the verge of collapsing with blue lips refused to take the queen’s (the witch’s) potion.
For Kalynia, who prided herself on her potions, this was a blow to her ego.
“What’s wrong with everyone? Do they think I poisoned these or something?”
Harriette could only try to console the enraged queen, unable to admit that her guess was spot on.
After about two weeks of this, not a single potion had been handed out, and strange rumors started to spread.
“They say the queen is trying to poison people!”
Kalynia stomped her feet in frustration.
“I don’t care what you do normally, but do not harm my people.”
Hearing even Vylon say this drove her to the brink. Already furious, now her so-called husband was lecturing her, making her anger reach new heights.
“I didn’t do that, you stupidhead!”
