Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who's the Witch of Fate’s Great Call - Chapter 3
I.
“I’ve got this great medicine, I’m telling you! If His Majesty sees it, he’d be shocked…!”
“I told you, peddlers are forbidden!”
“Get out of here!”
Kalynia, who knocked on the gates of the Snow Kingdom, was chased away without even getting a glimpse inside.
Catherine, who was watching from a distance to avoid looking like she was with her, shook her head as Kalynia trudged back.
“I knew this would happen. Trying a direct approach is way too reckless.”
“I prepared an ambitious medicine! Why won’t they even take a look?”
Kalynia glanced angrily at the guards who’d driven her away, completely baffled by their refusal.
She wasn’t good with magic. And she wasn’t particularly skilled with curses, either.
The one thing Kalynia excelled at was making potions, so she thought sneaking into the castle by posing as a merchant was the best plan.
If only they’d taste her potion, they’d know how good it was, something they wouldn’t find anywhere else. It was incredibly frustrating.
“They’ll regret this! There’s nowhere else they’ll find medicine this good!”
Kalynia muttered a small curse, but it didn’t faze the guards at all. They threatened to throw her in jail if she caused any more trouble.
In the end, Kalynia had no choice but to back off, glaring at the guards as she went.
“Let’s just give up and go home. Isn’t this enough of a failure, ‘Great Failure Witch’?”
Catherine, who approached her now, sneered, calling her the ‘Great Failure Witch’.
Kalynia scowled at that. Even if she’d come along, shouldn’t her sister have at least helped out a bit? If nothing else, she could have pretended to be an enthusiastic customer.
Instead, Catherine had just stood there, watching from a distance and laughing at her. Kalynia really didn’t like this sister of hers.
“Why did you even come along if you were going to act like this? You should’ve just stayed home.”
Kalynia snapped at her unhelpful sister and started walking toward the shopping district. Catherine quickly followed, suggesting they go together.
“I didn’t actually think we’d get in on the first try. I’m not that naive.”
Kalynia shot a sideways glance at her sister, then quickened her pace toward the shops.
Catherine wasn’t hopeful about Kalynia’s plan to try again. She’d only come along because her sister had been so stubborn, but she had no real interest in the mirror.
“It doesn’t matter if you understand the world now or not, so let’s just go home.”
“No. I’m not leaving. I’m going to steal it no matter what.”
Hearing her sister’s determined tone, Catherine raised an eyebrow. She thought Kalynia would have been discouraged by her rejection at the gate, but her younger sister’s eyes were blazing with determination, not defeat.
“And how are you going to do that? You couldn’t even get into the castle, let alone close to the mirror.”
“Which is why I need to find a way to get in!”
Kalynia suggested finding a nearby inn to stay in while they thought of a plan, scanning the area until she spotted a decent-looking place.
The food smelled pretty good too. Kalynia entered the inn, rented a room, and ate her fill.
The warm soup, capable of melting even the stern gaze of a guard, tasted fantastic. Although she thought it would be fine if the Snow Kingdom, Grimdelwald’s enemy, were to fall, she hoped this inn might somehow escape the war.
But the innkeeper, Mrs. Loving, was far too nosy for her taste.
“Are you young ladies travelers?”
She seemed amazed at the sight of two young women staying at the inn, chatting with them incessantly. Initially, Kalynia responded with a polite smile, not wanting to be rude and create misunderstandings, but this turned out to be a mistake.
Mrs. Loving was a very chatty auntie. After passing by a few times and striking up conversations, she finally sat down beside them, as if they were traveling companions. Kalynia considered showing her discomfort, but the innkeeper brought over some braised pork as a complimentary service, and she lost the chance to send her away.
“It smells really nice.”
“Right? But the taste is even better.”
Kalynia wished she could refuse it, but her stomach was honest. It grumbled loudly, begging her to eat the pork right away.
However, Catherine was sitting across from her. Kalynia’s sharp-tongued sister, known to be the second most prickly witch in the world, would definitely find this bothersome.
Worried Catherine might reject it, Kalynia anxiously checked her sister’s reaction and felt relieved. Catherine’s eyes were fixed on the meat. The savory aroma of the fatty pork was too tempting, even for the prickliest witch in the world.
In the end, the sisters had to endure the innkeeper’s chatter in exchange for some tender pork.
“You ladies are lucky! Every inn here and there is fully booked these days with all the visitors to the Snow Kingdom!”
Mrs. Loving chattered on, even as Kalynia was too absorbed in her food to answer.
“Tonight, His Majesty is holding his first ball since returning from the war. And it’s supposed to be a grand one!”
