Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who's the Witch of Fate’s Great Call - Chapter 52
She hadn’t eaten properly either. Given all that had happened, neither of them had really taken time to enjoy a proper meal. They had eaten breakfast together, so it wasn’t as if she’d had nothing at all, but there was little else to recall.
Eating on a full stomach does wonders for one’s mood. It might even improve his chances of being forgiven for what he’d done today.
Vylon called for someone to bring food, and the servants quickly prepared a meal, which Kalynia enjoyed.
“I told you, I haven’t eaten today,” she repeated even as she ate.
It seemed the meal she was referring to wasn’t food after all. Vylon, puzzled, rubbed his chin, trying to figure it out.
“You didn’t… eat me today?”
He hadn’t really expected that to be it; he had just considered a slight possibility and asked. It was mostly meant as a joke, but Kalynia shot him an irritated look.
“It’s not something to hate that much.”
Even after he clarified it was a joke, her expression didn’t lighten up. He took a sip of water to ease the awkwardness, but then she finally revealed the answer to her riddle.
“I didn’t take the contraceptive potion.”
The water went down the wrong way. Vylon choked, spilling water across his mouth, chest, and pants as he coughed repeatedly.
“W-What?”
It was an answer he hadn’t anticipated. Even though he had clearly heard her say ‘contraceptive’, he still asked again. This was the first time she had openly acknowledged taking that potion all along.
But today, she hadn’t taken it…
While Vylon grappled with confusion, she remained calm, casually finishing her meal as if nothing had happened.
“Kalynia.”
“……”
“Kalynia.”
It was only after he called her name twice that she finally acknowledged him, pretending she’d only just heard him. Her obvious act made Vylon feel antsy.
“First, know this. Even if you bear a child, I won’t let you leave, not anywhere.”
“That wasn’t our agreement, was it? What happened to the royal family’s creed?”
“I’ll break it for the first and last time.”
Could he really break it so easily?
Kalynia scoffed, finding it hard to believe. But she hadn’t planned on leaving him even if she had a child, so she was fine with that. If anything, she’d be in trouble if he decided to dismiss her just because they had an heir now.
“Fine, do as you like.”
“…Right. It seems like now isn’t the time to be leisurely eating. Shall we go?”
Vylon wiped his mouth with a clean cloth and patted the damp spots on his clothes as he urged her.
Kalynia told him to wait, calming him down in his eagerness. Before they began, there was something important she needed to tell him.
“Since you don’t seem to know, let me clarify. Any child born of a witch is also a witch—not a human.”
“……”
“If you don’t want a witch heir, then don’t touch me tonight. Then, starting tomorrow, I’ll resume taking the birth control potion.”
Kalynia said it calmly, though her hand trembled as she held her utensils.
“It’s surprising, something I didn’t expect… But my heir, a witch…?”
“……”
“I think I’d be happy if my heir were a witch.”
“A queen, even. And a witch at that.”
“I think it would be wonderful. A ruler should be strong and wise, and with a witch, that likelihood only increases.”
He wasn’t saying this just to please her. Vylon had genuinely thought about it from time to time.
Kalynia, however, seemed unconvinced, wearing a slightly conflicted expression.
“The fact that a witch can only bear other witches means the royal line would be exclusively witches, forever.”
“That’s true.”
“Your grandmother, Snow White, struggled to prevent the country from falling to a witch. Are you really okay if the kingdom ultimately becomes a witch’s domain?”
“A witch is the one concerned about that?”
Vylon chuckled. To him, Snow White’s situation was different. In his view, Grimdelwald had been a dangerous foreigner long before she was a witch.
He suspected that, even if Grimdelwald had been a human rather than the Grand Witch, Snow White would still have fought to reclaim her country.
“If it’s my child, they have the right bloodline to be king, so there’s no issue.”
“If rumors spread that an open witch lives here, other witches will flock here. Even stories about me and my sisters would draw them, but with a witch on the throne, even more would come.”
“Do you think the kingdom becoming full of witches would be a problem?”
“Humans dislike witches. They might even attempt to invade.”
Though she phrased it as a possibility, Kalynia was nearly certain that an invasion would eventually occur.
“Well, I think if that many witches gathered in one place, no country would dare touch us.”
Vylon disagreed with her. He understood her concerns well enough.
Snow Kingdom could become isolated, surrounded by hostile nations and eventually defeated by a coalition. It was a definite possibility.
But that was a risk regardless of whether a human or a witch ruled. Even Vylon knew he might face such a threat if fortune turned against him. The only difference with a witch as queen would be a slight increase in risk.
“Kalynia, hearing you talk like this, I feel even more compelled to gather as many witches here as possible—ones who would fight alongside our child if needed.”
“Are you planning to make a kingdom of witches?”
“Now that sounds like a great idea. A kingdom of witches.”
Vylon smiled brightly.
“Let’s build it together.”
Easier said than done.
Kalynia sighed, casting him a skeptical look. His confidence did little to reassure her—especially considering how he had soaked himself with water earlier.
A kingdom of witches… It was an ambitious dream. But somehow, even with how far-fetched it sounded, she felt as if it might actually be possible if she were with him. Was she still clinging to her childish habit of underestimating the world? Or maybe…
“So, Kalynia, shall we start by taking the first step toward building a kingdom of witches by making a child?”
Vylon set the cloth he’d been holding onto the table and rose. Kalynia, who hadn’t even finished her meal, shot him a feigned scornful look at his impatience.
Her cold demeanor didn’t last long, though, thanks to the man before her, who, instead of displaying royal dignity, was practically begging for affection.
Kalynia couldn’t help but laugh, surrendering as she extended her hand to him.
—And they lived happily ever after.
