Chapter 30: Magic Mirror Magic Mirror, Please Have Some Decency

Chapter 30: Magic Mirror Magic Mirror, Please Have Some Decency

Louis crawled out of the office fireplace, patted his robe, and walked over to the sofa.

After placing the book on the table, Louis sighed. “Not expensive at all. Being able to buy knowledge with money is the best deal in the world.”

He had only three Gold Galleons and a pile of silver coins left in his pocket, but these more than seventy Gold Galleons were well worth it.

Sitting on the sofa, Louis opened the two wand boxes on the coffee table. Looking at the two wands, happiness welled up in his heart.

He felt that excitement like when he bought his first car, and now he had bought two at once.

Phoenix Chime looked like a piece of art. Its patterns were very exquisite, with golden amber, red gemstones, and Mithril streaks all woven together perfectly. The only small drawback was that it was a bit too flashy, just like a red Ferrari.

When he held it, Louis could feel its fiery, surging strength. It seemed to urge him to be faster, fiercer.

Louis couldn’t help but wave Phoenix Chime in his hand. Immediately, the fireplace lit up, water began to boil, the teapot and cups in the room started dancing, and tea leaves flew out of the cupboard.

In an instant, the whole office seemed filled with many invisible servants, bustling about in an orderly manner.

“How can it be called hard to master?” Louis felt it suited him perfectly. He said to the little red thing in his hand, “I’ll keep you company during the day from now on.”

Louis had a feeling. Although this wand wasn’t as good as Helen’s, it was definitely at a similar level.

Putting down Phoenix Chime, Louis picked up Grudge.

An icy coldness spread from his fingertips, but at that moment, Louis felt a strange peace.

It looked like a giant’s finger bone, stained with some red and black marks like dried blood. That was probably the black bloodstone and pigeon blood ruby melted by the ‘Grudge of the Soul Drinker’.

Grudge looked much more low-key than Phoenix Chime. Yet, holding it, he could feel its chilling power.

This wand wasn’t on the same level as Phoenix Chime or even Fire Fox. Magic cast with it became much more powerful.

Without a doubt, Grudge was a treasure in the hands of a Dark Wizard, and Louis fell in love with it at first sight.

The only complaint he had was that, although its mana capacity was a level higher than Fire Fox and Phoenix Chime, it still didn’t feel quite right in his hand.

But it should be able to stay with him for a while.

[As long as he doesn’t try to hit people with it, maybe Louis could indeed use it for a time…]

The corner of Louis’s eye twitched, and he couldn’t help glancing at his own fist.

He now felt he could shatter a Wizard’s skull with one punch.

Ignoring the annoying Narration, Louis picked up the old antique phone on the desk and ordered some takeout.

Then, he changed clothes. Sipping tea, he calmed down and started reading. Occasionally, he would flick Phoenix Chime and turned things on the desk into strange objects.

At first, it was teacups with mouse tails. Then these teacups started moving.

Later, a box on the table turned into a nightingale and flew up, even letting out some chirps.

Feeling the phoenix feather within the wand, Louis thought maybe one day he could transform something into a real phoenix.

Or maybe a hydra.

That night, Louis turned into a nightingale and flew to the Sacred Oak.

After storing the blessing ‘Energy Infusion’, he transformed into a grey python and slithered towards a certain underground area within the academy.

When he took on the form of a black-robed, faceless man, he had arrived at a spacious, tall, hidden chamber.

Spring water from the academy flowed through here, making the air fresh. Aside from being a bit dim, the environment was quite pleasant.

Parts of the walls were rough stone and earth, while others were enchanted obsidian walls bearing many traces of magical residue, apparently used as targets.

There were also many stone tables, stone chairs, a high platform, and an Alchemy bench in the hall. The room housed curious cabinets, full-length mirrors, and other magical artifacts. It seemed someone had once used this place as a secret base to practice dark magic regularly. Judging by the thick dust and moss, however, it clearly hadn’t been visited in many years.

This was the secret stronghold built by the previous Witch Queen when she was a student at the academy. Now, everyone who knew about this place was gone.

Louis’s shadow suddenly stirred. A twisted, grotesque nightmare crawled out, then stood upright on its hind legs, changing shape until it became a copy of Louis.

[The Hermetic Order, Sir. This used to be a meeting place for the members of the Hermetic Order. No one has come here for many years.]

Stuart’s voice carried a hint of emotion: [I never thought I’d live to see this place again.]

[Louis could sense the implication in Stuart’s words; it hoped Louis would restart the Hermetic Order. But Louis had no interest in that. He only wanted to use this place as a sort of gym…]

[After all, he didn’t believe he was some kind of Dark Lord or Mysterious Man…]

“The Hermetic Order?” Louis raised an eyebrow, a mischievous idea forming. “From now on, this place will be called Hydra.”

The corners of Stuart’s mouth lifted with pleasure. “As you wish, Master.”

Louis walked around the chamber, his steps finally stopping at the central stone platform. On it stood a stone table and a full-length mirror covered by a cloth.

Stuart looked at the mirror, a nostalgic expression on his face. He pointed a finger, and a cold, sinister wind suddenly blew, causing the cloth on the mirror to fall.

This full-length mirror was ancient and heavy, covered in countless Incantation Texts. Yet, Louis could feel no trace of mana emanating from it.

Its surface was riddled with cracks and utterly shattered.

As the Witch Queen, she commanded the vastest resources in the Wizarding World. Every Witch Queen thus attempted to create wondrous artifacts bearing her name to be passed down for centuries.

Her Majesty Frankischko, the most powerful Witch Queen ever, was no exception.

She created seven magic mirrors – that was the secret behind the Dark Lord’s immortality.

So long as a mirror remained intact, Frankischko could be resurrected from within the Mirror World. Each mirror allowed her to resurrect once from that realm.

She could even resurrect anyone from the mirrors – if they had ever looked into one.

[Stuart said six mirrors had shattered… He believed the Witch Queen was dead.]

[He also believed the reason the Witch Queen didn’t choose to resurrect for the seventh time was this: once the final mirror in the Royal Palace shattered, people would know that the Dark Lord was the Witch Queen! The claim that the Witch Queen and the Dark Lord destroyed each other would be proven false.]

[And her two daughters would both face judgement…]

[Her revolution had failed. Her adopted daughter Delphinia was a new future – a leader’s hope, a spark passed onward.]

[And she wished for her daughter Ocris to live out her days as an ordinary princess, perhaps even finding a good husband, maybe a Dragon Clan member – a mother’s small, selfish wish.]

[Finally, before her end, Frankischko made her last wish to the Book of Fate – to go to her two daughters.]

[These two daughters each made a wish to the Book of Fate. One wished for ‘school’ – sadly, the Storybook deemed her a monkey, so she never got to attend that school.]

[Thus, the Book of Fate vanished from her hands, and following Frankischko’s wish, traveled to Ocris to change her fate.]

[She made a second wish – an arranged marriage… but it seemed her male idol…]

“That’s enough!” The corner of Louis’s mouth twitched. He waved his hand as if shooing away the Narration before him.

That was how the book ended up in Louis’s hands, only because the Princess’s requirements for a Prince were too strict, so unfortunately… he only met the ‘tall and handsome’ criterion.

The un-fortunate part was that this book, after wandering for thousands of years, had finally found its true master – Louis didn’t use the Book of Fate to change his destiny. Instead, he leapt outside of that fate and began writing his own!

Since then, the Storybook started chronicling a new tale, becoming Louis’s ‘Fantasy Adventure Story Diary’.

And this Magic Mirror would now belong to him.

[It was a gift…]

Louis’s eyebrow suddenly shot up. He noticed the Storybook said “gift,” not “legacy”!

‘Yes! That makes sense! If the seventh mirror isn’t shattered, then doesn’t that likely prove Frankischko isn’t dead?! So she didn’t need the seventh resurrection!’

‘Could Frankischko have swapped identities?’

‘But if she’s alive… would she just watch her adopted daughter marry her own husband?!’

Louis remembered Stuart saying the Witch Queen didn’t love her husband; she married him only for the Kingdom of Sorrento – because Muggles’ technology was becoming terrifying.

Did she sacrifice herself to control the kingdom, only to then, after her ‘death’, let that convenient King marry her most beloved adopted daughter as well?!

An adopted daughter marrying her adopted father was too weird! And after Frankischko supposedly ‘died’, Delphinia, who should have been as close as a sister to Ocris, immediately pushed her out of the Royal Palace… and the King agreed!

If she disliked the Princess, why pick such a good match? The Dragon Clan! Choosing such a powerful family for the stepdaughter seems like asking for trouble?

Could there be some kind of secret she was afraid Ocris would discover?

Ocris was Frankischko’s closest person. If she remained at the palace, she might recognize her, uncovering the secret…

Could it be…

Just as he was deep in thought, he was shocked by the options the Storybook laid out.

[Frankischko originally planned to give this Magic Mirror as a daughter’s dowry. Doesn’t that count as a gift from the future mother-in-law? You decide…]

As he saw the three options the Storybook provided, Louis was stunned!

‘I know you gain energy by me changing the world’s fate! But do you really have to get it this way?! Seriously?!’