Episode 1
Lydia affirmed as she looked at the large full-length mirror that had returned to being an ordinary mirror, now free from the magic that had bound it for so long.
“This mirror is fine now.”
A middle-aged man’s face, which had been troubled over how to deal with this heirloom passed down through generations, brightened with relief.
“Is that really true?”
“I restored it to a normal mirror.”
Though it had been brought in with claims of being haunted, once again it turned out to be nothing more than an old cleaning spell gone awry, causing the mirror to shake whenever touched.
From Lydia’s standpoint, dispelling the magic was not difficult, so the problem was resolved quickly.
The man, who had been watching her with a doubtful expression as she examined the mirror, tapping it and murmuring to herself, quickly gestured as soon as she finished speaking.
Soon, porters came in, wrapped the heavy mirror tightly in cloth, and carefully carried it out.
“I’m glad I came after hearing the rumors. Thank you for banishing the evil spirit so splendidly.”
In an era where all magic that once existed had faded, and most people no longer believed in it, explaining everything in detail was too troublesome.
Lydia simply nodded, suppressing the sigh that threatened to escape.
She no longer had much interest in accurately conveying information.
What she needed more were the payments left behind by clients who only wanted their possessions or those affected by them to be returned to normal.
“Yes. Then, about the promised reward…”
“Here it is. Well then, I’ll be off.”
“Thank you. Please come again.”
Responding out of courtesy to the customer’s departing back—
Lydia, who was counting the gold coins, knew that customer would never return here.
Unless they happened to encounter another magically cursed item again, which would be extremely unlucky.
‘Who would want to relive such a terrible memory?’
To put it nicely, it was an antique shop, but in reality, it was closer to a warehouse of unused items.
In truth, she made a living not by selling antiques, but barely scraping by with the occasional clients who came after hearing the spreading rumors.
The shop quickly became quiet again.
Lydia, who had been sitting grumpily with her chin on the high counter, lifted the hand mirror placed beside her for no particular reason.
The cracked mirror reflected a woman with voluminous brown hair tied up high with a blue ribbon.
Then, after a moment, the scene changed to a small, modest room bathed in sunlight pouring through the window.
“Didi, you’re doing okay, right?”
By coincidence, a short “meow” came from the fluffy white cat that had jumped up onto the table.
Lydia smiled and put the mirror face down again.
“A mirror that shows what you want to see is so useful, yet they wanted me to throw it away because it was scary.”
Of course, it was a bit of a problem that the mirror’s previous owner happened to want to see someone who had already passed away.
Because the mirror showed the inside of a coffin.
Frankly, Lydia thought she wouldn’t want to see that either.
Most of the items in this antique shop had come in like that.
Half the time, it was people like the customer just now, who wanted to restore their items to normal no matter what.
The other half were people who, afraid something might happen if they recklessly threw away strange items, practically dumped them on Lydia and left.
Lydia would check the item once, and if it seemed to contain useful magic, she used it herself.
If the original owner was mistaken and the item had no real magic or just useless magic, she would erase the magic and display the item in the shop.
“There’s probably no one coming to buy anything today either.”
Sitting on the high chair, Lydia swung her legs and stared intently at the opened ledger, lost in thought.
‘Still, I guess this month will pass by safely like this…’
As someone who could barely make ends meet selling antiques, those occasional requests were precious.
She needed to stop by the grocery store on the way home, think about Didi’s pet food cost, and maybe even put up a large poster to actively seek more clients…
Ding—
Since requests didn’t come in every day, she was organizing her to-do list and thinking of ways to save money when the bell rang.
“Welcome.”
Startled by the bell, Lydia quickly stood up to greet the customer.
Whether it was another client or an actual antique buyer—having two customers in one day was nearly unheard of.
“What kind of item are you looking for…?”
As soon as Lydia saw who had entered, her steps instinctively slowed.
It wasn’t just the luxurious clothes screaming, “I am rich.”
It was because the man standing there had striking blond features that were so handsome, even his furrowed brow could be considered beautiful.
“Are you the owner of this shop?”
His brusque tone snapped Lydia out of her thoughts.
Meeting his urging blue eyes, Lydia calmly nodded and answered.
“Yes, did you come looking for me?”
If someone came specifically looking for Lydia, they were without a doubt a ‘client,’ like the one who had just left.
Her gaze instinctively scanned the man again. The client himself looked fine on the outside—so had he brought an item, perhaps?
If it turned out he needed help with a family member at home, she was even starting to consider charging a travel fee.
“I heard you handle cursed or haunted objects.”
“Yes, well. I’ve only seen something that could truly be called a curse once.”
Even that was just an old toy with a weak vomiting curse designed to annoy someone.
Once Lydia touched it, the magic easily scattered into nothing.
“Still, I got the sense you’re not some fraud running a scam.”
“I’m honored you think so… I guess?”
This man seemed to evaluate others as naturally as breathing.
And he spoke as if receiving his approval were a big deal, which made her voice trail upward.
“You’re also the sole heir of the last mage family.”
“…There’s really no one who knows that. How do you know?”
There was a reason for it.
Even if she bore the grand title of being the heir to the last mage family, in reality, she was just someone who cleaned up residual magical messes in a world where magic had vanished.
She could identify and deal with magic, but she couldn’t use magic.
Even her ability to deal with it relied not on real magic, but on a unique inherited power passed down through her bloodline.
“I don’t know where or how you got your information, but if you came here hoping I’d curse someone, you’ll be disappointed. I can’t use magic.”
“But you’re definitely the successor of Solem.”
Lydia’s eyes widened.
It was the first time someone outside her family had mentioned the name that her grandmother, proud of their lineage, had emphasized she must never forget.
It was impressive intelligence gathering. Perhaps this man before her knew more about Lydia than Lydia herself.
“Isn’t that right, Lydia Solem?”
“How do you even know that? No one understands that name even when I say it.”
“Let’s just say the royal archives keep excellent records.”
Leaving Lydia with even more questions, the man confidently stepped into the shop.
He brushed past Lydia and walked to the counter, looking around.
When he removed his coat, she thought maybe it was just hot. But when he started unbuttoning his shirt from the top, she panicked.
“Why are you undressing all of a sudden?!”
“I figured it’d be faster to show you than explain.”
As soon as she clearly began to see bare skin, Lydia buried her face in her hands, trying to block her view.
“…What is that?”
Before she could fully look away, she saw through her fingers that the man’s arm was completely covered in mottled black.
“This is what I want to request your help with.”
Its appearance alone screamed that this was no ordinary magic.
Lydia instinctively stepped forward a few steps to examine it more closely.
“How on earth did it end up like this?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that it started eating away at me about a year ago.”
As soon as he removed the glove he’d still been wearing, a pitch-black hand that sent chills down her spine was revealed.
Faint red glows flickered and vanished throughout the area, as if an unquenchable fire beneath the skin had scorched it pitch-black.
In a fleeting moment, Lydia noticed his brows briefly knit together, and she realized this curse was causing him considerable pain.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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