Villainess x Grimoire

By the time I got home, I had finished eating the bread from the base stand. It had been good, but clearly, it lacked a drink.

Beer and wine were the two things people drank the most back at the adventurer’s guild. I had tried both, but didn’t find them to be that great, plus they made people grow fat and sluggish like my father. There was nothing interesting for someone a tad younger to drink, and no, water was not satisfying.

‘If only sugar didn’t cost so much.’ I arrived in my room without issues, not finding my dog along the way. It was likely that my mother had taken little saint to wander around.

‘I should do the slime quest tomorrow,’ my hands grasped the paper Leonor had given me with the information.

"I'll do my best!" I folded the paper into a small piece, storing it in my pocket once more, and when I did, I felt the touch of something else, removing it.

"This is..." The second card had some information on it: Name: Aurora, Age: 15, Registered at Aria Village, Rank: F.

“Aurora...? Who’s that?” words escaped my lips as I began feeling disoriented. Something within me shattered, giving room for a voice to resound in my mind: a warning from my status skill.

Notice: Soul-bound has reacted.

An eerie aura expanded from me, devoiding my entire room of light, making everything pitch black.

‘What’s going on? I can’t see anything,’ uncomfortably, my body shook from fear, feeling a distinct, abnormal magical pressure than the one of the saintess.

Darker.

Eerie.

Notice: Due to Soul-bound...

My eyes were forcefully shut, and I collapsed.

In the blackness of my mind, light filled my mind.

A long distant memory unraveled itself before me.

‘A door to my past,’ I felt my eyes furrow, yet I stretched out my arm towards it. I knew that was something I needed to see. Thus, I went for it, turning the handle and forcing it open with all my might.

The green brightness eluded my eyes briefly, and then the scene played before me.

“That’s...” I shed a single tear upon the greenery before me. The familiar isolated wide garden surrounded by dark fences and tall walls, leaving at its center the grandest mansion I had ever witnessed.

And lying on top of the grass, I saw a different version of myself. The Iris from back then, who played with the ragged and antique dolls, the leftovers of my elder half siblings.

Still, I enjoyed the one thing that accompanied my life, a colorful imagination that allowed me to live in places that weren’t quite there.

My eyes dimmed at the following scene.

My birth where my mother had died, leaving my father with a grudge so heavy that if I hadn’t had a single use: political marriage at the age of 16, he would have killed me with his bare hands.

And the baby grew into a thin young girl, deprived of nourishment by the maids her father had assigned. He couldn’t find it within himself to do any of it, not even to look at her, that unsightly cancer that murdered his lover.

But alas, with time passing, his heart found a new light. A fellow widow with two young kids, older ones. Perhaps by the pain both felt, or something else, he ended up remarrying.

Her old husband had died during a war against the Kingdom of Baltimore.

He had been one of the military generals, leaving the widow with a substantial fortune.

The following scene brought more tears to my kind self: The dusty walls filled with books of all shapes and colors, each holding a selection of words that would fill the girl’s brain from that day onwards.

The one place where none dared to step into, created solely for her deceased mother: the forbidden library.

The girl’s personality was closed, lacking nourishment, kindness, and any hint of love. She retained but an empty heart. However, her mind was colorful and bright: the stories she would read became her own tales. At times, fables of brave people and heroic deeds through different perils. At others, romantic affairs, and plots of impossible lovers: sometimes happy endings and, at others, tragic ones.

With time passing fast inside my subconscious, I took brief glimpses of the girl smiling faintly.

‘The magician of the court,’ every so often, she imagined using these super amazing magic spells herself. One of the rare things that made her eyes sparkle, and her lips turn into a hint of happiness. There had even been a story her ears once caught from the maids' chit-chatting. It was about an extremely venerable ancient sorceress, capable of showering the kingdom with rain. Such was her grandiose power, but not a single soul ever remembered her name.

‘I wish to be just like her,’ my emeralds caught the image of the faded picture on the page. A woman whose white hair reached the very bottom of the floor, and in her hand a staff made of bones, with the top having the shape of a human skull.

‘The first time I saw that image...’ I had closed the book, and from time to time, I’d go back to see it again. Eventually, I grew used to the eerie way it looked, and at some point, I got to like its peculiar appearance.

“White hair...” I wondered as the scene changed, making me focus again.

Inside the mansion, the mistress mistreated Iris with the help of her children. Verbally and physically, without ever damaging her face, so the husband wouldn't notice.

“I wonder how we should torment Iris this time...” The vile woman glanced at her younger ones. “My dear children, Marie and Marcus, any suggestions?” Joana asked with an evil grin inside her own room.

The young lady who had a bitter smile and a twisted, vile face had a peculiar thought. She voiced it out loud, extending her arm delicately in the cup way.

“Esteemed mother, perhaps we should lock her in a room and starve her to see how many days she can last?”

The mother laughed happily upon hearing her daughter’s comment.

The boy chuckled evilly, looking at the young lady, “That sounds like a splendid idea, dear sister. However, let’s make sure to not overdo it, otherwise, Dad might notice.”

“Possibly so, my dear son. Let’s attempt a 2-day starvation for now, and we’ll see how she handles it.”

The three of them smiled and laughed happily upon reaching that decision.

Nearby, my eyes caught a glimpse of a maid who was serving tea to them, shivering in fear towards the wickedness of such conversation. She must have promised herself to stay away.

‘Even now it still makes me angry.’ I scorned the four of them. No. My anguish went to all of them, every single one who mistreated me, remembering the wrath that accumulated within that old me for years.

As if to relieve me from my anger, a new scene unfolded, an unfamiliar one at that.

‘The attic? Why would I go there? I don’t remember that!’ My old me walked to an abandoned place untouched for decades, perhaps even longer. The door was clearly rusted and dirty. It had made my skinny arms have some trouble opening it up. Still, in a way, it was like a new adventure, the reason why I hadn’t given up and succeeded.

Everything inside was full of objects, and around them, plenty of webs with tiny spiders. The air in there felt heavy, which made little Iris think it was due to the accumulation of dust, ignoring the nastier and stranger odors that reached out for her nose.

It was quite vast. Only god would know how many things there were. Nonetheless, she explored such a place, soon finding something tall and white next to a wooden chest.

Inside, the attic was dark and hard to see. Strangely, it lacked windows. The only light was the one coming from the open door that she had left open.

She wondered what that white thing was, the only object that had a cover. It was certainly suspicious. Due to her curiosity, she tiptoed closer to it and extended her arm.

Realizing it by touch, Iris could tell it was like the blankets used in her bed when she slept, thus, decided to pull it off.

As the linen fell, her expression grew fearful, having the mind screaming for the girl to run, but the body did not listen. A bit of time went by without anything bad happening, allowing the calmness and common sense to return.

“Silly me, getting scared by a reflection.” It turned out it was only a mirror, far bigger than her.

Due to the obscurity inside the attic, Iris thought there was a girl in front of her at first glance, but now she was reassured that it was just a copy of herself. But then it happened... as if to betray the reassurance she had placed in herself. The image of the lips moved, and words echoed through the room.

“Can you help me? I’m trapped inside this mirror.”

The air felt even heavier for Iris as she ran out of breath, her heartbeat pounding so hard that it reverberated through the attic, and the anxiety dominated the delicate and weakened lady.

The voice re-surged and asked with a fragile, sorrowful tone, “Hey, I’m stuck in here. Can you please help me? Please?”

Iris kept on shivering, feet paralyzed in that spot, eyes glued to that image, giving time for the reflection to continue her monologue. “I’m sick of living here in this small place surrounded by darkness.”

‘Who is the old me talking to?’ My emeralds caught both of them, and the strange scene unfolding before me, a strange memory, by all means, one where the old me was shocked, and the one in the mirror looked sad.

Iris clenched her fists as hard as she could, piercing the nails in her hand to control the different emotions. “Ugh.”

The reflection stared at her behavior attentively, taking note of every action. Blood came out of her skin, painting the floor with tiny drops, moaning softly from the pain. Yet, the coldness in her heart allowed her to hold everything in as much as possible, despite fluttering.

“W-who are you? Why are you there?”

The reflection's eyes blinked, answering, “I am... I’m here because I was locked inside this mirror a long time ago.” The clear blue eyes trembled, showing a teary expression.

To that, Iris replied, confused, “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t hear your name, and locked? Why would someone do that to you?”

Once more, the reflection spoke, “If you didn’t hear it, then you won’t be able to till I’m out of here. My name, too, is sealed within.”

The girl’s hands grabbed onto one another, feeling bad within herself, “Oh, poor girl...”

“As for why I got sealed well... I killed someone very important. The first king of Ludrica, the founder of it.”

Iris remembered the name of the current kingdom and thought out loud, “Ludrica? There’s no kingdom with such a name.”

The girl inside the mirror heard it. She punched the mirror, upset, surprising Iris, and proceeded to shout, “What!? Just how long am I trapped here?”

Tears fell from the reflection of her blue eyes as she fell on her knees, the sole detail that was different from Iris’s figure.

The girl in the attic, feeling pity for the one trapped in the mirror, attempted to console her. “Hey, don't be sad. Everything will be alright. Say, do you want to be my friend?"

Her icy eyes rose, "Sure."

Little Iris smiled a little wider as she had never made a friend. But she knew from her mother's books how important friendships were. "What can I do to get you out of there?”

"I no longer have a body, so I need an individual that fulfills three conditions.”

“What are they?” Iris asked innocently, without expecting anything in return. Except perhaps granting the girl some freedom, and, if possible, even happiness.

“First, someone willing to do a soul-bond contract with me. Second, someone who has enough magical potential, and third...”

Iris, a little sad, interrupted the girl and pointed out hastily. “I’m not really sure what a soul-bond contract thing is, but I’ve never used magic.”

The reflection stared and waited for her to finish patiently.

“I’m Iris. I'm only ten years old, so I don’t know if I’m someone who can help you get out of there.”

“Don’t worry, Iris. Since you can see me, your potential is the real thing.”

“Really? I can use magic?” The innocent girl asked, hopeful, smiling as she had never done before.

“If you wish to take me out of here, Iris, then yes. I will teach you.”

Both girls heard a sound, steps approaching: someone coming up the attic stairs.

“Ah! So, this is where the little bitch was!” Marco, her stepbrother, shouted angrily, holding on to a long knife.

“What are...” As Iris was about to finish saying the question, he jumped on her.

“No! Stop! Let me go!”

Iris did her best to stop his lustful self, despite being overwhelmed by him, a young, fit man. Compared to her adopted brother, she was an underfed, skinny girl.

He started cutting off her clothes, hurting parts of Iris’s skin in the mix, blinded by the lust of wanting to abuse her.

The shouts from the assaulted girl echoed through the attic, and suddenly, the reflection’s voice reached her ears alone. Iris eyes gazed up to the mirror as she was lying down with her back glued to the cold wooden floor. Barely resisting the assault.

“Iris! Touch this glass wall fast with your hand, and make the contract with me.”

Iris struggled. She kicked his brother’s leg, making his own leg slip to the side, causing him to lose balance. His arm waved, and the knife pierced Iris's chest. She started coughing blood, some of it tainting his face. He became frightened by his deluded self, making him back away from her if only for a moment. He found himself shaking, cowering from his ill deeds.

Iris took the chance to use her remaining energy to turn around.

A red liquid kept pouring from the chest wound. It colored the floor along the way.

With the utmost sacrifice, she crawled closer to the mirror.

Despair painted the girl’s face, persisting through an almighty pain, unlike anything she had felt before.

But her sacrifice was not in vain.

Her left hand reached out, touching the mirror, and a light burst through from doing so.

Then suddenly, despite her consciousness faltering, she heard a whisper close to her ear.

“From today onwards, your soul is mine, Iris.”

The suffering girl stared at the mirror, smiling softly, for she had made a friend, if only for a brief moment.

The girl then declared nonchalantly, pushing her long white hair back with one hand.

“I will grace you with this one honorable name.” As this entity was about to tell Iris her name, the poor girl’s heart stopped beating from the blood loss, and she died.

My subconscious faded, and my eyes opened, granting me the ability to see my present life.

“I understand now...” I took a deep breath, closing my eyes to my past, embracing the obscurity that dwelled within.

“Aurora... Is that your name?” I attempted to converse without knowing if I truly spoke, as I could not hear my voice inside this darkness.

Suddenly, upon my invocation, beautiful light particles began leaving my chest, one after another.

They clashed, dark and light, one ate the other, a ferocious war between the two elements.

Notice: Due to Soul-bound. The seal is breaking.

‘Is that a good or a bad thing? If something is sealed, it generally means that it’s bad, no? Unless...’

My memory showed me the girl trapped inside the mirror, and I recalled her words. The sorrow that came with them, the despair of being locked, and the same emotions I had endured throughout my entire life. Without putting too much thought into it, I decided then.

‘She must be trying to set herself free. Status skill! I know you can hear me. I want to help the trapped girl inside of me, please.’

Notice: With your permission. The entity consumed all of your mana.

My consciousness faded thanks to exhaustion, as it had happened to me a few times before.

<Entity> Time to destroy this seal!

Suddenly, the darkness burst out from within, hitting the ring of light surrounding my body with a pincer attack. If she were evil, then this day, goodness was fully consumed.

Notice: Seal removal concluded. The contract between two souls can now terminate.

Sinister laughter echoed through my room.

Notice: The entity used ¿devour? on the curse.

<Entity> "We have two debts to pay."

Notice: Entity has used her transformation skill against you.

<Entity> "Iris? What a poor girl. Don't blame me, as it was your choice. You chose this, not us. Now, you will never escape us."

Notice: The entity cursed the contract. It can no longer be ceased. Not even the gods may separate your souls. If one dies, the other dies too.

System: You have received the titles: Soul-bound and Reincarnated.

Notice: You have received three skills: unidentified, Item Inspection, and Material Evaluation.

System: An error has occurred; an individual cannot have 2 titles of the same type.

Looking for a solution...

Success.

Merging titles...

Success

Title Reincarnated+ has emerged.

System: An error has occurred; an individual cannot receive 2 extra skills from the reincarnated title.

Merging skills...

Success

Unique skill Appraisal has emerged.

Notice: No longer under the effects of the dark element.