Taming The Villainesses-Chapter 389: The Bird of Hochungcheon (4)

“There was no soul in the vessel.”

Mirna said it clearly.

“There was nothing inside the jar that could be called a soul. Normally, something like a vengeful spirit—filled with overwhelming hatred—should’ve been lurking inside...”

Hochungcheon’s Soul-Feeding Curse.

It was said that the jar alone, cursed as it was, could already serve as a powerful seed of catastrophe. But its true power was only unleashed when someone opened the lid and looked inside.

Those who saw it would have their minds twisted—and die.

But Narmee, who had looked into the jar, seemed fine. At least outwardly.

Narmee explained,

“I do have strong resistance to curses. But the jar was empty to begin with. Which means someone already opened it—and the curse weakened because of that.”

So then—did that mean the curse had already been used on someone?

I furrowed my brow, struggling to follow the spiritual and magical logic of it all. Mirna offered clarification.

“The soul that escaped is probably still wandering somewhere within the fortress. Since the vessel is still here, it likely didn’t go far.”

The idea of a cursed spirit roaming the fortress... it gave me the chills.

I asked,

“Then can’t we just destroy the jar?”

Narmee shook her head.

“Teo, think about it—what if someone came into your room while you were out and smashed it to pieces? Wouldn’t you be furious? To spirits, their vessels are like their rooms. That’s why we bury the dead instead of cremating them.”

I see.

That must be why cremation never took root on this continent. It also explained why House Draco went to the trouble of managing such an enormous cemetery.

So in the end, we had to find the soul of the child who had died inside the jar.

But finding a soul? That was starting to feel overwhelmingly surreal.

How would we find it?

What would it even look like?

We had no clue—but at least we now had a way to save Ayra from her mental collapse. That alone was a big step forward.

“Alright then. We’ll find it, somehow. Do we use charms, detectors, something like that? This is my first time hunting a ghost.”

Narmee suddenly threw up her hand.

“I’m great at ghost hunting! Although my sister’s even better!”

Everyone’s gaze shifted to Mirna.

Still staring at the jar, she muttered something under her breath, then let out a long sigh.

“To sense spirits, you need tools that can detect certain frequencies. Dowsing rods, heat-reactive paper, refined salt...”

She listed off a bunch of ingredients. But realistically, gathering all those supplies in this fortress would be difficult.

“Of course, even without those, there are ways. Someone with high intuition—or someone with a spiritual eye—could do it.”

“You mean...”

“Sir Teo, your fairy eyes can see what others cannot. I believe you’re the most qualified person to find this spirit.”

I was genuinely pleased to hear that.

To solve the issue without extra preparation—just get it done. I was already itching to get started when—

“Um...”

Mirna hesitated. She looked like she had more to say but couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Lady Mirna, is there something else?”

“Maybe...”

“Maybe...?”

“Maybe we’ve already met the spirit.”

“We have?”

When I pressed her, Mirna finally seemed unable to hold it in.

“Sir Teo, didn’t you find it strange? We met something odd, remember? Something that had been living alone in this monster-infested fortress for years...”

And there she stopped.

But I could tell she was being careful, deliberately withholding her words. I also understood who she was referring to.

“No way...”

“...Yes, it might be that imp.”

I knew exactly which imp Mirna meant.

Mirna continued,

“It never made sense that an imp could live alone in this monster-infested fortress for over a decade. Where would it get food? How did it survive the cold winters?”

She was right.

That imp had said it had been sneaking food left behind by the demon army in the kitchens. But after so many years, that food would have long rotted away.

At the time, I’d been so fixated on the fact that it was Isaiah Gospel’s imp that I hadn’t questioned any of it. No—wait. Could it be... that the one who first discovered the imp was...

I pulled out the book from my inventory.

The one labeled Teo.

Toward the back, just like Ayra’s mad ramblings during her breakdown, it was filled with fragmented, jumbled sentences—tangled like a puzzle.

There was only one conclusion I could draw.

Isaiah Gospel had found the imp first—and had been cursed.

Which let the child trapped in the jar escape.

Mirna said,

“It felt so real that I never realized it was a spirit. But now that I think back on it, there were too many strange things.”

“Strange things?”

“No one except you and I ever saw that imp.”

A cold chill crawled up my spine.

***

We scattered throughout the fortress in search of the imp.

Elga and Stella—whose spiritual sensitivity was low due to their strong life force—went off to investigate whether there were more jars or curses hidden somewhere in the fortress.

As for me, walking alone through the halls made every step feel like soaked cotton. Heavy and slow. On top of that, I felt incredibly depressed.

The imp I had wanted to introduce to Marmar...

To {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} think it had already been dead for a long time—a ghost.

And the fury inside me toward whoever had shoved that imp into the jar to use it for a curse...

It was overwhelming.

So full of hatred toward imps.

If it were me, I would never—never—shove Marmar, or Gargar, or Tartar into a jar like that. Not even if I died. I couldn’t accept it.

Who could commit such a cruel, wretched act?

As I asked myself, the answer came just as swiftly.

The curse had been buried long ago—but it was aimed precisely at Ayra.

That person knew she preferred the sunlit rooms by the mid-level windows. Everything was premeditated.

There was only one suspect.

The Demon King who hunts Ayra from the past.

So this is what it means to be targeted across time.

I’d always had a vague idea of it—but witnessing it for myself, I could hardly breathe.

Has Ayra always lived like this? In a field of hidden landmines, not knowing what would trigger disaster?

It wouldn’t be surprising if she broke.

And yet, despite that—she’s endured. She’s remained composed. She’s stronger than anyone gives her credit for.

As I stood by the corridor window, I felt someone approach from behind.

“Our date... we won’t get to go, huh. We were supposed to see the flowers.”

“Ayra... Are you alright? I didn’t know. That thing was under your room all along. I just thought... that you were hurting in different ways...”

“I was hurting. I was confronting my emotions head-on. But I’m better now. And it’s thanks to you, Teo.”

As she spoke, Ayra gently stroked my head.

She said it was thanks to me—but honestly, I didn’t feel like I’d done anything for her.

“Honestly, I don’t know what I actually did this time.”

I hadn’t figured anything out. That fact made me frustrated with myself.

I’d acted like I knew everything—like I was hiding some great secret—but really, I didn’t know much at all. I didn’t even know who I really was.

The thought left me anxious.

I stared out the window, and Ayra said,

“Teo. Without you, I never would’ve left that room. I wouldn’t even have thought about leaving. You saved me again—with your strength of will.”

I turned to look at her.

Her clear eyes watched me without a hint of cloud.

“Teo, you’ve always been like that. Wanting to save me. And you really have—more than once. Only you dared to try and protect someone as strong as me.”

Shff.

With those words, Ayra turned her gaze to the window. Her face was tinged red—perhaps from the setting sun.

Watching her black hair sway gently, I couldn’t help but wonder—did I really escape that room?

I should’ve left the cursed space behind.

But every time I looked at her, I felt the urge to throw everything away and dive into those black eyes like a night lake.

Does she feel the same?

Or... after escaping the dreamy illusion of the jar, had she washed away all her passion and longing for me with cold reason?

Suddenly, the three days we’d spent together felt like a dream. A secluded world just for the two of us—like the inside of the jar. Maybe I’d just been deluding myself.

Maybe I was the one who’d gone mad.

Was this whole situation just a dream?

Everything was becoming hazy, like seasickness. The floor wobbled beneath me. And just then, Ayra said—

“My Teo. Teo Gospel of Angmar.”

She called my name—and I came back to my senses.

Ayra said again,

“Teo Gospel.”

“Yes.”

“Teo.”

“What is it?”

She kept saying my name. Not on purpose—it felt like she had something to say but couldn’t get it out.

Yet every time she said my name, I felt like the tangled knots inside me began to loosen.

Did it really matter who I was?

They call me what they want—and like the wind, I change shape.

That’s who I am.

I may not have a clear form, but I definitely exist in this world—like the wind. Just as I had that thought, the wind outside stilled, and Ayra’s hair stopped swaying.

“I’ll admit it honestly. These past few days, I haven’t been wise—as a queen or a woman. I can’t turn back time, but... we can pretend it didn’t happen.”

“Pretend it didn’t happen?”

“I’d like the things that happened in that room to be erased. Teo, if you don’t say anything, no one else will hear of it. It’ll be as if it never happened.”

Ayra was speaking as if everything that happened in her daze was a mistake. As if she wanted to erase it all.

And truthfully, the Ayra holed up in that room hadn’t been like her at all. A part of me had expected that the real Ayra would say something like this once she returned to herself.

“You don’t have to do this either.”

She reached up and undid the bandage wrapped around my left eye.

For a moment, the sudden expansion of my vision cleared my head. But I also felt an odd sense of loss.

I thought we’d been so deeply entangled... but now the threads were coming undone, and we were drifting apart again.

I opened my heavy lips, about to speak—

Whooooosh.

A strong autumn wind swept through.

In the breeze, Ayra took off the crown that had rested on her head.

Rustle...

Her hair flew freely, and with a refreshed expression, she lifted the hem of her skirt and began walking lightly.

“...?”

It took me a moment to realize it—

She was dancing.

The movements were awkward. No music. No rhythm. But to see the beautiful Ayra dancing like this—it gave me such a strange feeling.

Yet she danced with such intensity that sweat beaded on her forehead. Ayra said,

“My grandfather was a husband brought into the family. So were the grandfathers before him. House Tarantella is a matriarchal line. The women of our house created this strange dance for a purpose.”

“Is that... what this is?”

“Yes. A foolish dance. Nothing elegant about it. Witches, after all—are strange and ridiculous creatures, even I have to admit. ...I never thought I’d be the one to perform this.”

Slide.

Ayra took off one of her gloves and hung it on the wall. Then the other. She removed the scarf around her neck, the shoes on her feet.

Finally, just as she was about to take off her stockings—

“Wait, why are you still taking off your clothes?! What if someone sees?!”

Despite my flustered outcry, Ayra kept moving.

“If you want me to stop this ridiculous dance, then marry me, Teo Gospel. Right now, I’m not a queen—I’m just a woman. And I’m proposing to you.”