Who gets married for that reason? - Chapter 1
Lydia affirmed as she gazed at the large, full-length mirror that had finally been freed from the long-standing magic and had returned to being an ordinary mirror.
“This mirror will be fine now.”
The middle-aged man, who had been troubled by the fact that he could never discard the important item that had been passed down through generations, had a look of relief wash over his face.
“Is that really true?”
“I restored the mirror to its normal state”
They brought it to me, saying it was a haunted mirror, but as it turned out, it was just a case of a faulty cleaning spell that was causing it to shake whenever I touched it.
From Lydia’s perspective, it wasn’t difficult to lift the spell, so the problem was solved quickly.
As the man had been watching Lydia inspect and tap the mirror while muttering to herself with a skeptical expression, he gestured hastily as soon as she finished speaking. Soon, porters emerged, carefully wrapping the heavy mirror in cloth and carrying it out with caution.
“It was a good thing I came here after hearing the rumor. Thank you for your excellent work in exorcising the evil spirit.”
In an era where the magic that once existed in this land had all disappeared and most people didn’t believe in magic, Lydia found it complicated to explain things in detail. So, she just nodded and held back a sigh that was about to slip.
She wasn’t someone who cared about giving precise information, but rather someone who needed compensation given by the customers who wanted her to fix their cursed items or people.
“Yes, then about the payment you promised……”
“It’s here. Well, I’ll be going then.”
“Thank you. Please visit again next time.”
As Lidia responded to the customer who was hastily leaving, She counted the gold coins that had fallen into her hands. She knew that the customer would never return to this place unless they happened to encounter another item that was cursed with magic, which was extremely unlikely.
‘Who would want to recall an unpleasant memory?’
To put it nicely, this place was an antique shop, but in reality, it was more like a warehouse for unused items. They barely made a living from customers who came to ask for things like this after hearing rumors rather than selling antiques.
Lydia, who had been sitting with her chin resting on the high counter in the suddenly quiet store, picked up the hand mirror next to her for no reason.
The long, cracked mirror reflected a woman with luscious brown hair tied up high with a blue ribbon, before the scene shifted to a humble and small room, bathed in the warm sunlight pouring in through the window.
“Didi, are you doing well?”
It was probably just a coincidence, but a short, soft “nya” response came from a fluffy white cat that had jumped onto the table. Lydia smiled and laid the mirror back down.
“What a useful mirror it is, showing us what we desire, and yet you want to get rid of it because it’s frightening.”
Of course, the fact that the previous owner of this mirror had been wanting to see someone who was already dead, and the mirror had shown the inside of a coffin. Honestly, Lydia didn’t really want to see it either.
Many of the items in this antique shop came in this way.
Half of the customers, like the previous customer, tried to restore the items to their normal state and take them back, while other half afraid that something might happen if they threw away the strange item and left it to Lydia to be left behind.
Lydia would examine the item, and if it had a useful magic on them, she would keep it for herself. If the original owner had been mistaken and the item had no special magic, or if the magic was useless, she would remove the spell and put the item on display in her shop.
“No one is going to buy anything today, right?”
Lidia sat in a high chair, swinging her legs, and stared at the ledger, deep in thought.
“This month will end safely, I guess…”
She barely made a living selling antiques, so occasional requests like this were precious to her.
On my way home, I need to stop by the grocery store, and I also have to think about Didi’s food expenses. Maybe I should even put up a poster to more actively search for clients….
rattle-
But since I can’t always get a request, I was thinking about ways to save money while organizing the things I had to do this afternoon.
“Welcome.”
Lydia was startled and quickly got up from her seat to greet the visitor. Whether it was a client or a customer who had unbelievably come to buy genuine antiques, it was a rare occurrence for someone to visit twice in one day.
“What kind of item are you looking for……”
As Lydia confirmed who the person was, her footsteps slowed down involuntarily.
It was because a blond-haired man with a refined appearance, who could be mistaken for a wealthy person at a glance, was standing there, wearing high-quality clothing that seemed to shout “I’m rich!”, and even his furrowed brow was so handsome that it could be considered beautiful.
“Are you the owner of this shop?”
The dry tone brought Lydia out of her thoughts. Lydia met the blue eyes that urged a response and nodded calmly.
“Yes, are you looking for me?”
Lydia thought that if he had come to see her, he was likely a “client”, just like the one she had just sent away. Her gaze instinctively swept over the man again. At first glance, the client himself seemed fine, so she wondered if he had brought something.
I was even thinking about whether I should claim travel fee if he asked her to help his family at home.
“I’ve heard that you deal with objects that are possessed by ghosts or cursed.”
“Yes, well. I’ve only seen something that could be called a real curse once, until now.”
But even that was just an old toy with a weak vomiting curse magic, made to tease others. In the end, it was a spell that would easily disintegrate into nothing the moment she touched it.
“Still, I thought that at least it wasn’t a fake meant to deceive people.”
“I’m honored that you think that of me?………. ”
This guy seemed like someone who evaluates others as naturally as breathing. And when he spoke as if being recognized by others was a huge accomplishment, I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
“And also the sole descendant of the last wizards family.”
“Nobody really knows that, so how did find out?”
There was a good reason for that. Despite the grandiose name of the sole descendant of wizards family, in reality, She was just someone who could only pretend to imitate wizards while dealing with the aftermath of magic that still lingered in a world where wizards had disappeared.
A miserable reality where you can recognize and handle magic, but cannot cast magic.
Even this ability to handle magic wasn’t actually magic itself, but rather a result of relying on the unique power that had been passed down through her bloodline.
“I’m not sure where you got your information from, but if you came here expecting me to cast a curse on someone, then you’ve come to the wrong place. I don’t know how to do magic.”
“But the successor of Solem is you, right?”
Lydia’s eyes widened in surprise. I had heard the family name for the first time other than my family member. My grandmother, who was proud to be descended of a wizard, had emphasized it so strongly and told her not to forget it.
It was an incredible amount of information. Maybe the man in front of her knew more about her than Lydia did.
“Isn’t that right? Lydia Solem.”
“How do you even know that? That name is something nobody seems to recognize when I mention it.”
“Let’s say the royal library are excellent in keeping records.”
The man, who had given Lydia an even more suspicious response, walked briskly into the store, brushing past Lydia, and headed to the counter, looking around his surroundings.
At first, I thought it was because of the heat that he took off his coat and slung it over something, but when he started unbuttoning his shirt from the top, I couldn’t help but be shocked.
“Why are you suddenly taking off your clothes here?!”
“From here on, i think it would be faster to just see it for yourself rather than just explain it.”
as the man’s bare skin became clearly visible, Lydia tried to cover her face with both hands, her face burning with embarrassment.
“……What is that?”
But then, through the gaps between her fingers, she caught a glimpse of the man’s arm, which was eerily covered in a patchy black discoloration.
“This is what I would like to request.”
His appearance seemed to scream that he was involved in something sinister, something that was far from ordinary magic. Lydia unknowingly took a few steps forward, drawn in by a desire to examine him more closely.
“What on earth happened to you to end up like this?”
“I don’t know either. All I know is that for the past 1 year, this has been eating away my body.”
As soon as he took off the gloves he was still wearing, I got goosebumps just looking at them.They had a faint red glow, like flames burning beneath the skin.
Lydia saw the man’s brow wrinkle briefly and realized this curse was causing him considerable pain.
johnson ponraj
Curse eater Lydia