Re: The Villainess Does It With Class

"If they have what it takes…" someone chirped in. It wasn't Nathan because I know his voice very well and this one is unfamiliar.

Both of us turned around to see who it was but I don't even know where to look, except for my brother who has exceptional hearing.

"Good afternoon," Nathan greeted.

I finally saw where the voice was because my brother knew it beforehand for obvious reasons, and found another person on the side of the room, a few feet from our right. He was hidden behind a curved counter, the color of, you know it, gold. 

This man has hair with a light blue sheen on it, which is so smooth that it just falls flat and covers his forehead. Not just that but he also has a white embroidered cloth that completely covers his eyes. That blindfold of his matches the rest of his attire which is a white robe with blue accents. 

Interesting…

I wonder how he can see? Or is he able to see at all?

"Good afternoon," I also greeted him, curious about his identity.

Thinking about the tower before, it never really came to me that other people are residing here. I thought it has always been Janus alone and that he's the only one who lives in this huge place. There were never any mentions of any other magicians besides him nor any rumors about them either.

So knowing that this man here is also an inhabitant of this tower is refreshing. Truly, people in the Arcane Tower are very private with their identities.

"You must be the king's guest, Lady Nadia," the man says formally.

And even though he's wearing a blindfold, I could feel that he's looking straight at me. 

'The king's guest?… Ah, he meant Janus.'

I raised my chin and gave him an amiable smile.

"Yes, that's me."

In my peripheral vision, I saw Nathan looking at me with a slight frown, brimming with curiosity. His gaze was asking me what was going on without him opening his mouth, and I smiled at him sheepishly in return.

"I'll tell you about it later," I whispered to him.

"I am called Z. You can ask me anything if you need assistance," Z remarked. "The master has given you permission to the tower's resources and that includes the upper floors."

What he just declared made me blink in pleasant surprise. Even Nathan was taken aback and had given me another of his suspecting looks. My brother… This is very unexpected for me too, you know. How am I supposed to react to that?

The upper floors too? Goodness me, I am winning the lottery here.

It is already common knowledge that anything but the ground floor is prohibited for outsiders. Not for me now though… Fufufufu~

Dang, that magician sure knows how to please people. Is this his way of helping me? When did he say he wouldn't? Maybe he got guilty or something… just kidding.

"Truly? Thank you," I said with utter gratitude. My already positive mood had even soared a new height. "We'll just look around for now," I added.

I could barely keep my cool at the moment. I mean, that was one hell of a great news. I'm even more pumped to bury my nose in all of these. 

"Very well. You can check the directories on that book over there so you can easily locate what you're looking for," Z then pointed towards the further part of the room. 

My eyes followed where it was and saw a book at a distance. For some reason, that part was really bright. A light was pointing down to illuminate the said book, sort of like a spotlight. And did I also mention that it was floating? Yeah, it is. Steadily if I may add. 

Crazy, I know…

"The books and documents in this entire floor can be accessed and so are the artifacts," Z continued and quickly added, "Oh, but strictly no touching, please. Most of them are still working and are imbued with heavy magic. We don't want any untoward accidents like what happened before."

"Oh… okay. Thank you for the heads up," I said before biting my lip to stop myself from asking him about his last sentence. But of course, my curiosity gets the better of me. Every single time.

"Uhm, I'm sorry. What happened before?"

Z responded just as immediately, "One historian accidentally bumped into the shelf where the golden chalice is and because he panicked, he caught it with his bare hands before it landed."

Nathan and I stared at him, waiting for the rest of his story. But Z seemed like he wasn't going to tell us anything because he was just smiling at us so casually.

"And?" I prodded.

"Oh, you want to know what happened to him?" His head jerked ever so slightly, "I don't remember that much but the chalice belonged to a dark witch long ago and is used for rituals. So when he touched it, his soul left him and entered the chalice," he said and finished with another casual smile.

"Ohh…"

I now mentally reminded myself to never ever touch anything around this room except for the books. Especially that golden chalice he just brought up. I still want my soul very much intact, thank you.

"Enjoy," said Z.

I glanced at Z wistfully before Nathan and I made our move. We walked further inside the room and I couldn't help but get fascinated with what I saw. It just feels so magical here. Even though some of these are life-threatening, they are truly interesting nonetheless.

There were different kinds of statues that we had passed by. Some are made in bronze, some are marbles, and wood carvings. There was even a sarcophagus to the right, shaped and molded like a human. I don't even have to look to know what is in there.

Everything is displayed either inside a glass box or out in the open. I wouldn't trust those glass boxes too. Who knows if the glass itself is not imbued with spells? I saw one display that had a floating orb inside.

It caught my attention because it was letting out a blue light, glowing intensely now and then. I halted my footsteps to stare at it for a moment, fascinated. I could also hear a whirring sound as it spun occasionally. It was beautiful and hypnotizing. My mind then wondered what it was.

I was mesmerized to step in, take a look and observe it much closer but my mind reminded me of the dangers these magic artifacts pose. So even though I am being strangely drawn to it, I don't want to risk and possibly get my soul sucked out of my body.