Chapter 385 - 385: Looking for Women

After bidding farewell to the captain of the Ducal Guard, the witcher left Cianfanelli Bank and ran toward Beauclair Palace.

Whenever he encountered monsters rampaging along the way, he simply drew his sword and dealt with them. No lesser vampire could obstruct his path.

Built into the mountainside, the Beauclair Palace complex consisted of numerous white spires capped with red roofs. Each one pointed toward the sky, and together with the city's layered hills, they resembled an exquisite cake covered in birthday candles.

Following the white-stone colonnade as it spiraled upward around the outer edge, Victor made his way toward the summit. According to Damien's directions, the playroom was located on the lakeside of the third tier.

Under the blood-red moon, the stone promenade that had once been a source of pride for the duchy was now littered with mutilated corpses and monster remains, testament to how savage the earlier fighting had been.

The places normally guarded by soldiers were now completely deserted as well. Presumably, the defenders had withdrawn to consolidate their forces.

Alone in the eerie silence, the witcher eventually reached the lakeside palace.

Here, the roars of monsters were almost impossible to hear. The air was peaceful and still.

It was a secluded corner with neither people nor vampires.

The playroom.

What surprised Victor, however, was that the door wasn't locked.

He gripped the handle and turned it easily. Once inside, he could even hear a human breathing on the second floor.

The breathing was steady and composed, neither hurried nor disturbed, completely at odds with the bloody crisis raging tonight.

Could it be Sylvia Anna!?

Victor's Undvik iron boots stepped across the wooden stairs, inevitably producing a series of clacking footsteps that warned whoever was upstairs that someone was approaching.

The playroom door was carved with many adorable figures, little pigs, young girls, swans and frogs, dwarves and witches.

Carefully opening the door, the witcher found a woman who had no reason to be here, yet whose presence somehow wasn't surprising at all.

The sorceress, Yennefer of Vengerberg.

The scent of lilac and gooseberries immediately filled his nose.

She was still dressed in her form-fitting black-and-white outfit, seated in the tutor's chair while leafing through a book.

Every time she turned a page, her thick, glossy black curls shifted and rippled, catching the light with the iridescent sheen of peacock feathers.

Her striking profile was formed by neatly shaped brows darkened with charcoal, long and thick eyelashes, violet eyes that shimmered with light, full lips, and the tiny beauty mark near the corner of her mouth.

She was dazzlingly beautiful, exuding an allure that was both provocative and dangerous.

A charming black velvet ribbon encircled her exposed, elegant neck, adorned with a gleaming star-shaped ornament of obsidian and diamond.

Her high, full breasts rose and fell with every breath beneath black fabric and white lace, while a pair of long legs were tightly wrapped in fitted trousers.

Every detail of her body had been deliberately accentuated, and the sorceress radiated an aggressive, consciously displayed mature sensuality.

Hearing the knock, she looked up.

When she saw Victor standing outside the door, Yennefer blinked, smiled, and beckoned him inside.

...

Victor entered, closed the door behind him, pulled a chair over in front of the sorceress, placed a hand over his chest in greeting, and sat down.

Yennefer played idly with one of her curls, a teasing smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"Hehehe, what an unusual visitor.

"Let me guess. Why would the renowned dragonslayer and witcher, Viscount Corion, appear here...

"Could it be that you're planning to find Syanna and offer her up for an evil monster to slaughter, all so you can save Beauclair from drowning in blood?

"I must say, Lord Victor, your methods are positively overflowing with chivalry."

The biting sarcasm was merely the opening move in a verbal probe.

"If I remember correctly, the threatening letter Dettlaff sent instructed Syanna to go and explain herself to him. And we both know that higher vampires can be reasoned with."

"I thought you weren't the type to deceive yourself. Does anything Dettlaff is doing right now look reasonable to you? Do you honestly believe Syanna could meet him and come back alive?"

"I refuse to answer hypothetical questions."

Victor rubbed his nose.

"Putting that aside, Lady Yennefer, may I ask what you're doing here?

"I thought you were supposed to be beside Her Grace, protecting her."

"Thanks to a certain pigheaded fool putting Vampire Oil into the right hands, Anna Henrietta is perfectly safe for the moment, which leaves me free to search for a way to end this disaster.

"Aren't you supposed to be a prophet? How could you not know that?"

"I'm a prophet, not omniscient!

"Still, based on what you just said, I can make a reasonable deduction...

"You came here looking for Syanna as well. You intend to use her as bait to capture Dettlaff, or simply sacrifice her outright.

"I must say, you're an exceptionally cold-blooded sorceress. Don't you know how desperately Her Enlightened Ladyship wants to protect her sister?"

The sorceress chuckled and shook her head.

"I don't necessarily have to obey the duchess's wishes. His Imperial Majesty's order was to bring this incident to an end. How that is accomplished is unimportant.

"I originally assumed Dettlaff was an impulsive creature and that I could deal with him when he attacked the palace. I didn't expect him to possess the ability to command lesser vampires.

"In any case, judging by what has happened tonight, I admit there's a need to revise my opinion of you.

"Perhaps you're not merely an ordinary fraud. Maybe you really can see fragments of the future.

"And as far as our present positions are concerned, I believe we're in agreement.

"We both understand one simple principle, whoever caused the problem should be the one to take responsibility for it."

Victor spread his hands, having no objection to the sorceress's conclusion.

"So what exactly are we looking for now? Unfortunately, after searching for the past hour, I've found nothing, and I was just about ready to give up.

"But since you came all the way to the playroom, I assume you have a reason.

"Please, let me hear your prophecy, Prophet Viscount Corion."

Hearing this, Victor lightly rubbed his chin.

Throughout the journey from the bank to the playroom, he had been searching through his memories from his previous life.

Unfortunately, most of the details had already faded away. Only the important parts remained.

Fortunately, those alone were enough to solve the current problem.

"Anna Henrietta hid her sister inside a book. It's both safe and completely isolated from the outside world.

"It's a magical book of fairy tales, created by an extremely powerful mage. It can transport people into an illusion called the Land of a Thousand Fables."

Yennefer's expression shifted slightly, and she ran her tongue across her lips.

"I see. It must have been Artorius Vigo, the legendary master of illusions and Fringilla's uncle.

"No wonder I couldn't sense anything unusual. The magical fluctuations produced by an artifact like that would be extremely contained."

"I'll search the room and find the storybook. You keep reading. See if there's a governess's journal somewhere. I seem to remember that it mentions the incantation used to activate the Land of a Thousand Fables."

"No problem. Your division of labor makes sense."

The sorceress agreed readily, then added,

"I only have one small suggestion. A prophecy this plain and straightforward... have you ever considered making it rhyme? It would sound much more convincing."

"Thanks for the advice. You're not the first person to tell me that, and I doubt you'll be the last."

Victor pulled a face.

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