Chapter 386 - 386: Alone in a Room with Yennefer

The playroom was an exquisite chamber that the previous Duke and Duchess of Toussaint had furnished years ago as a place for their daughters, Syanna and Anna Henrietta, to play.

Besides being fully furnished, it held all manner of stuffed dolls, tin knights for make-believe games, rocking horses for children to ride, and miniature tableware for playing house. Everything here testified to just how dearly the sisters had once been cherished.

With his extraordinary five senses fully alert, the witcher diligently searched every corner. Beneath the rug by the little dressing table, for example, he found absolutely nothing, only dust a lazy maid had swept underneath.

"Ah! Victor, there really is something here... a journal left behind by Isabelle de Roquefort, the court governess who looked after the two princesses when they were children." Smiling, the sorceress lightly waved the book she had found on the table.

Victor did not turn around. He merely gestured over his shoulder for her to begin.

Then Yennefer's silky voice, tinged with languid sensuality, drifted through the room.

"Syanna gave me a drawing today. It showed headless corpses covered in blood. I asked her why she would draw such a thing.

"The princess told me it was a scene from the nightmares that have tormented her for as long as she can remember. Syanna wakes up screaming almost every night. The only time she doesn't is when she sleeps beside Anarietta."

After listening, the witcher rubbed his chin without saying anything. The sorceress, however, quietly added, "Probably because of the Curse of the Black Sun. They say girls afflicted by the curse suffer terrible nightmares, horrific enough to drive a person mad."

"You actually believe the ravings of that lunatic?"

"I'm trying to believe a prophet whose prophecies don't rhyme."

When Victor offered no retort, Yennefer smiled and turned the page.

"The sisters quarreled today. Unfortunately, neither displayed anything remotely resembling the dignity expected of a future ruler. Before long, they started hitting each other.

"Anna Henrietta struck her sister first, and Syanna fought back with everything she had. By the time I finally separated them, Anarietta had lost two teeth.

"She ran to complain to her parents. His Grace the Duke refused to believe my account. He placed all the blame on Syanna and swore she would be severely punished.

"Even after realizing the situation had gone too far, Anarietta pleaded for her sister's punishment to be lessened, but the Duke and Duchess had already made up their minds."

"Yohohohoho! Those sisters really were adorable, lively little things, weren't they?" The witcher picked up a wooden duck with a broken wing from behind the sofa.

Turning to the next entry, the sorceress raised an eyebrow.

"The sorcerers sent by the Chapter arrived today. They came to investigate Syanna's Curse of the Black Sun.

"I don't know what conclusions they reached, but His Grace seems deeply troubled now. I gathered my courage and asked the Duke what would become of his daughter. He didn't answer."

Both of them knew that piece of history well. Yennefer had nothing to add, and neither did Victor.

"I taught the sisters Nilfgaardian today. Syanna studies diligently, but she has trouble memorizing vocabulary. Anarietta seems more talented, though she's also terribly fond of mischief.

"Whenever she thinks I can't hear her, she calls me 'bloede kusse.' Then she and Syanna laugh until they're nearly choking."

No sooner had she finished reading than the sorceress herself began chuckling.

"I know 'bloede' is a curse, something like 'bloody' or 'damned,' but what does 'kusse' mean?"

As the witcher asked, he followed the faint traces of fingerprints and found a golden key hidden behind a pastoral painting on the wall.

Amusement colored Yennefer's voice. "In the elegant tongue of the southern Black Ones, that word refers to a flower with many petals, one that blooms in the place the Northern Kingdoms so inelegantly call a woman's crotch."

"So, 'bloody cunt'!?"

With a flick of her right hand, the sorceress seized the glass ball on the table with magic and hurled it straight into the witcher's backside.

"You should show more respect toward an older lady."

Victor grinned at the accusation and decided not to argue with a century-old granny.

He wound up the music box on the bookshelf, filling the room with a cheerful melody.

Then, golden key in hand, he began trying every likely lock he could find. Drawing her attention back to the journal, Yennefer twitched her thumb and forefinger and flipped to the next page.

"Today I accompanied the sisters to the Land of a Thousand Fables for the first time. We spent half the day there. First we played with Thumbelina, then we ran into Redbeard. For a highwayman, he was remarkably charming.

"For this wondrous journey, I must pay tribute to Master Artorius Vigo. His mastery of the arcane arts is without equal.

"The sisters told me that if I ever wish to go there by myself, I need only open The Land of a Thousand Fables and speak the spell aloud, 'Expecto ludum!'"

The sorceress finished reading with a bewildered expression, then abruptly raised her head and stared at the witcher's profile.

"Unbelievable... there really is..."

Victor gave a quiet chuckle. He inserted the golden key into a standing wardrobe, and with a click, the lock opened. From inside, he lifted out an enormous tome, thick enough to bludgeon someone unconscious, bound in an exquisitely crafted cover.

"Ah! So this is the treasure mentioned in the journal. My lady, would you mind identifying this copy of The Land of a Thousand Fables?"

As he spoke, the witcher placed the book on the table and pushed it toward the sorceress.

Her delicate eyelashes fluttered, and her violet eyes gleamed. Yennefer wrapped her right hand in a protective layer of magic and gently opened the cover.

Written prominently on the first page was a preface:

"Girls! Welcome to the Land of a Thousand Fables!

"Set out on a wondrous journey and enjoy yourselves!

"Uncle Artorius

"WARNING! Spells will remain stable until: June 1252."

...

The next several pages contained nothing more unusual than an ordinary table of contents and a collection of fairy tales. Yennefer left the book open and pushed it back toward the witcher.

"It can still be used, but I absolutely refuse to go inside.

"It's 1272 now, and the spells Artorius Vigo cast began gradually deteriorating twenty years ago. The illusion has grown increasingly unstable and uncontrollable ever since.

"The effects of magical decay will have made the fairy-tale characters inside the Land of a Thousand Fables unpredictable, perhaps even aggressive. That place is extremely dangerous now. I can't even guarantee you'd be able to leave once you entered.

"If you want me to repair it, I'll need a little time to study the spell. And by 'a little,' I mean approximately fifty years.

"That is the professional judgment of a sorceress. If our esteemed prophet has a different opinion, I'm quite willing to hear it."

Victor calmly listened to Yennefer's explanation while staring at the open magical book. He reached out and gently ran his fingers across its pages.

According to his memories from his previous life, Geralt wasn't supposed to enter this place until several years from now. If he could make it out safely then, there was no reason Victor shouldn't be able to do the same now.

And compared with the Unseen Elder, the fairy-tale realm was clearly the option whose risks were easier to control.

"I've decided to try," Victor said slowly, his Blue Rinnegan meeting her violet eyes. "Some things have to be done by someone."

"You remind me of a certain fool. In that case, I hope you come back alive." Yennefer folded her arms across her chest.

Knowing exactly which fool she meant, Victor chuckled. "Thank you for the blessing, my lady."

Since it was a toy made for children, naturally its method of use wasn't complicated.

Following the instructions recorded in the journal, the witcher lifted The Land of a Thousand Fables and loudly recited the spell.

"Expecto ludum!"

The next instant, the words on the pages began glowing with golden light. One after another, they lifted free of the paper and fluttered around Victor like butterflies.

The golden radiance grew brighter and brighter until, upon reaching a certain intensity, it burst outward in a brilliant explosion.

The Land of a Thousand Fables fell to the floor with a thump.

The man had vanished from the playroom.

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