Taming The Villainesses novel Chapter 388

Ayra returned to her room and began digging up /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the floor.

The sight of her was like someone hunting for a hidden treasure chest marked on an old pirate map—probing here and there, full of restless energy.

But when she finally unearthed the floor and revealed what had been hidden underneath, I began to understand why she’d been so worked up.

“What is this...?”

It was a jar—visibly suspicious at first glance.

About half the size of my torso.

I had no idea why something like a jar would be buried beneath the floor of the queen’s bedchamber in this fortress, but—

Swirl.

A strange, murky aura wafted up from its mouth, covered in black paper. Just looking at it made it obvious that whatever was inside had to be incredibly toxic—possibly horrific.

Cough. “It’s foul. Why would something like this be buried under the queen’s room?”

Just being in the same space with the jar made my nose and throat sting, and I coughed as if something were stuck in my throat.

Slide.

As I reached out toward it, Ayra stopped me with her hand.

“It’s best not to touch it.”

“Then what should we do? Leaving it here seems incredibly ominous.”

It might just’ve been a feeling, but it reminded me of when I once unearthed an unexploded bomb. Like it might go off without warning and obliterate my life.

Shhh.

Ayra narrowed her eyes, examining the sharp script engraved around the jar’s lid. Then, covering her nose with a handkerchief, she shook her head and said,

“There’s a type of spell woven into these letters. But I can’t read them. We’ll need an expert.”

“An expert?”

“Before that, let’s get out of this room first.”

I left the room with Ayra. Just stepping outside made it easier to breathe. Especially Ayra—she finally exhaled the breath she’d been holding in.

For someone who valued cleanliness and refinement, having something that grotesque buried beneath her bed was likely unacceptable.

About five minutes later—

Mirna and Narmee came rushing at my summons. They were the only ones I could think of who might know something about such an eerie jar.

“Sis, look at that.”

“Sir Teo, is that the so-called grotesque jar?”

With handkerchiefs soaked in special holy water covering their mouths and noses, they stared at the jar sitting exposed in the floor, then exchanged a look.

“Narmee, what do you think?”

“I think you and I are thinking the same thing. I’ve never seen something like this before. We’ll have to open the lid to know for sure.”

Slide.

Wearing white gloves, Narmee carefully reached toward the jar. The way she moved—so precise, so slow—it felt like watching a bomb squad handle an IED.

Rustle.

Finally, her fingers touched the black cloth sealing the jar.

“Sis, I’m going to open it now.”

“Okay. On three.”

“Three.”

Narmee skipped both one and two and yanked the cover right off. Instantly, something erupted from inside with a whoosh—a surge of something intangible and vile.

The biggest reaction came from Mirna.

“Urk...!”

She immediately clamped her handkerchief tighter over her mouth and staggered backward, practically fleeing the room. She rushed to a window and flung it open, dry heaving over the sill.

It reminded me of an old friend who once had to dispose of a long-dead cat. Whatever was inside that jar—she had clearly seen something unspeakable.

By contrast, Narmee stayed relatively composed.

“I’ve never seen anything this bad. You’d need a truly twisted kind of malice to create something like this.”

Narmee, frowning deeply under her handkerchief, looked like she still had a strong stomach, maybe thanks to her past experience tending to the tombs of House Draco.

Slide.

She quickly closed the lid again, then turned to Mirna and said,

“Sis, now’s not the time to be standing around. We need to seal this thing up. No telling what might happen if we leave it exposed. Give me some talismans.”

“...Huuuh.”

Mirna wiped her mouth with the back of her gloved hand.

Then she pulled paper and a brush from her robe and hastily scribbled down some characters.

Narmee took them and began slapping the talismans onto the jar like stickers, wrapping it in layers until it resembled some kind of mosaic art.

While I was marveling at that strange scene, Mirna—now breathing more evenly—trembled slightly and spoke.

“Narmee, this is only a temporary seal. We need to perform a proper exorcism. If we leave this be, something terrible will definitely happen.”

At least for now, the task seemed complete. Having observed everything, I finally had to ask the obvious question:

What was that thing?

***

“It’s a curse. A horrible one. The kind that drives people insane, makes them seize and spiral. Even I’ve never seen anything this vile. It’s probably some ancient thing buried in forgotten documents.”

Narmee offered her evaluation of the jar.

Given her deep knowledge of curses, I’d hoped she might know its identity for sure, but—

Even she could only grasp what it was, not describe it in detail. She added,

“Maybe the professor would know. She’s older, and she’s surprisingly well-read on this kind of topic.”