Taming The Villainesses novel Chapter 389

“There was no soul in the vessel.”

Mirna said it clearly.

“There was nothing inside the jar that could be called a soul. Normally, something like a vengeful spirit—filled with overwhelming hatred—should’ve been lurking inside...”

Hochungcheon’s Soul-Feeding Curse.

It was said that the jar alone, cursed as it was, could already serve as a powerful seed of catastrophe. But its true power was only unleashed when someone opened the lid and looked inside.

Those who saw it would have their minds twisted—and die.

But Narmee, who had looked into the jar, seemed fine. At least outwardly.

Narmee explained,

“I do have strong resistance to curses. But the jar was empty to begin with. Which means someone already opened it—and the curse weakened because of that.”

So then—did that mean the curse had already been used on someone?

I furrowed my brow, struggling to follow the spiritual and magical logic of it all. Mirna offered clarification.

“The soul that escaped is probably still wandering somewhere within the fortress. Since the vessel is still here, it likely didn’t go far.”

The idea of a cursed spirit roaming the fortress... it gave me the chills.

I asked,

“Then can’t we just destroy the jar?”

Narmee shook her head.

“Teo, think about it—what if someone came into your room while you were out and smashed it to pieces? Wouldn’t you be furious? To spirits, their vessels are like their rooms. That’s why we bury the dead instead of cremating them.”

I see.

That must be why cremation never took root on this continent. It also explained why House Draco went to the trouble of managing such an enormous cemetery.

So in the end, we had to find the soul of the child who had died inside the jar.

But finding a soul? That was starting to feel overwhelmingly surreal.

How would we find it?

What would it even look like?

We had no clue—but at least we now had a way to save Ayra from her mental collapse. That alone was a big step forward.

“Alright then. We’ll find it, somehow. Do we use charms, detectors, something like that? This is my first time hunting a ghost.”

Narmee suddenly threw up her hand.

“I’m great at ghost hunting! Although my sister’s even better!”

Everyone’s gaze shifted to Mirna.

Still staring at the jar, she muttered something under her breath, then let out a long sigh.

“To sense spirits, you need tools that can detect certain frequencies. Dowsing rods, heat-reactive paper, refined salt...”

She listed off a bunch of ingredients. But realistically, gathering all those supplies in this fortress would be difficult.

“Of course, even without those, there are ways. Someone with high intuition—or someone with a spiritual eye—could do it.”

“You mean...”

“Sir Teo, your fairy eyes can see what others cannot. I believe you’re the most qualified person to find this spirit.”

I was genuinely pleased to hear that.

To solve the issue without extra preparation—just get it done. I was already itching to get started when—

“Um...”

Mirna hesitated. She looked like she had more to say but couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Lady Mirna, is there something else?”

“Maybe...”

“Maybe...?”

“Maybe we’ve already met the spirit.”

“We have?”

When I pressed her, Mirna finally seemed unable to hold it in.

“Sir Teo, didn’t you find it strange? We met something odd, remember? Something that had been living alone in this monster-infested fortress for years...”

And there she stopped.

But I could tell she was being careful, deliberately withholding her words. I also understood who she was referring to.

“No way...”

“...Yes, it might be that imp.”

I knew exactly which imp Mirna meant.

Mirna continued,

“It never made sense that an imp could live alone in this monster-infested fortress for over a decade. Where would it get food? How did it survive the cold winters?”

She was right.

That imp had said it had been sneaking food left behind by the demon army in the kitchens. But after so many years, that food would have long rotted away.

At the time, I’d been so fixated on the fact that it was Isaiah Gospel’s imp that I hadn’t questioned any of it. No—wait. Could it be... that the one who first discovered the imp was...

I pulled out the book from my inventory.

The one labeled Teo.

Toward the back, just like Ayra’s mad ramblings during her breakdown, it was filled with fragmented, jumbled sentences—tangled like a puzzle.

There was only one conclusion I could draw.

Isaiah Gospel had found the imp first—and had been cursed.

Which let the child trapped in the jar escape.

Mirna said,

“It felt so real that I never realized it was a spirit. But now that I think back on it, there were too many strange things.”

“Strange things?”

“No one except you and I ever saw that imp.”

A cold chill crawled up my spine.

***

We scattered throughout the fortress in search of the imp.

Elga and Stella—whose spiritual sensitivity was low due to their strong life force—went off to investigate whether there were more jars or curses hidden somewhere in the fortress.

As for me, walking alone through the halls made every step feel like soaked cotton. Heavy and slow. On top of that, I felt incredibly depressed.

The imp I had wanted to introduce to Marmar...

To {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} think it had already been dead for a long time—a ghost.

And the fury inside me toward whoever had shoved that imp into the jar to use it for a curse...

It was overwhelming.

So full of hatred toward imps.

If it were me, I would never—never—shove Marmar, or Gargar, or Tartar into a jar like that. Not even if I died. I couldn’t accept it.

Who could commit such a cruel, wretched act? _{freewebnovel.cσ๓}