Chapter 141: Portrait

He lightly tapped on the pillar thrice and immediately the pillar started shaking. It was good that they were alone now or else they would be in the thought spot if someone had seen them. Severus saw that a big hole appeared inside the pillar into which he quickly snuck inside while again tapping three times on the inside of the pillar. The pillar again started shaking and the part which was removed earlier slid back again. It felt like a door made up of cement. It was dark inside the pillar, so Severus asked Noworry to help him out with his night vision. Soon Severus' eyes adapted to night vision and he started seeing everything clearly. 

Severus pressed the button on the right side of the compartment and when he pressed the entire compartment got lifted. He felt like he was flying in the air with his feet glued to the ground. It was like a lift which they used at a construction site, however, since it was the personal lift of Marquis, they had polished it to the extreme.

Within seconds the compartment stopped, and the door opened. He saw the personal library of Marquis in front of him. As he stepped out from the compartment, he sensed strange energy inside the room. It was the same black energy he had experienced during his battle with Titin. Even his sword gives him off this strong feeling of despair, so he tries to avoid using his sword as much as possible.

[I feel something amiss]

"I too"

[Let's start our search but Severus before you touch anything, I would suggest you wear gloves]

Severus frowned. "I don't remember putting any gloves in my backpack"

[..]

[I put it there. Come on fast. Wear them. They are not simple gloves but sprinkled with magical water. When you said we are going to investigate his library I had a hunch that the place would be filled with magical traps. You still cannot avoid all the traps and that was the reason I joined you. I fear that Marquis had placed a security spell all over the room, so we need to be careful. Some may not be deadly spells, but they would surely create a noise that will wake up the entire Rivera. So be careful]

Severus nodded in response as he agreed with Noworry. Who knows what traps he might have set up for intruders? 

He quickly rummaged through his backpack and wore the gloves. Without making any sound Severus explored the library. He noticed that Marquis personal library was not as extravagant as he thought it might be. There were four tall shelves filled with books surrounding the entire room and in the middle was a simple set of tables and chairs. A tall portrait of the ex-empress was placed on the wall that was behind his table. The interior was well furnished and even the color tone was very subtle. This did not look like his study at all. Extra sofas were also there. All in all, it looked like a simple study.

Severus then explored the library section, but nothing struck him. He had an entire collection of ancient books. Most of them were just history books of the Rivera kingdom with some autobiographies. Severus did not feel the need for these books to be placed in Marquis personal library. It wasn't like they were some guidebooks that had cues for some hidden treasure inside our kingdom.

[Nothing seems interesting here.]

"True" Severus agreed. As Severus was planning to go back since they didn't find anything extraordinary as they were hoping for, Severus walked to the portrait of the Ex-empress. In all honesty, Ex-empress was very beautiful. She was fair with a small face. Her cherry thin lips accentuated her beauty. Her eyes looked big and innocent. Instead of giving a mature aura, she looked more like a teenage girl. Her beauty was off the charts and Severus finally saw how much Maverick resembled his late mother. If not for him being a boy then he would be an exact replica of his mother if he was a girl.

[And then that bastard cheated on her. I wonder how foolish she was to actually fall for him] He scoffed. 

Noworry was a bird, and it was understandable that he said like that, but Severus knew how influential and manipulative Marquis was. If not for the first-hand experience, he too might never believe that Marquis was the devil who destroyed his life.

Severus kneeled on the ground in a praying position and paid his respect to the ex-empress. As he was getting up from the ground his leg slipped on the floor and he tumbled backward on Marquis table. He thankfully managed to hold himself back so as to avoid creating havoc on his table but in the process, he pressed the glass ball with his hand that was placed on his desk.

The minute Severus put his pressure on the glass ball it started glowing. Severus was shocked when he saw it happening. He was afraid of activating a spell as he silently said prayers for himself too. In fear, he closed his eyes and waited for things to happen but even after waiting for a few good minutes nothing happened. 

The quietness remained. Slowly Severus opened his eyes and saw that everything was the same except the glass ball which stopped glowing.

[The heck happened?]

"Even I don't know," Severus removed his hand from the top of the glass ball. 

[let's go before we encounter any more traps]

"I guess you are right" As Severus said this, he unconsciously looked back to have a last glance at the ex-empress portrait, but he was bewildered when he did.

A 100x100 inch portrait of an ex-empress vanished in thin air and instead of it, a mirror of the same dimension was there. For a second Severus got shocked while seeing his own reflection inside the mirror.

[this….]

"Is this some kind of illusion spell? Don't tell me that was not a portrait but her ghost"

[...]

[Will it kill you if you don't speak nonsense for a day?]

"You can't blame me. As per my experience that I have suffered this was the only feasible explanation I could come up with"

[..]

[Fair enough]

Severus raised his hand to touch the mirror but before he could do the same Noworry warned him.

[You better not touch it. Did you already forget what happened inside the chamber of secrets? Who knows if this is another one-way mirror? If I were you then I wouldn't risk, my life here]

"You see Worry. You are not me so…" Severus didn't complete his sentence and just touched the mirror. The moment his fingers touched the cold glass he was sucked inside it.

[here we go again…]

Severus saw the same blinding light. He felt like his body lost his soul several times as a shooting pain came 

"Mother! This pain is killing me" Severus groaned in pain. He was sitting on his toes while holding his head which hurt like several needles pierced through it. 

"Noworry are you there? Her birdie!! Can you hear me?"

[Damn you Severus. Do you not know the meaning of the word no? I feel like killing you]

"Ah! You are all right then. Can you feel any pain?"

[Any pain you say. I feel like my ear is buzzing and I am all dizzy right now. This was a high-level spell to which I am surprised Marquis is capable of giving his personality. I fear there is more to him than what reaches to eyes]

Severus who was in pain still tried to grasp what Noworry was saying. They waited for an hour there while sitting in the same position. The aftereffects subsided a bit after an hour, so Severus stood up. Earlier since he was in a semi-conscious state, he didn't take a good look at his surroundings but now when he does. A bloody cold chill ran down in his body. 

He was inside a stone-cold room that had light torches hanging on it. The torches were the only source of light there and somehow Severus felt blessed for it because he wasn't sure whether he was capable of witnessing such horrible deeds.

The room was all closed without any door and window with a big heavy slab on his right. The four walls of the room were filled with scratches and bloodstains. He even saw a fingernail stuck on the wall. From the looks of it, it appeared as if a big cat scratched all over the room, but Severus knew this wasn't the case since the fingernail he saw was of a human. From the size of it, he concluded it to be of a woman since it was still shaped from the side.

One could only imagine what inhuman and barbaric things happened here.

Noworry was in a state of shock too. Although it wasn't his first-time seeing brutality but witnessing it at a mortal level gave him chills.

[Just what happened here?]