Elena nodded. It seemed that her transformation into a frog was indeed related to Alucard. Although she had narrowly escaped Alucard's sorcery this morning, she knew that she couldn't avoid him forever. When her coming-of-age ceremony began, she would still have to face him.
"So tell me, if I were to be affected by the sorcery, how could I break it?" Elena asked again.
"That's a bit tricky," the mirror rolled its eyes. "Unless you make the witch's heart rot... or shatter. But the witch's heart is immune to water, fire, electricity, and sharp objects. It only fears curses. And there's no one here who knows how to curse."
Elena: (.ŏ_ŏ) She once again hoped that the mirror was lying.
"Alright, then let me ask you this," Elena thought calmly. "Is one of my guests missing?"
"Of course. The Count must be having a headache over this right now," the mirror said matter-of-factly. "After all, it was your mother's prophecy. If your guests are too many or too few, it will bring you misfortune. But I'm sure the Count won't allow this to happen because he loves you very much."
This point was consistent with what her father had said. But it was also possible that both the mirror and her father were lying. After all, one of Aunt Mary's pieces of advice was that the third painting always lies; another was not to trust your father.
And! In the first "Future Visible," the "self" that appeared out of nowhere had said: I am your one hundredth guest. This contradicted what the mirror said about one guest being missing.
Elena remembered the blank guest name tag that had strangely shown her name. She finally asked, "How many Elenas are there in this castle?"
The mirror paused, and then all its eyes turned to her as if trying to see through her. "This question should be asked to yourself, Princess Elena. How many selves do you have?"
Elena felt a sudden chill and her scalp tingled. How many selves do I have? She was certain that there was only one of her in this world, but why had she seen another self?
Elena took a deep breath. So far, every time the mirror answered her question, it brought her despair, making her hope that the mirror was lying. However, Elena believed it was easy to distinguish the truth from the lies in the mirror's words.
So, she put her hands behind her back and asked again, "Alright, the last question. How many hands do I have?"
This could be considered an easy question. If the mirror answered "two," then the third painting in the corridor was the one that always lies, not the mirror. That is to say, Aunt Mary's first piece of advice was just a way to find the mirror. If the mirror gave any other answer, it would prove that everything it said was a lie. It always lies.
"Of course... two hands, Princess Elena," the mirror replied with a smile.
Elena heaved a sigh of relief. "Honest mirror!"
"Clever princess!"
"If I invited you to be my guest, would you sincerely wish me well?" Elena asked.
"Of course! If I were your guest, I would surely send you my most sincere blessings. But..."
"What?" Elena asked in confusion.
"However, I'm sorry, I can't accept your invitation, my clever princess. Because my game of hide-and-seek isn't over yet," the mirror said, its eyes and teeth nervously searching in all directions.
"Shh! I feel that the little girl with the teddy bear is nearby... Sorry, Princess, let's talk next time." Saying this, the mirror retracted its eyes and teeth and fell silent again.
"Master! What are you doing here?" Nini was so lonely. "Do you want to... play hide-and-seek with Nini?" The blood doll held a toy bear and stood at the end of the corridor, looking at her with big watery eyes full of anticipation.
"No."
"Wahh—" [Nini's affection for you -3]
In Nini's cry, Elena looked around at the blood-stained walls, but this time, the blood oozing from the walls didn't decrease at all. She knew that the mental pollution she was suffering from was indeed powerful, and it couldn't be suppressed by Nini's cries. Could it be that everything would be as the mirror said, and her survival rate against that mysterious and powerful existence was almost zero...
"Yah! Master, your portrait... is so funny! Hahaha, giggle giggle!" Nini looked at the corridor wall beside Elena and burst into laughter. Elena turned her head and found that there was a portrait of her on the wall. Silver-white long hair, a teasing gaze, a lecherous smile, and a long nose.
[Portrait: The Clever Princess]
This damned guy...
Elena passed through the corridor and entered the auditorium. Nini immediately ran around with her toy bear. At this moment, the rain was pouring down, and the gloomy weather persisted. However, the servants had already lit candles in the auditorium, making it brightly lit. But it also made the auditorium's blood-stained scarlet walls appear even more terrifying and oppressive.
Elena knew that only she could see these "non-existent" bloodstains, so she chose to ignore them and walked straight towards the seventh table, seventh seat. Sure enough, there was no name on the guest nameplate in front of this seat. There was no guest in this seat.
Elena frowned. But in the first "future vision," the "other self" had said to her in a teasing manner: I've always been here. Why can't you see me? She still remembered that she had invited the Blood Disaster Flower to be her guest, but there was no name on the nameplate. It wasn't until she turned into a frog that her name appeared on the blank nameplate.
Was my invitation invalid? Or was this guest really always here... Always waiting to replace me!
She took a deep breath and finally sat down carefully on this chair. Her blood-red eyes stared straight at the blank nameplate... Nothing happened.
"Elena, did you come to personally check the auditorium's arrangement?" At this moment, her stepmother and the butler slowly walked out from the back of the auditorium.
Elena stood up and elegantly held the hem of her dress, saying, "Aunt, did you just come from Father?"
Margaret paused and then complained, "Yes. I'm sure you've noticed that one of your guests is missing? Your father is almost in chaos because of your matter."
"I'll discuss it with Father."
"That's good." Margaret nodded and slowly walked past Elena. Then, she suddenly stopped. "Oh, by the way, you should have met Aruka this morning, right?"
Elena raised her blood-red eyes: "No, Aunt."
Margaret took a deep breath and then said angrily, "How could this be! He didn't come to pick you up from your room. This is very impolite! He must stay by your side every second!"