The Mirror's Answer
“Mirror, mirror. Who is the fairest in all the land?”
“……Aren’t you tired of that question by now, my lady?”
“My lady? Call me Queen. My beauty is far too radiant to be dismissed with something as common as ‘witch.’”
“Tch. At least you have the decency not to call yourself a princess anymore.”
Crack—.
In an instant, frost spread across the mirror’s smooth surface, followed by deep blue cracks.
“……What did you just say?”
Her voice was so cold it made even the mirror tremble.
“N-nothing! I only meant that Your Majesty’s beauty is so dazzling it leaves me envious!!”
“Oh my. You should know by now that true perfection is always thrilling. No matter how many times I look into this mirror, I never grow tired of it. Though I suppose a mere lump of metal like you wouldn’t understand.”
The mirror muttered under its breath, as it always did.
“……Old hag.”
Crash—!!
This time the mirror shattered completely, fragments scattering across the floor. Yet light soon gathered from the broken pieces, reshaping them into a sword.
“Hey. Mirror. Transform.”
“Seriously! You know how exhausting it is to change forms! If you’re going to act your age, at least stop breaking me!!”
“Shut up. Now tell me—who is the fairest in the world?”
“Ah, naturally it would be our Queen… huh? It says someone named Ruby.”
Baekseol’s elegant smile froze over in an instant.
“Location.”
“Pardon?”
“Where is this insolent wench? Tell me. Now.”
A bone-chilling aura erupted from her, threatening to freeze everything around them.
“B-Belnoa Slums, my lady!!”
“……What?”
Belnoa Slums? So that wretched place still existed.
Then again, a den that fed on human desire wouldn’t vanish so easily.
Baekseol felt a spark of excitement at the thought of going there.
The Belnoa Slums—the filthy depths where anyone who failed to restrain their ugly desires would eventually end up.
Everyone else recoiled from the place in disgust, but Baekseol had always loved its particular stench.
After all, being honest with one’s desires was never a bad thing.
Even her own desire for beauty was no exception.
At the northernmost edge of the empire.
Beyond even the distant lands where Sua’s tribe once lived, deep within the snowfields, stood the Ice Kingdom ruled by the Ice Witch, Baekseol.
For the first time in centuries, she began to move—determined to meet the impudent girl who dared to be called more beautiful than her.
.
The youngest Pope in history.
Ruby had even received direct recognition from God—the first Pope ever to do so.
Well, technically they had spoken twice.
The position of Pope was said to demand a heavy sense of responsibility, always looking upward from the lowest place.
So what was Ruby, burdened with that weighty title, doing right now?
She was, of course, rolling around on the plush bed in the church located in the remote Belnoa Slums.
‘I left all the chores to Priest Alex… Serafina probably handled the rest.’
Ruby simply felt relieved that she didn’t have to work and continued rolling around.
Of course, this wasn’t Serafina’s cramped old room anymore. It was the grandest, most luxurious bishop’s quarters in the entire church.
Honestly, Serafina’s room had felt the most familiar and comfortable.
But everyone around her had panicked, insisting that “no matter what, it’s improper for the great Pope to stay in the slums, let alone in a mere nun’s room,” so she had been forced to take the top floor.
Still, after all that trouble, staying in the bishop’s room wasn’t so bad…
When she turned her head, she saw Serafina, Camilla, and Sua sitting together playing cards.
So much for the Pope’s residence being important—apparently it was fine for a mere nun (Serafina’s words), a dream demon, and even an assassin who once tried to kill her to barge in like this?
A reasonable doubt crossed her mind, but her brilliant, insightful brain (Serafina’s words again) quickly reached a conclusion.
‘If a superior visits a subordinate’s room, the subordinate would feel uncomfortable. So they’re deliberately gathering in my room because I’m the highest-ranking person here!’
Wait.
But had any of them ever actually cared about her status?
Just as Ruby was about to sink into deep thought, chin resting on her hand—
“Ruby! Stop rolling around on the bed and come play with us!!”
“Okaaaay!!”
Without a single second of hesitation, Ruby surrendered to the card game and leapt off the bed. After all, fun right in front of her always came before the dignity of being Pope.
And one hour later.
Somehow, after ten straight rounds, Ruby had lost every single one. She ended up handing each of them a “Ruby’s Absolute Wish Ticket.”
Looking back, she realized they had been exchanging secret glances every time she drew a card.
‘D-don’t tell me they actually cheated against the Pope of this country?’
She finally felt suspicious, but without solid proof, she could only swallow her tears and accept defeat.
Still, she was Ruby—descended from the gaming nation of Korea.
Her pride wouldn’t allow her to accept this loss so easily.
So, in a rather petty move, she decided to bring out her ultimate winning game.
Gomoku.
As expected, none of them had heard of it, so she explained the rules.
It was a simple game: the first to line up five stones wins. But hidden within it were vicious beginner traps.
Specifically, the double-three rule.
For those unfamiliar, once two separate lines of three stones each appear, the game is essentially over.
No matter which side the opponent blocks, the other side will inevitably reach five. A guaranteed victory strategy.
Hiding her sinister intentions, Ruby began a practice match.
Despite her delinquent-like face, Serafina proved to be a model student and quickly understood the rules.
Well, Gomoku was a simple game anyone could grasp.
But would her secret winning move—the double-three—be just as simple?
‘Hehehe.’
After finishing the practice game, Ruby shamelessly started the real match without mentioning the double-three ban.
Yet the moment they began playing seriously, Serafina’s entire demeanor changed.
Tap! Tap!
The way she placed each stone carried an overwhelming presence.
Every move radiated such intensity it felt like the stones themselves were alive.
It reminded Ruby of Lee Sedol, the god of Go from her past life.
‘But this is Gomoku, though…?’
She won the first round with ease.
Serafina had played well for a beginner, but overcoming Ruby’s double-three trap had been impossible. Ruby had planned to reclaim her wish tickets with this opportunity.
And yet…
She ended up losing two matches in a row.
She had even given Serafina the first-move advantage with the black stones out of consideration, only for her sister to shamelessly create a double-three with black twice in a row.
In proper Gomoku, black’s first-move advantage is so strong that double-three is banned by national rule!!
‘H-how unfair!!’
Serafina continued her merciless assault, landing double-threes in both rounds as if the first one hadn’t been a fluke.
Ruby cried out in panic.
“S-Serafina! Are you really a beginner?!”
Serafina’s lips curled into a wicked smile.
“Hmm~ So that’s how our Ruby sees me? As an idiot who doesn’t even know a simple game like this?”
Huh? She already knew…?
Her reaction earlier had made it seem like she’d never even heard the word “Gomoku” before.
Pfft.
Serafina chuckled at Ruby’s stunned expression and explained.
“We didn’t call it Gomoku, but the rules were exactly the same. And you were so adorable insisting on playing white without knowing that!”
“……”
Ruby stared at the floor, forcing tears into her eyes to look as wronged as possible. Then she quietly asked Serafina.
“S-so… does that mean I only owe one wish ticket…?”
“Your Holiness. No matter how much of a subordinate I am, I must ask you to refrain from abusing your authority~. We should keep work and personal matters separate.”
‘Y-you jerk! You only treat me like the Pope when it’s convenient!! You always call me a child, but now you want to separate work and personal life?! Do you want to die?!’
Ruby glared at Serafina, then suddenly remembered her sister’s overwhelming physical strength.
Her body instinctively straightened into a respectful posture.
“Good. Keep those eyes nice and gentle, our Ruby.”
Determined to settle this grudge, Ruby turned her head.
Her gaze landed on Sua and Camilla, both staring straight at her.
‘Fine. Serafina’s one thing.
But there’s no way Sua, who came from some remote tribe, or Camilla, who spent her whole life being hunted, could beat me.’
Yet when she tried to reclaim her wish tickets from them as well—
She suffered a crushing four-game losing streak and ended up handing over wish tickets to both of them too.
“……Huh?”
Something was definitely wrong.
According to Serafina, she was supposed to be smart…?
Ruby looked at her sister with tearful, pitiful eyes full of shock. Serafina averted her gaze and muttered quietly.
“……Well. Maybe political maneuvering and public opinion manipulation don’t actually require intelligence, Ruby…”
In short: you’re an idiot.
Good at politics and manipulation, but dumb otherwise.
That was basically a troll who only lived on internet forums…
The single sentence from Serafina hurt more than losing all four wish tickets…