Living As the Villainess Queen - Chapter 310.1

Eugene carefully pulled out the piece of paper.

It’s not just regular paper.

It felt like the leather of the ancient books she used to read in the kingdom. She opened it slowly.

It’s… a magical formula.

She couldn’t tell what it was, and, for a moment, she was ashamed of her lack of knowledge. She had tried to learn more in the past by looking through the books that the fake had collected, but there was just so much of it that she didn’t even know where to start.

There also hadn’t been enough time during the dream to learn magic from Alber. All she knew was its background and its history.

As she stared at the formula, she realized that she could only make out a few symbols.

Based on what Alber told her, she knew that there were three major categories of magical formulas.

The first were formulas drawn in ancient books. Most people had forgotten the kind of technology magic was, but there were still traces of it. Just like the archaeologists from Earth who studied things of the past, there were people in this world who tried to figure out what magic was too. However, most of their information was wrong. When Eugene showed Aldrit an ancient book, the woman told her that it contained a “formula that could never be formed.”

The second kind of formulas were the ones that Mara stole from the secret vault and spread to his followers. He had taken it from the original formulas that were complete, so Eugene assumed that the fake had ripped off formulas from the ancient books Mara had stolen from.

Alber told her that Mara’s followers probably used the magic as part of a religious ceremony which was why the pure meaning behind the ancient magic was gone. That meant that the ancient books of formulas had been turned into Mara’s religious doctrine.

The third kind of formulas were divine magic. Although Sang-je had changed its name, it still meant the same thing: perfect magic. It was just like how Alber taught Sang-je to activate it. It was more for show than practicality.

When Eugene had mentioned that the fake had seemed to learn magic from the secret vault in the Holy City, Alber’s face had turned serious.

“The formulas locked up in secret vaults belong to each tribe. They are not meant to be let out of the vault,” she said. “I doubt that creature adhered to the rules. It must have made a copy and slowly replaced the formula in the secret vault over time.”

“Why do you think it did that?”

“Perhaps it wanted its priests to learn it.” Alber laughed at the absurdity of the idea. “It seems like that creature wanted to take complete control over the magic so that it wouldn’t need me.”

Eugene frowned. “What are the chances of it succeeding?”

“Not very high right now. But I don’t know about the future.”

Eugene considered the conversation she had with Alber for a moment before looking back at the formula in her hand. Formulas on leather weren’t part of any of those three kinds of magic.

Why did the Arse family have this?

Suddenly, the leather disappeared. Eugene screamed in surprise, “Where did it go?”

She looked around to see if she had dropped it. She looked back in the box and didn’t find it there. It was completely gone.

It made her feel upset, like a piece of treasure had been taken from her. Looking back at the empty box, she let out a sigh. It was definitely in here. I was just holding it.

Eugene closed the box and opened it again. Her eyes widened. The leather strip was right where she found it the first time. How?

She took it out and opened it to find the same symbols printed on it. After a moment, it disappeared again. She closed the box and opened it one more time to find the leather there, untouched.

There’s a spell on both the box and the leather.

She had been told that the box was a few hundred years old. For magic to last that long, it had to be strong. It must have been protecting something valuable if it warranted that much security.

Eugene stared at the leather one more time before closing it and calling for a maid.

“Is His Majesty still in the meeting room?” she asked when the maid walked in.

“No, My Queen. He’s in his office.”

“Let him know that I plan to visit him.”

“Yes, My Queen,” the maid said, bowing before stepping out.

Eugene looked down at the box, opening it again to find the leather right where it had been the first time she had seen it. Nodding to herself, she got up and made her way to Kasser’s office.