The moment I stepped onto the stone floor of the annex, made of thick gray and brown stones, I heard a rustling sound coming from beyond the windows cut into the walls, which I had never heard when leaving the main palace.

The two of them quickly stopped in their tracks and crouched down, hiding near the bushes.

‘The servants were very quiet, but are the knights so noisy even when sleeping because they’re warriors?’

Literally, it was human rustling, but Litania, not knowing the true nature of the castle’s servants, thought that the knights were simply large and strong, making loud noises even when tossing in their sleep.

“This way, Lady Litania.”

“Okay.”

Going around to the back of the annex, there was indeed an external entrance to the tower, just as Bain had said. I had thought there was only one path before, but it seems I was mistaken.

Whether the servants’ claim of maintaining it was true, unlike before, the old tower now clearly showed signs of age while also appearing neat and tidy.

The ashen stones, cracked and worn with time, weren’t vivid in color, but perhaps because it was night, they looked mystical, like an ancient tree made of silver.

Litania, admiring the tower’s exterior that resembled an ancient relic that had traversed time, turned her head at Snow’s call. The boy had already opened the tower’s door and was gesturing to her.

“If you stay outside too long, you’ll be noticed.”

“Sorry. I was unconsciously entranced.”

When I saw it before, it just looked like an old tower, but maybe because of the rumors, even climbing the stairs felt different from before. There were no cracks in the steps, and the clean railing had the glossy wood grain typical of old furniture.

“Here it is.”

The two climbing the tower stopped in front of an oak door. It was still the same sturdy-looking old door.

Come to think of it, I was so focused on the idea of exploring that I hadn’t considered how to open the door. Litania suddenly realized this and looked at Snow.

“By the way, Snow, how do we open this? We didn’t bring any tools.”

“If we tried to break the lock with tools in the middle of the night, everyone would wake up.”

Snow stroked the doorknob engraved with hieroglyphs with his small hand. As the boy’s slender fingertips moved flexibly, tracing the indentations of the characters, the sound of the old door’s lock slowly unlocking could be heard.

“Snow! How did you know how to open this?”

“…I told you it was a famous legend. There’s a story that says if you trace the magic characters with your finger, it will open, so I tried it.”

There was no such story, but Snow made it up, using the fact that Litania didn’t know the legend as a basis.

Anyway, those ancient myth-like stories had various versions, with hundreds of added tales, making it impossible to verify their authenticity.

“Wow… Huh?”

Finally, the door opened completely, but ahead was pitch-black darkness.

The tower’s windows were small, but starlight came in enough to discern what was ahead, yet in front of the door was nothing but an unfathomable abyss that seemed ready to swallow the two of them.

‘Will I really die if I cross over? Could this be that farewell door?’

A small finger wrapped around Litania’s hand, which had stiffened with tension. Litania, barely regaining her strength, tightly grasped Snow’s smooth hand.

“You might not see well ahead. Be careful as you come up.”

“Snow, be careful…”

Despite being the one who suggested exploring first, Litania, belatedly scared, held Snow’s hand like a lifeline as she slowly stepped forward. With a crumbling sound, stones turned to dust and fell softly.

‘Oh. They didn’t clean here.’

Although the servants maintained the tower, it seems the 8th floor was truly off-limits even to them.

Scrape. Rustle.

Scrape. Rustle.

Each time the two climbed a step, the sound of stone grinding beneath their feet could be heard.

No, were there really two people climbing?

Litania’s footsteps could be heard, but Snow’s were completely silent.

‘I’m scared… Should we just go back?’

Maybe I shouldn’t have done something I was told not to do. What’s the plausibility of a novel when you’re experiencing it yourself? Isn’t it just reality?

“Snow.”

Litania called out to Snow, tugging on his hand. The white-haired boy turned to look back.

Even in the pitch-black darkness, the boy’s red eyes were shining brightly.

“What’s wrong, Lady Litania?”

“…”

It was strange. The Snow she knew had a much cuter and gentler face.

The white, small face wore an inorganic expression, as if wearing a mask molded after a human face.

For a moment, a chill ran down her spine, and her fingertips curled. As Litania tried to let go of his hand, the boy’s fingers strongly intertwined with her slender ones.

“Are you scared?”

With those words, Snow’s appearance blurred like paint spreading in water.

“Kyaah!”

Along with a dizzying sensation, something sucked in Litania’s body. Feeling as if being devoured by a monster in the abyss, Litania screamed.

“Lady Litania!”

It wasn’t that Snow’s appearance had blurred like a ghost, but that the stone stairs had collapsed, and she was falling downwards, causing her vision to shake momentarily.

Only when she realized that the white face had come closer and small arms strongly gripped her shoulders did she understand this fact, but her body was already falling endlessly downward.

“Aaagh!”

With a pressure that felt like her ears would tear off, her chest expanded greatly.

A chilling sensation as if her spine was twisting.

A dull impact ran through her shoulder as her vision spun dizzily.

She couldn’t tell if she was rolling or if the world was spinning. Litania’s vision flickered black like sand flowing between her palms.

“Ugh…”

Her body felt heavy, as if everything below her neck wasn’t her own. Litania groaned as she raised her upper body. A sharp pain in her left shoulder made her collapse again.

“Ouch!”

“Lady Litania… Are you hurt?”

“Eek!”

Startled by the boy’s voice from below, Litania jumped and raised her body again. This time, despite the sharp pain in her shoulder, she didn’t fall back down.

Snow was lying underneath Litania.

“S-Snow!”

Come to think of it, it was Snow who had held her as they fell. Unlike Orbis, Snow couldn’t use magic, so he had no choice but to protect her with his own body.

Litania moved her barely responsive hips backwards, toppling her body to the side to get off Snow.

They had fallen from the collapsed stairs, and to think that she, being larger than Snow, had been on top of him!

Litania, aghast, stroked Snow’s face with her trembling hands.

“What should I do, Snow… Are you okay?”

“…Yes.”

The boy slowly sat up, slightly furrowing his brow.

Litania reached out to support Snow’s shoulders but quickly withdrew her hands, afraid she might hurt him more. Then she looked up.

There was a hole blown open in the stairs above their heads, as if a cannonball had been fired through it.

“My goodness…”

To think they had fallen from such a height, if they had hit their heads on the stone floor, they would have been on their way to the afterlife.

Litania felt a chill down her spine. Had they just nearly died?

“Snow, I’ll, I’ll go call someone.”

“I’ll go call someone.”

“What? What are you saying?”

Snow stood up abruptly, not even bothering to fix his disheveled hair.

The boy briefly winced and shuddered, perhaps injured from taking the full impact of her fall, but soon shook his head and smiled brightly as if he was fine.

“Lady Litania, you’re hurt.”

“…”

“I’m not in a state to carry you right now. I’ll call Simons.”

“No, no! I’m fine!”

Litania tried to stretch out her arm but felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder again, causing her to let out a silent scream as she lowered her arm.

It hurt enough to bring tears to her eyes, but could it be worse than Snow, whose entire body must be bruised from protecting her?

Litania shook her head vigorously and stood up.

“I, I’m fine too. Let’s… let’s go back quickly. Is there a doctor in this castle?”

“Hazel can treat wounds.”

“Hazel?”

Was there a servant by that name in this castle? Her mind wasn’t working well, perhaps due to the shock. She hadn’t memorized all seventy names yet. Snow wouldn’t be talking nonsense, so such a person must exist.

“Snow…”

“Yes, Lady Litania.”

Litania burst into tears at the sight of Snow’s battered hand extended towards her.

A child smaller than her had been hurt because of her. She felt like an incompetent adult who not only failed to protect a child but also put them in danger. Feelings of apology and shame mixed chaotically.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Snow, I’m so sorry…”

“I’m sorry too, Lady Litania.”

“No. It’s because I suggested we go up…”

“If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have followed.”

Snow furrowed his brow and gritted his teeth. It was clearly an angry face, but Litania, with her mind half-gone from shock and fear, mistook it for the boy wincing in pain.

A sigh full of pain flowed over her shoulders.

Litania returned to the main palace in a posture where she couldn’t tell if she was supporting Snow or being supported by him.