“Um, that.”

Even now, it’s still a chilling experience to recall. It was especially so because I had never felt my life threatened to that extent before.

“It’s okay. Orbis saved me.”

Litania held the teacup Snow brought and slowly inhaled its fragrance.

The warmth of the tea transmitted to her hands, and her momentarily agitated heart gradually calmed down.

The refreshing scent of lemon.

Litania sipped the tea, savoring its gentle taste.

“We should never have exposed Litania to danger in the first place.”

“No. It happened because I said I wanted to be alone.”

“My lord could have protected Litania more safely.”

Though Litania’s kidnapping wasn’t Orbis’s fault, Snow’s words somehow sounded like he was blaming Orbis.

“I should have been by your side…”

Snow stood beside Litania and gently gathered her hair, starting to brush it.

Despite his grumbling tone, Snow’s brushing was gentle and respectful.

“Well, I returned safely, so it’s fine. They say these things become heroic tales in hindsight.”

“Heroic tales are only possible when Litania defeats the kidnappers herself.”

“Hmm…”

Maybe I should learn self-defense.

By the time Litania finished drinking the warm tea, Snow had also finished brushing and was massaging her shoulders.

‘Our Snow makes good tea, prepares good snacks, and gives good massages…’

Though he’s a bit short.

Well, they say boys grow quickly, so he’ll grow soon.

Litania exhaled deeply, immersing herself in the comfort she hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Indeed, a peaceful daily life is the most precious thing. We must not forget that.”

“…”

Snow’s hands, which had been diligently massaging her shoulders, stopped.

Litania stayed still for a moment, then suddenly opened her eyes.

“Snow?”

“Litania, you asked about the Door of Farewell before, right?”

“Huh? Yes.”

“I didn’t like the idea of Litania no longer being a person of this world.”

It seemed too serious to just say, ‘Isn’t that obvious?’

Litania kept her mouth shut and waited for Snow’s next words.

“But if Litania can’t be happy in this world… I don’t think you need to insist on staying here.”

“Snow, are you joking right now?”

“…”

Snow looked at Litania with an expression that seemed to have a lot to say, but in the end, he just laughed cheerfully.

“Farewells aren’t always bad, you know.”

That night, after putting Litania to bed early, Snow immediately barged into Orbis’s room.

“You deliberately let her get kidnapped, didn’t you?”

Snow stood at the doorway, glaring at Orbis. Orbis sat in a chair without turning to look at the boy.

“With you nearby, there’s no way mere kidnappers could approach Litania. Even a forest is in the palm of your hand.”

From the start, it didn’t make sense that magical beasts with embedded magic stones would appear in the forest.

The dragon god’s influence is powerful enough to cover this entire estate. With Orbis’s power, the kidnappers would have been shattered at the boundary the moment they crossed the forest with the magical beast.

The fact that it didn’t happen means Orbis knew intruders were entering the forest with dangerous magical beasts but let them be.

To use it.

“Deliberately putting Litania in danger, then saving her. That’s deception.”

“Litania was the one who requested time to think alone.”

“You could have protected her safely even when she was alone.”

“Snow.”

Orbis’s gaze, which had been fixed on the window, turned to Snow.

Drip.

Red blood trickled from the corner of the boy’s mouth.

“My lord…”

“Since when did you become so talkative?”

“You should respect Litania more.”

“…”

Orbis turned his head away. The boy staggered backward.

“Have Hazel treat your tongue.”

The boy bowed slightly and turned to leave.

Even while criticizing his master’s actions, the boy still properly bowed before leaving.

No, perhaps the boy’s master had changed at some point.

Yet the boy still came to report to Orbis and called him ‘my lord’.

Maybe that’s what the boy means by ‘respect’.

Orbis let out a soft sigh.

“Is it respect to let her go if she fears me, hates me, detests me… and wants to leave?”

A wrinkle formed between Orbis’s brows.

He closed his eyes and recalled the last painful words he remembered.

He could have granted any other request.

That was the one thing he couldn’t grant.

“I don’t understand human emotions, Litania.”

He sighed self-deprecatingly.

“And you, too, don’t understand a dragon’s emotions.”

Though she lay down early and pretended to sleep at Snow’s urging, Litania couldn’t fall asleep.

Whether it was because of what Snow had said, or because the fatigue had been washed away by the bath, she was wide awake.

‘The Door of Farewell, huh.’

They said that if you cross that door, you’re no longer a person of this world.

Until now, she had wondered why such a dangerous thing was in the dragon castle.

But if this place was really inside a novel, there was one reason why that door had to be in this dragon castle.

‘The reason I was possessed by this body might be there.’

For example, if the real Litania died by crossing that door, and Litania entered the empty body, and Herna noticed the real Litania’s soul wandering in the netherworld…

‘No, that’s too far-fetched.’

Maybe the real Litania and her body had switched. There are novels with such settings, after all.

Considering that their faces are identical, this theory was also plausible.

‘If the real Litania crossed over to that side, and I came to this side…’

According to Snow, the original Litania before she came in lived like a doll, lost in a daze, but would she really be able to adapt well if she crossed over to the modern world?

‘If our bodies were switched, maybe I could return to my world through that door.’

Litania sighed heavily as she thought that far.

‘If I could return to my original world, what should I do?’

The face is her own, but it’s not exactly the same as her real-world self. Moreover, this isn’t the world she originally lived in.

When she first fell here, she didn’t even think about being able to return to her original world.

She had planned to put down roots here and live comfortably, and when she learned that this was a depressing dead-end novel, she struggled to deviate from the original plot.

And now that she has deviated from the original plot… there’s no goal.

Litania was satisfied with her current life. She liked Orbis, and she liked Snow who stayed by her side. All the other servants were kind to her too, and life in the castle was incomparably luxurious compared to her stay in the imperial palace.

Even if there was no way to return to her original world and she had to live here forever, Litania wouldn’t be sad.

But if there was a way to return to her original world.

‘Should I go back…?’

Litania became troubled. She still couldn’t remember the real world or her own name. What if her memories never return until the end?

‘Even if I regain my memories…’

If time in the real world flowed the same as in the novel, nearly a year would have passed, so what would have happened to her life? It was terrifying to imagine.

‘But it’s not right to completely ignore it either. This is inside a novel, after all.’

Novels have an ending.

The original work had a dead ending, but with this development, it would probably be a happy ending.

What will happen to this world after the happy ending? Will Litania’s life continue like reality? Or will she be forcibly pulled back to the real world then?

No, is this world really inside a novel in the first place? Wasn’t it a cliché in recent possession novels that what you thought was book possession turns out to be another world…

As absurd thoughts kept popping up, Litania shook her head.

The peaceful time at the dragon castle passed quickly.

Before she knew it, spring had passed and summer had arrived.

The lush green grass around the castle grew even greener and shone, the garden inside the castle was full of colorful flowers, and they glowed even more temptingly under the strong summer sunlight.

Summer.

It was the arrival of a new season that breathed life into the castle.

“The weather is nice.”

The blue color of the lake, with its cool rippling waves, was dazzling. The water of the lake sparkled in the summer sun, making the dragon castle even brighter.

On the other side of the lake, knights were training hard in the training ground. Perhaps because it was summer, their shouts and the clanging of weapons echoed more loudly throughout the castle, conveying the energy of summer.

‘These days, even their battle cries aren’t as noisy as before.’

Since Bain always gave the same answer, she discreetly asked Miller, an elite knight, and got the response, “They have finally crossed the boundary between life and death.”

‘Doesn’t crossing that boundary mean you die…?’

She couldn’t understand, but decided to interpret it as referring to some level among warriors.