A small piece of rock fell from the wall, and then a white fluffy nose poked out from the hole in the wall.

The fluffy ball twitched its nose as if sniffing, then retreated briefly before ramming the wall hard with a thud.

As bricks fell away, the hole widened enough for the fluffy creature to enter.

“……Snow.”

The rabbit whose name was called perked up its ears, scampered over, and wiggled its front paws before dropping something.

With a clatter, a small silver box rolled on the floor.

“A music box.”

The wedding anniversary gift given to Litania.

A box of memories containing a miniature of their year together.

Orbis touched the music box with his fingertips to open it.

Though it made no sound, perhaps damaged from the fall, the mechanism wound and the picture behind the toy window flowed properly.

Orbis quietly gazed at it for a while, then asked Snow:

“Were you not resentful of me?”

The rabbit stared at him with red eyes, ears twitching.

“Did you not guide Litania to the door of parting, judging she could not be happy by my side? Why do you now act as if you pity me?”

Pity.

It felt strange even as he said it.

To think a mere small rabbit would pity a dragon.

Even as Orbis looked down intently, the rabbit seemed unafraid, neatly folding its front paws.

“When you were with Litania, you annoyed me.”

“……”

“Now you don’t annoy me.”

As Orbis snapped his fingers, the small rabbit’s form stretched upward, transforming into a boy with snow-white hair and red eyes.

“I have never gone against my master.”

Returned to human form, Snow looked up at Orbis with a subtly dark expression as always.

“Master cherished Litania, but didn’t know how to respect the other person. That’s why I kept giving advice.”

“Advice, you say.”

“I disliked seeing Litania hurt, but I also didn’t want master to be hurt.”

If Litania was hurt, it was ultimately Orbis’ heart that would crumble.

The strong and beautiful dragon that could not be wounded by sword or spear.

He who could crush and kill anything that bothered him, Litania was the only being he fretted over.

“Lady Litania…… was the only one in the world who could hurt master.”

“Are you saying it was for my sake?”

“Though you didn’t listen.”

“Then you should have resented me.”

“I told you I never went against you.”

Snow picked up the fallen music box and held it out to Orbis.

“You are still my master.”

“……”

Orbis felt a strange feeling.

It wasn’t that he was particularly moved by Snow’s words.

He simply thought the boy’s clear gaze resembled Litania’s.

Ridiculously, Orbis found comfort in that.

“She left my side.”

“But the memories remain.”

“So I always think of……”

“This castle is full of traces Lady Litania left behind.”

Even when the rabbit dared to interrupt his master’s words, Orbis did not punish him.

‘Yes. Memories remain in this castle.’

It wasn’t just in his mind that memories dwelled. Spaces retain traces of those who lived there.

Unlike the many times he had regressed before, in this life there were no unpleasant memories in this castle. From autumn when they married, through winter, spring, summer, and back to autumn.

The dragon castle’s year was filled with beautiful memories.

“Shall we restore it to how it was then.”

As he raised his hand, the castle’s ruinous state began to change.

Bricks were smoothed, collapsed ceilings repaired, and tiles neatly laid on the floor.

The first floor hall, central staircase, rooms lining the corridors, Litania’s room with its red leather-decorated door, the reception room where she drank tea, the window seat where they sat and talked.

The castle’s devastated appearance was soon restored exactly to its past state.

And the servants’ forms as well.

“Master.”

Simons approached awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck and bowed.

Pepper was scratching his hairy forearm, then startled when he met Orbis’ eyes and lowered his gaze in attention.

Squirrel Hazel, Crow Raven, Raccoon Rico…… seeing again the faces of those who had bustled about the dragon castle with Litania, it felt as if she might peek out her face from among them at any moment.

It was a truly strange feeling for everything to be exactly as it was in the past, with only her missing.

But it was better than sitting alone with eyes closed, reminiscing about the past. It was less lonely.

Yes. Less lonely.

‘Is this what loneliness is?’

When alone, he did not know loneliness. Orbis thought it an emotion that did not exist for dragons.

But that wasn’t so. His subordinates who had always followed him expressionlessly like still lifes now wore human-like expressions.

The warm expressions that daily life with Litania had created.

“Simons. Tidy up the castle.”

“I will obey your command.”

The butler manages the castle, the cook prepares meals for the servants, the gardener tends the garden. All the castle’s affairs will return to how they were.

Even without Litania.

And even without Orbis.

“I will return to my room.”

Orbis entered his room, clutching the broken music box.

And never came out again.

‘It wasn’t by chance that I crossed over to that world while reading a novel.’

Ria narrowed her eyes after checking old maps and current street views several times.

The urban legend “Door of Parting” and the “Door of Parting” in that world are connected.

Her sudden crossing over to that world one day must have been through that door.

‘But how to summon that door again?’

Ria was searching with the thought of finding the Door of Parting again here, when she suddenly stopped.

“No. I’m not trying to cross over there again.”

She had not forgiven Orbis. Apart from her feelings about memories with him being somewhat dulled, Ria as Litania had no intention of returning to his side.

“I’m just curious about how I crossed over there.”

Wanting to know the circumstances of what happened to her. That’s why she was investigating.

“But it’s strange.”

The time Ria spent there was at most a year. Until she possessed her, “Litania” had been like an empty doll.

So even without considering that time in reality had stopped, the urban legend should have been created at most a year ago.

But from what Ria found, it was an urban legend going back almost 20 years, exaggerating a bit.

Meaning it had existed since she was a newborn.

‘Did someone else cross over there through that door besides me? Or conversely……’

While pondering why the urban legend arose, her phone rang.

“Ah, Mom?”

She rarely interacted with her family. Even less so since Ria started living on her own.

She wasn’t abused, but they weren’t close either. So she was glad to receive a rare call from her mother.

However, the phone call did not bring welcome news.

“What? Dad?”

She ran to the reception desk as soon as she got off the bus. After checking the room number and going up, she saw her father lying in the hospital room as if dead.

“A heart attack? He was always fine until now. Why……”

“Illnesses can appear out of nowhere when you get older. But we can breathe easier for now.”

“What about Liu?”

“He’s busy with school. I need to go out again too. Ria. Can you take care of your father?”

Though she asked “Can you take care of him?”, it meant “Take care of him.” Ria nodded.

No matter how little they interacted, they were family. She wasn’t heartless enough to ignore her father’s serious illness.

“I’ll stay in the hospital room. Please go.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

So Ria continued to take a leave of absence from school and care for her father’s illness. She barely went home, catching brief naps at the hospital.

Naturally, she pushed memories of the novel she had been writing and the urban legend to a corner of her mind.

‘Reality is important. This is where I’m living now.’

Suddenly she recalled that in the other world, the late emperor had also suffered from heart disease.

‘Surely not.’

It must be unrelated to events in that world. Ria shook her head and drew the curtain beside the bed.

Her mother was busy running around saying she had to meet a lawyer, go to court.

When Ria asked if perhaps her father’s illness was related to an industrial accident, the answer was “I’ll tell you later.”

‘She must be too busy to explain. It was always “later” when it came to me.’

Her younger brother, who had just started high school, occasionally came to visit their father, but only exchanged awkward eye contact with Ria before leaving.

Both there and here, Ria always felt out of place among her family members.

Her parents who were indifferent to her doted excessively on her brother.

Whether it was because the preference for sons over daughters still lingered in this era, or because unlike Ria who resembled neither parent, her younger brother was the spitting image of their parents, she didn’t know.

‘At least I’m not mistreated, so this is much better.’

The time of resenting her parents for not paying attention to her had passed. Ria decided to be content with her current position.

Isn’t it good if the family structure surrounding her is maintained like this?

That’s what she thought.

Until she saw the single document placed before her.

“What…… is this?”

“It’s a waiver of inheritance, dear.”

Her mother indifferently pointed to the signature line on the document in front of her.

“When your father ended up like that, this was the first thing I thought of. The process became a bit troublesome because you were registered as his child.”

“What?”

“I’m not kicking you out just because you’re giving up the inheritance. I’ll provide food and shelter until you get a job. Just sign so the inheritance can go entirely to Liu.”