“Let go of this.”

“Then tell me. I won’t let go until you do.”

Ugh. Really. Seriously.

“You’re beautiful! Beautiful! Happy now?”

“The most beautiful in the world?”

“Yes!”

“Only to me?”

“Yes, I said!”

I had no choice but to answer obediently. Because Edan’s hand was subtly sliding down to my waist.

Only then, satisfied with my response, Edan stopped his hand’s descent and moved it back up to stroke my hair.

His hand, which had touched my forehead, slowly slid over my head, to my ear, and down to my neck.

At the same time, Edan’s upper body gradually pressed closer over me.

“Then do it.”

“Do what?”

“You know. My head hurts right now.”

Edan slowly lowered his head, coming closer.

Wait a second. Is he seriously asking me to heal him in this position? That’s dangerous.

I tightly shut my eyes.

But Edan, who had come so close I could feel his breath, suddenly stopped moving.

“…?”

I opened my eyes. Edan, who had abruptly halted his actions, was staring down at me, as if lost in thought.

Then he stepped back, got off the bed, and stood by the window with the sun at his back.

Since this had never happened before, I was flustered.

As I blinked and stared at him, Edan, with both hands shoved in his pockets, spoke up.

“Come here.”

Suddenly?

Not understanding what he meant, I tilted my head in confusion. He nodded slightly, pointing to the spot in front of his feet.

“Right here.”

What’s he up to now?

Though I thought it was strange, I got up from the bed. As I absentmindedly took a step toward Edan, I froze in place.

Come to think of it, I feel perfectly fine right now.

Approaching Edan. Since when did it feel like this?

I’m not doing this to prevent a bad ending. Right now, I’m just vaguely thinking that being close to Edan feels good.

In fact, it was the same when I held Edan’s hand in front of Dante.

I didn’t want to let go. I felt a flood of relief, and it made me so happy it was almost scary.

If Edan reached out his hand right now, I’d grab it without hesitation, as if it were the most natural thing.

I still don’t want to go to the temple or have skinship with ability users.

But at least with Edan, I don’t want to avoid it.

In fact, if he wants it, I want to touch him, and I want to touch him as much as I desire. That thought filled my mind.

I quietly met Edan’s intense gaze.

He leaned against the wall leisurely, as if he’d wait as long as needed.

“Don’t want to?”

“It’s not that…”

“Can’t you come to me for once? Or do I have to get on my knees and beg?”

Why is Edan okay with this?

“I’m waiting.”

Edan urged me in a relaxed voice.

As if saying, come to me if you want to.

Perfect. It’s a good chance to find out.

Even without an emergency like in the desert, do I feel relief with Edan? Does my heart race? Were those pleasant feelings real? Why did I feel that way?

Hesitating, I walked up and stood in front of Edan.

“Close your eyes.”

“No way. I want to see you like this.”

“…Pervert.”

“Yeah.”

He’s probably the only guy who’d smile so happily at being called a pervert.

“I’m going to touch your face.”

“Go ahead.”

The guy who used to hate people touching his face was nowhere to be found.

Edan willingly lowered his head, offering his face.

I gently cupped his cheeks with both hands. His hair softly brushed over the back of my hands.

Hesitating, I mustered the courage to stand on my tiptoes and lightly kissed him.

Good heavens, am I crazy?

The moment our soft lips touched, I was certain.

I don’t dislike it. No, it’s not just that I don’t dislike it…

“Not enough.”

Edan, murmuring with our lips barely apart, grazed my lips once, then again as if swallowing them.

And then, more forcefully than before, he claimed my lips.

His hot breath surged into my mouth, making it hard to breathe.

And then, gently again.

I hadn’t even used my healing power yet, but I felt so good my mind grew hazy.

It’s too good. Do I actually like Edan?

That thought made my hands, still cupping his cheeks, tremble slightly.

“Scared?”

“It’s not that.”

Edan chuckled lightly, as if telling me not to lie. He’s right. I’ve been lying all this time.

I always said I wasn’t scared when I was.

But this time, it’s really not a lie.

Because kissing Edan felt good.

Not because of the pleasure from my healing power, but because I genuinely liked Edan. So much that I didn’t even think of pushing him away.

Even though contact with ability users is unbearable just to think about, and Edan, with his severe side effects, affects me the most.

A pleasant sensation, like a giant wave, washed over me.

But at the same time, unease naturally crept in.

Would Edan still like me if I didn’t have my healing power? It’s a primal question with a predetermined answer.

That won’t happen. He’s only being this kind to me because he wants my healing.

That thought made my heart sting sharply.

“I’ll start.”

I activated my healing power through my hands cupping Edan’s cheeks.

The healing power he likes.

A soft smile spread across Edan’s lips. The Edan who said he wanted to keep looking at me closed his eyes slowly, satisfied.

A soft pink glow spread from his skin, seeping into his entire body.

Right now, I’d even understand if Edan forcibly took my healing power, but he didn’t. After a moment, he opened his eyes.

“You okay?”

“If I say I’m okay, will you let go?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“I don’t want to.”

Edan’s hands wrapped around my waist. I couldn’t help but tense up.

“It’s okay, don’t be nervous. If you stay still, I’ll take care of everything.”

No, wait! Sure, skinship feels good, but this is a bit sudden.

“W-Wait a second…”

As Edan’s hands caressed my waist, I instinctively braced myself against the window frame’s wall.

And then, clunk-!

The room shook with a strange noise.

“…?”

“…What was that?”

Even Edan, usually calm, furrowed his brow and stopped his hands at the ominous sound.

We slowly turned our heads toward the source of the noise.

A stone was slightly protruding from the unusually wide bedroom floor.

I looked at my right hand.

The wall where I’d braced myself by the window frame was slightly indented. When I let go, the square stone that had been pushed in slid back out, returning to its place.

I was so shocked I froze for a moment.

Edan, frowning, repeated my action.

Muttering an exasperated curse, he pressed the stone, and with another clunk! the protruding stone on the floor returned to normal.

“Are you kidding me?”

Edan pressed the wall again, and the floor stone popped out once more. It seemed the window frame’s stone acted as a switch.

As I stared at it, the heat in my body cooled, and my dazed mind started to clear.

“A square…”

Like a lightning bolt in my head, my vision flashed.

“Ahh! Could it be…?”

I shouted, cupping my cheeks with both hands. Edan brushed back his hair.

“What?”

He wouldn’t know since I hadn’t told him.

I stepped down from the window frame and headed to the center of the room.

I stared at the square stone protruding from the floor. A small square, the symbol of the Great Wizard, was etched into the corner of the stone.

It’s certain. This is the secret space I was looking for.

Even so, to think it was in a place like this?

I’d only searched the library shelves and walls, never imagining a secret space would be hidden in the bedroom.

Finding it in such an unexpected place was disorienting, but it was incredible luck.

“What’s this?”

Edan, watching from behind, irritably pressed the stone with his foot, and a portal opened with a flash of light from the wall.

“I found it!”

“What is it?”

“The Great Wizard’s secret space!”

I smiled brightly at Edan.

By now, it was night.

Edan, Ruben, me, and Maxiem too.

In the late hours of the night, we gathered in Edan’s bedroom, each holding a lamp.

I wanted to enter the portal right away, but Maxiem had insisted on something.

“You must never enter the secret space alone. You have to go with me! Promise me, please.”

He’d said that.

So I hurriedly called Ruben and Maxiem, but Edan was extremely annoyed.

It wasn’t because of the side effects of the healing. It was because the mood was ruined, and he had to stop what we were doing.

But what can I do? This is really important.

“Look.”

I focused their attention.

And, seriously, I repeated the exact sequence of discovering the portal.

Pressing the window frame, pressing the stone that popped out on the floor.

“Huh?”

Pressing, and then pressing again, and pressing… It won’t press!

Edan pressed it so easily with his foot!

I jumped on the stone several times but failed to press it down.

Panting, like a broken wooden puppet, I slowly turned to the three men behind me.

“…”

“…”

“…”

The three men stared at me with narrowed eyes, as if asking what I was doing.

“Help me.”

“Then I’ll…!”

Maxiem, who had been eagerly awaiting the Great Wizard’s secret space, stepped forward excitedly.

But Edan grabbed Maxiem by the collar.

Striding forward, he pressed the stone with his foot, and it went down effortlessly.

It seems so easy when he does it, but it wouldn’t work for me.

“This is the Great Wizard’s…!”

Anyway, the portal opened again, and the orange glow of the portal filled the bedroom.

Ruben, who had been standing calmly, looked at Maxiem and me alternately, as if in disbelief, and asked.

“So… this castle really was the Great Wizard’s castle?”

“Yes!”

“How did you know this was the Great Wizard’s castle?”

“Look at that. They loved leaving marks. The square symbol of the Great Wizard is everywhere.”

Maxiem pointed at the portal eagerly.

And at the protruding stone on the floor and the window frame stone I’d pressed. Everything was obsessively square.

“It’s just a square. How is that a mark?”

“They’re all perfect squares. It’s the Great Wizard’s symbol. They were a perfectionist who loved squares. Equal sides, perfectly even. They’re on the library desks, bookshelves, even the long ladders!”

Maxiem spoke passionately, as if he were the Great Wizard’s apprentice. Then he turned to Ruben with a question.

“By the way, Sir Ruben, I heard you bought this old castle. Where did you find it?”