NOVPUB"Cerys, nothing is absolute."
The Traveling Poet’s amber eyes fixed on the girl in front of him as he spoke earnestly, "If you truly wish to leave this place in your heart, perhaps I can help you."
Xu Shuo looked at him curiously, "How can you help me escape from here? Alex, you’re just an ordinary person."
"I am an ordinary person who has traveled to many places, and this castle will not be my last stop," the Traveling Poet said with a smile, lifting the corners of his mouth. "Cerys, you might as well trust me a bit, believe that I really do have a way to take you away."
"All right, I believe you, so what do you want?" Xu Shuo turned to face him, a smile also appearing on her face, her light voice seemingly carrying some guidance and seduction.
"Hmm... how to climb that tower?"
The Traveling Poet paused before continuing.
Xu Shuo followed his gaze towards the Tall Tower at the center of the castle and laughed, "Let’s do such things tomorrow; the night is not suitable for wandering around Prague Castle, especially not for invading my sister’s most important territory."
Hearing this, the Traveling Poet nodded indiscernibly. It seemed he had merely mentioned it casually and wasn’t too fixated on the Tall Tower.
At least, he had already gleaned the girl’s hidden intentions from her words.
Then the Traveling Poet asked, "So about the other thing, the words you didn’t finish during the day, can you tell me now?"
Xu Shuo turned to look at him, their eyes meeting.
"Alex, I can’t say it if you don’t want us both to be discovered by my sister for our secretive actions."
"Then can you take me there?" the Traveling Poet stared at her.
"... Okay."
The girl seemed to hesitate somewhat troubledly, but still nodded her head, picked up her skirt hem, and stepped forward, turning from the exterior wall’s archway into the castle’s interior corridor.
...
The pitch-black night and the moonlight were left behind by the two, with the interior passageways of the castle being enclosed, and only the oil lamps hanging on the pillars offering vision.
The route through the castle was intricate and complex, but the girl had a very targeted approach in weaving through the corridors.
Her dark red dress, stained deeper by the night, blended almost seamlessly with the blood-red flowers that grew in the dark when she passed the pillars entwined with roses, only the pearls on her dress refracting the lamplight with a sparkling glow.
The Traveling Poet followed carefully, watching the girl’s back, his fingers lightly pressing between his eyebrows.
Cerys... Cerys...
Having learned the girl’s name, he felt an inexplicable urge to call it out for some reason.
And when she used that false name for him, a strange flurry arose in his heart; because they had been conversing and calculating before, he had not had the chance to grasp this feeling.
Now, in the silent depths of the castle, with only their subdued footsteps echoing one after the other.
Listening to the rhythmic tapping of the thick-soled shoes made of velvet on the floor, the Traveling Poet’s thoughts began to slowly immerse, reflecting on the events that had just transpired.
As a result, he keenly realized that his previous state was somewhat peculiar.
Was this girl ahead truly an existence to be exploited in this game?
"Alex..."
Suddenly, the calling voice came from ahead again.
The Traveling Poet subconsciously looked up, only to see the girl ahead who had stopped her pace at some point, standing at the end of the corridor with a charming smile, gesturing toward the front to him.
Already there?
The Traveling Poet stepped forward, stood beside the girl, and looked towards the corner. Continue reading at freewebnovel
There were no more passageways ahead, and the black staircase embedded in the corner door was only visible for a few steps near the entrance, the rest sinking into profound darkness.
This staircase did not go up, but down.
Seeing this, the Traveling Poet then looked back at the corridor’s arched stained-glass window, the view outside vaguely visible through the elaborate carvings—the Prague Castle’s Tall Tower now almost level with their sight line.
He remembered that they had been going up just earlier.
The staircase behind that door, judging by its slope, was almost vertical downward, and considering the height of the entire castle, one could already estimate the length of this staircase.
So, the words the girl had meant to say before were not "upstairs" but "downstairs"?
Hmm...indeed very strange.
The Traveling Poet thought it puzzling for quite some time.
Seeing the girl in front of him staring intently at him, he thought for a moment and then said, "The architect who designed this castle really was a genius, though he should have given more thought to the ladies’ thick-soled shoes."
So why not simply have the stairs going down start on the first floor?
After reaching the top level, one has to then spend the effort to descend the stairs to the very bottom—it indeed feels like having too much time on one’s hands with nothing better to do.
"Pfft..."
The girl chuckled at his sarcastic remark.
Xu Shuo slightly lifted the corners of her mouth, showing him the way before turning around to head back, while saying, "You just need to remember this place. Not many people come here, except for sister."
The Traveling Poet watched the door, discreetly slapped the wall, and affixed a small object onto it.
Then he turned around and followed the girl back, asking, "Is it very dangerous inside?"
"If you haven’t run into...sister, there shouldn’t be any danger. I can’t really talk about what it is specifically, but it’s a place of great importance to sister," Xu Shuo hesitantly said.
"More important than the Tall Tower?"
"Although I’ve never been to the Tall Tower, I don’t think it’s all that important. After all, that’s just where sister lives. I don’t think any lady would like others barging into her room."
"Emmm..."
The Traveling Poet seemed very keen on barging in.
The Tall Tower and the door with the staircase behind it were almost in parallel positions, not far from each other, but there was no connecting corridor between the two, not even a flying buttress that connected to the outer wall. They seemed to be two distinct places.
Yet, they were both enigmatic and inaccessible, and not far apart.
So there must be a connection between them!
...
Having returned to the city wall the way they came, the Traveling Poet stood at a distance gazing at those two spots, then noticed that the place where the door was seemed to also be a palace building.
However, when they had passed through the corridor earlier, they had not seen any grand entrance that would allow one to enter the palace, nor were there any external windowsills.
Besides that black side door hidden in the corner with stairs behind it, it was a completely sealed palace.
The Traveling Poet furrowed his brows and couldn’t quite figure out the purpose of that place for the time being.
But thinking deeply about the words the girl hadn’t finished during the day—the implication was that the door leading downstairs could be a way out of Prague Castle?
Why does it seem so unreliable?
Xu Shuo watched him, tilted her head, and said, "Alex, can you tell me what you’re thinking about?"
"Um..."
The name called out by the girl echoed again in the Traveling Poet’s mind, sending a tremor through his thoughts.
After regaining his composure, he gazed at the girl in front of him and suddenly asked, "Cerys, you mentioned before that you’ve heard my name somewhere?"
Xu Shuo blinked: "Maybe."
"Do you remember where you heard it?" the Traveling Poet pressed.
"Um...at sister’s?"
Xu Shuo said it seriously yet innocently and then successfully saw a subtle change in the Traveling Poet’s eyes, confirming to herself—this fellow truly was a simpleton who knew nothing at all.
So your outward calmness is just because of your poker face, right?
...
