So far, Erhard’s words have been proven true. Whether it is thanks to the necklace or not, at least the ghosts only stare at him and do nothing as Cenric passes through the haunted forest. His dim lamp barely lights up what is in front of him by a metre. The compass keeps swinging right, left, yet it remains strangely accurate at each turn and crossroads. It does not point straight when the path only allows for left or right turns, and it does not budge at all when the path ahead is straight.

‘This is definitely not a compass,’ Cenric thinks as he turns right, following the ‘compass’ he is holding.

Cenric has been walking for a few hours, only stopping twice when he gets too hungry, to eat some bread given by Erhard along with the lamp. As he reaches the end of the forest, he emerges into a vast field with a small tower ahead. At a glance, the tower seems like the stargazing towers often used by Erhard. He knows that some of those towers are built across Valria, but that’s it. He never considers that someone might actually be guarding it, or even living inside. 

Another cold breeze passes by. Cenric lets out a deep sigh, still in disbelief of what has happened to him. Overnight, his world has been overturned. He wants to punch Nicola at least thrice. At the same time, his heart does not want to believe that Nicola is the one behind this. He wants to believe that Nicola is also a victim, hoping that Nicola is trying to persuade his father to revoke his public execution. On top of that, his heart still wants to believe in the man he considered a father. He wants to go back, to scream the fact that he did not acquire the perfume himself. Then, he remembers what Nicola said about the forest, about how it is haunted, and nobody ever comes out alive. Half of it was a lie – he just managed to step out safely from the haunted forest.

‘Maybe I should have asked Erhard instead.’

Cenric approaches the tower’s only door. He knocks. Once, twice, no answer. He tries to open the door and fails because it is locked. However, it would not be a problem to him if the tower is actually empty. No one would know he is there, which is a favorable possibility for him.

Taking a few steps back, Cenric prepares to break down the door using his body. He dashes forward with full power, not expecting the door to actually open. A loud thud accompanies the moment Cenric falls as he crashes into whoever is in his path. After rolling away to distance himself from the person still on the floor, he stands up and offers his hand while apologizing.

“Why did you do that? Who the hell are you?”

The girl slaps Cenric’s hand away, stands up by herself and brushes some dust off her clothes. As awkward silence lingers between them, Cenric assesses the girl. She appears to be in her early twenties and has purple hair. The particular color prompts Cenric to try to catch a glimpse of her eyes, which also turn out to be purple. The revelation raises a question in his mind. Until that day, he has never encountered anyone else with purple eyes other than himself.

“I thought this place was empty. I am-”

“The messenger from Erhard.”

Cenric’s answer is interrupted by the sudden voice of an old woman, who is walking down the spiral stairs slowly. He furrows his eyebrows, all because he knows the face and the voice of the old woman perfectly.

“Benetta?”

The old woman laughs, and replies, “Benette. Benetta is my twin. I assume you know her?”

Cenric nods in response. They may be twins, but they are quite far apart, not only in terms of where they live. Benetta comes across as cold, while all Cenric can see in Benette is a friendly, warm old woman. Moreover, Benetta’s dull red eyes make her look somewhat intimidating with her white hair, whereas Benette has blue, shining eyes. 

Benette leads the way, asking Cenric to follow her to the highest floor of the tower. When they reach the highest floor, Benette shows Cenric to a room with only a creaky bed, a large window without glass panes, a small wardrobe, and a suspicious-looking bucket. The room is usually illuminated by the moon, but it is now enveloped in darkness, made even more terrifying by the eerie red light seeping in from the reddish, dark sky outside.

“Please rest. It must have been tiring to come from such a far place. You can use the towel and water in the bucket to clean up. Some clothes are inside the wardrobe. Ilze will bring you some bread tonight.”

Cenric simply nods, lost in thoughts as he learns something from the explanation.

'So, her name is Ilze.'