"What if you let go of me, Ahwin?"

"Even if I do, you won’t fall."

"But it’s cold outside. It’s snowing, and the wind is strong…"

Penelope’s list of excuses grew longer, but Ahwin merely shook his head and gently took her hand.

The moment he touched her, her body lifted effortlessly off the ground, and the air around her grew warm. It was magic.

"Oh? It’s… not cold at all?"

Penelope looked around in amazement. Ahwin gave her a mischievous yet strangely tender smile.

"Let’s go together. It’s boring by myself."

"…Fine. But don’t let go of me, okay?"

In the end, Penelope agreed. Her curiosity about magic had outweighed her fear of falling.

Without waiting for her to fully steel herself, Ahwin grabbed her hand and leapt out the window. Penelope had no time to prepare.

"Ahhh! Oh my goodness!"

Penelope felt her heart drop to her stomach. Her body was soaring through the air!

‘There’s nothing under my feet! Is… is this normal?!’

The sensation of floating thanks to magic was utterly foreign to her. It felt as if her blood was rushing backward through her veins.

As they ascended higher, the snow fell more heavily, and Penelope, overcome with fear, clung tightly to Ahwin’s neck.

Ahwin looked mildly flustered.

"Stay still. Even if I let go, you won’t fall."

"I-I’m scared! What kind of person does this without warning? You scared me!"

"Why are you so startled? It’s not like I kidnapped you without saying anything."

"Ugh! Ahwin, you really need to understand how normal people feel!"

Penelope hugged his neck even tighter, causing Ahwin to let out a quiet groan.

After what felt like an eternity, the strange, gravity-defying movement finally stopped. Ahwin’s feet touched down on the top of the castle tower, and he gently set Penelope down.

"You can let go now. Stop choking me."

"Is it… safe now?"

Tentatively opening her eyes, Penelope glanced around, only for her jaw to drop in awe.

"Wow…!"

The view from the top of the tower was breathtaking. The Halo territory stretched out before her in stunning detail, a scene of unparalleled beauty.

Inside the inner walls, red-roofed houses clustered together like a cozy patchwork, interspersed with evergreen trees, chapels, and meeting halls. A frozen white river cut through the land, and beyond the outer walls, the vast northern forest unfolded.

"It’s so beautiful!"

Penelope was deeply moved. She had never realized how magnificent her home truly was.

Ahwin stole a glance at her. She was gazing out at the distant forest, her eyes sparkling with wonder.

As he had expected, she loved it.

‘This should repay the favor, right?’

Ahwin had wanted to offer her a gesture of gratitude. The moment Penelope had comforted him would stay with him for a long time, and he wanted to give her a moment just as memorable.

Penelope, now fixated on the forest, asked curiously, "There are monsters in that forest, right?"

"Why? Do you want to see them for yourself?"

The way he said it, he seemed ready to fly them straight into the forest if she said yes.

Penelope quickly shook her head.

"No way. Monsters are huge, disgusting, and they hunt and eat people viciously."

"By that logic, humans aren’t much different."

"You’re ridiculous. How are humans anything like monsters?"

"You really don’t understand humans, do you?"

Ahwin chuckled faintly. Penelope narrowed her eyes, muttering complaints under her breath. He sure knows how to ruin a moment.

But soon enough, the breathtaking sight of the vast forest captivated her again. She turned to Ahwin, a hint of envy in her voice.

"You’re lucky. You get to see views like this all the time."

"Not really. Any view gets boring if you see it often enough."

"Do you always have to act so indifferent about everything? Then why did you even bring me up here?"

"Because I thought you’d—ah."

Mid-sentence, Ahwin’s expression hardened, his playful demeanor vanishing. His lips curled into a cold smile.

"Hah. Would you look at that?"

Staring toward the forest with icy eyes, he muttered something Penelope couldn’t hear clearly.

"…What is it? Is something wrong?" she asked.

Ahwin turned to her, his tone sharp. "Get the soldiers ready. Though I doubt that ragtag bunch will be of much use."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Penelope’s eyes widened in alarm as she tried to make sense of his words.

Without looking at her, Ahwin continued, his gaze fixed on the outer walls.

"Someone has breached the barrier."

***

One hour earlier, Lian found himself in an increasingly precarious situation.

Every step he took through the shin-deep snow felt like it was pulling him down, dragging his energy to the ground. His arms and legs were covered in cuts and bruises.

His guards were no better off.

They were being hunted by monsters.

Of course, it hadn’t started that way. Initially, they had been the hunters.

‘We shouldn’t have come out to hunt monsters in the dead of winter.’

Regret swept over Lian as he replayed his decision. He had only intended to clear his mind and had brought minimal equipment for what he thought would be a simple hunt. The suffocating weight of his recent failures had left him desperate for distraction.

When he first spotted monster tracks in the snow, his blood surged with anticipation. It had been too long since he’d hunted a monster.

But the creatures had lured him deeper into the forest.

‘To think they would set a trap for us.’

Starving after a long winter, the monsters had grown dangerously cunning.

The pack had led them in circles, their tracks weaving a false trail that concealed traps buried under the snow. Lian’s group had lost three guards to those hidden pitfalls. Lian himself had narrowly avoided falling into one.

The chaos startled their horses, which bolted into the forest, leaving them stranded. The guards, now desperate, dragged their lord away from the scene. What had started as a reckless excursion had turned into a disaster.

It wasn’t until much later that they realized they were lost.

By then, the roles had reversed. The monsters had become the predators, and Lian and his guards were the prey.

‘If only they’d show themselves, I could cut them down easily.’

But the monsters were too clever for that. They concealed their presence, waiting patiently for their human prey to succumb to the cold or exhaustion.

‘To wait for their prey to starve… What a revolting way to hunt.’

It had become a battle of patience and endurance. The eerie silence of the winter forest weighed heavily on even the bravest knights. Adding to their fear was the undeniable truth: their supplies had run out.

As absurd as it seemed, their greatest fear wasn’t the monsters, nor bandits, but starvation.

Lian couldn’t even muster a laugh at the thought of starving to death.

‘At this rate, it might be better to die than live as a laughingstock.’

He let out a bitter scoff.

At that moment, one of his knights spoke.

"My lord, I sense faint mana ahead."

"I sense it too," Lian replied, keeping his guard up.

Two guards took the lead, stepping cautiously ahead of their lord. It was their duty to ensure his safety, even at the cost of their own lives.

"It’s a mana stone barrier!" one of the knights shouted.

Lian struggled to believe his ears.

A mana stone barrier, here, in the middle of the northern forest?

It made no sense unless some malevolent high-ranking demon had placed it there.

"Do not let your guard down," Lian ordered.

His guards, tense with anticipation, unsheathed their swords. Lian moved forward slowly, brushing aside branches obscuring his view.

"It’s a barricade. Human-made, without a doubt."

Even before his knight could confirm it, Lian let out a sigh of relief.

In the distance, he saw the outer walls of a settlement. They had clearly been constructed by human hands.

It seemed they had wandered into the outskirts of a small northern fiefdom.

"There are knights approaching! They must be from the territory."

Sure enough, a group of mounted knights was riding toward them at full speed.

Lian’s guards quickly moved to shield him.

The lead knight of the approaching group shouted, "Who goes there? Identify yourselves!"

"We were hunting and lost our way," Lian responded promptly.

Halo’s knight captain, Sir Cain, couldn’t hide his disbelief.

‘Hunting? In the middle of winter? Are these people insane?’

At the rear of the group, Penelope turned to Ahwin with a puzzled look.

"What did that man just say?"

"You didn’t hear? That fool said he was out hunting."

"Hunting? In the middle of winter? In that forest, of all places? The only things out there right now are monsters!"

When Penelope asked in bewilderment, Ahwin clicked his tongue.

"He must be crazy. Clearly a lunatic."