While the wizard briefly explained the history and security of this place, Rieta glanced at her friend standing next to her.

For some reason, she felt happy.

It’s pretty good when someone remembers my tastes and inclinations.

She never thought Noel would do that.

I thought he was indifferent to everything except about himself.

“And most importantly, don’t walk inside alone.”

Did he know that Rieta wasn’t concentrating? The wizard raised his voice slightly.

“I can’t go alone?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

She wondered if he was trying to get Noel to keep an eye on her, lest Rieta might steal something.

But no matter how poor Liz was, Rieta wouldn’t steal.

“That’s . . .”

The wizard’s wrinkled face was filled with worry.

“It is because there’s an anomaly of unknown cause.”

“Anomaly?”

“Yes. For example, the ‘lady with a jar’ statue at the entrance is said to secretly chase after people wandering alone.”

“. . . ?!”

Finding it unbelievable, Rieta and Noel looked at each other with wide eyes.

However, this was not the wizard’s only mysterious story.

“In the case of the statue of ‘God who reads books’, they said that if it finds a person wandering alone, it will turn a page. Turn over a page made of marble.”

“Why does that happen?!”

“I don’t know. However, they said that if you don’t join someone else before they finish turning the pages, the statue will rise and follow the person walking alone.”

Wasn’t that more like a ghost story that only exists in an old house?

Perhaps finding Rieta’s nervousness interesting, the wizard added another ghost story.

“If you ever get separated, be careful not to look at the portrait. Unless you want to see their eyes move.”

“. . . Uhh.”

Rieta grabbed Noel’s hand tightly.

It was obviously a hot summer, but she felt a chill on her back.

“That’s all you need to be careful about. I hope you enjoy.”

The wizard greeted them with a very satisfied expression and withdrew.

“I guess I should have come with Darrel.”

Rieta muttered, recalling her childhood.

Noel and Rieta were very afraid of ghost stories, and Darrel would soothe them and put them to bed every time.

Thanks to that, no matter how terrifying the ghost story was, Rieta could pick up a little courage if Darrel was there.

“Brother is busy.”

“But Noel, your hands trembled when you heard the wizard’s story.”

Rieta smiled and waved her hand that held him.

“Is Noel scared too?”

“Huh, it’s only children who get scared after hearing ghost stories. Could it be that you are afraid of such a story?”

It was scary, though.

Noel was so sarcastic that it was hard to say for some reason.

“N, no. I’m not scared!”

Thanks to that, she said something very different from the truth.

Actually, she was scared enough to want to run to Darrel right away.

“I only talked about Darrel because I was afraid Noel would scare me.”

“You worry about everything. A statue chasing a person, does that make sense? The same goes for portraits moving their eyes.”

Hearing the words mixed with a slight sneer, Rieta also hurriedly nodded her head.

She didn’t want to come across as a coward to Noel.

“Yes! That’s right. It’s nonsense.”

“Besides, even if it’s actually true, what is with the artwork moving a little?”

“Huh? Uh, uh that’s . . . right.”

Rieta managed to answer, but Noel nodded his head as if he knew that.

“I thought they would be boring too. He must have thought we would be frightened if he said such a thing. To be treated like a child.”

Noel clicked his tongue lightly and let go of Rieta’s hand.

It seemed that the sweat was uncomfortable.

“Let’s go in.”

He put a handkerchief in the palm of his hand and hurried his steps.

Left alone in an instant, Rieta looked around her for a moment.

The hall, which seemed only beautiful to her, looked eerie now.

Both of her shoulders trembled spontaneously.

“Go . . . Go together!”

Rieta ran to Noel’s side in a hurry.

Anyone could see that she was restless, so Noel laughed inside.

Maybe Rieta said that she was ‘okay’ all this time, she did it because she didn’t want to lose to Noel.

However, if Noel pointed it out, this foolish Princess would start to insist stubbornly, so he held out his hand again pretending not to know.

“Hold if you need to.”

“. . . I’m not afraid.”

You idiot, your chin is quivering.

Noel swallowed his words with a laugh.

Rieta’s reaction was interesting, so he wanted to watch it a little longer.

And what he liked more than anything, is that Rieta was glued to Noel and bewildered more than usual.

“Who asked me to hold her hand because of a ghost story?”

He grabbed Rieta’s hand first.

A little while ago, they had been sweating. But it was very cold now.