After traveling for half a month, the first batch of warriors finally reached the demon city. The refugees looked like they had seen divine messengers, offering everything they could gather. The knights distributed food and clothing to those suffering from hunger and poverty.
After a brief rest, the knights fought their way through, killing monsters in the demon’s forest, charging up the hundred-step stairs to the demon’s lair. The drawbridge was raised high, separating the warriors from the demon’s gate. Thunderous water sounds echoed from below, causing the faint-hearted to tremble.
Some hesitated and returned to camp outside the city, while more chose to charge directly in.
The rusty red gate was forcibly smashed open and then closed with a dull sound.
The muffled sound reached Nelly’s ears. She blinked and looked around, seeming somewhat bewildered. Stepping barefoot on the cold stone floor, she paused again, looking down at the silk dress’s folds and furrowing her brow, as if trying to recall something.
But she quickly gave up, walking to the wall and instinctively searching for the source of the sound. This was a room without a door, and despite identifying the location of the disturbance, she had no way to investigate.
Faint clanging sounds could be heard, then everything fell silent again. Fortunately, she seemed only momentarily curious and soon shifted her attention.
The long, pointed windows overlooking the valley under the dark red sky resembled a beast’s back, massive and silent. Nelly quietly gazed at this inexplicably melancholic scene, something stirring in her heart. But this dissonant feeling quickly disappeared, melting into the light, warm embrace surrounding her.
She clearly didn’t need to think.
Crow flocks circled in the sky, endlessly turning. Nelly’s gaze involuntarily followed the black birds crossing the mountain waist, flying to the valley’s end, and finally returning to the original point.
She didn’t know why, but the perfect circle drawn by their wings made her feel powerless and sad.
One raven broke away from the group, exciting her. She watched the tiny dot intently, becoming a small black mole slowly sinking on the blood-red sunset.
At that moment, Nelly felt like that raven breaking through invisible constraints, flying towards the sunset, her wings consumed by the scorching flames, yet gaining new life.
Her expressionless figure standing in the sunset resembled a doll bathed in stained glass light. She pushed open the window, and cool wind rushed in, tousling her hair. Her fingers reached through the window’s gaps, touching the early summer evening breeze. She opened the window wider, leaning out and looking down.
The smooth castle exterior extended downward, ending in an unseen abyss.
What would it feel like to fall?
The thought was cut off as soon as it sprouted. Someone approached from behind, arms encircling her waist, gripping tightly.
Kar whispered near her ear, “What are you looking at?”
Nelly realized her body had cooled in the evening wind, and the chest pressed against her back felt burning. She instinctively shrank forward, but he held her tightly from behind, his lips trailing from her ear downward.
“Nothing,” Nelly’s voice was barely audible.
Kar laughed softly.
The wide-open window creaked, spreading until the window axis nearly broke. He changed positions, lifting Nelly horizontally and sitting on the windowsill.
He held her on his lap, his feet dangling outside the window, heels occasionally tapping the castle wall.
Sitting high up, facing the endless expanse, Nelly clung to Kar’s shoulders and chest. Her arms naturally wrapped around his neck. Where their skin touched was warm, but the parts exposed to the wind were cold.
After a moment of panic, Nelly grew bold, looking towards the chasm nearly swallowed by night. Her heartbeat quickened, unsure if it was due to the height or being overwhelmed by Kar’s presence.
She turned and looked up at him.
The descending night softened the youth’s profile, his eyes illuminated by the last rays of the setting sun, a fierce red that seared into her heart. Carl leaned down to kiss her. It was a delicate and lingering kiss, unusually lacking in aggression. Nelly was compliant, not resisting, letting out rapid sounds between their lips, low like a sigh.
But this emotion did not reach her eyes; Carl caught a glimpse of the color beneath her eyelashes, calm like an undisturbed lake, giving him the illusion of kissing a doll. He stopped his actions, speaking with restrained and cold precision: “Hold on tight.” Nelly stared at him in confusion. The next moment, Carl pushed back with his foot and jumped from the windowsill with her in his arms.
Nelly opened her mouth but didn’t even manage a scream. They rapidly descended. Strangely, once she came to her senses, she didn’t feel afraid. The surrounding mountains stretched and distorted in her vision, absurd like a nightmare. Only the person holding her was a tangible reality. This thought flashed through Nelly’s mind, casting a brief unsettling shadow on her heart’s lake before vanishing. She pressed half her face against Carl’s chest and closed her eyes to feel the fall.
The downward momentum suddenly slowed. Nelly opened her eyes to see black wings. She looked at the horns growing from Carl’s hair, her gaze finally settling on the golden ring in his red eyes. Even in demon form, the youth’s beauty was undiminished; these slightly dangerous features even added to his charm. They stopped mid-air, Carl looking at her with an unfathomable expression. “What’s wrong?” Nelly questioned, clutching his clothing.
This dependent little gesture instantly softened Carl’s gaze. He smiled slightly: “Do you like it?” Nelly was stunned. Carl didn’t wait for her response, just gently kissed her forehead before spreading his demon wings. They soared against the wind, circling Schloss several times before passing through the flying curtains back to the doorless room. Almost immediately, Carl was upon her. His passion tonight was different, each movement like a probe, wanting to uncover all of Nelly’s thoughts, seeking reassurance. Nelly didn’t understand his change. Soon she had no time to think. Before certain things, logic and reason were mere sand washed away by the tide. Dizzying waves receded, then surged back, like a tidal peak under the moon’s seduction, churning with restlessness, anxiety, and desire. The youth’s slightly husky voice called her name by her ear. Each syllable from his mouth was imbued with breathtaking warmth, spreading with his breath, burning into a sea of fire. Nelly’s mind went blank, a brief moment of clarity causing her to shiver. She then became uncertain: the chill had another source. She struggled to organize her scattered thoughts, focusing on her wrist. The smooth silver shackle reflected a blurry figure, dazzling and cold. Carl covered her again, his disheveled hair ends sliding to his brow, adding a misty gray shadow to his already deep eyes.
