CHAPTER XXV
"Where the Heart Begins to Know"
The road ahead was going to be even more difficult — that much I was sure of.
But somehow… with the stranger by my side, the path no longer felt impossible.
She didn't speak much. And when she did, her voice carried a strange edge — sharp, almost irritated, like she didn't want to care… but did anyway.
She looked at me like I was a puzzle she didn't ask for, a complication she didn't need.
And yet…
There was something in her presence that calmed the war inside me.
Something in the way she moved — quiet but powerful — that made me feel like I was finally safe, not because I was protected… but because I was understood.
I didn't know who she truly was. I didn't know why she jumped into fire for me.
But as we walked — step by step across the narrow ledge that separated life from death — I couldn't help but glance at her.
Again and again.
The way the light caught the tips of her black hair.
The way her gaze never lingered long but always came back to check if I was still close.
There was a silent rhythm between us — like a song I didn't know I knew…
but somehow, my heart remembered every note.
And then —
A feeling rose within me.
Soft. Unshakable. Unspoken.
Like my soul whispered something to me that my mind hadn't caught up to yet.
"Ever since you arrived…
I've felt whole."
That's what it was.
It wasn't about the danger. Or the journey. Or the prophecy.
It was about the way her presence filled in the cracks I didn't even know were inside me.
With her beside me, it felt like I was meeting myself — not for the first time, but for the first time truly.
And in that quiet, soul-shaking moment, my heart whispered:
> "Now that you've come into my life…
I finally feel worthy.
Now that you've found me…
even the hardest path feels possible.
Because in every breath…
you are my heartbeat."
I didn't say it out loud.
Not yet.
But the words stayed with me, echoing with every step we took.
And somewhere deep inside…
I knew the truth was slowly blooming between us.
Even if we didn't have the courage to speak it yet.
This wasn't just a journey anymore.
This was the beginning…
of something greater than fate.
"The Third House and the Smile That Meant More"
We had finally arrived at the entrance to the third house.
The air had changed — heavier now, as if even the wind knew we were crossing into something deeper, something more dangerous… something we couldn't walk away from unchanged.
Cael was nowhere in sight.
I had a strange feeling in my chest — a quiet certainty that he had already passed through. He was ahead of us now. Again.
And that left us with a question no one dared ask out loud:
How would we get in?
I stood still, staring at the enormous door, ancient and sealed, pulsing faintly with dormant magic. There were no handles. No spells I could see. Just silence.
Then, out of nowhere, Flash's voice cut through the stillness:
"Cel, look—over there!"
I turned instinctively toward the direction he pointed… but nothing was there.
When I turned back—
The door was open.
Wide. Silent. Welcoming.
My heart skipped a beat.
"What… how did that happen?" I asked, barely a whisper.
Flash didn't respond.
But Chiko, ever the chaotic calm in our group, chuckled and said, "Why does it matter how, Your Highness? The path has opened. Just walk it."
His voice carried a strange lightness, but I couldn't shake the tightness in my chest.
Flash added, "Yeah. Besides, now that we have another princess with us…" — he gave a small, knowing glance toward the silent fairy beside me — "…why should we be afraid of anything?"
I turned to look at her, half-expecting a smile, or even the slightest change in her guarded expression.
What I got instead was something else.
A smile, yes — but not warm.
Not cruel, either.
Just… strange.
Like she was watching something unfold the way one watches a child try to solve a puzzle you've already finished. There was amusement there. Quiet disbelief.
But mostly?
It felt like she was laughing at something I didn't know yet.
A cold shiver ran down my spine — not of fear, but of truth.
They were hiding something from me.
All of them.
Flash, Chiko, even her.
Maybe it was for my protection. Maybe it was for something darker.
I didn't know.
But I could feel it — the veil. The secrets wrapped in smiles and soft lies. The magic curling around my steps like invisible vines.
Was I being pulled into something deeper?
Had this path been chosen… or was I being pushed?
I didn't know who to trust completely.
But what I did know was this:
Despite everything…
Despite the mystery and the questions and the shadows I still couldn't name…
When I stood next to her — the quiet fairy with the black wings and guarded eyes —
I didn't feel scared.
Not once.
In fact…
I felt safer than I ever had.
Like even if the ground disappeared beneath me again…
She would jump after me.
Just like before.
And maybe that was enough.
Maybe that was all I needed to take the next step.
So, I walked through the door.
And the path continued…
But so did the questions.
What lies beyond the third house?
And who — really — is the girl walking beside me?
Because I was starting to think…
That she wasn't a stranger at all.
She was something far more dangerous.
She was mine.
And I…
was hers.
"The House of Truth and Lies"
We had entered the third house.
But this one… felt different from the others.
The air was heavy — not with heat or fire this time — but with something colder, quieter… older.
The moment I stepped inside, it felt like I had wandered into a forest carved from memory and magic. Not a typical house. Not a room. But a vast, surreal jungle, where the grass glowed softly underfoot, and every leaf seemed to whisper things you weren't meant to hear.
Yet despite the lushness around us — the vines, the flowers, the silence — there was only one tree in the entire space.
And it stood at the center.
Tall. Towering. Still.
It looked as though it had seen centuries pass.
And somehow… it also felt like it was watching me.
Before I could take a step further, the black-winged fairy — the same one who had saved me — reached out and pulled me gently forward.
"You're going first," she said, her voice calm but unyielding. "You will answer."
"What do you mean?" I whispered, already tense.
But she didn't reply. She simply stepped back, leaving me exposed in front of the ancient tree.
The tree stirred.
Its branches trembled lightly, and then, to my surprise, it spoke — not in an eerie tone, but one of profound sorrow and knowing.
"Welcome… Princess Celeste of Frosthevan."
I froze.
Hearing my full title like that — spoken by something not quite alive, yet not dead — made my heart skip.
"You stand in the House of Truth and Lies," the tree continued, its deep voice rumbling like old thunder. "This place may look like a forest… but it is not."
I glanced around — the glowing foliage, the curling mists, the quiet stillness — and he was right.
This wasn't a jungle.
It was a test.
And I had just stepped into it.
"You see many plants," the tree said. "Many leaves. Much green."
Then it paused.
"But there is only one tree."
Me.
"I am Ethan."
The name hit me like a spell. "Ethan?" I whispered.
The tree pulsed gently, as if confirming.
"Yes. Ethan. I am here because of betrayal. Someone I trusted… lied to me. And now, I ask the questions — to see if others are any different."
My breath caught. The black-winged fairy hadn't warned me about this.
Ethan — a soul bound to wood and truth, a judge of honesty.
And I would be judged.
"You will be asked three questions," he said, "and you must answer them with complete truth."
His bark glowed faintly now, and the ground beneath my feet warmed.
"If you lie… even once… this house will not let you leave."
I felt my heart thud against my chest.
"I didn't ask to be tested," I murmured.
The tree only chuckled — a sound like creaking bark in the wind.
"No one does."
Then everything went quiet.
The vines stopped moving.
The mist settled.
And the test began.
To be continue....