The silence permeating the room had begun to prick at Eric. He fixed his gaze on Len's bowed face, which was still trapped in the whirlpool of his own memories. "Len..."
Eric's voice echoed off the corridor walls. "Aren't you going to say something? I asked you... what exactly happened?"
Len lifted his heavy eyelids with visible effort. He puckered his lips, making a feigned face as if trying to dismiss something utterly trivial. "Just... because. I just forgot," he said in a very light tone, but the slight tremor in his voice told a different story.
A mischievous smile surfaced on Eric's face. He stepped closer to Len with measured strides, so close that Len could feel the weight of his presence. "Really?" Eric tilted his head slightly and whispered while looking directly into Len's eyes. "Did truly nothing happen?"
For a moment, Len locked his golden eyes with Eric's deep crimson ones. He felt Eric's gaze piercing through his lie. In a panic, he averted his eyes and said quickly, changing the subject, "Let's head downstairs now. I'm... I'm very hungry."
Before Eric could utter another question, Len reached out and grabbed his hand. He didn't give Eric a chance to recover and began striding toward the door. There was a peculiar franticness in Len's pace, as if he wanted to flee from that room and those memories as fast as possible.
Eric felt the grip of Len's fingers on his wrist. He watched Len's tense shoulders and this childish haste. That mischievous smile on his lips deepened, and he followed behind Len without any resistance, knowing full well that there was something Len was hiding from him.
As they reached the heavy, ornate doors, Len loosened his grip on Eric's wrist. He reached forward, firmly grasping the cold brass handle and pulling it toward him. The doors opened with a faint groan, and the two of them stepped out from the stifling air of the closed room into the cool draft of the corridor.
Right beside the threshold, the handmaid, standing like a shadow, lowered her gaze. Len's pace still carried its familiar briskness; as he walked, he turned his head and tossed a friendly smile toward the servant. His eyes held that effortless spark that often won over strangers.
But Eric? He walked beside Len like a slab of stone. As he passed the handmaid, not a single muscle in his face twitched. His crimson eyes were fixed straight ahead, as if for him, there was no one else in that corridor but the walls.
His indifference was so profound that the handmaid almost ceased to feel her own presence.
Only when the sound of their footsteps faded at the turn of the hallway did the handmaid take a long breath.
She raised her head and looked at the open door Len had just left ajar. Without a single footfall, she moved toward that emptiness and quietly slipped inside the chamber, where the air still bore witness to the presence of the two boys.
Len and Eric were now deep within a labyrinth of endless corridors, reminiscent of an ancient epic. The architecture of the palace was so vast that looking up made the ceiling heights feel blurred and distant. Around them, heavy silk curtains of deep crimson and gold cascaded toward the floor like regal waterfalls.
The air held a blend of subtle coolness and a fragrance found only within the walls of centuries-old empires.
The brilliance of 'Ether Sapphires' was scattered throughout the hallways. The blue and white light emanating from the corners and ceilings provided a magical clarity to everything.
This light was not flickering like yellow torches but was as cool and pure as moonlight, hitting the marble paths and making them shimmer like mirrors. At every turn, the artifacts and carved pillars looked even more magnificent and mysterious under that sapphire glow.
As they pressed on, the width of the corridors increased. Eventually, they reached the massive, sweeping staircases that led toward the heart of the palace. The expanse of the stairs was so grand that ten riders could easily pass side-by-side. Len began his descent without even touching the railing, and Eric followed behind him, bathed in that blue radiance.
With every step, the light from above dimmed while the bustle and intensity of the 'Main Hall' below grew stronger. Leaving the heights of the palace behind, they were now moving toward the central hub from where the entire kingdom's power was channeled.
As soon as Len and Eric stepped off the final tread of the staircase, the grandeur of the Main Hall unfolded before them. Beside the tall, intricately carved pillars, groups of handmaids stood stationed like an organized queue.
Their presence lent a royal dignity to the surrounding silence. Len and Eric moved without hesitation toward the massive silk sofa in the center of the hall, sinking into its plush heights.
At that moment, two handmaids standing nearby approached them with great elegance. One of them, whose eyes held a familiar spark—having been part of a game with Len just yesterday—couldn't suppress her smile. She leaned in closer, bowing toward Len with great tenderness.
"Young Master," she asked in a voice as sweet as honey, "what may I bring for your morning breakfast?"
Len narrowed his eyes and replied with an innocent grin, "I... I just want something sweet!"
Eric, who sat as straight as a stone statue on the sofa, remained utterly silent. The handmaid turned her gaze toward him, but the depth of Eric's crimson eyes made her falter for a second. "And for you, Young Master?" she asked hesitatingly.
"Anything will do for me," Eric replied in a very dry and flat voice, without even looking at her. The coldness in his words left the handmaid with no courage to ask further. Both handmaids bowed in respect and hurried toward the dining chambers.
As soon as they vanished, Eric turned his head, wanting to read Len's face, which was glowing with the joy of getting his favorite treat. Eric's lips were just about to part to say something when Len suddenly leaped from his seat.
"You stay here, I'll be right back!" Len whispered. Before Eric could stop him, Len began running in the same direction the handmaids had gone. The thud of his footsteps and his mischievous agility created a strange stir in the silence of the hall, leaving Eric staring at his retreating figure.