The moment they stepped onto the solid floor, Helene slipped nimbly out of Angel's arms. She used straightening her clothes as an excuse to move away, only to stop under the influence of the charm Angel deliberately exuded and edge hesitantly back toward her.
"We're here."
Angel feigned indifference, but inwardly she was delighted. Even her low spirits over her brief separation from Klein had improved somewhat.
Only then did Helene realize that they were not on Trier's bustling streets, but in the hall of an old-fashioned castle. Expensive crystal chandeliers hung overhead, thick, patterned dark-red carpets covered the floor, and a winding staircase leading to the high-ceilinged second-floor gallery was inlaid with gold leaf that gleamed beneath the lights.
Is this... the family's Red Swan Castle in Trier? Helene immediately recognized the hall, and her expression changed.
When she had first become a Beyonder, she had been told to keep away from this ancient castle whenever possible, lest the bloodline curse gradually turn her violent and vicious, eventually driving her mad until she wandered into the depths of the underground labyrinth one night and vanished without a trace.
Apart from certain members of the main branch who yearned to restore the Sauron Family's glory, the other Saurons had all left the ancestral castle. Yet this merely reduced the chances of "madness"; it could not completely eliminate the curse in their blood. From time to time, Helene heard of members of family branches living elsewhere who had gone missing.
Helene's indecision over whether to distance herself from Angel, who kept getting handsy with her, was instantly replaced by panic. Frowning, she looked around at the paintings and ornaments and said softly:
"Miss Angelica, we should leave first. This place is actually..."
"Red Swan Castle. I know," Angel said with a