Chapter 2

“I choose to tell a secret.” I stared at the golden hourglass on the wall, speaking as fast as I could.

Kyle didn’t get angry after I pushed him away.

He merely folded his arms and watched me with leisurely amusement.

“Fine. You first. Let’s hear what earth-shattering secret a woman who thinks of nothing but gold coins and alchemy formulas could possibly have.”

I drew a deep breath and shouted into the empty chamber, “My secret is that when I was ten, I shaved all the hair off Baron Thorne’s favorite purebred stallion’s tail and used it as a potion ingredient!”

Silence filled the white chamber.

A few seconds later—

【Beep. Attempt unsuccessful. The secret failed to provoke a sufficient emotional response from the other challenger.】

“That’s it?” Kyle scoffed. “That horse ran around the estate with a bald tail for two weeks. I figured out ages ago that you did it. Vesper, could you at least make a sincere effort?”

“Shut up!” I snapped, humiliated.

【Penalty for failed attempt: Level One electric shock.】

The instant the voice stopped, a faint but piercing current surged through my entire body.

“Ah!” My legs gave out, sending me pitching forward.

The pain I expected never came. Instead, I fell into a hard, warm chest.

Kyle caught me securely. His brows drew tight, and a flicker of barely perceptible panic crossed his eyes.

“You idiot. Can’t you even stay on your feet?” he growled, though the arm around my waist held me firmly.

I pushed him away and gritted my teeth.

What the hell were this cube’s standards?

“Your turn.” Still breathless, I glared at him. “Tell me one of yours.”

Kyle looked at me, and his eyes suddenly became unfathomably deep.

The usual mocking, devil-may-care expression vanished from his face. His entire demeanor turned cold and oppressive.

“My secret is…” He paused, his voice so low it sounded as though he were suppressing immense pain.

I held my breath.

“Three years ago, on the night Baron Thorne broke your leg and locked you in the ice dungeon on the eastern outskirts, leaving you to nearly freeze to death…” Kyle spoke each word slowly and distinctly.

My pupils contracted.

That had been the darkest night of my life. Because I refused to surrender the patent for an alchemical formula I had developed to my stepsister, Elara, my adoptive father, Baron Thorne, locked me inside a dungeon where the temperature was twenty degrees below freezing.

If a mysterious stranger hadn’t knocked the guards unconscious and left a high-grade heat-regulating rune and a bottle of supreme healing potion in my cell, I would have died that night.

I had always assumed some kindhearted servant had taken pity on me.

“I was the one who knocked out the guards and left you the rune and the potion.” Kyle looked me straight in the eyes. His voice was calm, but every word landed with undeniable force.

My mind went blank.

“That’s impossible…” I denied it instinctively.

Three years ago, Kyle had been the proud heir of House Thorne. He mocked me every day and never once offered a hand while the baron oppressed me. How could he possibly have—

“At a time like this, you’re still deliberately telling lies just to take advantage of me?” I stared hard at him.

“Vesper, do you have troll shit for brains?!” Kyle stormed a step closer. “You think I’d risk my life just to take advantage of you?! ”

“Do you have any idea what would have happened if the baron had discovered that I went to the dungeon that night? I would’ve been stripped of my inheritance and thrown out of the family!”

“The high-grade heat-regulating rune was carved from a third-tier fire crystal. There was a tiny sword-and-shield emblem on the back,” Kyle added coldly. “That’s my personal mark. You melted it down and made it into a necklace afterward, didn’t you?”

My hand flew to my chest, where that very necklace hung.

It really had been him.

Not only had he saved me, but he had always known I kept the rune close to my heart.

【Beep. Secret accepted. Target’s emotional response has reached its peak.】

【First-layer spatial restriction lifted. Preparing to return challengers to the real world.】

White light flared once more.

A second before we were transported out, I looked at Kyle’s stern face, overwhelmed by a tangle of emotions.

“Why?” I whispered.

“We’ve fought each other since we were kids.” Kyle’s voice sounded distant in the white light. “How could I stand by and watch someone else kill you?”

The next second, we were back in the potion laboratory.

Everything looked as though nothing had happened.

But I knew something between us had changed forever.