"Be honest… You just don't want to leave the tower, do you?"

Beneath the soaring dome, golden drapes cascaded like frozen sunlight. Sixty-six steps of translucent marble rose in tiers, broken every ten steps by a wide landing. Each platform was paved with a different variety of jade, their layers distinct and extravagantly arranged. The stone's restrained hues only served to sharpen the palace's cold grandeur.

At the hall's highest, deepest point stood a wide, soft bed, shrouded within layers of silk.

The palace was devoid of life, yet the space itself felt heavy, constantly evoking the phantom image of a thousand sorcerer-ministers kneeling in silent submission. When the wind swept through the halls and stirred the curtains, sunlight flooded in, illuminating the black-and-white twin serpents tangled upon the bed.

White Queen lay drowsily in Black Witch's embrace. Hearing the question, she instinctively shook her head. "How could I… not want to…"

"Of course you don't," Black Witch murmured, her fingers gently massaging the Queen's temples. "We were sisters born with the sole purpose to escape, but that does not mean we truly desire it. The tower is our prison, yes, but it is also our home, our warmest sanctuary."

Black Witch leaned down, her dark tresses...