𝕳𝖔𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖘𝖘 - (Ranboo)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟏

After so long without a warm fulfilling meal, and surprisingly; sweet goods, Hertha felt fulfilled. Well at first it felt weird, then relieving, then pleasurable and then, finally, fulfilling. The cake was extraordinary - soft and fragile. The purple liquid (also known as chorus juice) was sweet and tangy, with a slightly salty and earthy aftertaste. When Hertha finished her meal, she cleaned up. It was what she was used to, as a maids for a large portion of her life, she cleaned behind meals; as a daughter of an overworked and barely around mother, she did a lot of the chores around the house.

Of course, it was insisted that she didn't - but she persisted and pushed that she should, it was like second nature to her after all. But after, she finally got to appreciate the castle with Ranboo by her side.

The whole castle was made of different quartz, some more stained-white than others. Not that it was too much of an issue, Hertha realised that the majority of the castle was a magical periwinkle. It occasionally made a gradient to an icy green, which appealed to Hertha. There were carvings on every wall, floral sculptures and large stairs leading to halls of archways, carved with pillars and vines into the stone. On the stair railings there were tiny sculptures of people - or just humans - mimicking sliding or trying to climb up the smooth slope. In an almost comedic fashion, it endeared Hertha as she picked up her dress and rushed up a flight of stairs to look around the halls more. She reached a section of the castle tinted blue from their uniquely blue lanterns, and it ended up being darker than the other, unlit hallways. It still matched the barren walls, only flamboyantly decorated with statues of whoever it was and more floral and snake carvings, yet it seemed more crowded with the lanterns. But it was so gorgeous, an otherworldly construction Hertha would have adored to stay at.

She spoke excitedly about the place with Ranboo, who offered facts and little details about the place to further fuel the stimulation Hertha received being in such an architecturally intricate edifice. Hertha found out the castle was always coloured to reflect the northern lights naturally, but because of the quartz and the glass openings nearly everywhere in the castle, when the aurora borealis actually occurred - they reflected into the castle and created an indoor light show. Ranboo went on to explain how it was linked to scattered reflection and the snow, as well as the natural phenomena not being a matter of light, but harmless radiation which collapsed and once again bounced into the castle. The castle was tinted the way it was because of radiation from the sun constantly reflecting off of the white, marble and quartz walls. It would go on to explain why people were surprised how much warmer the castle was in the cold - granted it wasn't by much at all, and naturally, Antarctica was colder than its polar opposite. But there was constant energy creating something slightly below "only just" cold. But the place was still freezing.

Some openings and railings were lined with different flowers. But Hertha didn't mind not seeing flowers - spending so much time in the wild made it feel like the norm. Which, in a way, it was. After their adventures, they both roamed until Hertha reached her room. Ranboo followed her in and watched her stand by the vanity.

He wanted to say a few things. Unlike Hertha, his mind raced with questions. The question of how long she was staying, where she came and where she went, was she okay - any long lasting injuries, and where his cloak was. Also where her ring necklace was. It wasn't around her neck.

The only thing Hertha could think of was how she was offered sleeping next to him; "say, Ranboo... I want to know - were you comfortable with whatever-her-name-was sleeping next to you?" She asked while pulling a chair to sit at the vanity by.

"Huh? Oh her! Uh... yeah I didn't mind. I could trust her and myself." He thought about it and scratched the back of his neck.

"You didn't mind, but were you comfortable?" She repeated as she pulled a brush out of the drawer and began running it through her hair calmly.