Chapter 03
“Special ability?”
Isael frowned and asked again.
“What kind of ability is that supposed to be?”
“Clairvoyance.”
“Clair… voyance?”
“Yeah. I used it to see that the princess is trapped on the bottom floor.”
When I said that confidently, Isael retorted as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
“Clairvoyance? Hah… I’ve never heard of such an ability existing.”
“Then how do you think I saw the princess at the very bottom of the tower?”
“Because everything you’re saying right now is a bunch of made-up lies.”
Isael spoke with a cold voice.
“You probably lied about seeing my sister too.”
“No, why on earth would I lie to you right now?”
“Well—”
He glared at me fiercely, lips twitching as if he was about to say something, then shut his mouth.
I looked straight into his eyes and said,
“I’m not lying. It’s true.”
And it wasn’t strange at all that I knew the princess’s face.
Because my brother was Dominic Grace, heir to a marquisate, playmate of the First Prince, and his childhood friend.
I had indeed followed Dominic into the palace often since I was little.
Though I had never met the princess nor this guy in the palace, of course.
I had met the First Prince a few times, even talked with him, but I had never seen this Second Prince Isael or Princess Beatrice.
Earlier, he claimed he had seen me before, which was unexpected, but for me, this tower was the first time seeing him.
Still, he had no way of knowing whether my words were lies or not.
That was what mattered.
“Blond hair like mine, blue eyes. I saw her clearly. The one trapped on the bottom floor is definitely the princess.”
My voice was firm, like I was hammering down the truth.
As if I had no doubt about my own words whatsoever.
“So with that amazing clairvoyance, you can see what’s on the floor below us too?”
“Of course.”
It wasn’t hard to answer.
I didn’t have clairvoyance, but I knew the original story.
Meaning I knew exactly how this tower was structured.
“There’s nothing on the next floor.”
“Nothing?”
“Yeah. Literally just an empty space. No monsters, no beasts.”
After I spoke so assertively, Isael stopped nitpicking.
He only stared at me, half-skeptical.
While he watched me as if measuring me, I also studied him.
When I first saw him, I had been too busy clinging to life to notice, but now that I looked, he really was very handsome.
Black hair so dark it almost looked navy, and sharp, red eyes.
His well-defined features all seemed to insist on their own presence.
As expected of one of the main characters of this world—he looked extraordinary.
As I admired him and nodded slightly, he asked:
“…Then if you have such a special ability, how did you end up collapsed in that state?”
Spe-cial.
He put such emphasis on the word that it was definitely meant to be mocking.
Well, fair enough.
I answered casually.
“I was traveling with people from the Empire of Camelot until now. But they abandoned me.”
“…Abandoned you?”
“Yeah. Because I got injured. They said they couldn’t afford to get held back because of me, so they left.”
Since I had tragically failed to get on the protagonist’s bus, I had to catch another one.
And that bus… is you, Isael.
Maybe I could get out of the tower alone, maybe not.
Rather than relying on uncertain possibilities, it was wiser to grab onto someone who had a guaranteed route out.
No—why settle for one possibility when I could grab them all?
Isael getting out of the tower is a fixed event in the original story.
That was exactly why I clung to this future villain who had tried to leave me behind.
I groaned softly as I stood up and said,
“Anyway, I get why you can’t trust me.”
“……”
“But soon enough, you’ll be able to see whether I’m telling the truth or not, so I’m not worried.”
If the next floor really was empty like I said, Isael would have to believe that I had clairvoyance.
“If what I said turns out to be a lie, well… you can decide what to do with me then, right?”
I said that and held out my hand to him—so he could take it and stand up.
But Isael only glared at me like a wary beast, bristling with suspicion.
I sighed and said,
“No, I mean, to check whether I’m lying, we need to go down first, don’t we?”
My voice automatically softened as if comforting him.
“You should go see what’s down there with your own eyes, right?”
This was not easy.
Of course, it would be strange if he trusted me right away.
But I can’t waste time forever like this.
I had to reach the 9th underground floor before that damn hypocrite Leonard.
Only then could I rescue Beatrice, leave the tower with Isael, block Leonard’s path, screw him over, and save Isael’s sister.
Good for me, good for Isael.
The enemy of my enemy is my ally, after all.
Even though I fully intend to part ways with this guy the moment we leave the tower.
Leonard, being the protagonist of this novel, might still manage to open the door and escape—princess or no princess.
And Isael, as the villain, might still end up fighting Leonard and dying miserably like in the original.
But I’ll help him until we get out of the tower.
Maybe he could have a better fate than he did in the novel.
I’d help with everything I had. So let’s do well together, okay? You fresh, green little villain sprout.
“So let’s hurry and go down.”
Only then did Isael get up.
Ignoring my outstretched hand completely.
He murmured quietly, almost to himself,
“…Fine. For now.”
Our journey together started like that, and surprisingly, it went fairly smoothly.
“So why do I need to pick that again?”
“Oh, just take it.”
“….”
“You’re going to pick it anyway, so can’t you just listen quietly from the start?”
Isael’s clenched fist told me he heard my grumbling.
The veins sticking out on the back of his hand looked dangerous, but I ignored it.
“Don’t drop it!”
“You’re the one who talks too much.”
Complaining the whole time, Isael still managed to yank the flower out, roots and all, from the cliff’s edge.
I happily patted his shoulder and snatched the flower away.
“We need this to get through the next floor safely.”
Isael stared at my smiling face and muttered ominously,
“We better.”
“……”
Of course he didn’t trust me at all yet.
Well, that would change in time.
“Anyway, we’ve gathered everything, so we can go down now.”
“Finally, we can test whether you really have clairvoyance or not.”
“…Yes, yes. Let’s go already.”
Okay, I get it, but he didn’t have to keep saying it like a threat…
Though, honestly, being suspicious of everything in a place like this was admirable.
But can I really get along with this paranoid guy?
I swallowed a sigh and started walking.
Leonard had gone down long ago.
Meanwhile, thanks to recuperating and gathering supplies, I had ended up staying on this 3rd floor for extra days with Isael.
To get ahead of Leonard, we needed to hurry.
In this novel, the tower wasn’t something you climbed—it was something you descended.
You escaped the tower by clearing the final trial on the 9th underground floor.
I stood with Isael before the door that led to the next floor.
Then I took out a stone from my bag and rubbed it against the nearly healed wound on my abdomen.
Isael grabbed my wrist, horrified.
“What are you doing?”
