You pass through the magic mirror in the Hall of Mirrors of Night Raven College with a small bag of things in your hands and step onto the carefully arranged stonework in an intricate pattern at the central entrance to the Briar Valley Palace. Malleus, who passed through the same mirror a minute earlier, stands and looks at you with a slight. eternally mysterious smile, clearly pleased to see you here.

How did it all come about? Well, you were friends with Malleus. You often talked and you had a surprising amount in common. You both knew what loneliness was, both loved silence and tranquility, both loved to joke about various topics. You often spent time with the crown prince. And then he begins to "test the waters". You realized this much later, but ... At first, he talked about Briar Valley several times in conversations, ending the conversation with the phrase "would you like to go there?" or "I'm sure you'll see it someday," then he started asking if you'd be interested in visiting Briar Valley? Are you interested in the palace and its surroundings? Then, he asks if you have any plans for the summer holidays. And so he invites you to stay for a couple of weeks AT THE PALACE. An invitation personally from the Crown Prince. An interesting situation, but you agreed. Malleus is your friend, and besides, it would be impolite and wrong to refuse such an invitation, and you had no plans for the summer holidays.

As soon as you arrived, a minute later, servants came to you, taking your things and greeting the Crown Prince with a respectful bow. It all looked so dizzying to you. The palace was gloomy, beautiful and majestic, and the number of servants was staggering.

"Inform the queen of my arrival and take my guest's things to Guest Bedroom 15 in the Raven Wing."

Malleus waved his hand, giving the order, and only when the servants got to work, he turned and addressed you personally, seeing how you looked around in amazement, examining the tall towers of the palace.

"I see you like the view."