*****

The following day, Adrien flung himself out of bed and into his new sweater, leaving as little time as possible for the chilly morning air to touch his skin. One cup of hot chocolate later, he felt warm and fed enough, and so followed Val to the south tower for the first task of their day.

"Before we go inside", Val said as he took his hand off the doorknob, "let me cast a defense spell on you. The contents of the room are magically stabilized, so I don't expect any boxes to fall on your head... but you can never be too safe".

Adrien chuckled as the protective spell enveloped him. "Is it really that bad?".

Val narrowed his eyes in a reluctant smile. "Well", he said as he opened the door, "I'll let you be the judge of that".