"But... Please, I just..." The man's melancholy expression gradually grew stonier and stonier as Dawn continued to speak. Finally, his eyebrows clenched together in a furious scowl as he snatched his hand away from her, fisting it at his side.

"Obstinate wretch!" He growled. "Impudent girl! All I wanted was a kiss. Just one kiss, is that so much to ask of anyone!" His vocal tone continued to rise as he kept on speaking. "But no, you with your pure heart, you had to refuse me and make yourself out as a saint in the process! You don't know who you're refusing, you don't know--"

The man's angered words grew ever fainter as the room, the treasure, the keys, and the man himself spiraled into darkness.

---

The Goblin King came back to himself scowling as deeply as he had been inside Dawn's dream; only now it was both at himself and the girl. If only she weren't so kind and stubborn, so gentle and strong-willed at once! It would have been so much easier... He had been so close!

With a shout of rage, he threw the crystal he held down onto the stone floor, where it instantly shattered into a million sparkling pieces. Seconds later, they melted away like snowflakes in a warm room, and the Goblin King conjured up another crystal with a swirl of his hand.

Glaring into it, his back rigid, fingers tight around the clear sphere that showed him anything he wished, he reflected that at least he had done two things right. He had learned the way to the girl's heart. And he had delayed her in her journey for an hour.

"Eight hours left, you foolish thing," he whispered to the still-sleeping girl's image. "Only eight hours. You think you can reach my castle in that time?"