" 3 "
" 2 "
" 1 "
" Push!"
We finally made it to our destination, and just behind that wall should be what we have been tracking down. The secret passage door to this place seems to be not in the best of shape because of misuse, time and possibly humidity.
I am currently just standing back and watching them do their magic, handkerchief covering over my nose and mouth as I crouch just a short distance from them.
This part of the tunnels was still awfully dusty and filled with cobweb, it turned out, while cleaning this last route, Isolde and the twin got turned around so many times that they ended up clearing out the wrong place.
Since, we have made it all the way out here. I decided to bite the dust and let them do most of the action in my stead.
Not that I have any disagreement for such arrangement :D.
The blockage is slowly pushed out, the surface almost ashen and gray in color, making it almost impossible to tell head to toe of the material it was made from. And, by the fact that it whichever room this is hadn't been use in more than two decades, I would say this room was built for someone very important.
Additionally, when the magic dodad map was compared to the ancient graph dug up, this passage was not part of the original design of the Autumn Palace. Moreover, we seems to have made it to the very top floor of the Autumn Palace.
To point out the obvious, as the direct line's heirs and the three most promising candidates for the Dukedom, Olivia, Amber and Louis also live on this floor. By the time I move from the Spring Palace to here, even as their sister, I will be staying just one floor lower with everyone else.
Not counting their three rooms, there are two belonging to the Duke and Duchess, and a connecting room that we are heading toward. The fourth room is said to be another bedroom but I don't know who the room belong to.
The groans of friction between wood and wood scraping against each other as it let out screeches that let way of our entrance. Once a hole big enough for an adult to slip through open up, we went in after dusting ourself off.
What hit us first was clearly the inner closet interior, the thick wooden board took us straight to some kind of giant wardrobe with a few lines of thick, colorful clothes blocking the front. It is clear that whoever built this put great care for this place to not be discovered.
We swam through the mountain of dresses and frills before finally breaking free from the claustrofobic nightmare behind us.
I was a giant walk in closet, each pieces were designed by luxurious and trustworthy boutiques. Some of the edges were yellowed out, covered evenly in a thin layer of dust highlighting the fact no living soul has visited this place in a long time. Clothes were paired into sets, each sets come in three, one male two females all matching in vibes and look equally gorgeous. In the corner, it even held some baby's clothes, folded neatly with care.
It all held such organization and order to it that would have look similar to a replica staged for some 80s reality show. If Amber didn't point out the intricate magic engraving all throughout the place, protecting it from the merciless torrent of time, I would have thought someone actually snuck in here every once in a while to clean.
While we marvel at this room, Olivia and Amber was strangely silent. Their hands combing through one of the older racks, as if reaching for something far away. Before long, they walked through the one of the two actual doors leading somewhere else. The grained white oak door only give the the scrapping sound of rusted metal, the handle barely budge as it denied their attempts with questionable creaks like complains of unspoken trauma.
With an understanding look, they head straight to the other door. This time, the door open without protest, somewhat similar to the oak door intricate design, it seems to craved some religious patterns and symbols across the entire door.
I quickly follow after them like a tail, eager to see what lies beyond.
Olivia and Amber quickly split up, as if searching for something. Lifting the mattress, looking through shelfs and drawers and flipping through books.
" What are you searching for?" I found myself asking, my eyes wandering through every corner of the place.
" The way to leave without crawling back through there." She pointed to the direction of the secret passage.
That is a wicked good idea.
I gave her my best emotional support combo moves before sending her on her way :D.
It was another bedroom.
Admittedly, I expected this place to be the old office mentioned in the novel. It is said to belonged to the Duke's eldest brother before his... betrayal. The family atmosphere were never as good as it is now. It only changed for the better after Duke Barrow took the full reign of the Laurel family.
The room was mentioned in passing as a place where the door were to remained forever locked.
So...
Probably not it then.
Similar to the closet, if you could call it that, a lot of the decorations and items come in a group of three. Little porcelain figure on the bed side table, sitting atop the based of the lamp. Its shade draw with three different sections, each with distinct art styles. The picture on the walls, papers detailing how to coordinates with each other's style all seem to make this room feel so cozy and warm.
Even looking at the adjacent area, the center piece on the fireplace held a delicate glass sculpture, featuring a rose, a sword with a book and quill, woven as if embracing each other.
" Found it." Amber yelled from the other side of this gigantic room. I barely even left the bed area yet.
Taking a quick peak toward her end, she seems to have found the keys to the door. Upon seing this, Olivia gave her a simple thumb up and snatched it from her hand. It swiftly disappear in her inner pocket earning Amber's indignant gaze at her elder sister.
" So childish!"
Everyone slowly migrate outward, wiping down the big table and couches before settling down for a bit.
" Huh? ... That's Lumiere?" Zephyr sounded his confusion.
He pointed toward the portrait hang just above eye level on the wall.
" Oh yeah. That is Uncle Barrow, Auntie Andrea and the Second Madam?" Aaron confirmed his suspicion, albeit with a bit of reluctance.
" I didn't think that she would moved this back into her room after everything." Olivia said with disbelief.
Uh oh.
I don't know any of those name.
Did the Duke had two wifes? This seem like pretty important info to mention about OG Amelia! How did you missed like two, no- three people in your family? It is understandable if it was some kind of branch relatives, but a whole wife! And two siblings!
Noticing my deep confusion, they hold back the conversation a bit.
" Right! Since Amelia hasn't come of age yet, so she doesn't know about Lumiere." Isolde realized.
Amber eyes suddenly sparkled, eager to be story teller.
" Ahem. Ahem." She shot straight out of her seat, using her hand as a mic as she become the host of the talkshow.
" As a brief introduction to 'Who is on the portrait?', I am Amber, your energetic and dearest older sister.
This portrait was draw around 29 years ago, right around a few months before Olivia right here was born! What curious timing, am I right?" Olivia let out an exasperated huff at her antic, but her lip couldn't help but curled upward.
" Of course, no one wouldn't know father and mother so let skip over them."
She walk over to the full body mirror just a bit off to the side, it was similar to the ones in my room. By the direction of everyone's gaze, I could see that these mirrors seems to be a common household addition to all.
Just like how Amelia's has her name put into the top frame of the mirror, inscription craved in gold spelled out the name-
Rafeal Hycarpo Laurel.
The middle name of the Royal family.
" This right here is the second princess of the Hycarpo kingdom back then. The younger sister of the current king." She pulled out a teaching stick from somewhere, point toward the lady in the photo.
Back in the time when mother and father were in the academy, the three of them were best friends and graduated together. At first, Miss Rafeal married over to Euantria, the kingdom next door.
Unfortunately, he husband passed away from sickness and she returned to her family to take care of her child, however, because of the internal strife between potential successors, it was not safe.
The older sun decided to strike a deal with the Laurel family, using the excuse of a political marriage to place her in our care. Protecting her and the child while also bringing her close to those who could give her comfort. The ones who were most excited for this was surprisingly or not, Duchess Andrea, she cleared out the biggest room for her friend, and buying everything under the sun for her.
The three of them were the same as the past, friends who worked by each other's side, talking and chatting late into the night. Building up their friend once again, taking steps by steps by one another.
After a while, when the child has grown up healthily, they decided to treat this deal like a genuine marriage on an emotional... and physical level.
Quite a power throuple if you ask me~
Soon after, Rafeal and Barrow conceived a child.
Lumiere Hycarpo Laurel.
An mirror copy of her mother. Silver hair that shimmer in the night, and pure purple eyes that remind you of an amethyst, clear and beautiful. The oldest among all of us out of technicality. An celebrated union between not one but three? families.
Father's genes were barely even competing.
Even counting, the four of us that were born from Duchess Andrea, the prominent traits and personality scale in ratio were at a polite 12 : 5, with the inheritor of Barrow's genes only claiming his hair and eye color but none with his personality.
Lumiere was smart and capable, becoming a role model for Olivia and Amber.
" Then... Where exactly are they now?"
I could feel my tongue trying to swallow itself. Seeing the state of the rooms right now, I couldn't think of anyway that the few next lines would bring us a happy ending.
The silence that follows proved our united train of thoughts.
" Ah..."
" Not long after I was born, her first child passed away from sickness." Olivia continued with a solemn expression.
" Miss Rafeal... follows her a few years later."
I couldn't help but diverge my gaze back to the portrait.
It is hard to believe.
Once upon a time-.... they were so happy.
The sun's reflection painted into the scenery, making it seem almost like a fairy tales.
A story lost to time, sinking like a rock at the bottom of recorded memory.
" Wait, then is the fact that Lumiere is travelling the world true?" Isolde found herself asking.
Zephyr and Aaron found themselves flinching instinctively at the realization.
" Yes." Olivia broke the silence, her answer resolute, leaving no room for doubt.
" ... "
"She is just taking her time."
Amber added quietly, yet there was a faint cloud of doubt in her eyes.
The room fell silent afterward, leaving some space for floating thoughts to collide gently.