At the dead of night, when everyone is asleep, my lamp stays lit as it flickers with the soft wave of the cold night breeze. I laid back on my chair as I looked at my blackened hands, I had stained it from the ink. I am still not used to using a quill when writing. But finally, at last, I had finished drawing the map of the entire estate, it was what I had been doing for the past few hours instead of actually going to bed like I was supposed to. Although I already had it memorized, it still easier to have it all laid out for a full picture. This will be useful in the coming years, I'm sure I'll be able to get the real map once I am older but for now, this will suffice. All that is left is for me to make another one for the underground passages her but it is risky for me to do that alone.
I had written everything I know about each of the character's backstory from the book. In sequence as to whoever which was the most to least important. Ruined a lot of books by cutting out its pages for the words I could no longer write, back then in the village but it is all worth it. I used whichever book I found faulty. If it had a dent, book worm torn, rat torn, dried out wet pages, I cut them out and glued it on my scrapbook all for the sake of the story. I don't even know how many books I had destroyed or the amount of words I had pasted but I was able to record the full story because of it. I wasted not a single detail, especially now that his rule for me has officially taken effect.
My memories of the past are now nothing but a blur, how I lived in them, I have now forgotten but I still do know that I lived them, in other domains, in other theaters, in countless of lives. A blur of how it all functions. I have no alter soul, just the same entity from the very beginning since my creation. How could I ever forget about that?
It is the same with the story, I can no longer remember them on my own. The word treaty is a cheat but without it, I know there would have been no other way for me to win this thing. He has now fully regressed my state back into a child's as it should have been once I had been reborn, my experiences and ideas of adulthood a blur and what's left is a deja vu. That is my current dilemma, I need constantly remind myself of why I am striving to live.
These days I keep on reviewing Nicaise's backstory to make sure I don't get lost. Especially as of now, ones which I thought of importance from her childhood. My new mother governed and served her roles as both the ex-Grand Duchess and being a war hero of the kingdom, but those weren't the only things she does for the King. If it was of regular policy, a neglectful noble would be stripped off of all her titles, influence, power, and, estate to completely demote her of a role and be taken over by someone else but in her case, she managed to keep her estate and still even has a noble title despite its lowest rank and being an irresponsible governor. Call it favoritism from the king who was her old friend as to why she still hasn't fallen from power, but that's only what the public knows.
There's another reason why she was permitted to keep the estate. It was the only place in the whole kingdom where the king could and would rid of his waste. The Laurents not only killed for their king in wars but also personally. Anyone the king wanted dead, interrogated and tortured, they'd do for them. All for the sake of the kingdom of course. The old Grand Duke Laurent wasn't as gleeful and kind as he was known for, he was in fact very strict when it came to 'business'. After all, they were the only people whose loyalty the King ever trusted more than his own court.
The secret passages and dungeons in this home are discretely hidden, I don't even have all of its information in my memory of it. But, as the daughter of the Laurent's herself, of course, Nicaise is informed of this. And she very much well, uses it. However, in the story, she didn't discover it until she was 15. At present as I am now her and I'd like to discover it, much sooner. For what purpose, simply because, I am want to.
For the past week, I had been tracking my mother's routine as she disappears in and out of these walls. It's part of a cliche so I know that whenever a scenario like hostage and murder occurs, it's usually night time. And one is such fine night, the night where I will get to see the underground of the king's underdog.
After I had made sure that the ink is now somehow dried I hid the papers behind my bed frame where the maids wouldn't see when they are cleaning. I sighed in satisfaction and got up, wiping my hands with a wet cloth to rid of the stain. But as I walked around my room to stretch my legs, I spotted a glint of light from the distance. Just as I had been awaiting, mother finally returns after 5 hours of being away. She didn't give me any excuses when I asked today but when I inquired with Fina as to where my mother had went, she reasoned that she had gone out for a drink with her old friends but I knew otherwise.
I purposely went to my window to observe. I hear the neigh of her horse in the distance as she jumped down from it and walked towards the apple tree in the yard where she then sat down and took off her chest armor before drinking from her flask. She roughly untied her hair and relaxed herself. My room isn't far from the field garden so the lights in my room could be seen from the outside. I continued to observe her for a while until she noticed me, slowly turning her head towards the direction of my room and then, our eyes met. For a while, all that could be heard were the sounds of crickets. Her expression did not change seeing me but that is as expected. Our eye contact only broke off when the sound of horses approaching grabbed our attention, we both looked away to its direction.
I was expecting a carriage but it was actually just a merchant's wagon but when it entered through the gate, it wasn't of anything ordinary. Four masked guards got down from the wagon and greeted her with a bow, she simply waved her hand and they got to unloading the wagon. Turns out, it was anything but supplies in the sacks on the wagon. Two of the men carried each of the sack where the contents of it seemed alive, an animal of the sort, struggling inside and making muffled screams. Then they quietly came inside the mansion. Just as mother turned to look back at me, I closed off the curtains.
A short moment passes as I waited. When I was finally sure, I quickly but quietly got out of my room. I left my lamp and sneaked in the darkness of the halls, creeping slowly to make sure I do not make any noise. As I got to the stairs they were already walking passed the hall downstairs as she first heads to her office, I thought that she would rest but when I followed and did got in the office, she was gone. Not a trace of her even, only the strong scent of the old hag's liquor lingered in the room. I know they were going underground, at least now I know where the entrance is but I could not settle with just that. There's a lever or knob here somewhere that opens the entrance to the passageways. I remember it being on one of the small sculptures in this room. There are plenty but my gut is telling me only one and it is the small pillar with the Grand Duke's head sculpture in the corner of the bookshelf which I could not help but stare at as I observe. So this is what he looks like? She has good taste. There was no lever to pull from but I could see that the there is a gap between the head sculpture and the rest of the pillar, it's barely noticeable but you could tell it separates the two although when I did try to pull the head up, I couldn't. So I tried twisting it instead and it worked.
The bookshelf opened into another room. I got in only to be faced with nothing but just a room, a smaller study. I stumped my foot on the ground and clicked my tongue due to frustration and quickly scanned the room for clues. All I could see was one corner of the carpet being turned over. I went to check and stumped my foot on it once more. Just as I thought. It made a different sound from the rest of the flooring, it is hollow. I lifted the part of the carpet and there it was, a hatch door. Luckily it wasn't locked and it was still slightly parted, otherwise I wouldn't be able to lift it open with my force alone. I pushed it open using a metal rod I found in one of the displays, just enough for my size to fit in and got inside. I now find myself stepping on stairs in almost complete darkness. With what little light the entrance provided I made out the length and way of the stairs and slowly descended, making sure to glide my hand against the wall as my guide downstairs.
I do not know how many steps I took in the dark nor was I sure I was going the right way but I only followed her scent and it finally lead me to light. I could see the interior now thanks to the torches on the walls, it looked like a labyrinth of passages here. When I heard a scream, I flinched in place but it happened again, it's coming from a distance. I followed the weeping noise and it lead me to another batch of stairs but luckily it's shorter this time. At the end of the stairs I was finally in the same room or rather, hall as mother however I remained in hiding. Only peeping from a safe distance.
"Please I'll tell you everything!", a man pleaded whilst he was on his knees with his hands tied behind his back and another man laying bloody and headless in front of him. The contents of the wagon were indeed animals after all.
"Anything please!", he begged again but my mother only swung her sword in the air to rid of the blood on its blade before putting it back in the shaft.
"I already laid out the questions earlier, all you need to do is answer", she sighed and picked up the severed head with its blood making a trail on the floor where she made her way to a table and poured herself a drink. In two glasses, she lifted the head and had its blood drain into the drink. She took a sip and leaned against the table facing the man awaiting his answer. The restrained glanced at all the guards surrounding him, the closest one to him had an blooded ax, he winched in pain and looked away. I had only noticed that one of his foot had been severed.
The hall was silent to the point where you could hear his rapid breathing until he spoke.
"In the East mountains, he is hosting shelter for the enemy. He offered us a lot of money that we couldn't refuse. He is a traitor who turned as a spy for the West! That's all I know, now please spare me!", he confessed.
My mother only stared at him as she took another sip and poured another into two glasses.
"I praise you for your honesty Count Lonte, you have remained loyal to his majesty 'til the end. Here have a drink", she gave the man the other glass.
The man looked dumbfounded but when he met with her cold empty gaze, he had no choice and opened his shaking mouth and drank from her hand.
"Thank you for your cooperation", she then forced a smile at him with her blooded teeth before turning to the guards and nodded. I am speechless myself, the sight had sent shivers down my spine. I don't recall her being this scary in my memory.
Then, two guards lined up beside the man and began taking him away.
"Get rid of the body. Both of them", she ordered.
"Wait! What is the meaning of this! I've already told you everything I knew! You sly bitch! You won't get away with this even if you kill me!", the man threatened as he was departing.
The rest of the guards separated into groups, one cleaning after the dead body and the rest following her.
I turned away from the scene. So much for a side character, she is much more interesting than the mains. Her expression kept replaying in my head as I stared into nothingness. I had never seen her being that serious. All I saw her as was a lazy old bum, I shouldn't have disregarded how strong willed she is when it comes to her job as a soldier. No wonder why Nicaise tried to run away when she first found this out, she may could have been the next victim. When the hall finally quietened I tried to peep again but instead, my view was now blocked. My body instinctively froze in fear knowing who it was.
"Why aren't you asleep?", she asked the moment I looked up. Her menacing gaze staring down at me. From this angle as a child, she is menacing.