Fenella found herself standing at the main hall of a mansion, wrapped in red wallpapers, while the decorations were mostly ceramic. A few silver-framed pictures hanged upon the wall, colored in gray and faded; candles in the main hall were lighted, except for the grand chandelier in the center. Despite the lights given by the candles, Fenella found the place dark and gloomy - giving her a sense of nostalgia that she doesn't want to feel.
She turned towards the left-wing of the mansion, entering the dark shadows inhabiting the corridor. A half-moon peeking through the giant window gave dim to the hallway, giving Fenella the slightest ability to see. She wished she had brought anything that would give her light - a small lighter or a match will do, yet here she was, inside the mansion, empty-handed and clueless.
Fenella thought about opening the first door, not far from the main hall, and walked closer - clutching her hand on the doorknob and twisted it open. She found the room empty, except for the two, red couches set in the middle with a small, round, mahogany table. A lamp hanging on the corner was providing light for the quarter.
Fenella thought of the room as familiar, and sensed a comfort unlike she felt before. If she looked back at her memory, this room was the only quarter she felt comfort throughout the mansion. The rest was giving her discomfort and bad memories that she rather not to think.
As she closed the door, thinking to open another, the environment suddenly waved, distorted, and caused her confusion. The surrounding suddenly changed into a familiar bedroom, and saw a silver-haired girl, grabbing a rope from her drawer. A blue expression was seen in her face, as she looked at the white, thick cord, and averted her eyes at the chair beside her dresser.
Fenella realized she was in her dream; her memory. The young lady in front of her was her young self, at the moment where she wanted to commit suicide, after the news she heard from her father.
Fenella tried to step a shoe forward, only to found out that she couldn't move her feet. She could move her body, except for her feet. She knew what was going to happen, and it was traumatic. Fenella wanted to move forward to stop the young girl, now that she found her trying to make a noose. Fenella opened her mouth to speak, but no voice came out. The time leaped fast, and she already found the young girl, standing on top of a chair.
Fenella cannot find a solution for the young lady to stop. She knew this was her memory, and the past was inevitable to change. But the thought of a memory that formed her trauma made her wanted to do so.
Her heterochromatic eyes glare wide as she watched the girl standing, obviously hesitating if she should continue what she was doing or stop and continue to suffer. 'Don't do it,' she thought, gritted her teeth.
The young lady's expression turned depressing, which to Fenella, was a horror to see. She started to hear her younger self crying, wailing loudly, howling in agonizing pain. Her cry was painful and disturbing, causing Fenella not only to feel horrified, but also extremely distressed.
The cry became louder and more disturbing, as the young girl's eyes started to grow wide, her sclera turning red.
Fenella felt her heartbeat race faster than before. The face of the young girl turned hideous as she began to clutch her calloused hands to the cord, slowly inserting her small head into the hole.
Fenella suddenly opened her eyes and found herself lying on a bed, breathing sharply as the emotion of fear still lingers in her body. Her breathing gradually slowed down and came back to normal as her relief and senses returned as well. She sat up, and found herself in an unfamiliar room, coated in maroon wallpaper, illuminated by the moonlight that was peeking through the left window. A familiar black-headed man was sitting on a couch, reading a book despite no candlelight on his side. The couch was in the center, in front of the bed.
Fenella soon realized she was in the Woodwind mansion, inside the guest room where the head maid led them earlier.
Adam, from reading, rose his head and turned to see Fenella, sweating, and looking distressed. He closed his book and formed a signature smile, greeting Fenella. "You look restless," he said.
Fenella did not answer and only wiped her sweat. She wore a white, Edwardian summer dress to keep her fresh and comfortable.
"Did you have a bad dream?" Adam stood on his feet and placed his book on the small table and walked towards Fenella. He sat down on the bed before his wife, keeping his signature smile as his golden eyes locked at her angelic face, and caressed her soft, slightly plump cheeks gently.
Fenella did not answer, but clutched her hand on Adam's large wrist, and eyed him to stop from what he was doing. Adam chuckled and shook his head, "What if I said no?"
Fenella's eyes went grim, "Keep in mind, despite my petite feature, I have a strong body," her voice was stern.
Adam turned up the corner of his lips and scoffed at Fenella's statement. "Then do not forget, a man's strength is different from a woman," he drew himself closer and pinned Fenella on the wall, causing the Countess to shift backward in sync.
Fenella remained composed and did not show a hint of blush on her face. She remained silent, waiting for Adam to move away, and give her space. Knowing he would do this in the end anyway, Adam removed his hand from the wall and gave Fenella the space she wanted.
The Countess thanked the Earl and started to move her blanket off, when Adam suddenly pushed her down, off-guard, and wrapped his arms around her. Fenella was surprised and instinctively tried to push the young Earl away. But to her dismay, Adam remained still and adjusted himself to lie down beside her instead.
Fenella was now facing the young Earl's clothed chest. She could smell his attractive scent and caused her to burn her cheeks.
Fenella noticed Adam, changed his clothes into a red, dress shirt, and a black chaleco with a black tie. The attire seemed to fit his looks and added his level of charms, due to the fact that he looked comfortable with his clothes.
"Adam, what are you doing?" Fenella tried to push the young Earl, but her attempt was futile.
Adam replied, "Keeping you warm."
Fenella got bewildered, "I am warm - warmer that I'm starting to break sweat."
Adam did not respond and only made Fenella to push him further, yet again it was no avail. "Adam, I'm sweating," she complained.
Adam, "Then find a way not to sweat."
Fenella, "I'll wipe my forehead on your clothes."
Adam, "Then do it."
Fenella wasn't sure if she heard the young Earl correctly. Fenella paused and rose her head to look at the young Earl's visage. "What?" she asked.
"I said, do it. If you're planning to dry your sweat on my clothes, do it," Adam said in a serious tone.
Seeing his expression, Fenella felt terrified and confused at the same time.
Adam's behavior towards Fenella could be a tease or flirty, especially when they were in public, just for the showcase of their affection towards each other. Although Fenella never participated in his flirting game, Adam's showcasing of his love towards Fenella was aggressive, that it made everyone in the country think that the young Earl was madly in love with Fenella. Even though there were no audience as well, Adam would suddenly tease her and caught her off-guard - and this made Fenella always terrified.
Having a bright idea, Fenella made eye contact with the young Earl asked about the time.
Adam drew his pocket-watch from his pocket and unlatched the small clock to look at the time. "It's already 10:35," he said, and casually pulled Fenella, who was taking advantage of his arm off her, and wrapped his arms around her body. "Cute," he remarked at Fenella's attempt.
Fenella, "Adam!"
Adam was now back-hugging Fenella, and took advantage of this position to smell her scent.
Fenella felt goosebumps on her skin as she felt Adam sniffing her neck. She felt the young Earl curved the corner of his lips and scoffed, tickling her neck through his breath.
All of a sudden, a door slammed open, and Aaron appeared in the corridor, beaming. His face faded when he saw the couple in a position and thought to turn away. "Should I go?" he asked awkwardly.
In excitement, Fenella quickly reached her hand and moved out of Adam's arm. "Oh no, you shouldn't. You must've come here for the case, you shouldn't go, this is important," Fenella walked towards Aaron with a beaming face, causing Aaron to be surprised by the Countess' sudden bright expression. He turned his sight to Adam and found him glaring at him, left behind.
But did not mind this anyway, and focused on Fenella's bright smile. He as well, curved his lips, ear to ear, and drew near to Fenella. "So Fenella is excited for the case as well!" he beamed and took Fenella's jade-like hands.
"Let's go." A hand suddenly blocked Aaron from Fenella as he pulled his hand away from the silver-haired lady. Both followed the arm and saw the tall Adam standing beside his wife. "We need to end this case faster. I don't want anyone to pester my time," his eyes glared at Aaron, who was passively smirking.
He walked first and pulled Fenella, which caused the young Countess to follow. Aaron decided to walk behind and followed the couple as he closed the door, leaving the room.
The group headed towards the study, planning to discuss further and solve the mystery.