Lady Iana Rose Salmouth, the only child and heir of Count Salmouth, the lady with her curly brown hair and green gem eyes, was famous for her beautiful feminine appearance and clever mind. That's why, being a talk, no matter good or bad, is not something unusual for Lady Iana. But very strange rumours started to fly into the high society about Lady Iana at her age of 14.
All rumours were about, how lady Iana vanish into thin air while just taking a walk in her mansion, or, how her maids are unable to find her? The rumours were suspicious and, at the same time, they were like a mystery.
Anyone would think that Salmouth household servants and maids were kidding because the way they were telling this ghostly thing to other household servants and maids, in the capital local bar, seemed like they work in an opera or something. But nevertheless, the servants and maids of other nobility household take this information to their masters and mistresses.
As well as, the rumours, itself were suspicious and mysterious, at some point, they were utterly pointless. It being pointless can be the main reason for many nobilities to turn a blind eye to it. But once something reaches into the ears of those gossipmongers of those high societies, talks can spread smoothly like butter. But even so, it wasn't able to stay more than a couple of months and people forgotten. Maybe because the rumours about Lady Iana was pointless.
Even though it happened to stopped spreading and people were to forget about it. It reaches the ears of the current Count of Salmouth. When the Count asked for his daughter presence to discuss the rumours.
The maid hesitates but still answered Count, "T-the lady is m-missing. We don't know where she is?"
"What do you mean you don't know?" Count asked calmly.
The maid started sweating cold, even though his voice was calm. At last, the maid wasn't able to say anything, and Count dismissed her. All maids of Lady Iana started to search for her everywhere but was not able to find her. And hours later, before dinner, the maids found her lady in her room. The maids were all panicked and told her about Count, who was asking for her presence.
Lady Iana took the hint of urgency, get ready and departure to meet her father. As she reached the Count office, she first taken the Count permission and then gets inside his office.
"Greeting father, I heard from my maids that you were looking for me," Lady Iana said.
"Yes, I was. But your maids told me that they don't know about your whereabouts. Where were you all this time?"
"I was in..." Lady Iana smiled and continued, "my secret library."
"Secret library!"
***
The little girl was standing at the big door, as she saw the Count getting in his carriage.
"Have a save journey, dad," Edina said.
"Thank you, I will. And please, both of you, be good in my absence," The Count giggled and so do Edina on his comment.
"You can rest assured," Edina said.
The Count jumped in the carriage. The carriage start running on the path and the carriage past the mansion gate.
Meanwhile watching the carriage left, the little girl all attention had been taken by the previous conversation, that she just had with Count and Edina.
'So, even dad and Edina wasn't able to find grandmother's secret library. Will I be able to find it if I asked the 'things' of this mansion?' The little girl questioned herself.
The little girl tried to find all the hint that she can bring from her father and sister conversation. But all that they talked about was about the Count tried to find his mother's library but wasn't able to find it and Edina protesting that she heard from her grandmother that he did not even try. And the smooth conversation filled with laughter continued.
There weren't many hints, but still, the little girl was very excited to find about the library. Anything 'secret' always excited her. Overall, she had the advantage of talking to 'non-living things', and there wasn't too much that she was able to get, so asking the 'things' about this might also work.
But if it was her grandmother who used to visit the library, then many years has passed and Nobel people do change 'things' frequently unless it is a treasure or something with a long history. So, many 'things' must have been replaced. And many old 'things' must have been at the same place, all this time. So, the old 'things' might be able to know but also might not, because if the library wasn't there, where they were placed, they would to not know.
If the little girl wants to find the secret library, then she has to wander here and there in the mansion and has to ask all the 'things', that she could, about the secret library. It's not going to be an easy job.
All these thoughts bring the little girl to sigh. Edina noticed as her sister heaved a sigh.
"Don't worry, Dad will come back soon," Edina said to cheer her sister. Edina thought that her sister was worried because the Count is not around. But she was completely clueless about her sister's actual worries.
"Uh, hum."
The little girl didn't know how to answer her sister's sudden remark and just hummed. But soon, get her all self together.
"Let's go," Edina said very elegantly and smiled to the little girl.
The little girl malicious smile and said, "Dad is not here, you know? You can stop acting all elegant and sweet."
"Huh, oh, so sad for you, but I am myself very elegant and it's not an act," Edina claimed with a twisted smile.
"Yeah yeah, elegant," the little girl said and turned her heels to go inside the mansion with a satisfying smile. The little girl was happy to take her revenge against Edina, who teased her this morning at the breakfast table.
"And I am always sweet, no matter what. I mean, when did I was not sweet?" Edina cried.
"Huh? Sweet, when?" The little girl asked with an amazed tone, turning only her head toward Edina, both hands together behind her, and taking light and slow steps inside the mansion.
"Y-you! Just wait..." With that said, Edina started to run to chase her little sister. At the same time, the little girl also fastened her pace.
Both the girls were running in the large hallway, the wall was decorated with wall-size painting and portrait.
"Hey, just wait, I will catch you."
"You can try," the little girl giggled.
"Oh, okay then, I will not tell you, who is going to visit us for dinner, tonight," Edina claimed.
"Why, who is coming?" The little girl asked, turning her head back to look at her sister, she slowly slowed her pace to listen to Edina.
Edina smirked, "Somebody's best friend."
The little girl turned her head ahead once again and smiled, "Reina," she mumbled.
"Not to mention, Reina's cousin brother Richard might also be joining us," Edina said with a mischievous smile.
The little girl eyes widened, looking straight ahead, her pace comes to a sudden stop. Edina soon approached her. Even though both of them were running and talking, together, none of them was out of breath, because they did not run way too much.
"Oh, you stopped right after hearing Richard's name. I never knew you were interested in him," Edina said with a full smile.
Edina voice brings the little girl back from her spacing out. It takes some time for the little girl to understand the meaning behind her sister's word, she turned her head and looked at Medina with a disgusted face.
"What are you even talking about?"
Edina continued, "Did you forget? Yesterday was Richard's birthday, so he came back from the Academy to celebrate his birthday. That's all that I know."
"Oh, yesterday was brother Richard's birthday."
"Yeah."
"By the way, I wasn't asking about that," said the little girl.
Edina didn't say anything further and give her sister a smile, which was saying, 'I don't know what you are asking'.
The little girl sighed and, change the topic and asked while pointing her index finger somewhere, "Isn't it you?"
"What!" Edina eye followed her sister finger only to find a large wall-size portrait. In that portrait, a very beautiful feminine lady was sitting, one hand on her keens and the other was holding a hand-fan near her face, the hand-fan wasn't hiding any facial features of her. As well as, the ornaments were complementing her. The lady had curly brown hair and green gem eyes. In many ways, she looked just like Edina.
Edina chuckled and said, "No, it's not me."
The little girl turns to look at her sister.
Edina continued, "It's grandmother's
portrait."
"Grandmother's?"
"Yes, It is the time when she was young, just around my age." Edina pointed a little further away at the other side of the wall, "Well, look there, it's how I known grandmother's face. You must not remember because you were very little at that time."
The portrait, Edina pointed at, had an elder wrinkled woman in it. But it for sure had the shadow of the lady, of the portrait pointed by the little girl, not to mention, the green gem eyes were the same. The little girl looked at the portrait, showed by her elder sister, without saying a word, then she looked back at the portrait, that's she pointed at, without saying a word again.
'It's a shame that painting and portrait can't talk, but it's good that their frame can.' The little girl thought.
She made her mind to start her investigation from here, the investigation for finding the 'secret library'.
"Our guests must be coming soon. And I am also hungry, let's go and check together, how much preparation are done?"
"Hum," the little girl hummed, at her sister words with a smile. But before leaving, she takes a last look at her grandmother's portrait and her eyes followed down the portrait. The frame was gold in colour and the name, also in gold, was readable.
The little girl started following her sister pace and mumbled a name.
"Countess Iana Rose Salmouth."
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