"Careth. Careth!"
"What? What, Merry?" He replied, frustrated and agitated.
The children were now back in Careth's room, with a few minutes to spare before Merry leaves for the day. Careth sat on one side of his bed, sinking his face into his hands, at a loss for both thoughts and words.
Merry took the other side, pondering on what to do.
"Do you really think what he said was true?"
A pause, before Careth answered, "I don't want to think it's true, Merry. Because if it's true, that means my life ends on my fifteenth birthday, which is in two weeks." His voice wavered, like a candlelight about to be extinguished. "Then Father, you, and all that I've ever done... will be gone."
She turned and crawled over to him, speaking gently. "If you want to, we can verify it for ourselves. There's probably a book on family history, right? We can start there."
Her words seemed to have an effect on him, as Careth's shoulders raised suddenly, like hope had inflated inside of him. "You're right." He turned to meet her eyes, whose teal did not shine, but had been dull with worry about her friend. "If we can find an heir who was not Blessed, that means Rian was wrong about the Tradition, and I definitely won't be killed!"
Merry smiled, relieved at his response. "Yes. We can start searching for it tonight. I'll be here again."
As if on cue, two knocks were heard and a servant opened the door, her eyes peeking in. "Miss Gensweathe, your carriage is here."
Merry nodded, and Careth whispered, "Tonight?! That's insane! We can start tomorrow."
"And do you think you'll be able to sleep tonight?" She retorted, hitting him on the head. "You'll probably think so much you'll go down to the library yourself. Nuh-uh, I'm going with you, and making sure you'll be able to sleep."
Careth was about to argue that her argument was invalid, but his heart did the thinking this time, and instead he softened into an appreciative smile. "Thank you, Merry."
The blonde waved one last time, and disappeared down the stairway.
—
Careth didn't have an appetite for dinner.
The more he stared at the fillet, the more repulsed he felt, and the more his heart raced and the more his mind ruminated—
"Son?"
The word sparked Careth out of his thoughts, and urgently, he got up from his seat and bowed, his right arm crossing his chest.
"Evening, father."
"Evening." Master Willdyer greeted, walking towards the other end and sat; only then Careth returned to his seat.
The two dined in silence, with only the clanking of silverware against each other and the occasional footsteps of passing-by maids that were busy dusting the mantel.
Upon noticing their work, Master Willdyer furrowed his brows and tapped his fingers. "We're having a meal here. I suppose you could dust that at another time? It's also making my son quite uncomfortable."
The guilty maids instantly halted their actions, apologizing simultaneously, "We are sorry, sir." Then turned to Careth, "We are sorry, young master."
Careth didn't bother to reply. He was too focused with coming up a plan, or a reason, to ask his father about the previous heirs.
However, to Master Willdyer, it still seemed as if his son was feeling unpleasant about the dinner; he had been staring at the fillet for a few minutes now, concentrating hard, as though trying to make it levitate.
"Leave us, please." He ordered.
Their subordinates heeded his words and scurried out of the room, leaving the master and his son, alone.
"Careth, are you feeling unwell?"
The young boy looked up sharply and shook his head. "I'm feeling fine, Father."
But Master Willdyer was not fooled. "No. You have not finished your appetizers, which is basic dining manners Miss Circum would have taught you. Something is on your mind. What are you thinking?"
Careth struggled to find an excuse. He had never lied to anyone, much less his father, and he was never smart with impromptu. As the master's stare peered into his soul, thousands of words juggled in Careth's mind, trying to come up with a perfect reason, while his sanity continued to inhibit his desire of running out of the room.
"I... feel sick. About the soup." He blurted, and when it dawned on him that today was no-soup-day, he added on quickly, "that was served yesterday."
His father looked genuinely concerned. "The soup? What do you feel?"
"Just... loss of appetite. I don't really feel hungry." This part was true, so Careth relaxed momentarily. "But no worries, Father, I'm still in healthy condition and can carry on with my classes."
Master Willdyer eyed his son carefully, scrutinizing his body language and mannerisms. But before he could question further, Careth stood up abruptly.
"Forgive me, Father, but I have forgotten to do Miss Circum's pre-class activities. Also, I have yet to notify the Town Services regarding some tax evaders, so I might work late into the night for today. Please excuse me. Do enjoy your meal."
Before his father could say anything, Careth exited the room hurriedly, not waiting for his permission. As the door closed and silence returned, Master Willdyer sighed depressingly, staring at the vacant seat before him.
"I'm so sorry, son."
—
It was near midnight, when the spherical glowing moon graced the estate with its presence, inducing a calm, tranquil ambience.
Careth paced back and forth by the window, looked out every five seconds, then checked his pocket watch, and repeat. One thing about Merry was that she was never specific—just when will she arrive?
The anxiety bubbling inside him was driving him mad. Careth had never sneaked out of bed before, because that would be violating his father's rules, and he is a stickler to regulations. The only time he had ever 'rebelled' was getting new books for the book sack, and even that was done during his free time from six to seven, when he actually had the liberty to do anything he wanted.
"Come on, Merry. This is really killing me—"
A hand grabbed onto the ledge and he yelped, backing away instinctively. Another hand supported the first and Merry heaved herself up, out of breath, but determined.
"I did it. I climbed this manor without falling twice!" She hopped into the room, dusting her pants and shirt. Careth rushed towards her worryingly.
"Twice? That means you fell once?" He checked her arms and face for cuts and bruises, and Merry rolled up the hem of her pants, revealing a swollen area.
"Only once. I'm fine, though! This is nothing. Now, we should get moving."
Careth lowered his voice. "That's not fine. You're hurt! Why did you have to climb all the way up? You could've told me, at least I would've prepared a rope or something—"
She jammed her index finger up his lips, shushing him. "I'm fine. Anyway, we're here for more important things."
The brunet pushed her finger away, wiping the spot. "Fine. But we're stopping by the nurse's to get you medication. It's obvious enough to let your parents notice." After seeing Merry's exasperated expression, he continued. "There's no servants or maids on this floor, but I'm pretty sure there's guards doing their rounds on the ground floor. They take around two minutes to complete one route, so from now—" he flicked open his pocket watch, studying, "we have a minute and fourty-five seconds to reach the library."
Merry gave a thoughtful sound. "Wow. You're really prepared for this. Did you find this out all by yourself?"
He raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious. "I only needed to ask for their schedule."
—
Midnight at the manor was a rare experience. The halls were unusually silent, absent of the hurried gossips of maids and stifled snickers of servants. Most of the lamps were put out, except for the ones remaining at the far ends of each hallway, pulsing ominously as the sole guide in the darkness.
Careth and Merry did not bring a lamp, as they thought they would fare better without it. But as they ventured deeper into the bowels of the house, down grand stairs which steps were practically invisible to their eyes, they suddenly remembered the comfort and warmth of a light.
"Hold tight. Don't trip." Careth whispered under his breath. Merry held onto her friend's grip, with her other hand firmly on the stairs. They inched down carefully, with Careth poking his feet to check the step before pressing down. Eventually, he found purchase on a carpeted ground.
The children sneaked with light, soundless steps around the foyer, keeping an eye out for any men in strapped suits equipped with firearms. With the help of the full moon's light, Careth found the entrance to the library and, as gently as possible, pushed the doors so as to minimize the amplitude of the groan.
They slipped in, but not locking the door as he had learned his lesson, and began searching.
"Okay. History. Starts with an H. Is the library arranged in alphabetical order?" Merry said, placing her hands on her hips.
"No, they're categorized by time. The older the books, the deeper it's located." Careth answered, gesturing towards the farther end of the room. "But we don't have the time to look at every corner. I have to return in five hours to get ready for my combat training. So, I've did some thinking." He reached into his pocket and took out a folded piece of paper, which turned out to be a hand-drawn map.
"Remember one of our Hide and Run games? When I hid here, I actually found a vent." He pointed towards an 'X' marked on the map, which was near the large desk at the end of the room. "I remember there was warm air coming from it. Even though the manor runs on mostly electricity, some lamps are still oil-based, and father's room is the only one with them. So obviously, the vent leads to his room."
Merry nodded, following his explanation. "So we go through the vent in the library to your father's room. Are you saying that the family history book is in Master Willdyer's quarters?"
"Yes. And I am quite certain of it, because when I brought up the subject of previous heirs with Miss Circum during my sessions, she looked baffled; it's like she never thought I would ask. I tried to pry for more information, and only got that she was the family tutor for the last three generations. She said everything else was private and confidential. Therefore, you wouldn't keep something private and confidential in an easily assessable place, like a library. There's also the family safe, but since it's a continuous record, it would be a hassle to keep it there as one has to write new entries periodically. So, not easily assessable, but within the grasps of the most trusted person in the manor—my father."
Careth concluded his findings, earning an applaud from Merry. "Interesting. I never thought that far. When did you have the time to come up with all this?"
He folded the map and placed it back into his breast pocket. "During my classes. It was real difficult to act concentrated on geography yet be thinking on something else. I almost slipped up during dinner as well," he chuckled, but it was empty and null of joy. "I'm guessing Father and Miss Circum must have some suspicion about me already, but I honestly couldn't care about anything else."
Upon seeing Careth re-entering his dejected state, Merry rounded an arm around her friend, hugging his side. "It's too early to decide. We still don't know the truth yet. Come on, let's hurry."