By the time Rumius opened his eyes, it was already noon. The smell of fresh roses filled the air as the warm sunshine washed the room in gold.
'. It's hot.' He thought, tossing away his sheets and sitting up.
Rumius gasped in pain, his hands instinctively flying to his back where a stabbing pain exploded forth into his consciousness, nearly robbing him of it in the process.
" Argh!"
Memory of the previous night's events flowed in, filling in the leftover blanks in his memory.
The first thing Rumius thought to do was check.
Rumius closed his eyes and sat up right, cross legged as he scrunched his eyebrows in concentration.
Before long, a faint heat could be felt in his chest. It was the same feeling he remembered from the night before.
Opening his eyes, yet still keeping note of the feeling, Rumius noticed something new.
' The feeling has gotten weaker. I'm sure it was stronger when I stopped last night.'
' Maybe it's because i'm not focusing hard enough?' He mused then snorted, an amusing memory surfacing.
' I guess now I know. I'm not that crazy after all." He thought, grinning. It felt good and exciting.
A grumbling sound interrupted him.
He would continue this after he'd gotten something to eat.
As he looked towards the doorway waited for Rennie's familiar silhouette to appear, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something crucial that he was forgetting.
' There shouldn't be anything, right?'
Runius looked around, recalling the last he had seen before he'd fallen asleep.
' The mana, the sheets, the moonlight…' reminded a small voice in his ear.
Rumius gasped outloud.
" The sheets!"
' Not those sheets! The sheets of paper! Where are they?'
Rumius leapt to his feet, his eyes wide, surveying the crib on which he slept.
' Where are they?'
Dread had begun to creep into his core, its cold hands wrapping around him as he friend his sheets and pillows upside down. A chilling realisation.
' Either Rennie or Maman must have found it.'
Rumius didn't want to believe it.
' That's the only explanation. The papers were right here when I fell asleep!'
' And it's late into the day already. Rennie must have come to wake me up in the morning. That means that she must have found them.'
Rumius didn't know what Rennie would do in such a scenario. Much less what his mother would do.
The order to keep him away from books relating to magic originally came from his mother.
The chills that ran down Rumius's spine as he thought of what punishments awaited him were overshadowed only by the thoughts of Rennie.
' Rennie..' Rumius gulped.
Rennie would definitely be blamed for such a mistake. She was his caretaker. His dearest caretaker. Someone who he valued even just as much as his Maman.
The memories of what he had put her through just from a small slap were still crystal clear as the realization truly sunk in..
The punishment would be heavier this time. A lot heavier. And suddenly Rumius didn't feel that hungry anymore.
Just desperate. He could feel the pit in his stomach, the tears that were coming and the sheer anger directed at himself.
Rumius wanted to scream at himself. He wanted to slap, he wanted to beat himself. He would throw himself at Rennie's feet and cry and apologise.
His greed had led to this outcome and now, Rennie would have to take the fall for it.
' YOU IDIOT! IMBICILE! IMBICILE!'
The door swung open with a bang.
" Rennie!" Rumius shouted, his voice thick.
" Really? Again?" Came the disbelieving response.
Reverie's face wore a smile initially initially turned into a tired grimace of disappointment.
" Seriously?"
Rumius, stunned, fumbled to reply.
" Maman?" He sniffled.
" Yes, it's Maman." Reverie said, her voice mocking, her hands spread an exaggerated gesture.
" It's just Maman."
Rumius shook his head, plopping down on his rear.
" I'm sorry Maman, I did not mean it like that. Its just…I…"
Rumius struggled to find words but Reverie was quick to notice, her mocking tone dropped from her lips.
Reverie scurried across the room, kneeling down to match Rumius at eye level. He turned away but she framed his face in her hands and brought it back.
" What's wrong child? Maman's here." Her face wore a compassionate look as she looked into his red eyes, one of her hands reaching up and resting on the side of his face.
" It's nothing." Rumius looked away again.
" Nothing is still something. And if it's something then you can always tell Maman about it."
Rumius couldn't say that that didn't warm the cockles or his heart. He pursed his lips, hesitant. '
What was he to say? Lie in her face? Hide from her the parts of the story which he didn't want her to hear? Were the two options any different?'
" l-"
Rumius remained silent for awhile, taking time to steel his resolve.
He returned his mother's gaze, gulping slightly as the question slid out of his throat.
" Maman, is Rennie okay?"
Reverie's face morphed into a look of confusion.
" Rennie? What do you mean by that question?" She asked, her head shaking as if trying to puzzle out a trick.
" I mean-….is she…well?"
" Is she well? Yes she's well. I saw her this morning when she told me that you were still asleep past breakfast." Reverie as still shaking her head, not understanding what Rumius was getting at.
Rumius's face instantly went slack with relief. He needed that one line more desperately than anything he had needed in a long time.
' Maman doesn't know! Rennie didn't get punished!'
' Everything's still fine!'
Rumius laughed out loud, giggling loudly as his anxiety washed away with every small fit of laughter. Relief had never felt so good.
Reverie looked on in amazement, wondering if her child had gone crazy somehow.
He was pretty whack already, what with his ability to speak in complete sentences, his ability to think critically enough to read books, and with his elder speech? Going crazy wasn't out of the equation just yet.
Reverie put a hand on her son's shoulder as he struggled to stifle his laughter. He had to give her an explanation.
" Hah..sorry maman…..it's just."
He paused, catching his breath.
" I'm so glad it was a dream." He smiled. It slid out with relative ease. But with it also went the rest of his temporary euphoria.
Clear droplets twinkled in Rumius's eyes, glinting in the mid day sunlight. He raised a hand to wipe them away.
" I'm so glad it was a dream." His voice carried a little less emotion this time.
Realization flashed briefly across Reverie's face, her eyebrows arching and her lips forming a silent " Oh".
' So that's what's going on.'
Taking her son in her arms, Reverie brought his head up to meet hers. Their foreheads touched.
" Yes. It's all okay. It's just a bad dream. It's just a dream."
Reverie rubbed her son's forehead against her own and swooped down to kiss him on the cheek.
" Now, let's go find Rennie and tell her, your're okay shall we?
The duo is asked around the mansion and eventually found where Reverie was occupied for the day.
As the maid in charge of caretaking for the household's young master as she well as a trusted attendant of the lady, Rennie was pretty high up the maid corporate ladder.
Today however, she was not busy with watching over Rumius and thusly found herself in the stables, taking care of the horses.
As Rumius bounced in, his mother trailing not far behind him, the spring in his step instantly disappeared as the foul smell of horse excrement and another mossy smell met his nostrils.
" Renn-"
" Uuehruehehehgh."
Rumius coughed, his lungs assaulted.
Reverie soon caught up and too wrinkled her nose, although nothing as dramatic as her son. Her noble shell would not be so easily cracked.
Rennie was in the process of cleaning one of the horses as she looked up, brush still in hand.
" Young master!"
Her gaze shifted to the taller figure beside him.
" You're here as well Milady!"
Perhaps it was the timing, or the intonation, or simply how the line was delivered that could be interpreted otherwise that caused Reverie to fling her hands up in the air in an exasperated gesture.
" I do exist! Why does everyone think that I'm not supposed to be around?"