I woke up, on the bed. I felt a slight pain in my neck. I shouldn't have slept in the wrong position.
Why am I on the bed?
Didn't I doze off on the chair at the balcony? Weird.. How did I end up here? Maybe I walked over here, because I got uncomfortable.
"My lady, may we come in?" I heard a voice from outside.
"Yes, please." I said and got up.
"I hope you had a great sleep last night, my lady. I'm Vera and I will be serving you." The woman, in front of a few more servants said.
Her hair were tied in a tight bun. She was wearing glasses, fairly huge but they highlighted her eyes and face. She was slim and maybe a little taller than me. Her skin was as white as snow. And she also looked around my age.
She reminded me of Bella..
"Thank you." I said, still stretching my neck.
It seemed that one of them noticed that and then smiled.
"What's the matter?" I asked. But none of them replied. "With your permission, we'll help you get fresh." Vera said. I nodded.
"So, should I explore the house as he had asked me to?" I mumbled while sitting on the table for breakfast.
I decided to eat light today, just a bowl of yogurt decorated with fruits and cereals.
I wonder what I would find here. I'll go with Vera, she would know around the house.
"Vera?" I looked behind me.
"Yes, my lady?" She came forward.
"I wanted to explore the house today, would you help me out?" I asked. "With pleasure, my lady." she said and stepped back.
After the delectable breakfast, we went out to the garden first.
It looked different and more lively in the morning than in the night. Just as we came out of the mansion, the smooth, running track started.
We started walking and after taking a few steps, we came in front of the fountain.
The water from the fountain was shining under the sun and it simply looked ethereal. The long trees surrounding the house, were of different shades of green and well-maintained.
I walked further on the track and then came across a few bushes full of colorful flowers. I recognized a few, dahlias, lavender, lilies and poppies. I tried touching a stem with thin, green leaves, thinking that it was a touch-me-not.
The leaves folded and my suspension was right. It was a touch-me-not. I smiled and walked further.
The warmth of the sun was just right, for a walk in the noon. When we reached mid-track, we had an appropriate view of the mansion. I could understand the details much more with light. It was about 30 feet in height and hmmm… 80 feet in width, from the front. And then there was more at the back. Pretty huge.
The colossal door was clearly the main attraction. It was brown and was decorated with white and gold ornaments.
What a place to live!
"Vera? May I ask you something?" I asked. "Anything, my lady." she replied.
"Okay, first. Please call me Lily." I said, turning back, to face her.
"I can't do that, my lady." She said, looking down. "It's a request, please." I said.
She nodded. "What did you want me to ask me, Lily?" She asked.
"This might be a little rude, but how old are you?" I hoped she wouldn't find my question weird.
She looked at me, surprised but then with a smile she answered, " I will turn 22 this month."
"Oh? Even I would be turning 22 this month. When's your birthday?" I asked.
She smiled and answered, "10th November." "That's pretty close to my birthday, I'll be turning 22 on 19th." I laughed.
She smiled.
We returned back inside and after a refreshing lemonade, we started exploring the interior.
When I first visited Mr. Anstey and Mrs. Anstey, I couldn't really inspect the whole living room, and now I can actually see that it was comfortable. The blinds were lifted, and there was a unique scent of flowers.
"Vera? Is there any place in the house where I should take a look?" I asked.
"My lady, you may visit the attic. It has many childhood photos of Master Andrew and Master Oliver." She answered.
"Hmm.. Okay, let's go there." I said and asked her to lead the way.
It was upstairs, further away from my room. The door was closed by a lock on it. She took out a bunch of keys and found an old key. It was different from others, no wonder it was easier to find.
She opened the door, and just by the sound of the lock, I could tell this door hasn't been opened in a while.
It was dark and dusty. And there were damn cobwebs. I hesitated to go inside but then end up going.
There were a few cycles; chairs, covered with white clothes. And besides that, there were tons of boxes. My eyes caught a box, labelled 'Oliver and Andrew'. I walked over, and opened the box.
There were five huge albums and I began with the one on top.
About two hours must have lapsed, and I finally reached the last album.
On the last page, I saw a family photo, with six people. I recognized five of them, Andrew, Oliver, Mr. Anstey, Mrs. Anstey and Kayden.
There was another man, who I couldn't recognize.
"Vera? Do you have any idea, who this might be?" I pointed at the man.
"That's Mr. James Glason, masters' uncle. As I have been informed, he is abroad at the moment." She said.
"Hmm.." I said and closed the album.
"Vera, who is Kayden?" I asked.
"Master Kayden is Mr. James son. He was also abroad until yesterday." She answered. "Yeah, I met him yesterday. Just wanted to know if Mr. James was his father." I said and walked around the room.
My legs were paining because of sitting on the hard floor for so long.
I went to the other side of the room and found a box, overflowing with papers. Newspapers, to be more exact.
"What's this?" I asked.
"Those are the important newspapers from years back. Mr. Anstey wanted them to be stored."
I opened the box and unfolded one them.
The highlight read, 'Legendary enmity.' Before I could read ahead, the door to store room creaked.
Vera and I both turned and found...
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