After clearing the dirt in their lungs, Aiden continued his search for the suspicious maid. He roamed inside the mansion, searched every nook and cranny, and still without her trace, they knew she was not a real maid, at all.
After some time, Aiden had managed to wander around the vicinity of the mansion, and roamed outside. There were beautifully manicured shrubs and lined pine trees. He walked a few more and arrived at the stables. His eyes sparkled as he pushed through a pub door that swung open.
"I didn't know we had stables," he said.
Lucius burned a red light. "You didn't?" he said, "You literally have a carriage. Of course, you have stables."
"Makes sense," Aiden said.
They looked around, seemingly uninterested. Caelum was even mumbling something to himself about how these were the condescending horses who did not heed his call.
"Mr. Busty would love this place," Aiden said, staring at one spot that didn't have a horse in it.
All of a sudden, the caretaker of the stables arrived. He gave Aiden an up-down, his eyes wondering why he was there.
"You're not allowed to be here, young master," he said the last words rather unwillingly, as if he almost choked himself calling Aiden young master.
Aiden also gave him an up-down, a middle aged man with a balding head, and huge protruding belly. He smelled worse than the horses in that stable, reeking of booze and bitter medicine.
Without saying much, Aiden walked out of the stables.
"I doubt Mr. Busty would want to be with that sleazy man," he murmured to himself. "It would be good if he can live in a stable."
Caelum shook his head. "Na-ah. He's a free soul," he said. "Always with the wind, hoping someone would scatter poison or suddenly shoot arrows."
The three of them glared at Caelum, not fans of how he glorified their donkey's unhinged thoughts.
"Anyway," he continued. "He's better off outside. You don't have to worry about him."
Aiden nodded his head before walking back into the mansion.
They had roamed through the entirety of the mansion, and there were only a few places they hadn't been into. First was Lord Greyson's bedroom, his stupid stepbrother's bedroom, and Lord Greyson's study, which had always been locked.
"You don't have to walk with us," Lucius said. "We can search for that maid on our own."
"I doubt she'd be in any of those rooms," Aiden said.
Caelum beamed a mischievous light. "Who knows," he said, "Maybe, we'll stumble upon a huge revelation. Something we can use against the master of the house. If you know what I'm saying."
"Caelum!" Riven immediately reprimanded him. "Stop teaching the boy all the wrong things!"
Caelum fell silent, murmuring some complaints to himself. "It's better to start them young."
The wisps scattered to search the rooms while Aiden wasted time loitering in the hallways. Thankfully, they all came back after a few minutes.
"What did you find?" Aiden asked them.
"Nothing much," Caelum said, obviously disappointed. "Your father's bedroom is clear. No sign of a mistress--I mean of that maid."
Aiden looked at Riven. "And that brat's room?"
"Nothing much," he said, "But I think he's on some drugs. There were some pills in his drawers."
Aiden's shrugged. "Well, maybe for his brain or something."
"Well, they're not working at all," Caelum gave a side comment and then proceeded to snicker with Lucius.
Lucius had nothing too, "Except," he said. "I felt a hollow space behind the selves, but I couldn't get through it. There was something of a forcefield of sorts."
This piqued the wisps interests. For eons they had roamed the earth, there were only very few places they couldn't go through. Most of those places were highly saturated with all sorts of energy, some were dens of other creatures, and some housed monsters and demons.
"Let's go check it out," Riven said before flying toward Lord Greyson's study, the two wisps following him from behind.
Aiden waved his hand as they all flew away. "Okay, I guess I'll stay here!"
The three wisps loitered around Lord Greyson's study. They didn't see much. There were several note worthy books, and copies of what they believed would help Aiden learn his spells. But, of course, they wouldn't lust on something they could not even get their hands on so they focused with the task at hand.
"I bet there's a secret lever, or a switch," Riven said, inspecting the room. "We'll only know after rummaging through everything.
"Great idea," Caelum said, "As if we can touch anything."
"If we help Bastardsson break into his father's study then that's a different thing," Lucius suggested. "Plus, if he gets slapped and punished, I bet it's a week's worth of tai chi or meditation whatsoever."
Caelum and Riven fell silent, both of them considering Lucius' suggestion.
Riven flashed a green signal. "Alright, we're breaking into this study," he said.
They came back to find Aiden still on the same spot they'd left him. But this time, his eyes were pinned on a huge painting that hung on the wall.
"Woah! Who's that!" Lucius marveled. "That's one beautiful mortal!"
Aiden nodded his head. "She's the woman who birthed me."
The three wisps took their moment to glance at the picture and back to Aiden.
"I can see the resemblance," Caelum said. "Too bad her looks were stained by that father of yours."
"You think I look like him?" Aiden asked them.
"I don't know," Caelum said. "All mortals look the same to me."
Aiden frowned before taking a step back. "So, what did you find?"
"Nothing," Riven said. "We need you to come with us."
Aiden's eyebrows furrowed. "But I can't. The doors are locked, and I can't fly past walls like you three."
The three wisps bobbed themselves. "We know," Lucius said.
"We're gonna help you break into your father's study," Caelum beamed brightly.
For a moment, Aiden had to consider how bad of an idea that was. His shoulders slumped, both his arms crossed on his chest. "You're still holding on to that plan of getting me slapped, aren't you?"
"Duh, of course," Caelum said. "We just suggested other ways to gather energy. But getting slapped, I believed, is still very much on the table."
Aiden sighed. "I shouldn't have hoped for too much," he said, cupping both his cheeks in his hands. "Fine! Let's break into that room and get slapped."