"Echo's of a dead man's plan"
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1pm march 7th. The duchess manor
Stepping off the carriage I looked forward to the big manor in front of me, the soft wind blowing against my face. The smell of fresh greenery filled the air,the house was very modern and well kept and surrounded by trees. It was one of the many estates the Lewis family owned,the most powerful out of the seven houses.
heading to the entrance,the guards opened the door without a word, as I entered I was directed down a long hallway full of paintings and at the end a room, mostly likely one used for meetings.
At the door, I hesitated. My fingers grazed the handle as doubt overwhelmed my mind. Was I really about to put my trust in Theo's deranged plan? In these people? It felt like I was being forced into a death trap.
But there was no going back now. It wasn't about me anymore and It's not like Theo gave me a choice.
I took a deep breath, forcing my hand to steady before pushed the door open.
Three pairs of eyes turned to meet me. At the center of the room sat Duchess Mariana, her poised elegance matched only by the chill in her gaze. To her right stood Karu, head of the Quinn House, he was fiddling with a pen looking at me like I had interrupted his thoughts. And then to the left there was miss Evelyn, the famous newspaper publisher, adjusting her glasses as her lips curved into a faint, unreadable smile.
Seriously these were the people he picked for his plan? Psychos really do stick together.
Evelyn was the first to speak her tone of voice a bit cheerful.
"So you're Noe I've heard quite a bit about you— mostly gossip,of course."
she seemed like she was about to jump up and hit me with a bunch of questions but held back.
"So I'm assuming you've made your decision to help?" Mariana said standing up and grabbing a book from one of the many shelf's in the room as she slipped it across the table to me.
"It's not like I had a choice so let's just get this over with." I muttered crossing my arms, the duchess chuckled at my words as I grabbed the book. "You're saying that like this is just a week long project." I ignored her words and observed the book, it was a note book it looked a bit ragged. I attempted to open it but it had a lock on it.
"Oh I forgot the key here"
The duchess looked around her pocket then pulled out a necklace with a key attached to it. I took it from her and started flipping through the notebook, it had Theo's writing in it, it was neat but you could see the multiple eraser smudges,as if he'd agonised over every word. I traced my finger over the words it had little doodles in the margins and the pages were a bit worn out he'd put a lot of effort in it— what am I thinking of course he put effort into it he's obsessed with this plan even in the afterlife.
At the front it had my name and the rest is what I assume to be his stupid plan. I just shut the book unwillingly to look for any longer, I couldn't bring myself to.
"Can we just tell him the basic condition and finish this I have things to do" karu spoke up he clearly looked frustrated like he had something important to do. Evelyn chimed in. "Okay I'll do the quick summary for us all, so Noe basically we all have our own books with instructions to follow it has a lock just to be safe everything you need to know is in the book but feel free to ask questions!" She said her voice fast with no stutter or hesitation.
"There, quick and easy" as the summary had finished without a second to spare karu bolted out of the room and had went home probably to work on more of his crazy science projects. "How did a man like that even become the head of Quinn house." Evelyn said sighing softly then turned to me. "Well it was nice meeting you Noe, let me interview you sometime you are a burning topic in society these days." she said handing me her card.
"I'll think about it." I take the card from her hand scan it over before the 2 ladies dismissed me and I also went home.
I decided not to think about all of this too much and get it over with, though it wasn't as simple as that it was all I could do since the one person I could blame for all of this is already six feet into the ground.
I arrived home,it was around 5pm as I reached the entrance I saw Lucas he was probably arriving home from the academy. He ran up to me when he saw me waving joyfully.
"Hello uncle, are you coming home from a meeting?" He said catching his breath.
"Yes I finished up early" I looked at him a bit concerned on why he ran to me,I would have waited for him. Lucas hesitated to say something before building up confidence to speak "That's great do you want to Join us for dinner Ethan has been practicing making desserts and is going to make some!" He smiled brightly. I couldn't help but smile back, I didn't expect him to invite me.
"Of course" I nodded, Lucas looked happy and we headed inside together. I was glad he invited me.
New Year's Note
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Hello! You probably didn't expect to hear directly from me so soon, did you? It's me, your author, here to wish you a very Happy New Year!
Starting to publish this story has been such a rollercoaster. Even though it feels like we're just getting started, this journey has been two years in the making—between improving my writing skills and refining the storyline. Honestly, I still have no clue what I'm doing half the time or exactly where this story will lead, but I'm trusting my intuition and taking it one step at a time.
I know my writing is not the best but hopefully I'll improve through the year and I'll work harder to give you a story you won't regret reading!! ^^
I hope you'll continue to support me on this journey, not just this year but for the years to come. Thank you for being here, and here's to an amazing year ahead for all of us!
Happy New Year!
-ren/michi