The Vermilon residence rested at the fringe of their earldom. Among Araya's palaces, it could be said to be among the smallest. It did not need to be larger, for the Vermilon family was small, as was their earldom of Gallagher where they have governed for over a century.
It took nearly an hour from Gallagher's capital to the Residence. And all throughout, Mother's face burned with fury - something Marco had gotten used to. She loathed the mention of the Ghost of Vermil. Now she was upset with Marco as well, for his disobedience.
It was to Marco then that the inspectors directed their inquiry for the rest of the journey.
"Why is he not in the records of the capital?"
"It's… complicated," Marco answered, glancing at Mother whose gaze was fixed outside the window, completely ignoring them.
"We can deal with complicated."
"He was disowned, about ten years ago now."
"That doesn't explain the records, but anyway, thank you for cooperating with us." They were too quick to accept answers. To Marco, it did not feel right. "Is he normal?"
His brother was the farthest from normal. But would the inspectors understand?
"You can see for yourselves."
The inspectors nodded. The quiet one said, "Some people from town said he was involved in several atrocities before." He looked right at Marco's face. "Is that scar his doing too?"
Marco couldn't respond. Perhaps, leading them here was a mistake after all. But his silence seemed a good answer enough as the inspectors asked again.
"What's his name?" Ivan asked.
"I call him Lucas," Marco said. Although I'm the only one who calls him that.
"And I would understand if you would like to protect your brother, but is there a reason we should know why you're cooperating with us?"
He breathed deeply. "Honestly, I wanted to know too. If he really did it, you know." Perhaps it was too blatant. He felt sorry for Lucas. But the itch of the question of whether his brother was truly capable of murder or not was far greater than his fondness for him.
"I see," the quiet one said. Somehow whenever that guy opened his mouth, Marco felt more and more dreadful.
The coach stopped. They heard the clinking of gates opening. Then they were finally inside the Vermilon court. The gate to the front door was not too distant. The short stroll however afforded them the scenery of rose bushes, carnations and tulips.
"My lady, my lord" their attendants greeted them with warm smiles as they alighted. But the sight of the inspectors in gray astounded them, albeit they knew the reason for the visit all too well.
"I'm tired. Sebastian, please tend to them." Mother sighed. Not a minute later, she had disappeared from the courtyard.
Sebastian the old butler bowed and offered, "May I treat you to some tea and sweets?"
"No need," Ivan said, "We are inspectors from the force, sent by the clergy to investigate on the death of the Head Priest of Gallagher. Can you lead us to Lucas?"
"Lucas?" The old butler was confused for a second but said, "Oh I see."
Sebastian did not know what to call him. They never talked to him. Only Marco ever did. They never talked about him, except when Lucas would suddenly show up in the main residence. Then he would disappear like a ghost as if he was never there.
"Where is he?" The quiet inspector asked after Sebastian hesitated.
The butler looked to Marco instead, asking for permission or help. Neither the butler nor the helpers visited Lucas. There was no rule prohibiting them from going but nothing good would happen if they did.
"I'll lead you there, the butler is busy."
"Thank you, young master."
"Inform Grandfather then that we are here," Marco told him. "Please follow me."
Marco did not need Grandfather's permission to visit Lucas because like Mother, he did not want to have anything to do with any matters surrounding Lucas. He used to, but then an incident happened forcing him to disown his grandchild who was barely five then.
He led them through the corner of the patio, past another less kept garden and towards the edge of the courtyard. The unkempt grass was a clear demarcation of where the servants dared to venture close to Lucas's abode.
"Tell me, does he have some kind of mental issue?" Greg the plump inspector suddenly asked upon laying eyes on the building where Lucas kept to himself.
It used to be the meat and grain storage, with a few sleeping rooms for guards and keepers. But then Lucas disappeared one day from the Main Palace and they only found him here. The servants who had already left spoke of some gruesome tales of what Lucas did to the animal meat here, and how suddenly there were more animal carcasses in the store, some of them still with fur and feathers.
The keepers were too scared to remain in the same building so Mother allowed them to reside in the smaller rooms of the Residence instead.
Now the storage building looked overgrown with moss and mildew, and a parasitic vine of wisteria that had swallowed half of the front facade.
"Lucas!" Marco knocked. "Lucas! I want to talk to you!"
"He must be fast as sleep, it's daytime anyway," Greg quipped. Nobody elese found it funny. "Sorry."
Marco tried the door. It was locked. Is he not in? Then perhaps… He remembered the shadow near the cemetery.
"I'll go around the back, and see," Ivan said.
"No." To Marco it seemed like a foolish idea. He was not exactly sure why. "I'll open it."
Marco's holy power could command anything he touches. Even the iron in this latch.
He touched the handle, feeling his glinting holy power snake its way from his fingers through the wood grain of the door and into the latch on the other side.
Clank! How ironic that a holy power would be used to break in into someone's house. The inspectors might not see him as pious as before. Well, they were all accomplices on this.
He pushed it ajar. This door could only be locked from the inside, so he must be here. Why is he ignoring me?
"Lucas!" He called again but only his echo answered back.
"Oh my god!" One of the men exclaimed.
"These are…"
Claw marks. Knife marks. Scissor marks. The entirety of the walls was covered in sharp dents as though a rabid animal clawed angrily at them. New scratches crossed over the old ones. It was Marco's first time here too. He had never entered the house before, simply because Lucas never invited him in. Perhaps this was the reason why.
It suddenly occurred to Marco's recollection. The sound of a razor tearing flesh and the pain that followed. He touched his scar instinctively, feeling a phantom throb there that was long gone.
"Larger than a bear's," the quiet one commented. "We are in for an exciting development."
"Are you saying he's a - " Greg trailed off, but Marco knew what he intended to say for he had heard it from people very often. A devil.
"We cannot judge until we've seen him. For all we know, this is the work of another entity. We only came here to ask questions, remember?"
"Well, just in case, Mr. Vermilon, is your holy power enough to subdue him?" The quiet inspector didn't seem so quiet anymore.
"He's not… violent." And it was true. But could his holy power really subdue Lucas? Marco was yet to know.
Something scuttled from the dark corner, sending Greg jumping. "SHIT. Fuck!"
They laughed, "Calm your pants down man, it's just a squirrel."
The Granary room was empty and clean. So was the meat store. It made Marco doubt whether the servants were speaking truthfully about Lucas's obsession on dead animals. Every wall was slashed with claw marks, not a square foot unscathed. The only place with any furnishing was Lucas's bedroom where a single bed stuck to the window, and beside it stood a small desk with a chair. The room was neat. And surprisingly, the walls looked pristine, unmarred, unmarked.
"Seems like your ghost brother isn't here. Or is he? I think I felt chills." Greg made a joke again.
The quiet one walked over to Lucas's desk, reaching for the books neatly stacked there.
"Please don't touch anything!" Marco said.
"My apologies, just curious."
"It seems like he's not here right now, so if you could go back to the Main Palace and wait there. I'm sure he'll be back before dark." He always was.
"Alright, we appreciate the cooperation. We'll be waiting there then," Ivan obliged.
The quiet one made a disappointed smirk.
"I'm sorry I didn't catch your name before," Marco told him.
"Philip, my young lord."
Philip. I'll remember you.
When they were out the door, Marco perused Lucas's books. He never thought Lucas was studious. He never even thought Lucas could properly read. Marco had taught him before, but after a fateful altercation happened, Lucas was not allowed near Marco again.
They were mostly literatures of Araya, materials on mathematics and history, a book on herbs and gathering. There were pages where he scribbled solutions and answered quizzes. Most of them he got wrong.
"Where did he get these?" Marco wondered aloud. He had never seen him taking books from the Vermilon library. It was also off limits for him. Mainly because Grandfather took his office there.
Pietro Mendel. Marco read a small scribble on the first page of an arithmetic book.
"You were really acquainted with the High Priest then," Marco mused. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
Well, because I never asked. And I never expected you to seek company from anyone. You looked so content living as a ghost. Marco answered his own thoughts, pondering how much more he did not know about his younger brother.
A small calendar caught his attention as he turned to leave. A date was marked there, the day Marco was supposed to depart for his Second Year at the Academy, two weeks from now.