ARC 1 - THE TOP FLOOR 2

Rhaia dispelled her doubts and looked towards Kane before she smiled apologetically at him

"I'm sorry Kane, I was a little absent-minded"

Kane waved his hand to show he was not bothered about it.

He then invited Rhaia back indoors as the sun came out high, not before he looked back at the place Rhaia had been looking, a smirk on his lips.

They went in together for lunch and Rhaia decided to finally ask the question on her mind

"Kane I'm worried about Carlos. I have been here for so long and I haven't seen him once come down from the top floor. Is everything fine with him?"

Kane's smile disappeared at the name of Carlos.

He took his goblet twirling it watching the grape wine in it move about before he took a sip from it and lazily replied saying

"There is nothing wrong with Carlos , you don't have to worry too much. He doesn't have a life threatening disease. He just gets illtempered and that makes him want to be alone".

Illtempered? Rhaia still looked like she had questions and Kane cut her off before she could ask anymore

"Next time I see Carlos I will extend your greetings to him. Enough about the topic, let's enjoy lunch".

Rhaia was disappointed but she could see his unwillingness to talk about Carlos, so she let it go.

She decided to have dinner in her room that evening, because her mood was a little down.

Meanwhile Kane after hearing that Rhaia decided to have dinner in her room instead of going to the dining hall felt pissed off. A sharp glint flashing across his eyes.

He looked at the crumbled ball of paper in his hands and placed it on his desk in his room before straightening it and went back to his activity like nothing happened.

After taking her bath at night, Rhaia decided to read a book by the lamp to let the time go by as she was not feeling too sleepy.

She got engrossed in the book that by the time she was done she realised that it was very dark outside possibly past midnight already. She put off the candles and lay on the bed, closing her eyes trying to sleep.

Her eyes suddenly flew open, she couldn't sleep, the story in the book she just read keeps spinning about all the way across her mind.

The heroine in the book found a secret in a hidden room in the castle.

She felt curious, was there a secret in this castle too?

Like the room the heroine was warned not to go to.

Rhaia sat up on her bed immediately.

She had also been warned not to go to the third floor.

What was on the third floor? Was there a secret there too?

After so many debates, deliberations and conversation with herself, Rhaia got up from the bed, took her robe hanging on the chair in the room, wore it to keep out the cold before she went out of the room tiptoeing quietly while praying so hard nobody was awake like her at this time. Especially that the old grumpy Butler is asleep and does not find her breaking his rules.

She breathe a sigh of relief when she got to the bottom of the stairs seeing that no one had caught her yet before her fingers gripped the railings of the staircase and she then continued going all the way upstairs, her feet barefoot as she tried hard not to make a single sound.

It was late, everyone should have gone to bed and there was no one in the corridor, so she should be safe, but it is better to be careful anyway.

Moreover not everyone is like her, creeping about late at night trying to find some secrets somewhere in the castle, instead of being in her bed sleeping beautifully.

Well she was searching for Alaric too, all these was not really as a result of her curiosity. Rhaia consoled herself with this, kicking out the voice at the back of her mind who was trying to tell her how bad her actions were.

She had always been curious about the top floor but she was also afraid of the stern looking butler. She hesitated and stopped in her tracks, holding her breath when she saw a shadow move in the hall.

She tiptoed up on the soft carpet and finally got to the mysterious top floor.

Rhaia breathe a sigh of relief.

'Phew! Finally she did it'

There were four rooms on the floor and only one room had its door ajar. She peeped into the room and saw it was a study.

There was a large mahogany desk in the centre of the study, with bookshelves placed against the walls. It was a bit dark and gloomy inside that she could only see dimly as a result of the moonlight coming in from the balcony and the windows.

Rhaia went in and saw papers with scribbled handwriting on it on the table. The bookshelves against the wall held books on magic and curses.

This was definitely Carlos's study, only he lived on the third floor, but why were there books on magic and curses here?

Do they exist in this world? Was this not a normal feudal world?

Rhaia was confused when she suddenly heard scratches against another bookshelf behind her, she turned around in fright and saw an elongated shadow on the moonlit ground right in front of her.

Her heartbeat stopped that moment, her eyes widened in horror, a scream almost escaping her throat.

She subconsciously turned around to see what was behind her when she saw a cloak on the hanger.

The scream got stuck in her throat and Rhaia laughed in relief,

'Thank goodness she had not screamed yet and woken the whole castle, if not she was definitely going to be interrogated on what she was looking for on the third floor she had been warned against coming to'

She does not know why she is scared of everything now.

She smiled while shaking her head, she had never realised she was such a coward, it seems Kane's telltale got to her more than she was willing to admit.

She left the third floor in a hurry, well she had broken Flare's rules tonight after such a long time of adhering to it.

She got down the stairs while wanting to flee to her room when

Behold standing there was Flare, talk about thinking of the devil and he shall appear.

Rhaia braked in her steps almost falling flat against the floor due to the inertia before finding her balance and standing straight while holding onto the railings

"Miss Devalle,you broke the rules"

Rhaia swallowed, she felt like the first time her father caught her trying to sneak out of the house to meet a young noble she had good feelings about.

"I am sorry Flare. I'm sorry it will not happen again" She said looking guiltyz apologizing immediately and at the same time trying to make her voice softer .

Flare sighed as he looked at the restless young lady, a look of despair and tiredness flashing across his old face

"I hope miss Devalle remembers her words now, if you make the Duke angry, I will have no choice but to send you back to Tarldia" .

He left after those words saying nothing more and Rhaia shocked that 'uhh was that all?' Came back to her senses and plunged into her room in relief. Thank goodness, it seems Flare was not really pissed off.

She leaned against the closed door thinking about what happened now. She was confused though that Flare took it easier than she thought he would, he didn't look pissed off with her either rather he seemed sad, or maybe he was just a little tired that he got up from bed so late.

Rhaia was in deep thoughts when a knock sounded on her door and Elle came in with a glass of milk.

She realised she had walked away from leaning against the door to walking around the room.

"Miss, the butler told me to give you a glass of warm milk as it would help you sleep faster and easier".

She said as she handed the glass of warm milk over to Rhaia who took it in embarrassment.

"Sorry for disturbing your rest Elle, but I really needed it, thank you so much".

Elle smiled and nodded at Rhaia with drooping eyes, it seemed she was really tired and was probably woken up from her sleep to make her the milk.

Rhaia felt guilty and smiled embarrassingly at her, murmuring her thanks before she followed her to the door, closed it and walked back to her bed.

She drank the milk, bottoming it out.

It was not long before she began yawning, the milk must have helped.

Rhaia pulled off her robe throwing it onto the chair in a distance before she hugged her pillow, cuddling it and shrinking under the warm quilt.

She sniffed the quilt which smelled of the sunshine and her eyes started drooping.

'It seems the maids changed her sheet this night, it was really comfortable'

Rhaia breathe a satisfactory "hmmm" and it was not long before she went off to dreamland in the cool night breeze.