73 Veil 9

A loud bang made Lily flinch as she was the last to climb into the attic. After her feet vanished from the hole, she put the wooden pieces over it and hoped it looked natural from the bedroom. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"It has begun," Xavi whispered, "1, 2…3" then he went quiet having signalled he was counting the 15 minutes.

While Xavi sat there and Lily next to him, Lia looked around the large attic. It was as large as a floor and ran completely through without any walls or doors. It was one gigantic room. Since there were no windows nor artificial lights, it was dark and moody.

Lia's eyes slowly got used to the surrounding and saw that there was nothing. She silently tip-toed, avoiding the area where Xavi and Lily were, in fear she'd step through the hole.

From one corner to the other, she explored the empty attic. Xavi should be right. If there was an attic, there should be something valuable here. Lia had the feeling, the Lord would play dirty. After all, no one has ever won and if they did, then the Lord might not accept it. It would be good to have something to gamble with and use in a pinch.

Lia walked to the farthest corner and started periodically checking the whole attic. It would definitely take her at least all of the 15 minutes, considering the sheer size this had. She also let her hands glide along the walls to see if there was something hidden behind it and could be triggered.

"Five minutes," Xavi's quiet voice rang through the silent attic.

He tried to be as quiet as possible to not let any of the Lord's men hear him but loud enough for Lia to understand him.

Five minutes passed and Lia was only done with one-third of the room. 15 minutes would barely cut it. Yet until now, she has found absolutely nothing apart from the dust clinging onto her fingers. Was there really nothing in the attic or did even the Lord not know of this place?

Come to think of it, apart from the hole they've created, there was no sign of any access to this attic. So was this place indeed out of the Lord's knowledge and grasp?

The seconds slowly ticked away to form a minute. Lia still has found neither anything nor access to the attic. So, it was truly empty and the Lord didn't know of it, which meant this place has been built before the Lord, maybe passed on by his family or it also could mean the Lord recently became a Lord and occupied this place. Or… or…

There were several other possibilities. As Lia walked towards the other end of the attic, she heard noises underneath her. So, the servants were currently checking the third floor. With nothing else left to confirm, Lia rushed back to Xavi and Lily.

"It should be any second," Xavi said and just as he finished his sentence a loud bang followed.

They looked at each other and Lily wanted to slip through the hole but Xavi stopped her, "Wait," he whispered.

Loud bangs and curses appeared again. Xavi crawled on the floor and through the crack provided by the hole covered by the wood, he saw servants currently in the bedroom.

He looked up and held his finger over his mouth, motioning them to not make a noise.

"We're doomed," a servant's voice appeared, "We couldn't find them."

"I don't even want to imagine…"

"Let's go back and see if the others found them."

"Yes."

The two men disappeared.

"It's best not to let them catch us. Even if 15 minutes are over, they could still claim to have found us before time's over and there are no witnesses to testify for us, so we're at a disadvantage."

"Got it, young master!" Lily nodded. Lia added, "It's best if we go to the Lord ourselves."

"Yep," Xavi slipped through the hole and landed on the bed. Shortly after Lia and Lily followed. Lily quickly put the pieces back on the ceiling, then they hurried through the hallway down the stairs towards the hall they met the Lord in.

On their way, they met no one only until they were in the hall, did they see everyone assembled.

The Lord had a big beaming smile while the staff behind him all looked on the floor, their hands behind their back seemingly terrified.

"Congrats, we haven't been able to find you!" The Lord sat on the table and his eyes were narrowed to curving slits but Lia could feel the slight anger evaporating out of him.

"Then let us go to Rag," Lia got straight to the point.

"Now, now I didn't say you won though."

"Why? We have done everything right," Lily was riled up but Xavi held her back. Xavi guessed right, she was also furious to the point she wanted to bash his head with the chessboard.

"You old, lying bastard," Lia didn't coax her words anymore. She had enough of this whole ordeal. The whole room was shocked at her words. Especially her peaceful tone as if she was saying hello to a neighbour.

The servants came forwards but the Lord stopped them

"Now, now, I can understand your anger but you violated the rules, so you lost."

"How come?" Lily shouted and was even angrier.

"You hid on the upper floors, isn't that so? I remember saying only the ground floor and first floor," the Lord smiled amicably. He didn't acknowledge the existence of the underground floor.

"You didn't!"

"Little girl, I'm sure I did. Isn't that so everyone?" the Lord turned to this staff who had their heads down, they all just nodded.

"That's not true-"

"Stop," Lia put her hand on Lily's shoulder, "It's useless. No matter what you say an old, dirty pig who pretends to be a sly fox can't be talked sense into. It rather rolls in its mud thinking it's a nest full of gold."

The Lord's smile instantly disappeared, "Young Lady, those are some nasty words."

"As nasty as your pitiful tricks you try to pull off," this time Lia gave him a brilliant smile mocking him.

The Lord gripped his wine glass before returning her smile,"Haha, I don't dislike people like you."

"Then what do you dislike? Yourself? Is that why you can't even acknowledge the words you say because they sound so vile to your own ears?"

Xavi and Lily knew Lia had a sharp mouth but they never thought it could be vicious to this extent.

"Young Lady!" the Lord stood up with such a force the chair fell to the ground with a bang, "I've graciously offered you hospitality and endured your slander for too long, I-"

"What? Are you going to make us disappear like everyone else?"

"I'm doing this for your own good," the smile long vanished from the Lord's face.

"Who are you to judge? For our own good let us go to Rag," Lia coldly stared at the Lord. Her strands of loose hair fell over her frosty face full of graze really sent people into a daze.

"You lost-"

"Because you changed the rules," Lia was also slowly losing her patience.

"Soldiers, take them away."

"You aren't confident in your games. Isn't that why the chessboard is only a decoration? This whole mansion only a dis-"

"Enough!" the Lord enraged hit his hand on the table. For the first time since Lia, Xavi and Lily met him, they saw his true face.

"You want to play it like that? Then let's do it. If you beat this game, then you can go wherever you want! Even to hell!"

As his words faded, the soldiers came and threw all three of them to the ground and held them captive.

"If you're so confident in those things you spit, then prove it!" with that the Lord tapped each of their heads.

Lia's body contracted and she felt a sharp pain surging through her body and nausea welling up as her sense of direction and time got lost.

But she felt the heavy force that was pressing her body vanish and she no longer was pressed to the ground. However, when she opened her eyes and the momentary sickness disappeared, she found herself in a small house.

She had no idea what was going on. The house had two floors and several windows. She ran to one and saw she was back outside in the Veil yet the house she was in was the only one far and wide.

Looking around there was no one but her.

"Xavi? Lily?" Lia called out but no one answered. She cursed there was only a reasonable explanation: The Lord teleported her here.

Either that or she was in an illusion again or dream but it couldn't be, the power was exclusive to the Z family.

Lia ran to the doors and tried to open it but they were locked. Then she moved to the windows but was met with the same results. When she tried to smash the glass, it didn't even bulge.

Did the Lord mean if she could leave here, then she could go to Rag? Was this another game? How did the Lord get powers in the first place? Was it Min? Did the other Lords also have powers?

What happened to Lily and Xavi? Were they also teleported to other places? Did they all have to pass these games on their own and hopefully find their way to Rag to meet again?

A thousand questions flew around in Lia's mind. She was about to have a breakdown at this rate. Either way, she and the other two were separated and she had to go on her own.

Maybe she shouldn't have agitated the Lord and figured out a way to convince him with Xavi. But what was done was done.

For now, she had to clear this 'game' which apparently needed her to escape this house.

Suddenly, a nasty smell crept into her nose. She instantly covered it. Was this poison gas?