Chapter 6 - Illusions

'Finally back...'

Aina sighed heavily as she pulled off her thick scarf, placing it delicately on the coat rack, over her winter jacket. She was out of breath and her forehead was glistening with sweat. She had run in the mountains and in the forest, to make up for the delay she had taken in the village.

Luckily, she was right on time and it was a relief for her. Master Envie, whom she had seen through the window on the first floor could therefore not use this opportunity to make her pay for the anger in which she had put him a few hours earlier and she was almost happy about it.

"Aina." a voice called out, nearly startling her.

"Elvan." she replied almost immediately, before she even realized it.

The butler stood in the hallway, just off the grand staircase leading to the dining room and bedrooms. He was wearing his uniform, the sleeves of which were lightly stained with a white powder, which she assumed was flour.

'He had to help cook dinner.'

He always supervised the making of the buffet that would be served to the family members, because this kind of event had to be perfect. Nothing should be left to chance.

"How's your migraine?"

Aina looked up at him, crossing his irises as clear as the ocean, in which she had the impression of getting lost. His gaze expressed nothing special, but his voice betrayed the consideration he felt for her and which she found slightly comforting.

He was obviously one of the only ones to worry about her here, like a friend. She could not describe with certainty the relationship she had with this man, but she trusted him and appreciated his little attentions.

"It's better, thank you." she reassured him soberly.

The man nodded delicately, his eyes lowered and remained silent for a few moments, rubbing his chin. Aina, who had just put her basket on the dresser, slipped her hands on her uniform, slightly worried.

Elvan looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't, and that didn't reassure her. She didn't want to rush him and risk him changing his mind. So, she waited quite wisely for him to open his mouth, staring insistently at his red, fleshy lips, as if she thought she could make them move by the power of her thought.

"Did..." he finally ventured, his voice full of uncertainty. "Have there been any changes...?"

Aina held a breath, opening her mouth in surprise. Then she nodded, waddling in place, uncomfortable.

"No, nothing came back to me."

'It's always empty.'

Her life and her past were still absent from her mind. Elvan must have sensed the hint of disappointment in her voice, as he put his hand on her shoulder, as if to comfort her.

"It will eventually come back." he assured, wanting to be full of optimism.

She wasn't sure. Her oldest memories dated back to three years ago, when she had opened her eyes in her maid's room, right in the middle of the mansion. That day had been particularly disconcerting for her. She had found herself in an unknown place, remembering absolutely nothing. Elvan had been the first to run into her and had helped her understand who she was, telling her about her life in the mansion and what he knew of her.

She had therefore hoped to see the snippets of her life, that had completely escaped her, come back, in vain. She hadn't recovered any part of her existence since that day. She still felt like she had an empty mind and an incomplete soul, as if someone had torn her into pieces. Nothing had changed since the day of her 'awakening' except her resignation to the situation.

She was almost convinced that she could not recover her memory. At first, she had been hopeful that she would be better, especially after the onset of frequent migraines, during which she sometimes heard voices, which she could never fully discern, or identify. Every time the pain came, she tried to focus on the sounds, on the scene she was trying to imagine, hoping it would trigger some kind of click in her, but nothing. The picture of her life remained perfectly blank, despite her efforts.

By dint of failures, she had resigned herself to the fact that the images of her existence might never come back to her.

'It seems hopeless.'

But Elvan seemed determined to believe that her memory would come back to her, since he questioned her whenever a crisis arose.

Aina didn't particularly like broaching this subject with him, or anyone else. She didn't like being faced with her failure and helplessness. She felt weak for not being able to reconstitute the fragments of her soul.

"I brought the mail." she blurted; her voice urgent.

She desperately wanted to change the subject and if her interlocutor noticed it, he did not comment on it. She heard him sigh and close his eyes, rubbing his temples, as if he were bored.

"Okay...Go drop it off in Master Rage's office."

The young woman was surprised by his request, because he was usually the mailman of the house. The young man must have sensed her confusion, for he hastened to explain himself.

"I have to manage the menu in the kitchen." he justified himself, scrutinizing his silver watch. "So, I can't do it."

Aina bit back a grimace at the thought of going to the Patriarch's room, but eventually nodded, looking resigned. This man was terrifying and she didn't want to cross paths with him any more than necessary. Yet, it appeared that she had no choice.

" All right." she replied uneasily. " I am going right now... "

Shoulders slumped and stomach twisted with worry, she gave Elvan a slight wave before rushing down the stairs, her step heavy and shuffling.

'I really don't want to go there...'

She rarely went to her master's room, but that didn't bother her. Wrath had a reputation of being cold and uncompromising, so she was afraid to make any mistakes that might anger him. She would have to be particularly careful in this place.

Her life was at stake.

Lost in thought, she only noticed after a few minutes that she had slowed down, as if her body was trying to dissuade her from going there. Worried, she pursed her lips and clenched her fists as she arrived at the large black ebony door, which stood alone apart from all the others.

Her hands were shaking and she had a vague feeling that she could choke on the pressure of her aura, even from outside the room. She wished she were anywhere but here, but forced herself to knock on the door nonetheless, her heart pounding and her hands clutching the envelopes she pressed against her chest like a shield.

" Come in." thundered a hoarse and deep voice, like the growl of a bear.

The young woman almost jumped when she heard him and took small breaths, before pushing the door open. She accompanied her gesture with a bow and hastened to lower her eyes, so as not to cross his orbs of ice which would almost give her nightmares.

"The letters, master."

She held out her hand to him, the letters on her palm, and waited. Yet she heard nothing but the sound of his breathing and the beating of her heart. Master Rage was desperately quiet, so much so that the atmosphere became particularly uncomfortable. She didn't dare raise her head towards him, scared to anger him and just didn't move, waiting for the slightest sign from her master.

Time seemed to pass in slow motion, before she finally perceived an almost annoyed nose blowing.

"Put them on the desk." finally ordered Rage, with a terrifying voice.

She didn't waste a second and got up, without meeting the gaze on her of the man, who was elegantly installed in his leather sofa as black as his hair. He wore a white shirt half open on his muscular chest and a large black jacket that rested on his dark fabric pants, which outlined the bulging muscles of his thighs. Master Rage was an imposing man, who she was sure could have smashed her skull by slapping her.

'He is so scary...'

Everything about him was sinister, whether it was his murderous, suffocating aura, or his narrowed, empty eyes that seemed to pierce her through his mask, adorned with a face contorted with anger. It could also have been the room he resided in that looked like a museum of horrors.

Aina ignored the gaze she felt on her back and walked over to the desk against the wall. She discovered for the second time the strange hobby of her employer and refrained from making the slightest grimace, for fear that this man would notice. Wrath had a more than curious habit of hanging a whole bunch of disturbing objects on the walls of his living room.

A metal chain, knives, a fork or even a leather whip, everything was there. It ranged from torture objects such as wolf traps, ropes or gloves covered with spikes to everyday objects, but that did not reassure her. Matches, a saucepan, a wooden cane, a pair of gloves, a broken bottle and a poker... Everything was good enough to be placed on his wall, without anyone ever understanding its meaning.

All these things gave the room a strange atmosphere... Almost suffocating, which Aina couldn't bear. She had always been uncomfortable in Master Envie's bedroom, but this place literally sent shivers down her spine, so much so that she suppressed the urge to run from here without looking back.

She had no idea why she felt all this, considering that Rage had never been violent with her before, but something – like a small voice – was whispering in her ear to run away as far as possible.

"I heard my wife called for you." he remarked after a moment, snapping the young woman out of her reverie.

This man's ability to always know everything amazed her. Even while being regularly absent, the patriarch always managed to be aware of everything, even of the things that were said in secret, by candlelight.

As if he had ears everywhere.

One had to be careful of what one said within the walls, because one could never be sure who might be listening. It was necessary here to close your ears and above all close your eyes, just like the imposing white marble statue that the young woman saw in the corner of the room.

A tall, nearly naked woman, with her hands tied and teary-eyed blindfolded , slightly bent forward on a large stone. On it was engraved in imprecise and dripping crimson ink the phrase: "And in violence their sins will be drowned."

'Particularly pleasing...'

It seemed to fit perfectly with the sinister and cruel personality of the man who occupied the place.

"You are right, sir," she admitted, placing the mail on the edge of his desk, right next to the cigar box that sat there and the shiny red bottle behind it and on which was inscribed in silver letters a word.

'Nectar.'

Aina wondered if he saw the twitch of her shoulders, each time she heard his voice, but reassured herself when she saw him staring into a large black book in the middle of which he had affixed a golden bookmark.

"What did she want?"

The young woman hesitated, without showing it. She knew she should have told Rage the truth and told him about the wife's attitude towards their son Envie, but something prevented her from doing so. For some reason she couldn't explain, she had the urge to keep Madame's secrets, despite the danger.

"Madame wanted me to carry her mail." she replied, her gaze shifting.

Aina saw Wrath wince, as if unsatisfied with her response, and she gasped.

"She also wanted to know if I had seen you." she hastened to add, hiding the trembling of her hands behind her back.

After these words, Aina waited. She was afraid. Fearing that the patriarch would realize her lie and that she would be forced to confess to him that Madame had expressly ordered her to keep the young master Envie away from miss. Mistress Chagrin had said nothing about it, but she was certain that the instructions this woman was giving her had to remain a secret.

"Mhm..." the man finally breathed out after a while.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and Aina almost widened her eyes as she saw the corner of his lips gently arch in what looked like a smile, but not a sweet and happy one like a husband might have towards his wife. No, it was like the excitement of a wild beast before swooping down on its prey.

"She must have missed me." he whispered, as if to himself.

Master Rage was a notorious obsessive, and everyone knew that the thing that occupied him the most was his wife, whom he almost never allowed to leave. Everyone said he wanted to keep her locked up here, where he could always see her.

'Stop her from running away.'

"Did she receive the flowers I sent?" he continued, visibly in a better mood.

Seeing that her master had not noticed her trick and that he was in a better mood, she hastened to answer.

" Of course." she affirmed, shaking her head. "Madam put them in a vase."

Rage sneered and the young woman finally allowed herself to look him in the eyes, while he was distracted. What she saw in him sent shivers down her spine. In his almost translucent eyes, she saw the madness that lay dormant there. This one was eerily similar to the man represented in the painting hung just above him.

'Bacchus surrounded by alcohol and women.'

She continued to observe him with curiosity and for a moment, she thought she saw something taking shape around him, like... an image. The midnight blue tapestry that complimented his gloomy appearance faded, giving way to what looked like the outlines of another room, bathed in light and seeming to come from another era. On his wrist appeared a silver bracelet, adorned with a dial with numbers, like that of a pocket watch. Behind his back, the outline of a frame took shape, and in the center two people, very strangely dressed.

A man and a woman next to each other. Little by little their silhouette appeared to her starting from the bottom and, despite the situation and the presence of her master in the room, Aina did not take her eyes off the scene.

She didn't know what was happening, but she had the feeling that she was witnessing something important, that she absolutely should not miss. The more the body of the portraits appeared, the more her heart beat wildly, without her understanding the reason.

'Don't stop looking', her inner voice instructed her, as if possessed.

She distinguished a woman with hair as clear as the rays of the sun and covered with an immaculate dress, as well as a man dressed in an elegant suit.

She had to see their faces, she felt it.

"Aina." Wrath called abruptly and suddenly she blinked and everything disappeared.

Mouth parted and eyes wide, she realized that what she had just seen had vanished.

'What... what was that?' she wondered silently, overwhelmed by worry.

For a short moment, she had felt like she was somewhere else... in another world. She had seen something... An apparition or a hallucination, she didn't really know. This sort of thing had never happened to her before, so she was completely taken aback.

Was she going mad?

Nothing seemed familiar to her and yet she had the strange feeling that something was missing from her... As if she was close to discovering something crucial.

"Aina!" Rage stormed this time, whose presence she suddenly remembered.

Startled, she squealed like a frightened little animal and knelt on the floor, her hands on the carpet. This more than emotional reaction was not like her, but her body had reacted before she even realized it.

"I'm sorry, master, I..." she began, her voice shaking, before seeing the man's perfectly polished leather shoes, right under her nose.

"Enough."

She saw his shadow lean over and felt his breath just above her head, which sent such intense terror through her that she almost passed out.

"Who is your master?" he asked in a threatening voice.

She was short of breath and had sweaty palms, like when she was about to have a panic attack.

"You, sir..."

" Stronger !" he growled. "I didn't hear."

" You !" she moaned, snapping her eyes closed, as if to avoid facing his anger.

" Good". He sighed heavily, before she heard him sink back into his chair. "Try not to forget it, Aina. I want immediate obedience in the future, do you understand?"

His voice made her tremble inside.

[Do you know what will happen if you don't listen to me?] she heard another voice echoing in her mind, which she didn't recognize.

"And look at me!" he snarled again, banging his fist on the coffee table that stood between her shaking body and him.

Far too terrified by the situation, she nodded, not stopping to notice the fact that she had just heard voices again.

"I wouldn't like to have to punish you." added the patriarch grimly, stroking the black riding crop that sat in the middle of the wall, just in front of him.

She never had to know her master's wrath before, but her whole body shook and twitched hearing his words, as if preparing for what might come next. As if she was already expecting the sequel. He didn't look like he was about to hit her, but she had a firm belief that he could.

"Come on, don't be so scared." he suddenly sneered, laughing. "I'm going to make an exception for today, because you are my best servant, but don't let this happen again."

'Liar.'

She was sure that his so-called mercy was simply because he didn't want to have to search for another maid or get his hands dirty to get rid of her. Still, she nodded and didn't more, lest he change his mind.

"Go to the grand salon and prepare the room for the banquet now."

She immediately complied and trotted almost to the door, before slipping out and closing behind her, without even seeing the carnivorous grin that lit up her master's features. She let out a deep sigh when she found herself alone in the hallway and leaned against the wall so as not to fall under the weight of her trembling body.

She thought she was headed for disaster and hoped to never have to go back to this place again. She was finally right... It was better not to cross paths with Rage Signavit, if she wanted to stay alive.