The Key…

'Was it this way…?', María asked herself, confused, as she observed her surroundings.

Although María was already aware that the wizard's mansion was astonishing with all the things in it, like the golems or the strange decorations everywhere…

She never expected it to be so easy to get lost!

'Damn!', María thought the moment she saw Elizabeth and that strange girl who looked too much like Aria. One could say she was almost like an older version of her, but very slightly, as both were quite short.

'I better wait until they leave… damn! They're looking at me!', María thought, scared, as she exchanged greetings with Elizabeth and Esmeria.

Unexpectedly, they looked very friendly.

Too friendly.

Imitating the smile of the monsters waiting for her at the door, María began to approach them.

"You have something annoying following you," said Esmeria, pointing at María's shoulder.

Turning her head for a moment, María noticed that she was being accompanied by a fire spirit.

'How beautiful!', María thought, surprised.

Where did that spirit come from?

"May I pass?", María asked, trying to hide her nerves.

Although the spirit was something unexpected, she had to return to Aria's side!

"Sure, go ahead," Esmeria said, stepping aside with Elizabeth.

"Thank you," María replied and quickly passed by.

'Damn spirit,' Esmeria thought, annoyed.

She had initially planned to subdue María to make her talk, but she didn't expect her to return accompanied by a fire spirit.

Although dealing with the spirit wasn't a problem, the chances of waking Aria due to the commotion were high, so she decided to wait for a better moment.

…

Letting out a sigh of relief, María approached the bed where Aria was lying, who seemed to be having a nightmare judging by the pained expressions on her face.

◇◆◇

Laurie is dead.

That was the conclusion Marta came to after almost a month had passed since her complete disappearance.

Although Marta was aware that it was risky to send a maid to gather information from another mansion, as she could be kidnapped or killed by some monster along the way…

"Marta!", shouted Lyra loudly to get Marta's attention, who was lost in her thoughts.

"Oh, what's up, dear?", Marta said, trying to hide her concern.

"I already solved this," said Lyra, showing her the sheet with several solved math exercises.

To Marta's surprise, Lyra was quite skilled at solving math problems as long as she learned the correct method to do so.

She was also very good at memorizing information, but unfortunately…

She couldn't use magic.

"How did I do? Will you buy me a new toy now?"

Ignoring the girl's questions, Marta finished reviewing the exercises Lyra had done.

"You did perfect."

"And does that deserve you buying me a new toy?", Lyra asked while staring intently at Marta.

Despite being a child, she had too much determination in her goals.

"That will be until you find out what key 96 is."

Lyra slightly furrowed her brow upon hearing those words.

"That's not fair."

"You said you needed that to use magic, right? If you manage to investigate it, I'll buy you the toy you want."

'The toy I want…', Lyra repeated that statement in her mind over and over.

In silence, Lyra approached the pile of books she had accumulated next to her small table and began to read them one by one.