An old wooden door

Silence descended in the room once again. I could hear no noises from inside, not even the sounds of people breathing. After about 30 seconds, the count's voice reverberated in the silence of the hall.

"Alaric, you... You are threatening me, your father, as well as the count of Loyatou?"

His voice was deep and cold, a kind of cold that sent shivers down one's spine.

"Is it really the memory loss's fault, or were you really this foolish all the time? Maybe, I didn't know what kind of person you were till now."

There was momentarily silence again before the sounds of laughter echoed in the mansion. It was Alaric who was laughing softly yet loudly, not like someone who was mocking the other, nor like a boy who was scared of his father.

"Haha! Father!", he said while still chuckling. "Who would dare to threaten you? I won't do anything like that, not even think of such an action. However, father, I don't intend to sit back and do nothing when my rights are the topic of discussion. I also don't want the people of our region to be sacrificed because of my health problems when there are people who can help the county instead of me."

Alaric paused a little. He was no longer laughing. It was then that I realized I was almost sticking to the window without knowing when I had moved towards it.

"Father, I don't intend to be rude or overstep by bounds, I just wanted you to consider the fact that my sister can also be of help in managing the county."

He talked so politely and at the same time firmly that no one could object to his words as all of them seemed to be in a daze. Alaric had never talked with such a tone and confidence before. He always had a bad temper and got angry quickly, but that was only for the ones lower than him. In front of his father, he dared not to object to his words. In addition to that, he was now attempting to support and raise the position of his sister, the sister that had tried to kill him in so many ways.

'What is going in that mind of yours!' I wanted to jump inside the hall through the window and yell that at Alaric. 'What do you mean by those words? Do you want to give your power and position to your sister? Are you an idiot?'

And he says he wants to do it because he thinks of the county! Such bullshit!

'That girl can never be a proper ruler!'

I knew it as I'd experienced it many times. She would ruin this place in no time!

'Wait, why am I even listening to their conversation?'

I wasn't here to eavesdrop on their discussion, but I wanted to go somewhere else! Even though I wanted to know where their conversation would lead and what would the final result be, I had to start walking toward my destination. Just as I took a step forward, I heard the countess's voice. I didn't stop and kept walking forward while still listening to what I could hear through the open windows.

"But... But Elaria is a girl... She can't succeed in the title of the count, nor she is allowed to meddle with the works of the county! Also... She has never taken any lessons that could help her grasp the knowledge about leading the region. I don't think she would be of great help even if her father allowed her to work instead of you, Alaric!"

It was the shaking voice of countess Emma. There were some hints of fear and joy in her voice as if she didn't know how she was supposed to feel in this kind of situation. Feel happy that her daughter had gotten a chance to shine and that her two children seemed to finally be getting along, or fear of the count and the possible future problems that could arise due to Elaria's lack of knowledge?

As I was walking towards the small, wooden door at the end of the wall, the voices were getting more and more distant, especially the voice of the young master, who didn't talk with a loud voice, to begin with. The young man gave an answer to her mother without waiting for his father's response.

"Aren't we the people who set the rules of the county? Who is more powerful than us in this land? As much as I know, in other lands, women are also allowed to succeed in the position of their father if they are capable enough. It's only in western areas of Loyatou that cultural values restrict women from rising to power. Elders might disagree with this idea, but as long as my sister proves her worth, they won't manage to do anything. Also, I'm not giving up my position, I'm just suggesting that my sister helps out in managing the state. Until it is decided whether she can handle the work or not and until my health condition is back to normal, she can learn about the management of the county about father and the assistants... then..."

I couldn't hear the young man's words as I'd passed the hall and was standing in front of the wooden wall. He was still talking, but his voice was low and distant. I took out a metallic ring from my pocket the size of my fist. There were a bunch of iron and copper keys dangling from the key holder, making jingling sounds as they hit the other and moved back and fro.

I searched through the keys and finally grabbed a certain copper key with a bent body and inserted it into the keyhole of the wooden door. I pulled out the key after the lock made a clicking sound and pushed the door. The old door had gotten stiff over years and was hard to move. Dust rose to the air and some soil dirtied my clothes as soon as the door was cracked open. I was welcomed by a dark and narrow corridor, barely lit by a flickering magic lamp.

I inserted the keys inside my pocket and closed the door. As I was a high-ranked servant and one of the young master's personal aids, also as someone who had lived in this mansion for a long time and did all sorts of work from cleaning to cooking and even driving carriages, I had the keys to these hidden pathways and a lot more places. I was trusted by Ranger, who was also trusted by the head butler, so no one had any objections to me having the keys to most of the rooms of this building.

I walked into the passway and climbed up the steps one by one while considering the young master's words.

'He wants to let his sister try managing the county...'

What does he want to achieve with that? Show the young lady that she is not suited to govern the state? Or is he giving some power to her sister so that she wouldn't target him any longer? Does he want to show that he is considerate of the young lady to gain a good reputation? Maybe he has really lost his mind and takes pity on the young girl? Or probably he wants to actually help her sister up without any motives as he doesn't remember what she had done to him all these years?

There are too many possibilities, but I can't be sure about any of them. All of them seem correct, but none make sense in the current situation. He might end up making the lives of the people of the state even more miserable at this rate. The countess is right, the young lady never received proper education in the field of ruling a county, and that was one of the reasons, and probably the main reason why the state reduced to a state of destruction each time she became the head of the family.

'But if she is to learn about those stuff before she is given a chance to become the hair, things might be different...'

I stopped in front of another wooden door, took out my keys once again, and unlocked it. The door was not as stiff as the previous one and opened more easily. I caught the sight of a small, wrecked room with a humid atmosphere and faint lighting. There were several doors inside the room. Without delaying much time, I entered one of the rooms and locked it behind me. I passed the pathway and finally saw another door in front of me. This door, unlike the others, this one final door was in a proper state, had designs all over it, and was clear without any spots on it. This was the door leading to the young master's bathroom.

Without wasting any time, I reached out for my keys, unlocked the door, and entered the bathroom. It was night and no one was inside the room, so the bathroom was dark with no light in the bathroom except for the moonlight that was oozing in through a small window.

I made my steps as soundless as possible and slowly approached the door that separated the bathroom from the young master's bedroom and cracked it open a little bit.

I stood inside the bathroom and peeked outside first to make sure that the bedroom was empty before I could walk out, but my hands froze on the door handle as soon as I looked inside the bedroom through the gap in the door.

In the unlit bedroom of the young man who was busy arguing about his sister's right to succeed in the position of the hair of the family, in the supposedly empty room, a small and pale light was moving around. The faint, yellow light was illuminating a small area around it, making it possible for me to see that its source was an oil lamp in someone's hand. Someone was moving slowly inside the room while holding an oil lamp in one hand and a small pouch in the other.

'Dr. Reeve?'

What is he doing inside the young master's room?