Each step that she had taken towards the half opened door, an uncomfortable feeling swept past her mind. Something was pulling her towards the door. She wanted to know the person inside. Excitement and fear were both engulfing her soul.
The lantern in her hand wasn't the brightest thing that she had. It barely showed her path and when her track stopped at the entrance, an old enthusiastic voice came out from the room,
" Uggh! Why can't I beat you!! Watch your queen!"
Curiousity sparked in her mind. As long as she knew that their grandpa lived alone in this mansion. Although his other family members had moved in different land for better living purpose, he stubbornly rooted in this old, broken mansion. Ayra was wondering about whom he was talking with. Hence, she decided to pause at the doorway. Her ears sharpened expecting to hear the voices but it was the old man's voice again who was squirming like a little child,
" Shit! You did it again, man! I can't believe this!"
Ayra pressed her ears against the wall tightly. Few more moments quickly slipped away but she heard nothing from them but a little noise of some stuffs moving inside the room was clear. Ayra felt pressurized with the feeling. They had already came out without telling anyone and much worse of that, they were wandering inside an unknown mansion without permission.
Ayra took few long breath before looking around to have a better view. She was determined to see them first before going inside. Though Jessie confirmed that Cedric had no possiblity of coming here, she was scared of the voice that she heard in the courtyard. It was the best idea to look first then appear in front of Grandpa.
Ayra's eyes followed the next room beside the one that she was standing nearby. A shin layer of light was also passing into the other room which gave her the clear idea about the structure. Appearently this two rooms were adjusted and she could look into the room from the other one.
Ayra put one of her hand on the light to block the light and crossed the door swiftly to enter into the second room beside that. Her breathing relaxed after stepping in as she went closer to the corner of room to peek inside the room in where the grandpa was staying right now.
Meanwhile Jessie was guarding on behalf of Ayra downstairs. She had to stop everyone from going upstairs in case Ayra got caught before even getting the chance to talk with her grandpa. Jessie paced back and forth downstairs worriedly. She halted in her track when she spotted a lantern coming from the opposite direction.
Jessie quickly slipped inside a room to hide her presence and peeked through the door to find a chubby woman walking over to enter into the room from where they stole the clothes. She assumed that it was one of the maid who worked here.
The maid held a bewildering look on her expression when she brought the lantern closer and noticed that her clothes were missing. She clearly remembered that the clothes were left here before she headed outside to guide the coachman.
The maid named Layla turned around, intended to find the bothersome old man to ask for his midnight snack. She walked without any concern without knowing that a pair of eyes were following her moves.
Jessie cursed from her hidden room when she saw her going for upstairs. Having no choice but to use violence, she speeded up her pace to stay behind Layla. When Layla felt a presence behind her, she turned around to see Jessie smiling. Jessie muttered something before giving her heavy blow on her head,
Layla yelped in pain after she felt a blow on her head. She gasped and fell on the ground. Jessie heavied a sigh of relief and dragged her body into the room in where Layla's clothes were before. She left the maid inside the room silently and closed the door without any noise.
She heard a little commotion from the outside of mansion when she stepped out,
" Is the young Master here? Has anyone seen him?"
Out of curiosity, Jessie scooted closer and saw that a old man was asking about some young Master.
Who was the young Master here? It couldn't be her grandpa at any cost!
Coming back to the upstairs room, Ayra could now look into the room clearly, using the door which had adjusted the two rooms into one. From her position, she could see a fine, energetic old man who was playing a chess with a man sitting in his front. But the man was pressing his back against her vision but she felt the same familiarity again.
Cedric???
This time, she wasn't being delusional at all. There was no way that she would mistake someone as Cedric. She stayed him for so long. Above all, she knew every inch of his muscular body.
The Grandpa was a silver haired man. But the happy smile on his face showed that he was still young from mind and wasn't a bad man as she imagined to be. Ayra held down her breath hardly and waited to see the face of that man who was playing with him.
Strangely the man didn't talk at all and quietly enjoyed the chirping voice of old man who was excited everytime he played. After a long time of lingering silence, Ayra heard a short but familiar voice again,
" Your Chance now!"
Ayra stumbled on her feet and held the edge door. Shocked by the revealtion, she couldn't even take her eyes off from them. If it was Cedric, why did he lie to her? Why did he tell the entire family that he didn't had any connection with the old man? Most importantly, the grave...Was he truly hiding the grave from his other siblings? But why? Or she was mistaking someone else as Cedric again?