My Wonderful Second Life

Chapter 44- Suspicions of the lady

I followed Jennifer as she, with stern consideration, lead the way through corridors and more corridors. To places I had never ventured before. My breath was lacking when we finally arrived at an empty corner of the manor. Remote and silent.

I had forgotten this shit was big as f...uck.

Our small steps made ripples of sound that echoed over the walls. I was afraid we would get caught, but Jenni was undaunted and pressed on, her hand firm on mine. We arrived at the end of a ghost corridor, where a dark door with carved lilies stood before us. A pretty and unsettling, under the light of the moon that shone through the windows beside us.

Upon entering the room, after a scuffle with the heavy door, we found ourselves in a different world. Not literally (not like that at least...), but there was a unique feeling in the room that was suns away from the rest of the manor. Simple and with delicate colours, it was missing the extravagant accessories, opting for less instead of more. Lilac was the colour and lilies, the flowers of preference. Even if not present in the dusty vases, lilies filled the paintings and wallpapers around the room.

The open windows provided enough light for us to navigate through the gigantic place that was divided in two. We encountered first the waiting room, which we moved through without ceremony. Right after, without delay, we entered the main room, whose dark doors were open for some fresh air. There was not much difference between the rooms, except for a bed and a painting.

Sitting on the wall opposite to the enormous window, and side by side with the bed, was a painting of a lady. Tall and imposing, I focused first on those caramel eyes that looked straight without care. Then came the rest, the straight black hair with a well-cut out fringe, the lilac dress that fitted so well and a pose that showed composure. Through her docile smile, I knew from the get-go, it could only be Jeni's mother. The late Mountnero lady.

Whoever did the painting, had done well enough to make it as realistic as possible. It caused me shivers as I felt her watching me when I moved. It was the first time, though, that I thought, how different it would have been if she was still alive today. Would she be nice or mean? It didn't matter really, she was dead and I was not. But seeing those caramel eyes I wondered for a moment.

With Jenni out of my reach, I understood that I had been too engrossed in the painting. I turned around to search for her, earing then some noises coming from the bedside table closest to the Lady Mountnero. I went to check it, only to see Jenny crouched near the table, moving it away from its original place. With the bedside table out of the way, I could finally see a hole on the wall, big enough for a child to crawl in. It was then that I looked at the painting again.

You, lady, are fishy... very fishy... No one is normal in this family?! I should have guessed... scratch what I said before... she would have been mean for sure...

I took the twine Cedric gave me and glanced at Jenni's blue eyes, who by now was by my side. "Do you think this is still necessary?" I showed her the alchemy object that had a modest gleam of red around it. I didn't want to use it unless it was necessary. Belladona's words and the lashes from Lady Beatrice were way too fresh to completely disregard it. Jenni, however, took it and wrapped it around her waist, before doing the same with me.

"Yes, Father is on the edge and any careless movement may trigger him." she returned to the hole pushing forward.

No one wanted a crazed and triggered Gobbie... much less me, so I followed Jeni through the hole in the wall. Dump and uncomfortable, the path had several ways to go, but Jenni knew with precision which one to use.

We crawled for some time and I was thankful for my nightgown which allowed me for better movement. My sister didn't have that luck, yet she never once complained, maybe because it protected her against the nasty bugs that had made the path their home. I was never afraid of bugs unless they could kill me (those we ran from!), yet having them crush against my knees or trying to bite me wasn't fun either.