Chapter 14- Efforts

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I had expected some scolding or some sharp glances. I hadn't expected, however, to pass my night cleaning Emmanuel's massive office. And if I didn't, much less did Jenni. It was all made worse by the state of the room, which begged the question. Where to start, when everything was such a mess?

We began with the stashes of papers dropped on the floor. This sea of loose pages protected the dark wood from dust, almost like a second floor. And because I was who I was, I tried to make sense of what was on the papers as I scooped them up. But like Emmanuel, they made little sense.

Filled with words I didn't understand and strange scribbles, I gave up after a while, frustrated. To add to my stress, a group of fireflies flew around the room, covering my vision with their annoying purple light. They watched me and Jenni and I became tired of their distracting flying. Every time I clapped and pushed them away, they would leave us alone for some peaceful minutes. Until they grew courage again and bothered us another time. It was an annoying circle.

My stomach, not used to the thought of a meagre soup and bread for dinner, rumbled in protest. In order to distract myself, I tried to see if something in Emmanuel's office could be used against him. With so much chaos around, there was a strong possibility he left something embarrassing unattended.

"You will find nothing of relevance, Lulu." said Jenni, watching me peer into some books and scrolls. "He must have taken out everything we shouldn't see." Jenni took a book from the pile she gathered and stored it on a bookshelf in front of her. We hadn't known the order of the books, so we organized them in colour. It was that way or the random way (as for sure nothing went alphabetically even before).

"He kind of is a fool sometimes... maybe he forgot." I said, helping her and putting a book myself in between two old and dusty encyclopedias.

Jenni stopped and turned to me, a botanical dictionary in her hand. "He is a trusting fool, but not a dumb one. But you knew that, right?"

I stared at her, my hands dropping limply from the shelves.

Of course, I knew. None of these adults was just a straightforward fool. They were all complex and... sad... I knew, though sometimes I wished I didn't. It would have made my existence in this world much easier.

Hours passed by, with my stomach rebelling constantly. Yet no matter how much we tried, I never felt closer to ending my cleaning duty. It was like the cleaning purgatory... the task never ended. Possibly the cleaning hell. When the night had long become dark and moody, Fanny, my angel and saviour, came by and told us our dinner was ready. In my sorry and hungry state, I took off as fast as possible. I didn't care if it was just a soup and a slice of bread. I needed to eat and get far away from the smell of ink and old paper.

With excitement, I found out that Emmanuel was incapable of going further with our punishment (food-wise). Right in front of us, in our usual dining room, was the usual banquet of food that greeted us every night. Except without the annoying priest. Me and Jenni ate it with gusto, our lady manners nowhere visible. If Fanny's gasps were any sign, we were quite scandalous. We didn't care; the path was long... It could be decades before Emmanuel's office got cleaned.

It was with joyful surprise that we found out he didn't want us to continue our cleaning duties, letting us rest for the night. I bet he forgot to hide something... damn, I should have looked more...

I had expected on the following morning to concentrate on my alchemy studies. A thought ingrained in my consciousness until I reached our breakfast room and found Lady Sargosa and Eloise standing there. Emmanuel gave me a fast glimpse of acknowledgement before putting his attention back on the older lady.

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