I Heard Alois has a New Toy

In the Study

The old encyclopedias were stacked just at my chin level. That has to be enough weight. These were outdated books anyway, nobody was going to use them.

"What are you doing?"

Alois was right behind me stepping into the library.

"I'm pressing that last bluebell in order to preserve it," I explained to him.

"What does that even mean?" he asked.

"Well, if you put enough weight on a flower and keep it there for a long time, it will eventually dry out into a perfectly pressed flower that will never go away. As long as you don't break it, that is."

His eyes were full of wonder as I said this. Like they were sparkling a bit. He smiled widely at me.

"How did you become so smart?" he questioned.

"My mother taught me plenty of things," I responded, "things they won't teach you with a normal tutor."

That's when I felt him hugging my shoulders.

"What are you doing?" I asked, "You know Claude can walk in any second."

It's not that I cared if someone saw me receiving physical affection from Alois, I was just embarrassed by how I blushed when I did.

"Don't look so sad then, alright?" he said, giving me a weak smile.

I hadn't even noticed the change in my expression. It might have been from talking about my mother like that.

Stepping back, I pretended like I was admiring my tower of books, putting my hand up to my face a bit. But it was just to hide my own smile.

"How long will it take?" he asked me.

"Maybe two days at the least. It was pretty fresh," I answered.

He frowned at that. I knew two days would feel too long for someone as impatient as him. Even so, he would have to try and wait.

Every day I have had the blessing of being able to learn something new about Alois and his estate. Even after Claude had found me in that basement, my curiosity had led me to explore each nook and cranny of the manor.

I never heeded anyone's advice before I started living here, and I wasn't about to change overnight. Even though I did listen to him when it came to smaller things. Like whenever he tells me to leave the room or not to bother Alois at a certain time. That was the extent to how much I was willing to listen to others. I know Claude knows a lot more about situations than I do, but I don't care.

Along the lines of me exploring the estate, this is the extent to what I have learned so far; this place was designed to keep secrets and to hide. There were multiple spots where a fat old pig could easily hide, but those spots were the ones that were built into the building. There were also smaller spots that were dingy and hard to get to. Like in the hallway which Alois's and I's bedrooms were, there is an electrical duct under the floorboards.

At first glance, it's just a place where dust collects and technicians will go to fix a variety of things. But digging a little deeper I found a four-by-four room that was cleared by a person for hiding.

There are also a lot more stairways than I had anticipated. Just about anywhere that looked like the rooms were smaller than there should be or where there was a large amount of dead space between rooms, there was a stairway leading to a room on a different floor.

Some of them would even skip from the first to the third or fourth floor. A lot of them were connected too, mostly leading to a small room that was inaccessible from the outside or hallways. As fearless as I felt most of the time, I didn't dare explore any more into that room. The closest room to that one, I predicted, was the library.