Books of Flame

Ashes of Regret

"Well, that concludes our meeting, although Alivia, it's time for you to move out of your house." The administrator said. The council members quickly moved out while chatting. "What? Why??" Alivia asked the administrator. "You are an official member of the O.O.C., now you have to stay in the shadows. Permanently." The administrator said with a cold voice. Alivia felt the thing she had felt before. The Empire is a double-edged sword, it seemed more and more true. 

"I think I should go now, do you have anything left to say?" Alivia asked him. "Not Much, although I do request that you come to the feast" the administrator responded. "Gladly! I was just going to get some clothes from the market! I will come to your feast." Alivia said excitedly. "Great, you will get the details later," the administrator said as he walked out of the room. Alivia noticed that the administrator was quite fast even while walking. She quickly walked out of the room. She didn't know the time but she knew it was quite late. 

She got up on her horse and hurried to her house. She looked at her clock and found it was 2 hours past midnight. She quickly went to sleep. When Alivia woke up, she was extremely confused. Now that she had become a council member, what exactly did she have to do? She looked out her balcony to see several men dressed in all black. They had text written on the back of their dresses. One of the texts was "Наблюдатель", and she could identify it as Russian. One of the texts was written in English. It said "Honey Co.". She knew who these people were.

 She remembered learning about the outside organizations which were how the Empire earned money. These organizations were also a cover-up for many of the actions of the empire. She headed downstairs and someone approached her. "Miss. Alivia Clawford, Member of the O.O.C. and newest to the council, you must move out of your home. We will take care of moving your valuables, all you need to do is evacuate the home as we demolish it" one of the people in the black dresses said. "What? Demolish?? No!! I like this home!" Alivia pleaded. "We must obey the orders of the administrator." Alivia knew that she could not argue. She got a bag from her house and watched in sorrow as the people demolished her house. She got up on her horse and went to the nearest clothes shop. 
She picked up a red gown as well as some jewellery. When she travelled to her new house, a letter was present at her table. She already knew at this point that every letter she'll get will be from the administrator. Alivia was a little shocked when she opened the letter. The feast's location was in the dense dark forest. Many people claimed to hear voices come from the forest and some people claimed it was haunted. Nevertheless, she put down the letter and looked around her new home. 

She had no idea what to do now that she was a council member. Luckily, tonight was the feast. She put on her dress and jewellery left in the evening since it would take a lot of time to arrive at the feast. Her heart rose slightly as she entered the dark forest. After around half an hour of being in the dark forest, Alivia was greeted with bright light and charming music. She got off the horse and stared in awe. 
A luxurious mansion, easily 5 stories high, stood before her. Shining with bright light and a lovely scent, it was like heaven. She entered the mansion to be greeted by the administrator. This time, he was wearing a blue trenchcoat with no armour. He was still wearing his steel mask. People started entering the mansion. "Thank you so much to all of you for coming on this fine day, The feast will begin shortly, you can look at this mansion freely till then," The administrator said in the same deep and soft voice he always spoke in. Alivia explored the left side of the mansion first. She saw an absolutely beautiful garden.  

It looked well managed and had lots of plants and flowers. She explored the rooms as well. The mansion had a massive library filled with so many books, massive kitchens and finely decorated rooms. Each room had a different decor and a theme. There was an armoury, storage and so much more. It was like the perfect house one can have. A few minutes later she was called for the feast. It was in a large room with a huge banquet table in the middle. Alivia thought to see the administrator finally without his mask.