The Peculiar Alchemist

15 || Location

The disappearance of his father weighed heavily on his mind, and it's probably why he was making the worst decision he could ever make. Marc wasn't thinking clearly, and Agnes encouraged him to do it. She seemed to know what she's doing, so he listened to her hoping that he'd get actual results this time.

But now that it was actually happening, he felt stupid for ever agreeing to do it.

Kellen was not someone he'd want to welcome into his own house, he just did not seem to be the trustworthy type and he really did strike Marc as somewhat of an idiot. Even so, he does know a lot about whatever that was going on so maybe it wasn't entirely dumb to sneak him inside so he could 'investigate' as Agnes puts it. All Marc expected was for a few valuable items to be swiped and nothing else in return on his end, but now it was too late to back out.

The servants were all done for the day so nobody other than his mother was currently present. Marc had made sure to tell Kellen to be there around midnight because his mother would already be asleep by then.

He already accepted that this was one of his bad decisions. One that he'll have to deal with as he stood by the main door, staring out of one of the large windows while he waited for Kellen to appear by the gate as planned. Kellen should be there any second, but for some reason he was taking his time.

"What are you waiting for?"

A startled gasp escaped him as he immediately turned around to see Kellen standing there behind him with a lazy smile on his face. It took a few moments for Marc to gather himself before he hissed angrily at him. "Why are you here?"

Kellen raised an eyebrow at him. "That's what we agreed on."

"You were not supposed to- How did you even get in?" His eyes twitched in annoyance at the idiot in front of him, anybody could have seen him walk in. So many things could have gone wrong. All he had to do was wait until Marc allowed him inside to avoid any catastrophes, but Kellen didn't seem to bothered with any of that because he was looking around the place in boredom.

"I broke in, I do that a lot." Kellen answered him simply with a shrug when his eyes finally returned to the rich snob in front of him. Marc didn't doubt his words for a second, and the displeasure might have appeared on his face because Kellen's lip twitched up. "I won't steal anything, I promise."

"I do not trust you at all."

"That's wise." Kellen nodded his head in understanding and some agreement. "So, where's your dad's lair?"

Marc scowled at that. "It's his study and it's upstairs. Just follow me and keep your hands to yourself."

"You're not being very hospitable." Kellen sighed doing as told to Marc's relief, and the latter continued on walking trying to ignore him altogether. He wasn't too keen on Kellen being there to begin with, and he kept glancing back to make sure that he was being followed. That didn't escape Kellen's notice. "Trust me a little, sheesh."

"No, I don't think I will."

"What's the point, really? Rich snobs like you won't notice if a few things went missing." It seems like one of Kellen's traits was being insufferable, and Marc wanted nothing more than to kick him out already.

"I will notice." Marc glared back at him before turning his head away to see that they were finally near his missing father's study. He was relieved because the sooner they got there, the faster Kellen would leave. "Try it, and see what happens."

But Kellen was quiet for a suspiciously long minute before he spoke. "I kind of already stole a few things..."

Marc immediately stopped walking, making Kellen almost bump into him, before he let out a very heavy sigh and gestured at one of the accent tables in the hallway they were in. "Just put them back."