BELLRAM V01 - Ambivalence of Light and Shadow I

BP001-P33 - Ice Cubes

Meia was on her way to the courtyard. It did not take long before she arrived at the stairs. Her room was not even a hundred meters away from it. This showed Meia once more how much unnecessary distance she had walked together with Lijeux. But there was no point in fretting about it anymore. Mr. Monet was surely already waiting for her.

Meia went down the stairs, but stopped halfway at the banister. Through the panes of the door she saw guests in two small groups with glasses outside. There was almost no one inside the building. But the two maids were there. Both were now wearing everyday clothes. As Lijeux had said, they were probably done for the day.

Rujell suited her own choice much better than the uniform. With a black top and tight pants, she looked much more womanly. But also even more like she was going to beat one up and steal the money. She also wore earrings. But different ones than the ones from before. As a maid, she apparently earned not bad. She also had the guinea pig with her. It hung with its upper body lazily out of her purse. If the guinea pig had a symbol, it would be a washcloth.

Meia could say less positive things about Lijeux. Her clothes were lottery and looked like something that would be better only worn at home. The shirt was still acceptable, but her pants had holes at the knees. Either she earned considerably less or she did not care. By her account, it would probably be the former, but in Meia's estimation it was more likely the latter.

The difference in class between the two could not be clearer. In any case, it was good that Lijeux was still around, so Meia could personally return the block to her. Meia just had to wait until the unusual situation downstairs was resolved, which had caused her to stop in the first place.

Currently Rujell walked over to a boy sitting on the floor by the door. Meia recognized him. It was the same one she had seen when he first arrived, the one who had been pinched by Mrs. Monet. Within his reach were two metal bowls, both of which had been partially robbed of their contents. In the bowls were uncooled champagne bottles and barely any ice cubes. It appeared that the bowls had previously been on the trolley by the door, but the boy had taken them because he wanted the ice cubes.

Glittering mist ran from a castle and wafted flatly across the marble. Without looking, the boy reached into one of the bowls, took out another ice cube and placed it with precision as a battlement on his structure. The boy built a castle of ice cubes on the floor.

It was around 30 degrees. So the fact that the castle was standing at all was somewhat remarkable. It looked pretty impressive, too. The only problem was that he built his structure right in front of the door. If one wanted to go through, one had to squeeze past and also pay attention to the puddle that flowed from the castle.

Rujell bent down to him with her hands resting on her thighs through which the guinea pig indifferently swung forward in her pocket.

"Young man, I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to keep this area clear. You are obstructing the other guests.", Rujell asked the boy politely.

However, the boy did not even look at her, and preferred to continue focusing on the creation of his castle.

"Young man, I am very sorry, but this area must remain free."

Even now he did not respond to her.

His hand reached into the bowl again. This time it remained empty.

Puzzled, he looked himself, only to discover that the ice cubes were all gone.

"Young man, can you please leave this area?"

Now, finally, he turned to her. But he did not look up at her. His gaze stayed at the same level and met the guinea pig.

"A statue..."