The Atonement of a Writer

14. Baby Steps

It was midnight.

She snuck out to the lake. Everywhere, she could feel their eyes on her, but they were children of the night. They wouldn't be easily detected by the person she was meeting.

There they were. The person, donned in a long, black cloak, handed something to her. "Remember. The payment."

"Only if this information turns out to be true."

She and the person stared at each other in silence, challenging the other to look away first. It was that person who turned away with a slight huff. "You know where to find me. Pay up in three days. Or..."

Without warning, they held up their palm. A ball of flame was shot out into the forest, latching onto a branch. They both watched as the branch crumbled into ash. The fire then diminished and disappeared by itself.

"How unnecessarily childish," she remarked. She gave herself a mental self-congratulatory pat on the back as the person visibly bristled in anger.

~*~

The next morning, Lili told Killian everything that happened, skimming over the parts with Noir, the horse and the note, trying to make everything sound reasonable.

"I'm sorry." After a long moment of silence, Killian uttered words she never expected to hear from him.

"...Huh?"

"I should've paid more attention to the staff. It was my negligence that--"

She stopped him with a squeeze of his hand. "It's fine. No one blames you. Think we can stop by that house again and see if the owner is there?"

Killian nodded. "I'll look into it and we can go together."

"I'll leave it to you then." Nodding absent-mindedly, Lili left for the library. She had to check something.

Sure enough, when she arrived at the library and flipped open a random book, the words were still not readable. Then how exactly did she read the note? Was that person actually writing English?

She took out the note she had kept hidden from the others,especially Sophie, just to double check. She held the note to the book. She could still read the note, but not the book. They were truly in different languages.

Just who was the owner of the cabin?

She left the library and went back to her room. After making sure she was alone, she spent the next few hours carefully making notes on what she already knew, and her guesses. After she was done, she quietly locked them in her drawer, just as a precaution, even though she now knew for sure no one in the household would be able to read what she wrote.

That very afternoon, Killian found her and told her the royals wanted her to head to the palace as soon as she was able.

"...They do know what happened, right?" Lili knew the answer, but she had to ask just to make sure.

"I've written them a letter, and that was their reply. I can decline for you, if you want," he offered. He obviously knew what she was thinking, and agreed even.

But Lili couldn't let him take the fall for her. "I'll go...in a few days." She paused, then asked tentatively, "By the way, what did the princess say about...that day?"

He shrugged. "The basic gist of the letter is that they understand the situation, but urge you to go over as soon as possible."

Honestly, they sounded like some hellish corporate boss. "Alright then." She stood to go. "I'll be by the lake for the next few hours. See you later."