Ruthless love

Lost

The chef and the maids seemed to be in a hurry around the castle that day.

Perhaps they were still cleaning up after the lavish party there had been the previous night.

Instead of having someone else prepare me a meal, I decided to help myself.

I filled my plate with fresh fruit and berries and what seemed to be some kind of pastry, as well as a lump of buttered bread.

That was something I could definitely get used to.

The food options where I had lived, had not been nearly this good and I was dying to try out everything they offered in this place.

I thought to myself it would be best to keep a low profile today, as I felt like I had caused enough trouble in the past twenty-four hours, or less.

Before making my way back, I apologized to Zack.

He did not seem too hurt by my sudden decision to eat alone, but went to do the same.

We parted by the staircase by the entrance and so I walked through the halls for quite a while before finding the large door that would lead to my bedroom.

As soon as I got inside, I heaved a sigh of relief.

So much had happened in so little time and I had not given myself a chance to process any of it.

I had not seen Mason after breakfast, neither did I particularly hope I would.

The little disagreement the two brothers had had earlier, was enough for one day.

I went to eat my little plate of breakfast in bed, where I saw something that caught my interest.

Someone had left a neatly wrapped package for me on the edge of the bed, but it did not seem to have come with a note.

I quickly put down my plate and picked up the package to have a better look at it.

It was rather large and heavy and made no sound when I shook it gently.

Disappointing

I pulled off the ribbon that had been neatly tied around it to hold the paper in place and immediately after, let the paper fall to the floor.

What was revealed, was a large, worn book, with golden letters on the front spelling out "Fabulares naturis implicant".

I quickly realized that this had to be the book I had found in the dark the evening before, but never got to look at properly.

Had Zack left it for me?

When had he found the time?

I looked through the book, roughly skimming the pages.

The drawings in it showed various mythical creatures from both older and newer myths and folklore.

I could not help but smile at the kind gesture and I felt a sudden urge to go thank him, completely forgetting about my breakfast.

As I made my way through the room, towards the bedroom door, I felt the familiar sensation on the back of my neck.

Just before my hand touched upon the doorknob, there was a slow knock on the door.

Could it be?

"Come in" I called out.

The door slowly opened and Zack entered.

I had stepped back into the room without noticing and now found myself locking eyes with him in dead silence.

He moved his eyes from me, to the bed with the open book and my plate of uneaten breakfast, before he once again looked at me.