Another face welcomed Lyonnel when he came back to the Silverna mansion. Later, he learned that Alicia's father had already arrived a day before him and would be spending the rest of the year and another year in the Silverna mansion.

After a quick supper with Alicia's now complete family in the absence of Luca, Lyonnel went to his father's study to report everything that he knew and was certain about Hera, which wasn't much.

However, Mrs. Shin informed him that his father still had work to do, despite the fact that it was almost midnight. But Lyonnel really couldn't do anything about that, so he let his feet lead him to the mansion's eastern side. He came to a halt in front of Hera's old room in a daze with his palm on the doorknob.

Lyonnel remembered what Hera had said to him about how she could hear everything that was happening in the dungeon. So he decided to spend the night in Hera's room and see just how dreadful her restless night was.

But before that, he cast his sight on the library's door near Hera's room, pulled away his palm from the doorknob and headed towards the next door.

Lyonnel already knew and was familiar with all the documents and books in the library at the main mansion, and he was certain that what he was looking for was not among them.

The eastern library was full of dust and smelt like old moldy wood. Lyonnel flicked the light on, illuminating only a few sides of the library with a murky, yellowy light. That made it difficult for him to see anything there this time around.

Lyonnel searched through every nearly empty bookshelf, leaving just a few duplicates of the books in the main mansion's library. Each book he came across has a scribbling on it describing something that Hera finds fascinating or makes her wonder about what was stated in the books.

If only he had the time and sufficient light to read what was going on inside his sister's mind through her notes in the books.

He soon found himself standing on the last bookshelf, which had only a dust-covered box on the lowest shelf.

Lyonnel knelt down and pulled the overly dusty box and went back to Hera's room, intending to open it in better lighting.

His search did not end there.

Lyonnel placed the box on the side table and began searching for Hera's room. But all Lyonnel discovered was an outdated and rusted dagger, tugged away from underneath Hera's pillow. That discovery just sparked more questions in his mind.

Aside from the dagger, Lyonnel discovered a stack of books in the corner of the room with the same scribbles in them.

Lyonnel understood at that moment that Hera had learned everything on her own from those books all those years ago. He creased his eyebrows, wondering whether Hera's mannerisms and attitude were something she also learned from books.

All Lyonnel knows is that Hera never had a governess to educate her in the etiquette of a noblewoman, yet her demeanor at the Sixon event says otherwise. It still lacked Ysmay's elegance and the grace of the other nobles, but it was enough to show some respect for the other nobles, even though she avoided everyone.

Lyonnel believes that developing such a demeanor is not something that can be taught solely through theory. He wonders if Hera has ever observed and mimicked someone, but if so, who? It's impossible for their grandmother to have taught Hera in such a short period of time.

Lyonnel sat down on Hera's hard mattress, his body shivering from the night breeze coming in through the windows that couldn't be closed securely enough. He took a quick look around the room. There was no fireplace in the room. The fact that there is no fireplace in Hera's room adds to the strain on Lyonnel's heart, making it difficult for him to breathe. He could not imagine all those winters Hera spent in this room, all alone with nothing to warm her other than the thin blanket that Lyonnel found inside her wardrobe.

Even Hera's clothing was hand-me-downs from the maid, whom Lyonnel believed was from Freya, and there was no appropriate attire to prove that she was also the Duke's daughter or as a noblewoman.

It was nothing like how they had treated the mother and daughter couple throughout the years. All those beautiful and fancy gowns and jewelries they bought for Alicia and her mother, compared to what Hera had in her room, anybody with eyes could see who was more important to the Silverna family. If they ever find out about Hera's existence.

Were they really that oblivious to what was happening to Hera all those years?

Lyonnel eventually opened the box he discovered in the library while also pulling out the drawer from the bedside table. His attention was drawn away from the document in the box he had previously opened by piles of paper with childlike drawings that filled the drawer.

From those piles of papers, Lyonnel discovered a drawing he had drawn with Hera when they were little, when their grandmother still brought him to play with Hera.

All the drawings gave Lyonnel a feeling of nostalgia, made the corners of his mouth lift, and he let out a chuckle at the only happy memory he had with his sister.

However, the last piece of paper knocked him back into reality. Lyonnel reached for the paper with Ruth's handwriting on it. Her grandmother wrote two words on the paper, one with a circle around the first two letters and the other with a circle around the last two letters.

Then, using a crayon, someone combined the two words in a circle into a messy writing, making up another word.

Three words were engraved on the yellowed paper. Two words that Lyonnel frequently heard when Ruth addressed Hera, and the last word, which was never spoken but was etched on one of the papers Lyonnel had found back in Greene's mansion.

Despite the fact that the piece of paper had somehow assured Lyonnel of a portion of his theory, he still wanted someone to convince him in person. He didn't want to make a wild assumption, like what he had done in the past when Lyonnel guessed what had happened with all those rumors and ruined his relationship with his sister.

Setting aside the last paper, Lyonnel tucked all the pictures back into the desk drawer and finally pulled out the documents from the box.

Lyonnel has no clue why Silverna's family documents were placed in a frail box on the mansion's eastern side library rather than the main library.

Unfortunately, Lyonnel was unable to find anything in that family registration document since it had never been changed, implying that his mother had not died legally for the last seventeen years.

And there were just three names on it; legally, the Silverna family had only him as their only child and successor.

Thinking about the papers he found at Greene's mansion, Lyonnel's eyes widened with realization. Is that why Hera decided to leave? Since she knew that she knew she was never regarded as a member of the Silverna family, she took what was left of her existence and left.

Lyonnel ruffled his hair in frustration. For the remainder of the night, his thoughts wandered to all the things Hera had gone through in this mansion, whether they were things he had witnessed or not.

Then a faint shriek reverberated across the room, causing him to startle. He turned his head around the room, trying to figure out the source of the screams.

Lyonnel's pupils constricted as he stared at the full-length mirror that appeared to hide something behind it. He took long strides toward the mirror, placing his palm on it and feeling the vibrations.

The horrified look in his eyes was more profound when Lyonnel pushed the mirror aside, revealing a secret passage in front of him, while the scream from the secret passage became louder and clearer.

Lyonnel's eyes narrowed at the dark stairs that led to somewhere he'd find out shortly. He picked up the oil lamp, lit it, and proceeded down the secret path cautiously.

The only thought that crossed his mind was, did Hera ever find this secret passage and go through it or not?

But it didn't take a long time before his question was answered with the mark engraved on the wall, the mark carved as high as a child.

The horrible stench of blood and vomit had become unbearable by the time Lyonnel got closer to the only light source other than the oil lamp in his hand.

Lyonnel traced the mark with his fingers all the way to the door, which had a small window and a rusted key hanging in the keyhole.

He turned the key and pushed the door open, putting an end to whatever activity in the room it had led to.

“My Lord, what are you doing here?”

Lyonnel was stunned into silence, his face twisted by the realization of what kind of room that secret passage led to.

He was afraid that Hera would curiously follow the direction of the scream and see something she shouldn't have seen. No, what was he thinking? Of course, Hera had already done that and even left a trace. She might have witnessed all the torture they carried on to interrogate the criminals.

The mere thought made Lyonnel tighten his jaws and his grip on the oil lamp became even tighter.

Noticing their lord's grim expression, several knights released the hanging criminal and dragged him away, pausing their interrogation while a knight approached Lyonnel and bowed respectfully.

“Were you aware of this?” Regaining his sense, Lyonnel gritted his teeth and pointed in the direction of the dark passage he had just passed through.

The knight looked sideways and creased his eyebrows, with a calm and respectful tone he answered. “It was always locked before. We can't find the key and just ignore it. However, Mrs. Shin claims that the passage goes to one of the rooms on the eastern side. There are several secret passages on the eastern side, but unfortunately, Mrs. Shin misplaced all of the keys years ago.”

“Where can I find the floor layout for the mansion's eastern side?”

“I believe Sir Michael stored it away at the eastern side library.”

That response just distorted Lyonnel's face further. He'd previously gone through the eastern library and found no sign of the floor plan on any of the bookshelves. The only thing he could think of was that he hadn't thoroughly searched Hera's room previously and could have missed something, like how he missed the secret passage behind the mirror.

With that, Lyonnel turned round and returned to Hera's room through the same secret passage, not before warning the knights not to tell Luca about the secret passage for a while.

With thoughts running wild in his head, Lyonnel gazed around Hera's room. His heart was pounding so hard that his blood started to boil in a rage when he found another secret passage in the bathroom, which would make him feel uneasy for a long time.

There's a lot to uncover on the eastern side of the mansion. Lyonnel didn't think that one night would be enough to do so.

“I've already persuaded Aria to meet you in your dream, but it can't be long…” Shie's voice was cut short in Lyonnel's head for a brief moment before continuing in hushed tones. “She is now weak. I don't believe she'll be able to hold off much longer.”

“It was enough that she agreed to meet me.” Lyonnel threw himself on Hera's hard mattress and slowly closed his eyes, not caring how cold he was now. He just wanted to fall asleep quickly and have a conversation with his mother's guardian for the first time.

Well... It seems that the matter with the secret passages on the eastern side will have to wait until tomorrow.

JennyRey

My signal was not that good these last couple of days. Also, I'm in the midst of an editing slump; who would guess I edited this chapter for more than four days? Aih... I need to find my missing motivation. I will try not to get sidetracked by anything other than what I need to do.