Ch. 23 – A walk in the woods
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The days after our parting I spent mostly inside or walking around the house. It felt lonely for a few days...

I had just woken up when I noticed a difference from the usual, the wind that usually made me feel refreshed was now making me feel cold, with the end of big bro’s birthday and with Nathalie going back home the end of summer came, and the cold fall wind replaced it. Alice who usually walked around comfortably was now hugging herself in discomfort. 

Don’t we have other uniforms?

Mom entered the room as usual. 

“It is quite cold isn’t it?”

“Of course miss Katherine, it is already tenth of Fall”

I never really thought about it, but it seems they use the seasons instead of months to measure time. I wonder if they have something like weeks?

Mom was carrying thicker clothing for me. Fall has arrived... I don’t remember it last year though. After taking me from under the blankets, mom started to dress me up.

“You have to use more clothing now that it is getting cold, okay?”

“Ye”

We did the usual routine but I couldn’t help but notice the cold… Wait, are the trees outside already losing their leaves? 

“Mommy, wan~ to go ou~side”

“But it is cold outside Ori...”

“Mommy, wan~ to go ou~side, please”

Mom didn’t want to let me go, but she saw my teary eyes and couldn’t say no.

We continued the morning routine, but this time Alice put on some thicker clothing on top of her maid outfit, as for me mom went overboard and now I can barely move my arms and legs… She really doesn’t want me to get sick again.

“Ori my dear, I won’t be able to join you on your walk, but make sure to have fun, okay?”

“Ok~y”

She gives me a kiss on the forehead and leaves. When Alice opened the door for us to leave,  I could see that I was in fact correct, the trees started to lose their now orange colored leaves, the plants that were blooming a few weeks ago have now lost their color, with a few of them dying due to the change in weather.  

We walked on as I took in the different scenery, it was a pleasant atmosphere, a good change of pace from the bright summer one. We walked our usual path, as usual Alice was holding hands with me.

“Miss Oriel, are you satisfied with our walk?”

“Wanna wa~k more~”

“Okay then, we can go for another walk through the flower garden”

She started walking in the same direction we had gone before, but I didn’t follow, something had caught my attention, an old pathway leading into the forest. 

Alice tried to gently pull me with her but quickly noticed I wanted to go on that pathway.

“Does Miss Oriel want to go there?”

She said looking troubled. It just made me more curious…

“Ye~”

 Alice looked even more troubled, but she gave in.

“Just for a little bit okay?”

I nodded and we went in the old pathway’s direction. When we got there I noticed that even though it was old the path was still being cleaned, even though the stones were misaligned there were no weeds growing through the gaps, which showed that someone still took great care of it. 

The pathway led to a more closed area, with the amount of trees on the side growing more and more as we went. I noticed Alice’s demeanor was changing as we went on, she became more and more anxious as we went on… Should we turn back?

Just as I was thinking that I saw an old building appear in the distance, now my curiosity had peaked, and there was no turning back. The place seemed to be the source of Alice’s anxiety as she held my hand tighter as we approached it. 

Taking a closer look at the old building I noticed that it was well kept, surprisingly well kept, there were no signs of decay except the ones that were inevitable due to the age of the building, it looked like it was painted sometime in the past few years and it was all recently cleaned. Alice stopped near the building but didn’t take another step toward the building. She stood there looking at it with a blank stare. 

The building's old walls showed how time had taken its tow, a few places had gaps and missing planks. Why would they paint it but not fix up the place? This place was too mysterious…

“Is this far okay for you Miss Oriel?”

  I was about to ask her what it was but I noticed how teary her eyes were. This place must truly mean something to her… I better not touch upon it for now. 

“Ye~”

We turned our backs to the building and went back to the mansion...

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