Where are you, Laurie?

That was the question that lingered in Marta's mind as she climbed the stairs.

It had been five days since Laurie stopped coming to Lyra's mansion to report on Aria's progress and the methods María used to achieve them.

Sighing with anguish, Marta forced a smile before entering the room of the girl under her care.

It had been a real headache, but after several weeks of applying María's methods, Lyra had shown surprising development.

She could now speak and read, although she resisted learning to walk.

Where had she failed?

Had she been misled and not used the exact method María had used to teach Aria to walk?

"Damn you, María. I thought you were just a lucky maid, but you're actually a genius," Marta muttered while tapping the door.

"Lyra, it's me," she announced as she opened the door.

Lyra's room was enormous, filled with toys and tables for the girl to have a comfortable space to play and study. But unfortunately, that wasn't what was happening. Lyra spent most of her time sleeping or playing.

It seemed like she didn't care about the world around her!

The girl was a complete slacker, but Marta hoped she was actually a genius on par with Aria due to her high learning ability.

She just had to figure out María's trick to get the girl to comply!

Had they discovered her tactics? Was that why Laurie hadn't returned?

Marta had spent a lot of money bribing the household servants through Laurie as an intermediary.

"Lyra, wouldn't you like to read this?" Marta asked, showing the girl a book filled with illustrations, although it was clearly identifiable as a mathematics book by its title.

"No," the girl replied immediately, making the maid let out a nervous laugh.

"Lyra, please," Marta pleaded.

"No," Lyra denied, focusing on her toys, showing little interest in the book Marta had brought.

Distressed by the girl's refusal, Marta resorted to another means.

Gossip!

Normally, she would try to tell Lyra a story, like María did with Aria, but not being as skilled, Lyra often didn't pay attention to her stories.

"Did you know you have a sister your age?" Marta blurted out. Lyra's eyes briefly focused on her, and Marta knew the girl had taken the bait.

Got her! Take that, María! You're not the only one good at teaching these stupid girls.

"Her name is Aria. She's a girl who, just like you, can speak, but she can walk and even does advanced math exercises," she finished her speech with a dramatic sigh.

The girl didn't quite understand where Marta was going with this, but she had a bad feeling.

"If Aria learns everything and masters magic before you... I think they'll stop sending you toys. That's why I..."

Before Marta could finish, Lyra let go of her plush toy and tried to snatch the book from her. Lacking enough strength, she ended up asking for it:

"Give me."

Marta smiled to see that her method was working. She handed over the book, and the girl opened it, trying to understand what was inside.

[Analyzing book... Error. Insufficient vocabulary]

The girl gritted her teeth upon seeing what the status window in front of her eyes said.

◇◆◇

María didn't want to die.

She refused to accept the current situation they were in.

How had everything escalated so quickly like this?

It had to be a dream.

Maybe all this was a nightmare!

A somewhat realistic nightmare, and no matter how hard she punched her head, she couldn't wake up.

She wanted to wake up!

"What are you doing?" asked Aria, confused seeing how Maria was hitting herself.

Resigned, Maria accepted this wasn't a dream.

It was reality.

Focusing on the moment, she regained her composure, feeling some embarrassment seeing a girl behaving better than her.

Coughing to hide her embarrassment, Maria said:

"Nothing... just... this is very strange. Why would vampires surround the mansion as servants? It doesn't make sense..." She rubbed her head and used a bit of magic to heal herself.

"It's very likely they received an order from someone superior to them," Aria commented casually.

Someone superior to the vampires?

A powerful being specifically ordering several vampires to surround the mansion where she worked?

That was really unlucky!

But why?

What reasons could that being have?

What was their objective?

"Aria, don't you have any ideas?" asked Maria, somewhat embarrassed by her lack of ideas.

Aria sighed, feeling like she was the one being prodded for information when her intention was the opposite.

Maria was useless, but strangely, she provided some relief to Aria.

"We can act as if we haven't noticed while we try to find an excuse to leave, right?" suggested Aria as she flipped through one of her books.

Despite her efforts, Aria couldn't manage to use magic, so if they were caught, she wouldn't even be able to defend herself.

It was all or nothing.

Maria got excited upon hearing the plan, but upon cold reflection... What if they were caught?

What would happen if the vampires attacked them?

Both of them didn't know how to fight, and the thought of being seriously injured terrified Maria.

Maria regretted more than ever not having learned offensive magic.

Why was I so foolish to specialize in learning illusionary and healing magic!? Seriously... What was I thinking believing that was a good idea?

Thought Maria, filled with regret. She was a fan of illusionary tricks and people helping others, but now... that mindset had come back to haunt her.

"Aren't you scared to do something like that?" asked Maria, trying to stay calm.

Upon hearing that question, Aria let out a small laugh and immediately responded:

"Of course, I'm scared. Can't you see it on my face?"

Liar!

That's what Maria wanted to shout, as Aria's face looked the same as always.

It almost seemed like she was mocking her!

Seeing that Maria wasn't convinced, Aria explained:

"During the week you were away, I felt that unpleasant feeling every day. Maybe if we do this right, we'll survive. Just pretend you haven't noticed anything and let's get out of here”

How could you even have those thoughts, saying ‘maybe if we do this right’!?

Maria thought she should have a conversation with Aria in the future about the value of life and how important it was to live.

Aria's plan made some sense, but it seemed that Aria wasn't taking certain crucial factors into account.

Even if they managed to escape, how would they survive?

What would they live on?

Where would they go?

There were so many things to consider that Maria didn't know where to start in explaining it to Aria.

"What's wrong?" Aria asked Maria, noticing her distracted state.

Aria seemed ready to take action while Maria was still hesitant.

Should Maria explain the problem with Aria's plan?

"Maria...?" Aria asked again.

As Aria watched Maria, an idea occurred to her:

They could ask for help from the main house!