Free Web NovelChapter 92: Knock
The melody that echoed through Selvarum Manor was very beautiful, and the sound of the piano grew as Victor approached.
Arriving in a room, Victor looked up and gazed at the long, snail-shaped staircase that led up three or four floors from the first floor.
"I don’t remember seeing a tower when I was outside the mansion." Victor scratched his head and said.
Nevertheless, he shook his shoulders and began to climb the stairs. freēwebnovel.com
The musical notes coming from the top of the staircase played a melody capable of arousing strange feelings in Victor. It was nostalgic in a way.
On reaching the top of the staircase, where there was a glass dome in the ceiling, Victor found a door ajar and as he pushed open the door to the room, the music became louder than ever.
In the center of the room, in front of a majestic grand piano, stood a young, elegant woman. Her hair was dark green and there was an intense sparkle in her yellow eyes. She was Gracela Selvarum, the same woman from breakfast, and she was absorbed in the music with her skillful fingers dancing across the ivory keys with a dexterity that revealed years of practice and passion for the art.
Just as the music was reaching its climax, the pianist interrupted the melody, because she noticed Victor’s presence, and turned to face him with a neutral expression. "Oh... you’re the visitor who arrived last night."
Victor was momentarily surprised that such a beautiful melody was being played by the apparently cold Gracela, but he didn’t show it. "Yes, I’m Victor Shieldman, an old friend of your cousin. I was curious where the music was coming from, so I followed the sounds here."
"I see. Welcome to Selvarum Manor, Mr. Shieldman. However, I wouldn’t advise you to go exploring the rooms like this, especially so close to nightfall, you might end up finding some unpleasant things."
"Unpleasant? What do you mean?"
"It doesn’t really matter, just try not to go into rooms you don’t know. When you leave, please close the door for me, I always end up leaving it a bit open by accident." Gracela said.
Victor complied with Gracela’s request and left the piano room with a discreet nod. Descending the spiral stairs, he was back on the first floor of the Selvarum Mansion, where the atmosphere seemed denser now.
"What did she mean by ’unpleasant things’?" Victor asked himself, and decided he needed a bath to relieve these thoughts.
As he turned into a corridor of the mansion, Victor noticed a movement in the distance and saw Bel Selvarum, Luísa’s nephew, coming out of a room with a towel over his shoulders. His face was drenched in sweat. His light clothes and serious expression revealed that he was probably training. In his hands, he held a wooden sword. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
When their gazes briefly met, Victor expected some kind of greeting, but Bel passed him by without one, getting lost in the corridors of the mansion as if he were immersed in his own thoughts.
Victor didn’t mind this attitude at all, he wasn’t in this place to make friends. After these encounters with Gracela and Bel, Victor decided to retire to his room so as not to disturb anyone else.
Victor’s room was a guest room on the second floor, but it was large and luxurious, with dark wood furniture and a very comfortable bed.
When he entered the room, he promptly grabbed some wood from next to the fireplace and lit it with some Den of Manipulation. He basically manipulated the air and compressed it in a small area around his index finger until it had the right properties to create a small spark.
Victor wasn’t very skilled with Den of Manipulation, but he could create fire without using a flint or rubbing sticks, which was very useful.
In the bedroom bathroom, next to the window, there was a marble bathtub, which Victor filled with water and then heated with the Den of Manipulation as well, which was even easier than creating a spark from nothing because he only had to stir the water molecules.
Victor plunged into the bath, letting the hot water ease the tension from his tired muscles. As the night stretched outside, he closed his eyes and let his mind wander a little. Naturally, he began to remember the things that had happened during his day, from his meeting with Gracela to the situation that had occurred in Mari Dundragon’s laboratory.
When Victor remembered the hand crushing his heart, he instinctively opened his eyes and stood up from the bathtub, slightly out of breath.
Few things in this world had the capacity to make Victor feel like this, afraid, but not knowing for sure what it was that was terrorizing his soul certainly terrified him more and more.
No longer motivated to relax, Victor wrapped himself in a towel and left the bathroom, still a little dazed, and it was then that a soft knock on the door brought him back to reality.
*Knock, knock*
Victor took a deep breath and went to the door. When he opened it, he saw a servant from the mansion holding a plate of food. She was the same woman who had helped him with his clothes when he was leaving the mansion in the morning.
"Good nigh..." She said, but the words faded as her eyes went from Victor’s face to the fact that he was only wearing a towel. "SIR?!"
Embarrassment set in briefly between Victor and the maid, whose eyes widened at the sight of the visitor’s half-dressed state.
Victor, for his part, kept his composure as best he could, hastening to apologize for the surprise. "Forgive me for the outfit, I wasn’t expecting a visitor," he said, trying to ease the situation with a gentle smile, but he too blushed.
The maid, still somewhat dazed, recovered and smiled back. "No problem, Mr. Shieldman. By the way, I’m Margaret. I’m the one who’ll be bringing your supper every night while you’re a guest in this mansion."
"It’s a pleasure to see you again, Margaret. And thank you for the meal, it looks delicious." Victor inclined his head in thanks, noticing the carefully prepared food on the plate.
Margaret was relieved by his cordiality. "Enjoy your meal, sir. I’ll make you comfortable now."
"Wait a moment, please," interrupted Victor before she could leave. "Don’t you usually all dine together at the table here?"
Margaret’s expression faltered for a moment before she replied with a rehearsed excuse. "Oh, Mrs. Luísa is usually tired in the evening and prefers to rest and eat in her room. The other members of the family have their own routines too. Luísa just makes sure that everyone is at the table at breakfast so that they can start the day well."
"I see, so Mrs. Luísa is resting then," commented Victor, trying to subtly probe behind the superficial explanation.
"Yes, that’s right," agreed Margaret, although something in her tone indicated a hesitation that didn’t go unnoticed by Victor.
Victor decided not to press the matter further for the time being, but as he closed the door to his room, he said to himself:
"Strange, she seemed quite energetic when I arrived yesterday."
Victor then put the plate of food on a table and walked towards the closet to put some clothes on. However, suddenly another knock on the door interrupted this order.
*Knock, knock*
Victor frowned - could Margaret have forgotten to say something?
When he opened the door, Margaret wasn’t outside, in fact, there was no one. His eyes fell on something on the floor, a small, shiny object.
