Inquiry

Moran's screams echoed through the whole manor. Even the birds resting in a nearby tree flew away after hearing the heart-wrenching scream. Albert and William whose drinking tea in the living room while having a conversation just smiled. Even the newly arrived Fred did not also have much of a reaction.

"The Colonel has landed himself in a predicament. I wonder how he would get out of this." Albert chuckled as he sipped his tea. William just nodded. Agreeing with his statement.

"What do you think of Catherine Faucigny, Brother?" William asked. Secretly staring at Albert, not missing any small reactions. But contrary to what he expected, Albert's reaction was shocking.

Upon hearing the question, Albert spits out his tea and coughed loudly. He composed himself while wiping his face with the handkerchief that Fred handed to him. "What makes you ask that question? Are you interested in her?" William chuckled as he put down his tea. Then he seriously looked at Albert.

"What I meant, What do you think about Catherine joining our organization. From what I heard, she is an experienced doctor. We always face many dangerous missions, so having a doctor on our side is the best option we can have right?"

"Ah.. I see. Well, she might not agree to it, especially with our current situation." Albert indirectly answered the question. William just smiled wryly at his response. "What were you thinking earlier that you have spilled your tea, Brother?"

Albert felt that he had fallen into a trap that William created, the smile further confirmed his intuition. But he could not pinpoint his intention. Seeing that it was not harmful and only a small matter, Albert dismissed the thought and abruptly ended the conversation. "I am tired from the trip. I should go and retire to my room. Enjoy your tea, William. Fred, thanks for the handkerchief."

After saying his piece, he hurriedly left the room, bumping into Louis who had just come down from upstairs. Albert quickly apologized and left. "What happened to Brother Albert? He looked like he was chased by a ghost." Louis asked in curiosity. Upon seeing the remaining people in the room, Louis sighed and asked again. "Fred, is that the newly harvested flower from the greenhouse?"

"Yes. The roses bloomed quite beautifully so I decided to pick some to put on all the vases in the mansion. Was I in the wrong timing?" towards his sentence, Fred faced William with the intended question. William just looked at him with mirth in his eyes. "No worries, whether you are present or not in the conversation, I planned to ask that of Albert the moment he arrived home."

"And what was the result? Was it to your expectations?" Fred asked while handing the flowers to Louis. Louis, who roughly understands the situation, asked. "Is this between Albert and Catherine, Brother?"

"Yes. I wanted to confirm something. Now that I have all the answers to my questions, we can expect in the near future a new addition to the family." William warmly said. Louis widened his eyes before responding. "I'm very much excited to meet this particular sister-in-law of mine."

"Sister-in-law? Is William going to get married? To whom?" Moran, who just finished cleaning the pavilion with difficulty due to his bruises, appeared and sat down in a single chair. After having the mood ruined by Moran's words, the butter knife made its appearance once again. "It looks like you didn't have enough tasks to gossip around, Mr. Moran. Would you like to join me in the basement?" Louis gave a smile so terror that it could stop a baby from crying.

"NO… I HAD ENOUGH!!!" Moran cried in distress and asked for help. "William, Fred… help… Stop Louis.." It was as if they didn't hear him, both of them ignored Moran like he did not exist in the first place nor there was a man up front with a very sharp butter knife pointed at Moran.

"Fred, you should take a rest. You did a lot today too. I should go and prepare for University." William stands up and patted Fred's shoulder. Louis also added. "Yes, Fred. Thanks for the flowers. You should take the day off. You did almost all of the work, unlike a certain someone… " at the end of his sentence, he pointed the butter knife to Moran's eyes and the latter gulped in fear.

"Okay. Thank you, Sir William and Sir Louis." Fred walked together with William. Moran's eyes widened as he called Fred. He gulped very hard after he couldn't see their backs anymore. Leaving him and an angry Louis in the Common room, Moran sees red. Not a very good sign.

Second Floor, Albert's Room

As soon as Albert entered the room, he hastily took off his tie and laid down on his bed. Upon closing his eyes, a very vivid image of Catherine appeared in his mind. Catherine in his mind smiled as she called Albert lovingly. This made him stand up in shock and held his head while shaking it to remove the image.

He breathe in exhaustion as he sat back down again. After calming down, he hurriedly changed into his sleeping clothing. Despite it being noon, he went to sleep with a mind full of unexplained thoughts and an image of Catherine popping out from time to time.

Oakwood Village Hospital, Claire's Ward

"A great news. Claire made it into her full recovery period. She can finally be discharged." Catherine broke the news to the mother and daughter early in the morning. After hearing that she could finally go back home, Claire was so happy that she started singing songs. Her mother thanked Catherine and started to clean up and pack their things. "That is really a piece of good news, Doctor. I'm sure Claire's grandma misses her so much."

"Just make sure that Claire would take care of herself and she can't take a full bath. Do remember that her stitches can't come into contact with water. That is all. I will take care of her discharge papers. Wait here." Catherine left after talking to Claire's mother. She went to the nurse's desk to process Claire's release. After making sure everything is all set, she went back to the ward and handed the papers. Then she bent down to see eye to eye with Claire before speaking.

"Claire, Take good care of yourself so that you won't come back here anymore. I do love to see you again, but not inside the hospital. Okay?" Catherine lovingly conversed with Claire. "Okay! I will take care of myself so that Pretty Doctor won't be tired of checking up on me. I promise." Claire extended her pinky finger to Catherine. Catherine also lifted her pinky finger and intertwined it with Claire to seal the promise. After a few talks, Catherine escorted the mother and daughter pair to the entrance of the hospital.

"Bye-bye, Pretty Doctor!, Bye-bye Prince Doctor!" Claire waved her hands to the people at the hospital entrance as she walked with her mother. Luke, who just arrived also smiled at Claire before looking at Catherine.

"Are you okay? Ever since that thing happened in the kitchen, you never talked to me aside from work, Did I do something wrong?" Catherine sighed before looking at Luke. "Sorry. I was a bit stressed and tired. I felt like I don't have the energy to talk. I didn't mean to ignore you."

"I see. If you're a bit stressed, then can I invite you to dinner to unwind? I heard there is a good bar here that cooks the best Oak wood smoked pie." Luke asked in a princely manner. Some of the witnesses squealed in excitement. But Catherine didn't fall for the looks.

"I'm sorry Doctor Luke, I am really tired. I can't go with you."