Where are the keys?

"THERE IS FIRE IN THE MANSION!"

After screaming once again, I turned around and ran to the mansion. I passed the main door, turned to the right, and entered the main hall. The exact main hall where the members of the count's family were busy discussing an important matter.

Upon seeing that a servant suddenly jumped inside the hall, more like throwing himself inside rather than jumping in, the count and his family all flinched at the same time, turning towards me in unison. It seemed like they hadn't heard my loud yells as they were sitting comfortably till I jumped inside and were now demanding an explanation from me by their gazes.

Beside the door of the main staff room on the first floor stood Ranger, holding a trail of desserts in his hands and staring at me with knitted brows. He was also too surprised for a man who had heard the shouts of someone about fire in the mansion. As it seemed, my voice hadn't reached this part of the mansion.

Not waiting for them to ask anything from me, I opened my mouth once again and stuttered in an anxious voice.

"Fire! T-there is fire i-in the young master's room!"

"What?"

Upon hearing those words, the count stood up from his seat immediately and the countess covered her mouth with her hands. The young lady frowned and looked at me with a confused face while young master Alaric blinked his eyes with a blank face.

'Yeah, there were no fires in your plans, right? It's because I started it, not you!'

But how could the young lady know about it? Heh!

"Fire? In the young master's room?"

"Yeah. I'll... I'll get the keys from the head butler and head to the room immediately!"

I shouted and ran past the confused Ranger, entering the staff room. There was no need for me to go to the young master's room at all, and I also didn't need to take the keys from the head butler... But I was... Yeah, I was panicked! Look at me, can't you see how scared I am? Isn't it natural for me to act silly? I am too shocked because of the fire in the young master's room that I can't think properly! Yeah!

"Hey, I have the keys as well! Ian! There is no need to ask the head butler! Ian! Ian?"

'No, I can't hear you old man. I'll ask for the keys from the head butler.'

Because I wanted to know if he had handed the keys to someone else or not!

"Ian! Can't you hear me- Ian!" Ranger shouted behind me a few times, before finally quitting and addressing someone else. "You, you and you! Go call the guards and gather the servants. We have to put out the fire."

By the time Ranger was done giving orders, I had reached the head butler. The head butler was a short middle-aged man, his hair was going bald in the middle and had strands of gray mixed in his black hair. He had a long forehead and chubby cheeks. He was standing on his spot, frozen when I threw myself at him and grabbed his shoulders.

"Sir, please give me the keys to the young master's room!"

"H-huh? Yeah?"

The middle-aged plump man looked around at the people who were running around with a blank face before turning to me.

"Keys?"

"Yes! The keys to the young master's room! Please, there is a fire in the room! We have to put out the fire!"

I raised my voice with every word I said, making it loud enough for everyone to hear it. No one scolded me for yelling at the head butler, as most of them were in a hurry carrying water and moving up to the second floor to put out the fire, while the others just considered me nervous instead of rude. One of those people was Ranger, who was approaching me while taking out his keys to inform me that he had the keys to the young master's room so that I would let go of the head butler. Even Ranger's keys were not necessary right now as the young master himself could open the door to his room, I guess he had already done that, seeing that Ranger was still here.

'Nope. I'm not seeing you, Ranger.'

The head butler who was suddenly being shaken back and fro by a frightened youth, and being put in an urgent situation at the same time, suddenly paled. As if hit by a wave of nervousness and fear and thus unable to think rationally, the middle-aged man hurriedly shook his head from side to side and started to talk without even considering his words.

"I-I don't have the keys-"

As soon as those words left his lips, his eyes widened and his pupils shook as if just realizing that he had said something that he shouldn't have said. Color scaped his face even more and he bit his lips hard.

"I... I-"

"YOU DON'T HAVE THE KEYS?"

I raised my voice so much that my yell made the people around me jolt up from the shock. Even the head butler became startled at my shout and Ranger stopped in his tracks. Amidst the chaos of the hall and the staff room, everyone froze for a moment and turned to me and the head butler.

"WHY WOULDN'T THE HEAD BUTLER HAVE THE KEYS?? WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?"

"I... They are..."

The man didn't get a chance to explain things, with me before him shouting like a lunatic.

"OH MY GOD! DID YOU PERHAPS LOSE THEM? WERE THE KEYS STOLEN? THE KEYS ARE STOLEN! THE KEYS TO THE YOUNG MASTER'S ROOM GOT LOST!"

The panicked head butler hurriedly shook his head and covered my mouth with his hands.

"How can I possibly lose them? I-I just gave them to someone!"

He said those words in a low voice so that only I could hear, but sorry Mr. Head butler, the all-so-dramatic show I held had already grabbed the full attention of everyone around us. There was no way that the others didn't hear his words.

"You... Gave the keys to the young master's room to someone else?"

Ranger interrupted the conversation before I could resume my show. He stepped towards the head butler, brows frowned even more than the time he saw me stealing meat from the kitchen a few years ago, and his expression more serious than any time else.

"I... No, look, it's not like that!"

"Who did you give the keys to?"

Everyone around us had stopped working and they were all watching the argument. They started mumbling among each other and sending suspicious glances at the head butler, making the middle-aged man even more stressed.

"Who did you give the keys to?"

Alger repeated himself.

"To... To Severin!"

In an attempt to escape the gazes of the others and free himself from the stressful situation, the head butler gave away the name of the person who he had secretly given the keys.