ARC 1 - THE TOP FLOOR 1

Time flew, in the blink of an eye Rhaia had spent a month at the Teese castle.

The people in the castle were nicer than she first presumed, even Flare the stern looking butler was never harsh on her.

Although this could be as a result of Rhaia listening to his words and obeying his rules.

However in her long stay here, she had never seen the Duke who was her cousin Carlos. He had not come down from the third floor not even once in that month.

She would have doubted he was up there if not for Flare's consistent delivery of his meals and the occasional times the maids went up to clean the floor.

She tried to see if anyone could tell her what was happening but she could not get anymore news concerning him from the maids even Elle her personal servant was reluctant to say anything and only said the Duke was sick anytime she asked her questions regarding him. They were all tight-lipped about anything concerning Carlos that Rhaia was beginning to think he had some sort of communicable disease and can not see anybody.

All Elle told her according to the news she got from the cleaning maids was that the Duke seemed fine and strong and did not look sick.

Rhaia was confused about this, first he was sick and now he looked fine. But if he was not that sick in the first place, should he not ask to see her just once? Or even come down the third floor. She had been here for a month now and never saw him.

Rhaia scrunched her face as she looked puzzled.

What was going on? Is it that Carlos does not know he has a guest who has been wanting to see him for a month now? Moreover why was everyone in the castle acting mysterious like her cousin had a secret they had to safeguard with their lives.

But all of that did not discourage Rhaia, she had not been idle in her stay here. Even if she can not see Carlos for now, she had been busy looking for the person who carries Alaric's soul in him, but there was no one she felt connection to in the entire castle all the way from Kane down to the cleaning boy even the butterflies in the garden.

She was beginning to doubt the authenticity of the arrow Zeddicus gave her. If not for the fact that there was somebody left who she had not met with, that is Carlos, Rhaia would have left this Castle to look for help somewhere else and find Alaric. Maybe she would forgo the mission of getting married to Carlos even.

However as Carlos remained and he was the only one left, she would have to find a way to contact him.

She hoped Carlos could be Alaric though as it would make her missions and everything easier and she was even beginning to assure herself he was indeed the carrier of Alaric's soul.

Now all she needed was to see him and feel the connection to him. As simple as this sounds, the difficulty lied in seeing him.

This was becoming intensely difficult.

Rhaia had decided that no matter what it takes she had to see her cousin Carlos, if not for the Alaric then at least for the completion of the side missions.

The Devalles still had a huge debt over their heads. She had written a letter of reply to her father yesterday after she got his letter that she could take her time and not put herself under pressure as he had found a way to pay off some of the insistent creditors. But this still didn't assure her, she knew her father was one who didn't like to place his burdens on anyone particularly his children.

Rhaia felt weird at her thoughts. She sometimes felt like she had known the Devalles for a while, she didn't feel like she came in halfway at all just occupying their daughter's body.

The body feels like originally hers and to the Devalles there was a sort of indescribable familial closeness towards them.

Rhaia thought about the strangeness for a while as the doubt got stronger but soon she closed her eyes and decided to put all her doubts away. All those could be dealt with later, there were more pressing issues now.

Rhaia sighed, due to the difficulty in meeting with Carlos, she was beginning to consider other options to pay off the debt. She had always maintained a friendly relationship with Kane, so she could ask him for help if the need arises.

Although instinctively she wants to distance herself from him and even feels like she should hate him too. However, Rhaia decided to ignore these feelings as the missions were more important.

Moreover, Kane hadn't done anything to her to hate him so much.

He had even been so nice and considerate. Regardless of his travels, he does find a way to write to her frequently. He is a good friend even if he had made so many advances towards her.

All he had ever done was to be annoying. She ignores his advances though as she doesn't like him very much and her heart is on another, also with the looks he gives her making her uncomfortable and feel like she was a large piece of meat on a slab in front of a wild animal.

Rhaia got up and decided to go to the garden for a breath of fresh air. She had been feeling stuffy lately. Although she attributed it to the fact that she was not making progress in any of her missions and that had truly been making her so anxious.

Going out to relax and breathe the fresh air of nature is what she does when she wants to take her mind off the many troubles and thoughts plaguing her.

She walked into her cloakroom and changed into a more convenient dress before walking out of her room.

In the garden while sitting on the grass, Rhaia closed her eyes and took a deep breath smelling the flowers and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere when she suddenly felt a deep gaze on her.

The gaze felt so intense that she instinctively became alert and vigilantly traced the gaze to the third floor's window overlooking the garden. However, there was no one there.

Rhaia was confused and her darkened before deciding she was hallucinating or something else before she shrugged her shoulders ... perhaps she thought too much.

"Hey Rhaia, you are here. You are looking as beautiful as always. Well I looked for you in your room but no one was there and I was told you are in the garden. How have you been doing these days?"

Rhaia turned her head to look at Kane surprised he was around. She thought he would take a while on his journey, she adjusted her expression and gave him her usual polite smile

"Oh I just wanted a breath of fresh air, and I am fine Kane. Thank you for your concern".

He wore a suit and had his signature gentle smile on his face.

"You are home early, I thought you were still on your journey"

Kane smiled wider and he bowed towards her, his face so close to hers.

"Is my cousin worried about me? Or have you been thinking about me?"

Rhaia had been avoiding him since the day she got here and he acted weirdly towards someone he saw for the first time.

Together with that, she also wanted no awkward conversation with him as a result of the weird hatred she had towards him and could not explain where it came from or why she had it in the first place but guess she could not always run away from him.

He was beginning to feel like a leach around her neck. He is her friend, that is what she sees him as but there really should be boundaries even between friends.

She stood up from the grass while retracting her steps and widening the gap between them because he was too close for comfort and intruding in her space.

Kane noticed this and irritation flashed in his eyes so quickly that if you were not staring at his face, you would not have noticed it, but he smiled even though he was annoyed deep inside at her behaviour which he was now beginning to hate.

He stood up straight as he saw her deliberately avoiding him and when he realised she had no thoughts of replying his questions, he answered her previous question

"Well I finished quite earlier and decided to come back since there was nothing to do. I really missed you Rhaia".

Before she could reply him, suddenly Rhaia felt the same gaze return on her body like someone was staring intently at her.

She looked up towards the third floor again where the gaze came from and this was noticed by Kane.

"What is the problem Rhaia?"

Rhaia looked back at Kane, her attention withdrawn from that strange gaze

"Oh it's nothing Kane, I just felt someone upstairs was looking at me".

Kane glanced upstairs with a smile

"Oh it's probably your illusion, there is no one there".