For some, the countryside was liberating. Danae on the other hand, it was suffocating.
It wasn't her idea, of course, to visit her brother in the Providences. This plan had been all her mother's doing. She said she missed Elias, but that didn't mean she had to drag Danae and Chara with her. There were more important things for her to do in the capital. Danae didn't have any business connections out here and figuring how everyone seemed to be trying to keep her within the manor walls, there was no chance she was ever going to make new ones. And since Elias was not their father and was not as keen to let his kid sister sit in on the meetings he conducted here, there was nothing to do, but gossip with her sister. Needless to say, Danae was bored out of her mind.
So it didn't take long for Danae to start exploring. Problem with that thought was that she had been here before. Elias had had this manor since he was sixteen and he was now twenty-four. She had spent many afternoons wandering these halls before.
And yet, she didn't recognize the door in front of her.
Tucked away in a lightly used corridor was a weathered door that she had never seen before. Maybe she just hadn't noticed it until now. Either way, given how bored she was up until now, this prospect of finding whatever was behind the door was exciting. In fact, this was the most exhilarated she had felt in a week. So, there was no debate on whether she was going to intrude.
Standing in the doorway, Danae struggled to recall the last time she been in here, that is if she ever had been here at all. Everything in this room seemed so foreign and strange, but judging by the thick layer of dust that seemed to be coating the room made it clear that none of this was brought here by her brother. This was all here way before any of them.
As she entered the room, she made sure to push the squeaky door firmly shut behind her. Fearing a repeat of what happened in the Palati, she made a point double and triple-checked that it was indeed closed. After all, she didn't want anymore Emilia's sneaking up on her. Once she was alone in the quiet room, it seemed as if it was a completely different world. It was completely silent and the air was much heavier in here than the rest of the manor. (Probably due to the thick layers of dust, of course.) Time seemed to slow, but the one thing she noticed above all others was that she didn't feel as if there were a thousand eyes upon her all at once. A small sigh of relief escaped her as this realization struck her. When was the last time she had known what this felt like?
Danae wandered around the room, exploring the unseen treasures it held. Her hands brushed over faded fabrics and piles of molding scrolls. Each touch seemed to send lightning through her fingertips as the thrill of being alone and finding something new struck her again and again. Who knew such a sullen girl could have a childish sense of wonder? There was no purpose to what she looked through, it was just whatever caught her eye.
That was until she found the box.
It was sitting forlornly on a desk shoved into the corner, half buried underneath a pile of papers. That didn't stop the gleam of the gems on top from catching Danae's attention as the candle's light glimmered throughout the room. Now that, she silently thought to herself, has to be something interesting.
Without thinking twice, she made her way to the box and pried it open. No one would care if she did or did not anyway. No one had been here in years and besides, all it probably held was jewelry. But what Danae didn't know was that it contains something else...
Something much more important than just a few measly trinkets.
It wasn't her idea, of course, to visit her brother in the Providences. This plan had been all her mother's doing. She said she missed Elias, but that didn't mean she had to drag Danae and Chara with her. There were more important things for her to do in the capital. Danae didn't have any business connections out here and figuring how everyone seemed to be trying to keep her within the manor walls, there was no chance she was ever going to make new ones. And since Elias was not their father and was not as keen to let his kid sister sit in on the meetings he conducted here, there was nothing to do, but gossip with her sister. Needless to say, Danae was bored out of her mind.
So it didn't take long for Danae to start exploring. Problem with that thought was that she had been here before. Elias had had this manor since he was sixteen and he was now twenty-four. She had spent many afternoons wandering these halls before.
And yet, she didn't recognize the door in front of her.
Tucked away in a lightly used corridor was a weathered door that she had never seen before. Maybe she just hadn't noticed it until now. Either way, given how bored she was up until now, this prospect of finding whatever was behind the door was exciting. In fact, this was the most exhilarated she had felt in a week. So, there was no debate on whether she was going to intrude.
Standing in the doorway, Danae struggled to recall the last time she been in here, that is if she ever had been here at all. Everything in this room seemed so foreign and strange, but judging by the thick layer of dust that seemed to be coating the room made it clear that none of this was brought here by her brother. This was all here way before any of them.
As she entered the room, she made sure to push the squeaky door firmly shut behind her. Fearing a repeat of what happened in the Palati, she made a point double and triple-checked that it was indeed closed. After all, she didn't want anymore Emilia's sneaking up on her. Once she was alone in the quiet room, it seemed as if it was a completely different world. It was completely silent and the air was much heavier in here than the rest of the manor. (Probably due to the thick layers of dust, of course.) Time seemed to slow, but the one thing she noticed above all others was that she didn't feel as if there were a thousand eyes upon her all at once. A small sigh of relief escaped her as this realization struck her. When was the last time she had known what this felt like?
Danae wandered around the room, exploring the unseen treasures it held. Her hands brushed over faded fabrics and piles of molding scrolls. Each touch seemed to send lightning through her fingertips as the thrill of being alone and finding something new struck her again and again. Who knew such a sullen girl could have a childish sense of wonder? There was no purpose to what she looked through, it was just whatever caught her eye.
That was until she found the box.
It was sitting forlornly on a desk shoved into the corner, half buried underneath a pile of papers. That didn't stop the gleam of the gems on top from catching Danae's attention as the candle's light glimmered throughout the room. Now that, she silently thought to herself, has to be something interesting.
Without thinking twice, she made her way to the box and pried it open. No one would care if she did or did not anyway. No one had been here in years and besides, all it probably held was jewelry. But what Danae didn't know was that it contains something else...
Something much more important than just a few measly trinkets.