She has had enough

“I think I’ve had enough.” Amelia says. “Let’s skip to the end. If this diary holds something about the diseases, I feel it should be there.”

I flip through the pages until I get to the last entry and read it to the girls.

Day 22, month 10, year 1600

Today I brought Anya her tea. I remembered to add the appropriate amount of milk, but I had forgotten about the sugar. She wasn’t upset at me for it, I have been a servant to her for so long that she knows I would never fail her intentionally. She simply informed me about my mistake. It still bothers me though. I have noticed I am being quite forgetful these days. It is probably because I have a lot on my mind.

My son hasn’t been the same since the accident where he lost his leg. Before, he was always willing to put in extra work. Now he always says he’d love to but can’t because of the leg. I get it, though. He can’t plough the land like his grandfather used to do while he is holding a crutch.

Things haven’t been alright with my daughter too. She had such great hopes of being an adventurer. She was going to make a name for herself and take on the world. But she couldn’t awaken during the ceremony and came back knowing she would be unranked forever. We tried to convince her there is nothing wrong with the life of a commoner, but she feels like she got cheated out of something better. By now, I just hope that she can find a good husband who can show her true love and make her happy that way.

For that matter, I feel this might be our last time at the mansion. Anya has not been as interested in her usual exploits as she was in previous years. I still remember the first time we were here. She would have sex every day. Sometimes even multiple times per day. Now, she has only watched some of the younger servants go at it, and she seemed rather bored. She hasn’t even visited her sex dungeon once this year. I guess old age has simply made her lose her passion for it.

I better place the key to the sex dungeon in my shelf. We’ll only be here for another week. Then we’ll be traveling back to the estate. I don’t think Anya will be using her dungeon any time soon. Hmm, I’ll better keep it next to my diary. That way, I won’t have to worry about forgetting it.

“Looks like by the time Countess Anya left for home with her entourage, Elliot ended up forgetting his diary and left it in his room.” I say after reading the last entry.

“And if the countess really never came back here, the mansion would have been abandoned this whole time.” Kiara adds.

“That last passage also doesn’t mention anything about what we came here for.” Amelia says as she stands up. “So, whatever it is, it wasn’t around when Lady Anya was here. I guess that means we can ignore all the dusty rooms in our investigation?”

I close the diary and look out of the window in front of me. Towards the garden behind the mansion. It actually looks very well kept for having been abandoned, with a fairly recently mowed lawn. I didn’t think that mowing the lawn would be the first thing renovators would do. But then I get an idea.

“Hey, Amelia.” I say. “Do you think maybe it has something to do with the plants in the garden? I mean, we once had a fight against that carnivorous plant. Remember how it used it’s …?”

But before I can finish my sentence, I notice 2 people coming out of the hedge maze. They aren’t looking up but I keep my head down all the same and get out of the chair.

“Amelia? Are there other members of your guild who took this quest?” I ask in a hushed voice.

“No, we have specific rules on not having multiple groups on the same quest.” She answers.

“What about other guilds having access to the same quest?” I ask as my eyes follow the two strangers in the garden.

“No.” Kiara answers. “Handing over the same quest to multiple different guilds is generally not permitted as it promotes guild conflicts. Only the royal court has the authority to hand the same quest to multiple guilds, and even then, it is exceptionally rare.”

I point at the window for them and say, “Then who are those two guys in the garden?”

Kiara and Amelia both get close to me and look outside. Just in time to see one of them cast a magic spell that lifts a portion of the lawn to the right of the pond, and then tilt it sideways like a wall. Revealing that under the lawn there was a hidden staircase.

“We need to go there and quick.” Kiara says.

The three of us exit the room and head down the stairs. Then we quickly run towards the correct hall and enter a previously unexplored room, which turns out being the dining room. From the dining room we could enter a solarium. It is a room in the shape of a half circle and extends from the mansion into the garden, while also having all its walls and even the roof made of glass. From here we could look outside and see that the 2 strangers were no longer in the garden. They must have already descended into the secret passage.

Amelia manages to open a glass door and we head outside. I draw my sword, Amelia gets her glass orb ready and Kiara is always ready to cast her spells. We slowly sneak towards the passage and peer inside but can’t see the strangers. I do notice what appears to be a metal door at the bottom of the passage and it is wide open. I head down the staircase first, followed by Kiara and then Amelia. I walk through the open door and get into a corridor. One which quickly makes a sharp turn to the right. It is pretty dark here, but not too dark. I wonder what the purpose of this place is. Elliot never mentioned any of it in his diary.