Chapter 76

Chapter 77
The floor was cold.

I didn’t realize how freezing it was until now that I was walking barefoot. I figured it would mask my footsteps as I made my way across the dimly lit corridor.

My body protested every move I made, but I pressed on, following the faint sound of footsteps echoing from the distance, assuming it was from Arlo or a guard patrolling the area.

The mansion felt different at midnight.

Guards stood at almost every corner. When they saw me approaching, they quietly spoke against their earpieces and before I could take another step, I was redirected back to my bedroom.

It seems like I am terrible at sneaking around.

The second time I stepped outside my room, I walked too fast and bumped into someone.

Before I could react, a hand covered my mouth instantly.

“Shhh…” 

Panic rose in my chest and my shoulders tensed.

Was I caught again?

“I thought I sensed some mischievous energy around here,” a familiar voice whispered. “…turns out it was just you sneaking around.”

I slowly tilted my head back to see his grinning face and I immediately yanked his hand away from my mouth.

“It’s none of your business, Lucien.”

He stood there in the shadowy corner of the corridor, overly amused. As if catching me halfway of attempting to try and outsmart Arlo’s elite guards was the best thing he had seen today.

I heard a faint footstep from afar and I immediately ducked, my heart pounding from the sound.

A muffled chuckle escaped Lucien’s lips and I shushed him quickly, pressing a finger over my sealed lips, but he just looked like he'd been enjoying it. His grin grew wider and wider as he studied me for a moment.

In a way, now I am certain Frantz's blood flows into Lucien too, and my demise amuses him.

“Lemme join you.” Lucien ducked next to me, and I let him because arguing would only make a noise. “This looks fun,”

“No, Lucien-” I was about to tell him that trying to find Arlo and stop him from possibly breaking my parents’ bones is far from fun, but when I turned around he was already casually walking in the other direction.

“Lucien!” I whispered a breathy yell, debating whether I should follow after him or not.

“Are you coming or not?” he said, not even turning around to say it to my face. 

“Where are you going?” I stood up and brushed the skirt of my night gown before rushing after him.

“If you’re going to do something reckless, at least do it properly,” For someone like Lucien, who had been fooling around ever since I met him, this time, he sounded serious.

He glanced at me over his shoulder, seemingly studying me.

“W…what?” I glared, feeling tensed.

He just smirked and looked back in front.

“My cousin didn’t teach you, huh?” he said.

Teach me what, exactly?

I wanted to ask, but I figured if I did, Lucien would just tease me.

He moved through the mansion like he knew every inch of it. Stopped when he knew there would be a guard patrolling, and slithered across the corridor avoiding the cameras attached at every corner.

Of course, I mimicked his movements, and finally we arrived at a dead end.

“Did you actually just waste my time?” I didn’t even have the energy to sound pissed. Instead, I just massaged the bridge of my nose.

I turned around, trying to estimate how much time it would take to go all the way back and actually follow the direction where Arlo went.

But the sound of something mechanical made me look back at Lucien's direction.

Instantaneously, my jaw dropped to see a narrow passageway appear when it was just a wall a second ago.

It was like the mansion itself was alive and opened up for a Frantz.

“Since when does this exist?” I whispered exasperatedly while he chuckled in response.

“You’d be soooo surprised if you knew what else this house hides,” he gestured his hands playfully, signaling for me to follow him through the hidden corridor, and so I did. It was either this or being dragged back to my room.

“So…” Now that we were far from the guards, I thought I should pry him with some answers. “This secret passageway was made because???” I waited for him to answer.

“Take a guess,” his velvety voice sounded like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere at once because of the corridor. 

“Well…” I pondered, furrowing my brows and remembering the fairy tales I have read before.

That in the past, people would get so aggressive and violent they would storm a royal palace to kill the king and queen, so there were secret corridors made for them to go through and escape.

“Just in case of an emergency, I guess.” 

Lucien snapped his fingers, meaning I was correct.

“You are sharp, I see,” he commented.

“And you’re not that entirely bad, I see.” I shot back, earning another chuckle from him.

“Whaaaat? You thought I was bad? No one can even compare to your own husband if we’re talking about levels of cruelty.”

I didn’t speak. He was right after all. 

Arlo was a man who spoke violence into reality.

“You barge into our home and immediately insulted me. Of course, I would think of you as a bad person… but now you’re helping me so-”

“Oh dear me, I’m not helping you,” he corrected, stopping just before a staircase leading down.

He turned around and faced me, showing his chesire-like grin. “I’m just here because I want to see how my cousin would react… oh, and of course, your reaction as well.” He added a small ‘tee-hee’ sound after his sentence.

I ignored him. Finding Arlo is my top priority right now and not arguing with this frustrating person.

We both descended the staircase leading down, far below the main floors. And as we pressed further, the air felt colder, heavier. We walked in silence until we reached a long corridor illuminated with white fluorescent lights from the also white ceiling.

It reminded me of a hospital, except there was only one door at the end of the hallway. Steel and barred like those I see in a bank.

“What… what the hell is this place?” I whispered, stepping a bit closer behind Lucien just in case something scary comes up.

He didn’t answer and just kept walking until we were in front of the door.

“Oh, wait,” he rummaged through his pockets and pulled out his phone. 

I saw how he opened the camera application and prepared to take a video. “Can’t miss this opportunity,” he whispered mischievously and pressed record.

I can’t even call him out because of his childish behavior when my fear was stronger at the moment.

This is the first time I have learned about secret doors and hallways, and even a hidden basement with a creepy sci-fi-looking corridor. It felt like all the time I have been living here, I was kept in the dark, constantly being shielded from secrets that I should have known.

“Hmm,” Lucien, with his other hand, lit up a panel beside the door and entered a code without hesitation.

A soft beep.

My heart was drumming against my chest like never before.

The steel door slid open, and a blinding light flooded out, making me wince for a second before my eyes adjusted.

Lucien stepped aside immediately, gesturing for me to look inside while his phone camera was aimed at me.

So I did. 

I did look inside.

And I wish I didn’t.