Princess Thief [✔]

53. Choices

The room was a tiny space with only a desk, a couple of chairs, and a built-in shelf. The only decoration was a huge landscape painting and wall lamps along with the sheer curtains of the window.

I had visited a couple of times here and I had experienced several missions that I knew there must be a secret passage. This could not solely be a study room for a leader of an organization.

The tricky part was where to find the mechanism to unveil it. When I deliver fresh flowers here, I usually cleaned the table so the trigger was not there.

I roamed my eyes and looked at anything common because the common it was, the most likely that was where the trigger was hidden.

The painting was not suspicious along with the books on the shelves but it was the usual place to hide it so most advanced devices avoided that place even if how ordinary they were.

Most importantly, I had to consider the fact that this house was built by Cindra. I doubted she would be that unwise to put it there.

But then again, Cindra loved mind games too. Notably, ones that were seen as complicated but actually just a simple riddle which resulted in a much bigger surprise.

I went with my instinct and fiddled through the painting. I tried sliding it but there was no movement so I tried touching every inch of the frame until I felt a peculiar dent on the upper right corner. It slid downwards but nothing happened.

I carefully observed it and tried the other corners of the frame for good measure. The lower right corner went nothing but the left was able to move.

So it's a sequence!

After the lower left was moved, I tried the lower right corner again but it was still stuck so I slid the upper left and then went back to the lower right.

I stepped back and waited until a rope ladder fell in front of me.

Ah. Cindra was clever indeed. It was rare to find a passage above. Normally, the entryways were on the floor or behind the walls. I let go of a deep sigh from the sudden hollowness in my heart. How I missed her already.

I climbed up the ladder in just a couple of minutes and I was greeted by the dark attic with nothing but the lumber beams and a regular door located below the highest part of the roof.

I pulled up the ladder and closed the entrance. I was crawling towards the door and was only able to stand at full height once I reached it. I pushed it open and there was a stair akin to the one going underground with the dim corridor and wooden treads. I made my steps carefully since I had no idea where they led to.

The narrow space opened up like the headquarters but it was comparably smaller than the grand meeting hall. I did not even have the luxury to fully take my surroundings as my face blanched.

"You're here."

"See? I was damn right."

My whole body was rendered motionless as I stood face to face with two men who I was avoiding. Night released his shadow that was encircling Reichen which concealed their presence earlier.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, still taken aback.

"That's the question, I should be asking, Ace," countered Reichen.

"You saw the enchantment, am I right?" asked Night right after. "Once we leave, those notes appear. That sod knows how to use his cards and we would never forsake Mother."

"You mean..."

"Yes. The enchantment is activated once we leave. I saw it as well the first time I tried to escape. That's why I asked you but you've said nothing however you've been acting strange. I knew it won't be long before you sought the Lost Treasures. No doubt you're truly my sister with how rash you are. It's not even a day after you woke up and here you are."