The past few days had been rough on Walter. His emotional state was out of control, and he was barely able to keep himself sane. His mind was troubled, and his thoughts were rageful, regretful and guilt driven. He was frustrated and angry at his family and himself.
He felt so stupid, like the biggest fool in the kingdom. It had been so obvious; everything had been right in front of him, and he had failed to see it. He had doubted himself and thus overlooked the biggest giveaways and answers to his questions.
When Walter thought back to the night he last met with the King, a chilling feeling clutched onto his very soul. Aleric had revealed a very important truth regarding his little sister Erica. He did not say it, but Walter could tell from the shocked look in his eyes.
King Aleric personally knew Erica.
This unspoken response meant everything. Walter was desperate for anything that would link him to his sister, anything that would help him discover the life that she had lived. He wanted to be closer to her even if she was no more. It was an important step that he needed to take in order to move on with his grief and to lessen the weight of the burden that he carried on his shoulders.
It was unfortunate that they were interrupted before he could know everything from his dear friend's perspective, but he knew enough for the time being to point him in the right direction and begin the process of putting all the pieces together. He would finally find out the truth.
Aleric had unfortunately been slightly reluctant to reveal much to his friend at first. It was if he had been worried that what he knew would have consequences, that it would hurt someone- that it would hurt Erica.
King Aleric was greeted with a wave of shock and rage the moment Walter had revealed that Erica was his sister. He did not doubt him for a second as it all suddenly made sense that she was an Alvore but that was not what enraged him.
The girl that Aleric had a strong liking of was resented and then disregarded by her whole family. She was forgotten about by her own brother, her own flesh and blood. If he forgot about her that means that there was a high chance that her own family did as well.
She had been so scared and nervous every time that she had met Aleric and what made it worse was when he had last saw her, her beautiful delicate hands were injured. Aleric's chest tightened and his fists clenched.
He felt the need to punch Walter right between the eyes, there was a reason why Erica was so afraid of her brother...
Was Walter the one who had done that to her?
No. He knew the man sitting next to him. Walter was not that kind of person.
Walter had forgotten about her so there was no way that it could have been him. Furthermore, the young Commander was clearly showing great remorse. His emotions clearly revealed all the regret he shouldered. The man before him had just shown vulnerability, something he never did.
Aleric sympathised with him. He could see that Walter was repenting.
The young King had questions too. Now that he had found out that his closest friend was the older brother to the only girl that had ever occupied his thoughts, he wanted to know everything about her. The good and the bad.
He wanted to see her again.
He allowed Walter to have the chance to question him first but unfortunately, they were interrupted by a servant on an urgent matter that desperately needed to be attended to. All that Aleric had managed to let out before then was that he had he had met with Erica quite a few times and that the last time he had seen her was on the day that his father passed on.
They had not seen each other since. Both of them had been very busy and during the times one of them was not, the other always was. They kept missing the chance to speak with each other again. It was frustrating but duty called.
Aleric's few words that night revealed and confirmed many vital things for Walter. They acted as the spark that pushed the pieced of the puzzle together. The truth was beginning to come to the light.
Erica was not in the Port Town of Canterbre during the time that the Countess Alvore had claimed. She had been there in the capital.
But why would his mother lie?
Perhaps his mother simply did not know. This meant that Erica was purposefully avoiding them. She did not want to be seen.
Why? What was she hiding from?
Walter thought back to the day when he met that boy on the streets. That boy who he had assumed was his sister until his mother's words eventually led to him dismissing this thought. He remembered the uncomfortable feeling that he had that evening, how he knew something did not feel right.
How could he be so foolish to dismiss this on the thought that he was merely pushing it to the side for the time being? How pathetic of him.
Did he even deserved to call himself her brother?
That was clearly his sister that day and she was frightened of him however when he pictured her face he was hit with another scene. It was at the estate. She had a tear-stained face and held her hands to her chest. He remembered how bloodied and bruised her delicate fingers looked but most importantly how terrified she was.
Walter was taken back at the memory. He could not believe that he had not remembered this sooner. He vowed never to get that drunk ever again.
His little sister was hurt, and he was to drunk and useless to do anything. He did not go after her, he did not help her, he did not do a thing....
Walter was worried and frustrated with himself, but one thing was clear, his sister had been staying in the Alvore manor during her time in the capital. How had no one noticed this?
Walter knew that if he wanted answers, he needed to return home. That was the first place that he needed to start since he was unable to further question the King for the time being.
When Walter finally got the chance to visit the estate, he was relieved that none of his family were there for the time being. He did not want to see any of them. He was still very upset and was justifiably so.
The first thing he did was make his way up to Erica's bedroom. He always remembered her having the biggest room with the most lavish things. She always had the best of the best. Sibyl would always remind her two brothers of that when they were younger. She would spend hours upon hours complaining about how unfair it was that Erica was treated better even though the only difference between the two girls' bedrooms was that Erica's was only about a metre wider and she had a slightly bigger bed but at the time both he and Sorin would listen to Sibyl even though they had only seen Erica's room a few times.
Walter thought that he had made a mistake when the room that he had always known to be Erica's looked nothing like a bedroom. It was like a large closet filled to the brim with flashy dresses and shoes.
Sibyl. These were Sibyl's clothes.
Erica must have changed rooms. That could be the only explanation.
Walter called over the nearest servant to enquire about the location of Erica's room. The servant looked very confused at the question not knowing anyone living on the Alvore estate with that name.
The servant's confusion confused Walter.
Maybe the servant was new?
He was correct, the servant had only started working on the estate about two months ago. The newest replacement to Sibyl's last outburst.
Thus, Walter ordered the servant to bring either the head maid or butler to him immediately. The servant rushed off and returned back not a minute later with head maid, Emma.
Emma was one of the older servants of the Alvore manor but that did not say much for she had only been working for the household for the past three and a half years. Her promotion to head maid came quickly and she had only held the position for the past year.
When Walter questioned her on the location of his sister's bedroom, she too was just as confused as the servant before her. Walter suddenly became very suspicious. Something was very very wrong.
None of the servants seemed to know anything about Erica which in itself was not right. Erica was a member of the Count Alvore's direct family. Even if they had never seen her, they should at least be knowledgeable of her name.
In that moment he put Emma on the spot questioning her on every person that resided on the property from the Count Alvore to the chimney boy. Everyone.
Erica was not mentioned once in the list of names Emma gave. She was certain she had not missed anyone but felt pressured to rethink under the Commander's harsh glare. That's when she suddenly remembered, there was a person living in one of the darker parts of the East section. The so-called horrible freak that none of them had seen however it was well known amongst the servants that they had left the estate a while ago and were hopefully gone for good.
She did not know if this was worth mentioning this to the Commander as the person no longer lived there but if it meant escaping his harsh overpowering gaze, she would do it.
Walter was taken back at this; he was unaware of anyone living there let alone a so-called freak. This was news to him.
He asked Emma to take him to the room. She was hesitant to go further than the first door so thankfully Walter dismissed her stopping her from going further.
A million thoughts and questions were racing through his mind as he entered the room. It was clear that someone had been living there but it seemed no one had stayed in the dark room for a while as there was a layer of dust coating everything.
Before he could observe it any further, he was interrupted by his brother's voice.
"Walter?"