.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
image is official art
★ 𝑨/𝑵 ☆
𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐥 ♫︎
𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 "Girl on an iceberg - Piano version" 𝐛𝐲 "Nico Cartosio"
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
"Are you certain this is the right way, Mx?". You were dozing off until you heard the voice of the coachman. You didn't blame him for asking, you were quite literally in the middle of nowhere after all.
"Yes, I'm sure". You yawned and rested your chin on your hand; you barely got any sleep as a multitude of thoughts kept swirling in your head. You closed your eyes and attempted to nap in that minuscule carriage.
However the carriage stumbled over a rock which made you hit your head on the window, making you flinch awake.
Soon you finally arrived to the designated location the letter mentioned in the coordinates: Oletus Manor.
The coachman held your hand and helped you exit the carriage. You looked up to scan the manor: it was quite big, however it definitely had seen better days...
The coachman handed you your luggage and began untying your telescope from the carriage's roof. He was pretty short, therefore you decided to help him.
Bringing your telescope probably wasn't your most brilliant idea, especially assuming you would've stayed at the manor for not longer than a week. But you couldn't help it: a forest was the perfect place to stargaze.
You strapped the telescope on your back and bid the coachman goodbye. You walked towards the manor's gates, which opened as soon as you approached.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
The closer you got, the more uneasy you felt. A shiver went down your spine as you were finally in front of the doors: the manor had a particularly eerie aura. Even so it was too late to turn back now.
You lightly knocked and waited for a few seconds, but no one answered. You knocked a second time. Nothing.
"Excuse me..?" you said with a slight uncertainty in your voice. Perhaps this was only an abandoned manor and the letter was a mere prank.
Despite that, you took a deep breath and decided to let yourself in.
You were met by a double-sided grand staircase with a small table in the middle and a statue right behind it. As soon as you stepped in, the entrance doors shut close, which made you flinch.
,, There really is no more turning back now... ,, you thought while you glanced behind you.
You looked around and wondered why no one was there to at least welcome you. You knew you were just a normal astronomer like many others, but greeting guests was simply good etiquette...
Nevertheless, you knew you weren't alone.
♫︎
You tried to figure out where the unfamiliar tune was coming from; soon enough you realized it came from the second floor.
You curiously walked upstairs and the music got louder. There were three doors: one on both sides and one in the middle. The tune was coming from the middle one.
You slightly opened it, just enough to see what was inside.
A man was playing a piano in the middle of the room: he had long white hair pulled into a loose ponytail and wore a garnet coat. That's all you could see since he was facing the opposite way.
You were relieved knowing you weren't the only person in the manor after all. You quietly opened the door, but kept listening to the man playing the piano.
Soon he paused and rested his hands on the keyboard. You placed your luggage on the floor and lightly clapped your hands, which made the pianist turn his head to you.
"And you are?" he asked. You could hear the slight annoyance in his tone, perhaps because you disturbed him. You stopped clapping and picked your luggage up, looking at the floor a tad embarrassed.
"I-I'm sorry to bother... You play beautifully, I couldn't help but stop to listen". You gripped your luggage and gazed at the white-haired man.
He looked back at the piano, but you swore you saw a slight smile... He got up from his seat and approached you.
"Ah-- My name's (Y/N) (L/N), nice to meet you". He held out his hand to you and you shook it.
"Frederick Kreiburg". He slightly bowed and walked back to the piano. You opened your mouth as you were about to ask something, but you got cut off before you could let out a sound.
"Do you know where your bedroom is?". Frederick turned around and faced you again. You shook your head. The man sighed in response.
"No matter. I assume it's the last room left on this floor, I'll show you". He gestured to follow him and you quickly listened, trailing behind him like a puppy.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
You walked down a quite long hallway: it was decorated with various statues that you didn't recognize, you weren't too fond of sculpture. You also noticed a few paintings portraying the nine muses.
Frederick stopped infront of a door, it had a plate with the number ,, 2F03 ,, carved into it.
"If this really is your designated room, you're quite unfortunate". He glanced at a door not too far away from your bedroom. You tilted your head in confusion.
"Why's that?"
"Your room neighbor is somewhat... problematic". Frederick clicked his tongue and looked back at you.
"Stay safe" he lastly said. With that, he walked back where you first encountered. You wondered what he meant by ,, problematic ,,. Wasn't that a little harsh?
♫︎
"How utterly rude...". You flinched at the sudden statement; that voice sounded familiar. You glanced around and noticed the door Frederick was observing earlier was now ajar.
A man in a striped shirt opened the door and took a step outside. He noticed you and you looked at eachothers for a few seconds.
It was Luca Balsa.
"I'm sorry but-- Have we met before?". The man placed a hand on his chin and looked at you up and down.
"Oh, yes. Yesterday, in fact" you softly smiled, the same smile you gave him the day before.
"But of course!". He snapped his fingers and smiled, like something finally had clicked in his head.
He closed the door behind him and approached you; but when he was close enough you unconsciously took a step back.
"I believe it's safe to assume you already know my name...". He glanced away from you. He said that with a smile but it was clear he was slightly upset, you felt bad.
"However, I didn't catch your name". He quickly looked back at you and held out his hand.
"I never threw it" a smug smile escaped your lips. You wanted to brighten up the mood despite your wariness, and it worked. The brunette's eyes widened and he soon started chuckling.
"You have quite the humour" he said in between giggles. You couldn't help but laugh with him, so you covered your mouth with a hand.
"(Y/N) (L/N)" you finally said after you've calmed down. You grabbed his hand and shook it.
"It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance". Luca brought your hand to his lips and gently kissed it. You were taken aback from his actions and slightly recoiled.
"A-Ah--". Luca took a step back and looked away. He scratched the back of his neck and his cheeks became a red hue.
"My bad... Force of habit" he awkwardly chuckled.
For all this time his manners reminded you of a noble: you wondered if maybe he used to be one before getting imprisoned. You regained your composure and cleared your throat.
"You're saying you tend to kiss whoever's hand upon meeting them?" you spoke with a rather sarcastic tone, hiding your embarrassement.
"Not whoever's, only people I sympathize with". He shifted his gaze back at you and stared at your (E/C) eyes.
"Oh please, we've only just met!" you stated.
"What's your point? You've already piqued my interest" he smugly grinned, showing his little fang. You could feel blood rush to your cheeks and quickly looked away.
"Don't be silly..." you muttered. You've only said a few words to Luca and he was already ,, interested ,,. Ridiculous!
"Especially because I usually don't see people carrying around a whole telescope on their back". Luca pointed at the telescope you were carrying.
Oh. That.
"Is it not heavy?" he asked curiously, eyeing your beloved telescope.
"Uhm... A-A little. But it's bearable" you quietly replied while fiddling with your fingers. The prisoner studied you and your telescope and silently snickered.
"Well, I think I've bothered you enough. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Mx (L/N)" Luca slighly bowed and smiled.
"Please, spare me your formalities. Call me (Y/N)" you giggled and finally looked back at him. You weren't anyone important in particular, so you thought there was no need for him to call you by your last name.
"Then you may call me Luca, (Y/N). Oh, by the way! Please join us at dinner later". The brunette waved at you and walked away. You waved back and smiled, before deciding to finally enter your assigned room.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
The bedroom's walls were white and the floor was made in wood. On the left was a neatly made bed with a desk right next to it; a big window was on top of the desk, where the sunset's light came through.
On the right there was another door that led to a small bathroom.
As you walked closer to the desk, you noticed a small notebook placed on it. You picked it up and read ,, (Y/N) (L/N)'s Diary ,, on the cover.
You raised an eyebrow and opened it: on the first pages were written loads of rules. You flipped the pages until you saw a large sentence that said:
,, Guests must write something in their diary at the end of every day. If one does not follow the rules they will have to face the consequences. ,,
You wondered how bad the ,, consequences ,, would've been, but by the way the phrase was worded, you doubted they would've been light.
You placed your luggage down and finally lied your telescope on the wall; you sat on your bed, sighing. You decided you might as well read the many rules, you didn't want to get in trouble.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
A cuckoo clock chimed, signaling that it was currently 7 PM. Only then did you realize you had spent your whole evening locked in your room trying to memorize ridiculous directives.
You set down the diary on your bed and stood up; you remembered Luca told you to join them at dinner, but he didn't specify when... On top of that, you didn't even know where the dining room was.
Despite that, you grabbed your room keys on the desk and exited, locking the door behind you. You glanced at Luca's bedroom's door: it was closed.
A few steps ahead on the other side of the hallway there was another door: you assumed it led back to the stairs so you decided to go through it. Luckily your assumption was correct.
You walked down the stairs and looked around, it was particularly quiet. However you smelled a nice scent coming from a door on your right. You thought that it must've been the dining room so you decided to walk towards it and open it.
There was a dining table with five seats on each side, but at the moment only two were occupied: on one sat a petite girl with a leather aviator cap and on the opposite side sat Luca, they were chatting.
Upon noticing you, Luca showed a toothy smile and waved at you. The girl turned her head to you and waved as well; you could see a bit of her blonde hair popping out of her cap.
"Good evening, (Y/N)! Come sit with us, your assigned place is next to Ms Reznik" he pointed at the chair next to the blonde woman.
You smiled and moved your seat slightly away from the girl's, as it was quite close and you didn't want to invade her personal space.
Not long after, you saw Frederick exiting a door behind Luca: he was holding three plates and on each of them was a piece of steak with some salad on the side.
He placed a plate infront each of you and you all thanked him. He walked back into the room he came from but soon exited again with another plate that he placed infront of the seat next to Luca's.
He closed the door and sat down next to the prisoner, glancing at you and nodding to acknowledge your presence.
"Now that all of us are here, why don't we properly introdce ourselves to our newcomer?" Luca looked at you and softly smiled. You assumed all of them knew eachothers beforehand...
"You already know me, but I'm Luca Balsa. I'm an inven-- err.." he cut himself off and glanced at his plate.
"Was an inventor..." his smile faded. However he noticed the awkward mood he created and coerced a grin. Frederick cleared his throat.
"I'm Frederick Kreiburg, a composer". The man side-eyed Luca, who looked away. Frederick didn't seem to be too fond of the prisoner, he did call him "problematic" after all. But could you blame him?
"And my name is Tracy Reznik, I'm a watchmaker. It's nice to finally meet you!" she happily smiled and held out her hand to you, which you shook.
"It's very nice to meet you too, I'm (Y/N) (L/N)" you smiled back.
Once the presentations were over, you all began to eat your food. Tracy and Luca kept chatting with eachothers, so you occasionally attempted to make small talk with Frederick.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Frederick began picking up the dirty dishes and brought them back to what you assumed was the kitchen.
Luca and Tracy were still talking; from what you could understand they had been speaking about machinery and science for the whole dinner.
You decided to help Frederick clean up so you grabbed the rest of the dishes and entered the kitchen.
The white-haired man noticed you and looked a little surprised, but he didn't complain. You put the rest of the dishes in the sink and looked at him.
"May I help you?" you wondered. Frederick simply nodded in response.
You turned on the tap and placed a plate under it, then you squeezed some soap on it and scrubbed the dish with a sponge. The composer did the same with another plate and washed it next to you.
"Please be careful around Balsa" Frederick suddenly stated. You shifted your attention to him, he looked serious. You wondered why he was worrying so much for a stranger.
"Don't trust the wrong people" he spoke again.
You didn't respond. You only nodded, but he was focused on washing the plate, therefore he probably didn't see you.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
,, Tᴏᴅᴀʏ ᴡᴀs ᴍʏ ғɪʀsᴛ ᴅᴀʏ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴᴏʀ: I ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴀᴄᴄᴏᴍᴘʟɪsʜ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴀs I ᴀʀʀɪᴠᴇᴅ ʜᴇʀᴇ ǫᴜɪᴛᴇ ʟᴀᴛᴇ, ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ 6 PM ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴇxᴀᴄᴛ.
Tʜᴇ ʀᴇsᴛ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴜᴇsᴛs sᴇᴇᴍ ᴀʟʀɪɢʜᴛ, ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴏғ ᴀɴ ᴏᴘɪɴɪᴏɴ ᴏɴ ᴀɴʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ʏᴇᴛ.
Exᴄᴇᴘᴛ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ "ᴘʀɪsᴏɴᴇʀ"... Tʜɪs ɪs ᴍʏ sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴍᴇᴇᴛɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜɪᴍ. Hᴇ's ᴄᴇʀᴛᴀɪɴʟʏ ᴡᴇʟʟ-ᴍᴀɴɴᴇʀᴇᴅ, ʙᴜᴛ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs ɪᴍᴘʀɪsᴏɴᴇᴅ ғᴏʀ ᴀ ʀᴇᴀsᴏɴ.
Hᴏᴡᴇᴠᴇʀ, I ᴄᴀɴ'ᴛ ʜᴇʟᴘ ʙᴜᴛ ғᴇᴇʟ ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ʙᴀᴅ ғᴏʀ ʜɪᴍ...
I'ʟʟ ᴘʀᴏʙᴀʙʟʏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ᴛᴏᴍᴏʀʀᴏᴡ.
Gᴏᴏᴅʙʏᴇ ғᴏʀ ɴᴏᴡ,
- (Y/N) (L/N) ,,
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
words : 2452
★ 𝑨/𝑵 ☆
𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐎 𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓!!
𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢'𝐦 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐚'𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞
𝐢 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢'𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐝𝐯 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭- 𝐬𝐨 𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 /𝐣
𝐢 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨 :')
𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫!! (𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘/𝐍 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐡𝐞)
~ ᴀsᴛʀɪᴅ ✩