Taeyong was worried. Dal-ae could see it in his eyes but kept quiet; she had no idea what was troubling him and did not wish to ask unnecessary questions at the moment. But when he helped her all the way to her room, tucked her in bed, and got supplements and water delivered to her chamber, it was clear what worried him.
'I'm fine,' she said, pushing Taeyong's shoulder gently and turning to the side. 'You should go attend to your guest.'
'He can wait. Are you still feeling weak?' Taeyong asked despite hearing her now steady heartbeat.
'Not at all. It might just be the cold.'
'Can you not handle the cold well?' He passed her a tablet from the box labelled, 'Vitamins – for human use only.'
Dal-ae took a drink of water from the glass and gulped down the bitter tablet with it. 'Seems like it,' she answered.
Taeyong tucked the blanket beneath her. 'That and the fact that you didn't eat anything in the morning. No, I don't care if it's too early,' he added seeing her about to argue. 'When you know you are going to be standing for a long time, you should have had breakfast.'
'Really, I am fine,' Dal-ae said, shifting away from the edge and sliding further into the warm and cosy blanket.
Taeyong nodded and with a sigh he said, 'I'll be working in the Mansion Library the whole day today till tomorrow morning after which I won't have the energy to stay awake, which means you need not report to my chamber tomorrow morning, so please rest during this time, okay?'
'You will be working with Yuta?'
'Hm.'
'Why have you brought him here, Master?'
'To translate some texts for me.'
'That is not the real reason.'
'It is not,' Taeyong admitted. 'But this is not the time to get into details. You need to rest. I will have to take your leave now. Your meals will be brought to your room, so you don't have to go anywhere, hm?'
'Thank you, Master.'
Taeyong walked to the door then stopped to say, 'I know I will be away, but if you need anything, you know how to find me, right?'
'I will whisper into the T,' she said, making him smile.
'Good, rest now,' he said and exited her chamber.
𓆩 𓆪
The Mansion Library was located in a separate tower to accommodate its enormous size. This was much larger than the private study in Taeyong's chamber, with lighter marble flooring, and grey walls matching the interiors of the Mansion. An opulent chandelier hung from the muraled ceiling, glittering in the light of the dome shaped windows at the top of the fourth storey. In the centre, stood a table painted ivory, upon which texts of varying thickness were set reaching a height taller than 5 feet.
But despite the palatial interiors, when Taeyong entered, he found the air heavy, almost choking. Doyoung was sitting by the window, staring at nothing and Yuta, who now seemed much calmer and more collected than before, was examining the pile of texts on the table.
'My Lord,' Yuta greeted, irritation still visible on his face but his eyes were now steady.
'I see you have already begun,' Taeyong said and Yuta's eyes widened in shock when realization dawned on him. The stack of bound notebooks that he was examining was just one of ten.
For a brief moment, Yuta really thought that Taeyong was joking but when Taeyong's expression did not falter, he choked on air despite being a vampire. 'Surely, you don't mean to say that these entire texts need to be translated, my Lord.'
In reply, Taeyong only smiled cordially.
'I- My Lord, this will take more than the whole night.'
Taeyong had no wish to waste time on this conversation. 'Doyoung?' he said. 'You can leave, I will take it from here. Just take care of my goblets for tonight, please?'
'Yes, my Lord,' Doyoung replied and left in a haste.
'Then, shall we get started?' Taeyong turned to Yuta, and picked up the first book from the pile.
The sun outside the windows rose to the sky through the thick mist, paused at the horizon for a moment to cast its strange rays one last time before sinking below, leaving the sky in darkness. Inside the library hands had turned black from ink and their faces were marked with the same stains. Suit jackets lay forgotten somewhere as the two were bent over the notebooks with their sleeves folded and ties loosened, hard at work. Around them, there was a pile of goblets, more on Taeyong's side than Yuta's, who was too tired to even express his irritation now. It was the darkest hour of the night when Yuta picked the last notebook from the last pile on the table and elated at this, picked up the pen with a renewed zeal to start the translation.
'Done,' he announced to Taeyong after an hour, who was stacking the already translated works into neat bundles on another table.
'Come here and help me shelf them,' Taeyong said and Yuta followed without protest.
And at last, they were completely done with neatly stacked notebooks resting on shelves behind them. But just when Yuta thought the ordeal was over and was readying himself to leave, Taeyong spoke, 'Where do you think you are going?'
'Isn't the work done, my Lord?'
'It is but it is also going to be morning soon. It is time to travel to Sollage to meet the witness. I want you to accompany me,' Taeyong said.
Yuta suddenly became quite alert. He stared at Taeyong for a long while, unsure of what he was playing at.
'I don't think you have commitments at such an early hour,' Taeyong said, silhouetted against the moonlight streaming through the window.
'No, my Lord,' Yuta replied through gritted teeth.
'Great. We shall leave then. Jaehyun will be meeting us there.' Taeyong said. 'Let me show you the way.' He led them to a passage opening behind one of the shelves which hid within its depths a rusty iron door.
Yuta waited for Taeyong to mutter the incantation for the door, which slid open on its own after a minute's time revealing behind it nothing but complete darkness. However, when they stepped into that pitch black, they exited onto a riverbank in a forest.
They had reached Sollage Village. But instead of meeting the freezing air of a tranquil night, a thick gust of smoke filled them and the two saw at once on their right, a hundred metres away, roaring flames touching the sky. The cottage on the riverbank was on fire.
Yuta's eyes were gleamed orange. He stood watching the cottage of the witness burning and made no attempts to run towards it but, to his surprise, nor did Taeyong. The two walked towards the burning cottage nonchalantly as though they were out on a stroll in an evening park.
In front of the cottage was a man dressed in a navy suit, who they soon discovered to be Jaehyun. Upon seeing the Lord, Jaehyun rushed to his side in an almost hysterical state. His face was ashen and his clothes were covered in soot.
'My Lord,' he cried out. 'The fire. When I came, it was all already ablaze. I could not go inside. It looks like it has been burning for a while now. I heard no scream from inside. The witness is probably already dead.'
'Hm,' was the only thing Taeyong said. He looked up at the cottage, glowing orange against the dark blue sky. What a magnificent sight it seemed.
'Well, what can we do then?' he said, shrugging his shoulders.
'My Lord...' Jaehyun looked at him in bewilderment and if Taeyong had looked, he would have seen an equally confused look on Yuta's face.
'Well, ask someone to put out the fire or well, as I see it... it doesn't really matter now, does it? Ah, might as well let it burn to the ground on its own,' Taeyong said.
'My Lord,' Jaehyun cried incredulously. 'It- it, I- the witness.'
'I am terribly tired. It was a long night,' Taeyong said, sighing. 'Yuta, thank you for your assistance today. You may leave for your post directly from here. I am going back to the Mansion to get some sleep before morning comes.'
And with this, he turned on his heels to walk away in the same leisurely manner along the riverbank, leaving the other two in a state of utter shock.