When Eric and I reached the Young Master's room, he hadn't bothered with me at all. He didn't seem to be in the mood today. Actually, it wasn't just him; there was an overall silence among everyone.
When Eric looked at the clock, it was seconds away from seven. Eric knocked on the door, but there was no sound from inside. After waiting a bit, he knocked again. Still no response.
When Eric quietly apologized and entered, he froze in place. When I looked inside, the Young Master wasn't there.
We checked the balcony, the bathroom... the Young Master wasn't in the room.
"I think I know where he is."
Eric silently left the room, and I started to leave the room with the tray in my hand. The weight of the tray wasn't enough; the pain in my stomach had increased.
When had walking become this hard? I was struggling to breathe, but I was managing to catch up with Eric.
When we left the mansion, he started walking toward the other side of the garden, toward the wooded area. As my vision began to blur, Eric stopped. At least stopping felt good. I could take a deep breath.
When I looked ahead, there was a treehouse. Eric calmly began calling out to the treehouse.
"Master Lemi, are you there?"
After waiting for a while and not receiving a response, just as we were about to leave, we heard a voice.
"Get out of here."
When Eric heard the voice, he seemed relieved. At least we had found the Young Master. But in a very reluctant way.
"Sir, the ceremony will start in two hours, everyone is here. We need to prepare you. Could you please come down?"
When there was no reply, Eric and I waited a little longer. After a while, Eric called out to the Young Master again.
"Sir, I'm coming up. Please forgive my rudeness."
As Eric climbed the swinging stairs of the treehouse, he disappeared from sight. The pain in my chest was gradually getting worse. Why had it increased so much today when nothing was wrong yesterday?
As my vision darkened, I suddenly lost the feeling in my legs. Everything around me plunged into darkness.
... ... ...
My eyelids seemed to resist the weight pressing down on me. Struggling against the inner darkness, I finally managed to crack my eyes open. I was face to face with a white ceiling; empty, plain, and silent... I tried to remember. What had I been doing? What happened to me?
Ah! We were trying to get Young Master down from the treehouse...
I suddenly tried to sit up, but my body seemed to warn me as a sharp pain slowly began rising in my stomach, nudging me to stay still, as if urging me to remain in place.
"Ah..."
"Are you awake?"
I was startled by a familiar voice. I turned my head towards the source of the sound and saw the creepy doctor from before, holding a few papers in his hand.
Wait... Where am I?
As I looked around, I recognized the familiar items in the room. This room... it was my room. I immediately tried to sit up, but the same sharp pain returned, even stronger.
"Why are you trying to sneak away? Please, lie down. Your ribs were bruised from the blow you took yesterday."
He set the papers aside and came over, sitting on the edge of the bed.
I tried to shift sideways in bed, but the pain in my chest pressed down on me like iron chains. The unease rising within me wasn't just physical. I narrowed my eyes, staring at the man in the corner of the room. Why… why was he here when I woke up? Had he done something to me besides "treating" me?
"Theodore, if you rest for a few days, you'll recover."
My ribs ached, but more than the pain — what consumed me now was the fear that this creep's hands had wandered to places they shouldn't. The suspicion gnawed at my stomach. I lifted the blanket slightly, subtly, and looked down at myself. I was wearing unfamiliar pajamas. Someone had undressed me… and someone had put these on me.
It couldn't have been him… could it?
A silent scream echoed in my mind as I forced a polite smile onto my face. Praying for someone — anyone — to walk into the room, I distracted him with trembling words:
"Yes, sir…"
He accepted my response like a victory. With a smile, he reached out and ruffled my hair. The moment his hand touched me, a wave of revulsion surged through me. The sickening intentions that seeped from his fingers wrapped around me like a toxic fog. I couldn't hold it in — I gagged, trying to suppress the bile rising in my throat.
"Theodore, is your stomach upset?"
I wanted to scream You're the one upsetting it, but I just nodded. Speaking felt like inviting more filth into myself. The less I said, the more I could keep the nausea at bay.
And then — a knock at the door.
My uncle stepped in.
His eyes brimmed with worry. As he scanned me from head to toe, his expression seemed to say he sensed something terribly wrong. There was a deep fear frozen in his gaze, a tremor of regret in his heart. The doctor quietly stepped out. My uncle rushed to my side and sat down beside the bed.
"Theo…"
His voice was cracked, broken. Then tears slipped from his eyes, falling warm and heavy onto my hands. I wanted to embrace him, to reassure him. I did… But the pain in my chest flared up with every movement. Still, I held on. The world blurred as darkness danced at the edges of my vision.
"Theo, I'm so sorry… If I hadn't brought you here, none of this would've happened…"
His voice… was so sincere, it tore into me. I tried to console him, but every word trembled. Just like us.
I gripped his hands tightly, trying to lend him some strength. But as I touched his skin, I felt the guilt pulsing through him. It seeped into me like cold water, chilling me to my bones. It felt as though I was holding his heart — fragile and breaking — in my palms.
"Uncle, none of this is your fault. Please don't think that…"
I wanted to believe what I said. But even the voice inside me wasn't convinced.
"Uncle… how is the Young Lord now? What happened to the ceremony?"
My attempt to change the subject seemed to bring him back to himself, if only a little. He wiped his tears, sniffled, and took a deep breath as he leaned back slightly. He parted his lips to speak, but—
The door burst open.
Both of us turned toward the sudden sound. The silhouette beyond the threshold stood like a harbinger of a new truth — something waiting to upend us once more.