After that, the butler led them to their respective rooms. Silence began to envelop the three of them.
Celine, who had been keeping her mouth shut, finally spoke up and asked the butler walking beside her.
"Umm... excuse me, may I know your name, Sir?" Celine asked, widening her smile even though her eyebrows twitched slightly from nervousness.
Olivia, standing beside her, could feel how stiff Celine's tongue was as she spoke.
"Hihihi... go for it, Celine, " Olivia whispered in her heart.
"My name is Zekiel Mude. You may call me Zake," the man said in a calm tone.
Celine only nodded and went back to being silent.
"Sir Zake, how long have you served at the Aethelgard Residence?" Olivia asked, her face shining with curiosity.
"Ever since Duke Herold was born to the previous Duchess, I have been here as a new servant. As the Duke grew older, I was promoted to be his personal valet. If I'm not mistaken, I was only eighteen at that time," Butler Zake replied with a smile, as if recollecting old memories.
As they walked through a long corridor decorated with ancient paintings, Butler Zake spoke again.
"This Aethelgard Residence has stood for almost a hundred years," he said softly.
Not long after, they finally stopped in front of a large door.
"Miss Olivia, your room is to the left of Lady Ophlia's room, and to the right of Lady Ophlia's room is Miss Celine's room. This is so that if anything happens or there is an emergency, you can go straight to Lady Ophlia's room," Butler Zake explained at length while pointing his finger toward the rooms he mentioned.
"Alright, you both can see your rooms now. My apologies to both of you, I wanted to take you on a tour of the residence, but unfortunately, I have matters that need to be attended to. So, if there are any problems or questions, you can find me," Butler Zake said, smiling as he took a step to excuse himself.
"With that, I shall take my leave," Butler Zake said.
Olivia and Celine nodded and ran into their respective rooms.
"Wowwwww," Olivia said. She couldn't stop her mouth from hanging wide open, amazed by the state of her room.
"Wow, this room is so huge! Usually, servants' rooms are tiny. You're really lucky, Olivia," she said while observing the furniture.
Olivia couldn't contain her joy. She jumped onto the bed, screaming,
"Eeehhhhh! This is so great!!"
Her hair flew everywhere, her hands waved about, and her cheeks were flushed red from being too excited.
"Hahaha, I didn't expect this room to be this big!" she said while spinning one round in the middle of the room, almost toppling over from happiness.
"Even though this room is simple, it's comfortable. The walls are painted light blue, the floor is marble, and look at this furniture, it's so beautiful. Compared to the orphanage where the blanket wasn't even a blanket but just a very thin cloth," Olivia grumbled while lying on the plush bed and digging through her memories of the Orphanage.
After she finished seeing her room, she ran toward her friend Celine's room, which was only separated by one room between them.
Olivia peeked through the door. Only half of her head was visible. Celine, who was spinning around looking at her room excitedly, was startled to see Olivia.
"Arghhhhhh!" Celine screamed in her high-pitched voice.
Olivia, seeing this, laughed uproariously at Celine, who was so shocked she jumped.
"HAHAHHAHAAHAHA," Olivia laughed while holding her stomach and rubbing her watery eyes from laughing too much.
Celine, realizing what happened, pouted her lips and ran to hit her. Celine's room became noisy with the sound of their laughter.
"Phew, you're lucky today," Celine said while clutching her chest, her breath coming in short gasps. Likewise with Olivia, who was too tired from running after being chased by Celine.
"This kid's stamina is not strong," Olivia said, patting her chest while stepping to take a seat.
Celine, hearing Olivia's remark, was confused.
"Huh, I don't understand what you mean," she commented slowly.
Olivia only rolled her eyes and walked to take a seat. They then began to chat while laughing softly.
While they were chatting, suddenly they felt as if someone was staring at them sharply from the corner of the door.
Both of them quickly turned toward the door.
It turned out Lady Ophlia was watching them from a distance while holding her large doll. Her face looked shy and anxious.
"Uh, My Lady," Olivia said.
Without thinking twice, she ran toward Ophlia with a smile.
"Hello, Your Grace, sorry that you saw us in this state," Olivia said while bowing her head.
Celine automatically bowed to Ophlia as well. Ophlia, seeing this, was startled and anxious.
"Ehh uh, it's alright, you can raise your heads," she said with an anxious voice.
Both of them looked up toward Ophlia, who was so anxious that the words coming out of her mouth couldn't be clearly understood.
"Uh, excuse me My Lady, is there any problem?" Celine asked in a gentle voice while smiling warmly.
"Before coming here, I was actually sound asleep but I heard laughter, so I followed the sound. I didn't know you two were chatting," Ophlia said while shifting her gaze.
"Forgive us My Lady, we have disturbed your sleep," Olivia said while bowing their heads.
"Tsk," Olivia's heart whispered.
Ophlia said, "Oh it's alright, I'm not angry but I'm jealous seeing you happy and laughing. I actually wanted to join in," she continued while her hands touched the tips of her fingers one by one.
We, hearing that, fell silent and looked at each other.
"Hahaha, of course you can, My Lady," both of us said simultaneously.
Ophlia, who had been looking down and avoiding eye contact, suddenly raised her face and smiled. Her eyes looked watery.
They then approached Ophlia while holding her hands and heading back to her room.
That afternoon, the three of them spent time chatting and playing until night arrived.
"We take our leave, My Lady," both of them said while bowing.
Ophlia, exhausted from playing, nodded and smiled. After that, we went back to our respective rooms.
"Bye, Celine," Olivia said. Celine also returned the same while waving her hands.
Once Olivia entered her room, she took a very long breath.
"Huuuhhhh, a very long day for a small body like this," she said slowly.
She then began to clean herself up and change her clothes.
After everything was ready, she threw herself onto the moderately plush bed. As she was closing her eyes, suddenly her favorite character crossed her mind. Immediately, she sat up.
Promptly, she walked to grab a pen and a blank paper. Olivia then sat down.
"If Ophlia is 10 years old now, it means Javien is currently 11 years old. They will meet when Javien is 12 years old. That means one year later they will meet, and that's when Javien starts having feelings for Ophlia," Olivia said while poking her chin with the black pen.
"So I have one more year to stop Javien from meeting Ophlia!! But where did Ophlia meet Javien, though?" Olivia said while scratching her head that didn't itch while daydreaming.
Olivia took a long breath and looked at the paper filled with her writing.
"I can't... if they meet like in the original story, everything will start as I know it and maybe the ending will be the same as the original," she whispered slowly.
She gripped the pen in her hand tightly.
"I must find a way to stop that meeting."
Olivia then got up from her bed and walked toward the window. She slowly pulled back the curtain.
The night wind blew gently, touching her face. She stared sharply at the distant forest.
The night sky looked calm, but her heart did not.
"Where are you, Javien," she whispered slowly while looking at the moon illuminating the pitch-black residence.
That name felt foreign but at the same time so important in the storyline of this world.
Olivia bit her lip.
"If I don't change the storyline..." she said slowly.
"...then everything that will happen later cannot be avoided."
She closed her eyes for a moment.
"Just you wait, Javien. Before you meet Ophlia... I will make sure I find you first," she asserted. She clenched her fist tightly, her eyes filled with determination.
Olivia continued by looking at the view of the Aethelgard residence. Her long hair brushed against her tiny cheeks.
"Achoo!" that sneeze came unexpectedly, making her realize it was getting late into the night.
Olivia's body was still small, getting tired easily and prone to getting sick. "Huh... I didn't expect that opening the window for just a bit could be this tiring," she mumbled slowly while patting her own stomach.
She stepped into the room and jumped onto the bed, letting her small body lay down all the exhaustion.
Eyes that were shining earlier now closed slowly, as if the world around her was getting further away, and finally, she drifted off into sleep.
Unknowingly, her heart's whisper earlier seemed trapped in the silent night air, piercing through the thick walls of the residence.
In the far basement, something echoed slowly, as if hearing every word breathed out, but no one above noticed it.
TO BE CONTINUED...