She gently turned my shoulders back towards the staircase and led me upstairs. This time, we didn’t stop at the master bedroom I had left moments ago, but we continued just a bit further down the small hallway. Merille stepped in front of me and swung the door of the small storage room open.

Where yesterday boxes and piles of books were littering the floor, Merille cleaned the entire place to reveal the beautiful wallpaper and the wooden floor. She had set there a small table and a kitchen stool, and on the wall shared with the boudoir, a metal clothes rack with a few hangers.

“Well, what do you think?” She asked, grabbing my side in a hug.

“What is it?” I replied in confusion.

“Your bedroom, if you’ll have it” She stepped towards a tall drape hanging on the wall, and tied it to reveal a big window. “You don’t like it?”

“I just…” I let my eyes land on every surface they could reach. The room was small and long, it felt a lot more claustrophobic than the one I had been sleeping in until then.

“It’s not too bad, right?” She continued as she planted her hands on her hips. “It just needs a little bit of… love.”

“Thank you” I finally let out, still under the shock.

I grabbed a heavy towel outside of the shower curtain, still dripping with hot water. I could hear a couple of voices downstairs but it was almost impossible to distinguish what the conversation was about. They sounded a lot more agitated than the day before when Primose had visited, so much that I worried their exchange had evolved into an argument.

Surprisingly, my slim figure wasn’t as badly marked as I had thought before. The discoloration was a lot less noticeable and my shoulder was almost back to normal. After drying myself, I wrapped the towel around my head, absorbing the water from my hair. I grabbed the clothes Merille prepared for me and as much as they looked a little ridiculous on me, they were comfy.

As the voices were still erupting downstairs, I could see from the corner of my eye movement outside the small window letting the light in. After tying a twig cord around my waist to hold the pants up, I leaned towards the window to investigate what was happening. A tall horse was guarding the car I saw earlier, its heading perusing the ground for weeds. I had never seen a horse in person, it seemed so peaceful there waiting for its owner to return. Next to a young wisteria tree, the horse looked immense, his coat shining beautifully under the sun.

I was ready to call for its attention, my finger ready to tap worn glass, when I realized a pair of legs was hanging from the rear of the carriage, limp. It was impossible to see who they belonged to, as their pants and shoes were of the same black. I imagined a weary traveler sleeping peacefully after a long journey. Maybe dreaming of the wonderful smell of pie. I lowered down my finger, still examining the car. Soon a figure emerged from around the house and walked up to the front of the wagon, climbed on and set the whole thing in motion. They were wearing a long coat with a draping hood, so I couldn’t tell if they were a man or a woman.

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Quickly they drove around the corner and disappeared behind the house, in the direction of the front gate.

“I saved you pie-ie” Merille’s voice bounced off the staircase right in the bathroom.

I detached my eyes from the window to jog downstairs where she was waiting. The house was back to a peaceful silence as I reached the kitchen. Merille was washing a set of jars and containers, leaning against the sink.

“They left!” I exclaimed.

“He was just here to grab some provisions and ointments” She replied, sometimes jerking her head in my direction. “You’d think that with what I do, he wouldn’t need any”

“What you do?” I quoted, as I sat on one of the stools already out.

“Hm, I guess we could do some studying today, if you’re feeling like it” She shut the water down and patted her hands dry on her pants. I shivered at the sound of the word, but there definitely was part of me curious to know more.

After flashing her eyebrows at me, she opened a cabinet to find a small plate and sat a slice of pie in it. With her off-hand, she took a spoon and invited me to follow her upstairs. I left the stool and slid it under the table with my foot before following her footsteps.

She was just a little taller than me, but her shoulders were strong. For a second, I wondered how it would be to feel her hold me and protect me. She had about Merie’s stature, a little thinner maybe. She was wearing a long cardigan, different from the one I saw her in before, and it matched the lightest parts of her hair between browns, reds and grays.

“How do you like your bedroom by the way?” She asked in my direction as we reached the first floor.

“I really like it, thank you.”

“Are you sure, you seemed disappointed when I showed you earlier.” She continued, now facing in the middle of the corridor.

“I’ve never had a room of my own before” I laughed awkwardly. I didn’t really care that she shooed me out of her bedroom, even if I had become used to the comfort of the gigantic bed.

“Well, It’s yours now!” She continued with a smile, “While I show you this, I’m gonna bring down the bed and mattress so you can sleep well tonight. I might need to go to the city and find a nice cover though.”

“Can I come with?” I jumped instantly.

She gently opened the cracking double door right in front of the master bedroom, and gently pushed my shoulder inside. She laughed a little.

“I thought you were sleeping in here” I started, stepping into the large office.

She shook her hand and laughed again, faintly. Tall, ornamented windows were standing all around the room between bookshelves and working stations. In the middle, a strong desk was facing away from the door. I rested my hand on the chair there as Merille went ahead and grabbed a heavy book out of the shelf furthest from me. It looked heavy and ancient, she grunted when it landed on her arms before setting it on the desk in front of me.

She stepped back to another shelf and took a couple more tomes varying in thickness.

“I know it looks like a lot,” she started while setting the last books on the desk in front of me, “but you can just go through them and get a good idea of what’s going on.”

“Thanks” I replied awkwardly, not sure exactly what she wanted me to do with all of these.

“Just go through them, alright?” She proclaimed while patting them down to make sure they weren’t going anywhere.

I nodded and dragged the chair far enough I could pass my legs under the desk comfortably and sat down. Merille smiled proudly once more and walked away, out of the office.