Our repetitive story will begin with a very tall and well-dressed woman who was walking hurriedly down a long corridor made of uneven stone walls and floors. While there are many styles of hallways and it's unclear where the woman is right now, it's a fact that this particular hallway was filled with wooden doors on its sides, and occasionally windows disrupted the symmetry in the placement of the doors. Through these windows, if one cared to look, an immense forest of black trees with red leaves extended to the horizon, giving the impression that the tall woman was walking through one of the hallways in her house. However, the truth was that the lady was hurrying down the passages of a gigantic castle surrounded by a picturesque and eye-catching forest.

Although the majority of doors in this long corridor were closed, some were slightly ajar. If one were to waste time peeking through the openings, they might observe various rooms where several people dressed in plain and drab clothes were working half-heartedly. The lackluster effort these people put into their work would catch anyone's attention, and it was true that if one were to study their faces closely, they would realize that they all had something in common: pronounced dark circles around lifeless eyes. It seemed that no one had managed to sleep well last night in this castle.

The tall woman looked at the lazy servants with disdain, but far from scolding them for their laziness, she chose to ignore the issue. Instead, with increasingly hurried steps, she made her way to the end of the corridor.

This corridor led to a staircase descending to the lower floor where the grand reception room of the castle was located. And I emphasize this because when I describe it as a grand room, I'm not exaggerating. This room was disproportionately high and spacious. To the point that one would wonder if the decision to make everything so large in this castle was due to the whim of one of its former owners or if it was some way of marking the status of the castle's owners.

As the tall woman emerged from the corridor, the first thing she did was approach the wooden railing that prevented people from falling to the lower floor, where the disproportionately large doors of this peculiar castle were located. Despite the considerable distance between the first and second floors – one could easily imagine the tragic history that led to the creation of this railing – the tall lady paid little attention to her safety. She imprudently pushed her body against the railing to peer over it, exposing half her body to the void. This allowed her to look down at the lower floor with a predatory gleam in her eyes, as if she were a bird of prey hunting for a rabbit.

A somewhat joyless smile formed on the woman's face as she observed an old man dressed as a butler on the lower floor. He was sitting on a chest, lazily leaning against the gigantic castle door. Surrounding the old man were young muscular men dressed in gray and white, busy bringing heavy chests and piling them around the old man, who was struggling to keep his eyes open.

Despite his weariness, the old and shrewd butler noticed the woman's predatory gaze. He discreetly stood up and began to shout angrily at the men who were arranging the chests:

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—Be careful with the young master's belongings! Did you not learn anything while growing up as servants in this castle for so long? The last thing we need is for that young man to want to return in the middle of the journey because we broke some of his toys.

The bewildered servants halted their work in astonishment and stared at the old butler, unable to comprehend why he suddenly started yelling at them when they were simply following his instructions.

Seeing the butler working earnestly caused the woman to soften her expression for a few seconds. However, her look of displeasure quickly returned to her face, as if she had suddenly remembered something unpleasant. Regardless of her noble image, the tall woman waved her hands angrily and shouted down from the railing to the butler:

—My dear Alfonso, can you explain where the hell the protagonist of this story has disappeared to?

Upon hearing the ironic roar of the woman, the butler quickly met her gaze and with an elegant smile, shrewdly ignored her question and instead responded:

—My lady, I hadn't realized you were awake so early. As you can see, your third son's belongings are nearly all ready to be stored in the carriage. We'll have everything set to leave soon!

—Great job, Alfonso! It seems you're always attentive to details!—The woman shouted with a hint of irony and annoyance on her face. —But you're forgetting a very insignificant detail, dear butler: storing the most important belonging!

—I could swear we've brought all the valuable trunks, my lady…—Alfonso replied, pretending not to understand the lady's indirect message, while looking at her with a rather forced expression of bewilderment.

—You're forgetting the biggest trunk!—The woman shouted with anger and a hint of concern. —Where the hell is my son, Alfonso? The carriage needs to depart in an hour or it won't catch up with the main caravan!

The lady's shouts seemed to have no effect on the old butler, who calmly sat back down on the trunk, under the watchful eye of the woman. With an elegant smile, Alfonso responded calmly, as if this problem had already been resolved beforehand:

—The young master is already in the carriage. As you know, your third son isn't very fond of farewells.

—Thank goodness…—The woman sighed with relief, seemingly quite worried about the matter. However, it would appear that upon receiving the response she was seeking from the butler, the lady was able to calm her nerves.

Feeling a bit calmer, the woman gave some final orders to the butler before walking slowly and wearily back down the hallway from which she had appeared:

—Finish arranging the trunks quickly and ensure the carriage moves swiftly to catch up with the caravan heading to the capital. Don't waste time having my son say goodbye again to the servants or other family members. Apolo has had 23 long years to bid his farewells and he squandered them knowingly.

As she watched the woman walk away from the railing, the content and tranquil expression on the butler's face slowly faded, replaced by an expression filled with concern and impatience.

When Alfonso was certain the tall woman wouldn't be able to hear him, he stared intently at the working servants and whispered urgently:

—Now! Listen to me and stop arranging the trunks for goodness' sake…

The servants, not comprehending the butler's shift in tone, followed his instructions and looked on in astonishment as beads of sweat began to appear on the butler's forehead.

—Don't waste any more time: … Find the brat!!—Alfonso whispered desperately.