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E115-The mansion

Immediately, the two Gururis jumped onto the food to devour it. They seemed to have bottomless bellies because no matter how much they gobbled up from the potpourri of food in the barrels, the creatures showed no sign of getting full. As this was happening, Apolo calmly pondered everything that had happened last night, worried that his Gururis had wanted to assassinate him with such a complex plan at such a young age. But at the same time, he had many doubts about this very fact. For example, how did the Gururis know that the mist would kill the servants when they had never been inside the room, and their bodies didn't perceive temperature in the same way a human's would? From their perspective, all they were doing was locking up a bunch of drunks. Secondly, it would be strange if no one had noticed the two pink Gururis walking around the room. And lastly, the creatures seemed unaware of the fact that they had killed all the servants. They didn't even exhibit slightly abnormal behavior when they came to greet him. It seemed like they had no understanding of what they had done wrong, and Apolo had spent an entire month telling them that they should coexist with the other servants. However, he felt quite frustrated because it seemed like his efforts had been in vain.

As the unanswered questions swirled in the young man's mind, Nicolás and Aquiles finished devouring the two barrels of food and were sitting on the floor, licking their fingers, waiting for Apolo to say something.

—Finished?—Apolo asked, emerging from the unusually long trance.

—Yes, master!—Both Gururis replied in unison.

—Good, now answer this question again: Did you close the door to the room where I was celebrating with the servants?—Apolo asked with seriousness.

—No, it was already closed when we arrived—Nicolás replied again.

—Well...—Apolo commented, watching as the Gururis sucked their fingers, ignoring his gaze and not very concerned about his question—Then answer: How is it that you two didn't close the door when you were the only ones with the key to the entire mansion?

—The green bug can also magically close the door...—Aquiles said, staring at his brother.

—Yes, it's most likely that Zoe closed the door and framed us...—Nicolás commented nervously, biting his nails, while exchanging a worried look with the other Gururi.

—She did it to get rid of us and steal our furniture!—The two Gururis shouted in unison, as if they had come to a terrifying conclusion.

—No, fortunately, that's not possible...—Apolo murmured with more doubts than he would have liked to have. Initially, he knew that Zoe was terribly docile and at most would get depressed, but it would be complicated for her to attack him. Nevertheless, the pink Gururis were right: the only one who could close all the doors in the room besides them was Zoe. Furthermore, she was the one who organized the party, so she could also be the main culprit behind this "murder".

—Of course, it's possible, look at all the furniture we have in our treasure chamber: She covets them!—Aquiles yelled, pointing at the furniture in the room with fear.

—No, she doesn't care about your furniture...—Apolo said wearily, as if he had had this conversation a million times, but these two brats kept turning a deaf ear to what he was saying—Let's ignore Zoe for now and instead answer: How did you know which room I was in when you escaped?

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—Old Winki told us!—Nicolás said, pointing to a large wardrobe in the room.

—Did the wardrobe tell you?—Apolo asked, somewhat happy with what he was hearing.

—No, no, Winki lives in the wardrobe: He's actually a drawer!—Aquiles corrected, seeing how the wardrobe in the distance trembled on its own as if it had a life of its own.

—Good, it seems you've learned to interact with the furniture, which means you're only a few weeks away from finally maturing enough to be free—Apolo said happily, although it didn't last long. He had come up with a good idea and instead asked—According to Winki, who closed the door to the room where we were celebrating?

—Do you want us to ask him?—Aquiles asked, not catching the message.

—Yes, go and ask for his opinion: it's an order—Apolo said, pointing to the furniture.

Aquiles and Nicolás approached the wardrobe and opened one of its drawers, then stared into it in complete silence for a few minutes. Finally, they stopped looking at the drawer and rearranged the furniture before returning with the answer.

—According to Winki, they was...—Aquiles began to say.

—It was Zoe, according to Winki, Zoe killed all the servants and tried to kill you, Master. That plague must be beaten with sticks!—Nicolás interrupted, looking at the other pink Gururi in a way that was too obvious.

—I heard Aquiles speaking in plural already, you idiot!—Apolo shouted, hitting Nicolás on the head with his staff, but deep down, he was actually quite happy: this time it had been quite easy to recognize that they were lying.

—But it really was Zoe...—Aquiles said, supporting the other Gururi's claim.

—Are you going to tell me the truth, or do I have to extract the truth from you?—Apolo asked, staring at Aquiles, tapping the golden knob of his cane against his hand.

—It was... Zoe...—Aquiles said, crying desperately, while looking at the room's furniture with tenderness as if he were sacrificing himself to protect his best friends.

—If you tell me the truth, I'll give you a reward...—Apolo said, looking at the furniture in the room. He knew he couldn't threaten them with destroying the furniture, or the furniture would corrupt their minds, and they would start plotting his death, so it was practically the only thing he couldn't do to his Gururis. Therefore, he refrained from pursuing that idea and focused on trying to bribe them instead.

—It's just that we're not lying: It was Zoe, Master!—Nicolás cried from the floor, still holding his head in pain.

—Well, it seems I'll have to give the furniture decorations to Zoe...—Apolo muttered under his breath, getting up to walk toward the door, pretending to intend to leave the room.

Immediately, almost all the furniture in the room started to shake, some even began to open and close their doors violently, causing Nicolás to grab Apolo's robe to prevent him from escaping while pleading:

—No, no, give us those decorations: We'll tell you the truth, Master!

—They're very nice decorations, so I hope you won't lie to me again—Apolo said, trying to hide his joy as he saw his childish plan had worked.

—According to Winki, they were the ones who decorate the coffins in the dungeon: Those decorations hate you and have been calling for your and all your servants' deaths throughout the house for some time now—Aquiles said with dissonant happiness compared to what he was saying—The heir's room apparently hates you too, so it was the main one responsible for carrying out the plan.

—The truth is, that doesn't sound very realistic to me...—Apolo replied, but immediately saw the large wardrobe open suddenly, and what must have been the drawer called Winki opened violently, throwing a shoe at his head.

—See, Winki is telling you the truth!—Nicolás said happily, eager to see the promised decorations.

—Are you telling me that my mansion is cursed?—Apolo asked, surprised that a piece of furniture had just thrown a shoe at him. His extensive knowledge of Gururis had never warned him of these events.

—The mansion has always been cursed!—Aquiles replied happily—That's why the imperial family sold the mansion, why else would they have done it?

—How long have you known that this house is cursed, and why didn't you tell me?—Apolo shouted in anger.

—A few days... We've known for a few days. Furniture likes to gossip about what rooms say, so it kind of slipped out—Aquiles replied while wiping the sweat from his forehead, apparently blatantly lying about the matter.