They were cutting her out.

Tori didn’t say it out loud, but that was essentially what Gideon was doing, putting distance between them and Alessa. He wasn’t just excusing them from one invitation once either, but for an indefinite amount of them. Now, he could use the excuse of training at the Naval Academy to get out of any invitation from Alessa.

Her eyes moved to the young blonde woman whose face dropped. Alessa didn’t seem so disappointed as she was hurt. For a split second, Tori almost felt pity for her.

In these sorts of stories, the heroine had very few trusted friends and a lot of love interests. Usually, it was a male childhood friend who was separated from her for some time, which existed in the form of Tom, and a loyal maid. Alessa did not have a maid who followed her from childhood.

With her cheerful personality, it was easy to make friends, but Tori didn’t think she had friends like Ilyana and the others, whom she could depend on as much as Tori did. This was usually a plot point in order to ensure that the love interests would be able to swoop in and help the protagonist as much as possible, thus getting chances to accumulate, in this case, romance points.

And now, Gideon straight up said ‘not anymore, Satan’. Tori bit her lips and turned her head back to the table, letting out a light laugh on cue. “Tell me about it! I must’ve gone through so many ingredients, too. The ice cream kept melting, I had to get professional assistance.”

“You’ve decided to join the Naval Academy?” Alessa’s voice was quiet, and Tori strained to hear it over the other conversation.

Gideon smiled. “Yes. Last summer, I really enjoyed it. It was difficult, but exhilarating. I found that I love being out on the water.”

“What about Université?” Alessa asked with a face filled with confusion and unwillingness. “You are a prince. Weren’t you planning to go to Université?”

“It was an option, but not necessary.” Gideon didn’t seem to want to say anything more. He turned his head and saw Elias Jaeger with a tray in his hands and several individual servings of the ice mountain cake. “Ah, that must be part of our order.” He looked towards Alessa and gave her an apologetic smile. “We should go back to the room. Enjoy your meal here, Alessa!”

“Have a good evening, Baroness.” Fabian also gave her a nod of his head before following Gideon upstairs.

Alessa’s eyes crinkled up and she looked down. “Naval Academy?” She didn’t seem to want to believe it. She snapped her head up and looked around. Tori immediately moved on to greet another table, avoiding her gaze.

Tori could feel eyes on her as she walked around the room and ignored Alessa. After she completed her circle checking on her guests, Tori prepared to return to the upper floor. In the crowded and loud space, no one noticed when Alessa moved to block her way.

Tori raised a brow and gave her a questioning look. “Baroness?”

“Did Prince Gideon really train for the Naval Academy this summer?” she asked. “I thought he accompanied the first prince to your brother’s wedding.”

“Yes, that was the beginning of the summer,” Tori replied with a bright smile. “I believe afterwards he was going to attend at least two sessions of the condensed summer training at the Naval Academy, but an opportunity arrived for private training with one of the Naval Academy's senior training commanders, so he and von Dorn took that instead.”

She didn’t know the exact details, but she could put the information together to make a plausible explanation.

“Is this what he really wants to do?” Alessa asked. She seemed stunned to even consider it.

In the beginning, Gideon’s goal was likely to become the crown prince. This was his role in the original game, he was already on that path considering his popularity, and Tori recalled that he did eventually become crown prince in the game. She never could accept it considering Gideon was an ass to her when they first met, and that he had a far superior older brother.

“Isn’t it great?” Tori asked, putting on a smile. Alessa looked taken aback by her enthusiasm. “He knows what he wants to do and can make plans and follow them accordingly. Having a goal and working towards it is admirable.” Tori tried to make it sound like a good thing for anyone, not just Gideon. “It is the same with you and me, isn’t it? We want to work on our businesses and when we have a goal, we can make plans to meet them. When you were first given the Golden Cow, wasn’t it a bit overwhelming?”

“Yes, I suppose it was....”

“But once you were able to get more knowledge and understand what direction you wanted the Golden Cow to go, wasn’t it easier to make decisions? You can then make them in the best interest of your store and can weigh the pros and cons accordingly,” Tori told her. “I think this is the same for Prince Gideon.”

Alessa was quiet for a moment, but slowly nodded. “You are right,” she said her face taking on a look of determination. “Gideon has been a good friend to me. Now that he has a goal in mind, I should support him.”

Tori nodded with approval and patted her shoulder. “This is what friends do. I do the same for mine.” She stepped around Alessa and began up the stairs.

Upon returning to the room, she found that her friends had surrounded the large ice mountain and were taking spoons to it, completely bypassing the part where they cut it and served it on separate plates. Piers remained seated at one end of the table with a faint look of disgust on his face as he slowly ate his individual serving.

Gideon and Fabian also had their own individual serving, but were eyeing the much larger cake with glints of envy in their eyes. Individual servings were a set size, but if they were fast enough, they could get more from the ice mountain. The fastest eaters were Ewan and Axton.

“If you’re going to eat the entire thing, then we could’ve just asked for individual servings,” Sonia said with a frown.

“I just wanted one more bite,” Ilyana said. “You can have the rest.”

“I’ll take Ilyana’s share, then!” Ewan said, guiltfree.

“Brother, you can have my share.” Not to let Axton be disadvantaged, Montan put his spoon down and moved away from the cake. Axton reached over and patted his head.

Gideon looked at his partially eaten cake and then looked at Piers. As if knowing what he wanted to do, Piers spoke up. “This serving is enough for me.”

Gideon’s seemed to frown just a bit. Tori closed the door behind her. “I take it the food is good?”

“Your food is always delicious,” JP said as he leaned back against his chair, stuffed.

“Good. Then since you’ve eaten it, you can help with the First Year Excursion lecture this weekend,” Tori said with a bright smile. JP froze in his seat.

“That’s a Sword Association event.”

“Albert and I are not part of the Sword Association, and we help,” Ilyana pointed out. Albert nodded beside her.

“Countess, if you need assistance, I can help with the demonstration. We had experience with the equipment this summer,” Fabian said. “I am also part of the Sword Association.”

“And I’m joining this year to get single-handed sword lessons,” Gideon added as he looked up.

“It depends on the number of students. The seminar and demonstration were very popular last year,” Tori said. “We almost didn’t have enough time to check on each group individually.”

“Headmaster Laurent did ask if we could teach all the First Years, but Tori declined,” Albert told the group before eating another spoonful of ice cream.

Tori sighed. “The class is supposed to be a benefit for new members of the Sword Association. It is so that our members have a prepared advantage.”

JP let out a small hum and frowned. “Weren’t there students who complained in the last two years?”

“Yes, and to that I said to ask their own clubs and associations for assistance. This is something we are doing strictly for the Sword Association,” Tori paused. “And the tabletop gaming club, but we don’t want to tell students that until after they’ve joined.”

Henrik put down his spoon after he had finished eating. “You can also do a tiered system. One general lesson for all students on setting up a tent and starting a campfire, and then a more advanced one covering cooking, first aid, and reviewing the map.”

“The Sword Association gives out first aid kits to each group with a member,” Tori replied as she sat on the empty chair next to Ewan and on the left of Piers’ seat. “That would be a good place to show them and give them the kits. That’s a good idea Henrik. That will keep most students from complaining.”

“Then if that’s the case, we should prepare notices for it on the boards to let the first years know.” Ilyana made a little rectangle in the air with her fingers to stress the point. “Tell me what date and time and I can get them done.”

“Let’s aim for a general class in the morning, then just before lunch, we can send the non-members out and continue with the advanced class,” Tori said. They chatted a bit further about the arrangements before Tori got up to begin seeing off her guests.

Since everyone was returning to campus, Ilyana and the others, including Ewan, who needed to be dropped back off at La Garda, came downstairs to leave, as well.

“Montan, you’re here too? I didn’t see you here with the other contestants,” Alessa had just put on her uniform’s blazer when she saw him come down the stairs.

Tori wasn’t sure if Montan forgot that she was there after blissfully spending time with his esteemed big brother, but he stopped in place when he got to the bottom step. His head snapped up and his wide, gray eyes stared at Alessa.

“My brother is here,” Montan replied as he seemed to regain his thoughts and gave her a small nod of his head.

“Brother...Duke Alvere?” Alessa’s face brightened. “Have you reconciled?”

Montan nodded. “Yes.”

“But...I didn’t see you at the wedding in Sur.” Alessa tilted her head to the side and gave him a curious look.

“I didn’t attend. I was working in Horizon at the time,” Montan replied. Tori tried not to look too intrigued as to why he didn’t launch into talking about his new godmother, which he often did.

The ceremony and the fact that Antonia was now his godmother wasn’t announced; it was a private and intimate event meant for just close family and friends. It was also rather shameful that Montan, who was seventeen, hadn’t been given a trifecta ceremony as an infant with his father having been Duke Alvere at the time.

It would’ve reminded others that he was a bastard, and everyone felt this was a sensitive matter to Montan. The noble guests were high ranking, but they were all in a sort of inner circle that would not bring it up. After all, Genevieve had secretly paved Montan’s way amongst her trusted peers. For their own pride, they would protect Montan’s reputation and consider him an adopted member of the family.

Like march families, adopted children did not have rights to inherit titles and positions, but they could inherit wealth allocated by their adopted guardians. Like Robert and Fiona, Montan would never starve or be without shelter.

The fact that Montan was Antonia’s godson likely hadn’t reached Fabiana’s ears, as Antonia purposely kept information away from her troublesome sister. If Fabiana didn’t know, then Alessa would not have heard from her.

This is what Tori wanted. If Alessa found out Montan had been in Viclya when her charm stopped working, Tori was worried she’d become suspicious.

“Working?” Alessa almost flinched at the word. She leaned a little closer and lowered her voice as Montan tried to maintain distance without being too obvious. “Montan, is your brother not...treating you well?”

Montan’s face immediately flushed with color and he couldn't seem to help but frown at the suggestion. “My brother treats me very well! I only like to work. I don’t want to depend on my brother for everything.”

“Montan, I forgot to give you your pocket money this month.” Axton came down the stairs behind him and Tori turned her head to keep from snorting as Montan’s face reddened further.

He turned around and clenched his hands at his sides. “Brother, I don’t need pocket money. I have a job.” Tori had given him a bonus for the escape room work.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“It is in case of an emergency,” Axton told him in a stern voice as he handed him a small crystal token used to transfer money. Most wealthy students used crystal tokens to pay for things in the city. “Just keep it with you. It refills back to the original amount once a month, but if you run out before the refill, call me.”

Montan was embarrassed as Axton took his hand and put the crystal in it, but was still obedient. “Yes, Brother.”

Tori and her friends, who had been watching by the door, couldn’t help but turn their gazes to Gideon to compare. Piers had come downstairs after Axton. He didn’t seem to see his brother standing by the stairwell as he walked past to get to the door. Tori almost felt that Gideon was pitiful.

Piers didn’t pay attention to anyone else and stopped in front of her. “Tori, I’m leaving.”

“Call me later so I can say some words to Alexander,” Tori said. While she still had her nightly calls with Piers and occasionally led him through another game, she also liked to ‘talk’ to her cat. Alexander was very vocal.

She’d only been on campus for a few nights, and she already missed the ball of warm fluff that slept next to her all summer. She didn’t mind sharing a bed with Ava, who seemed to throw punches and kick at night, as if she were fighting crime in her dreams, or Fiona, who kicked off blankets, then got cold and would weasel her way to Tori and use her as a heat source, but Alexander didn’t bother her in her sleep.

Piers gave Tori a small nod of his head. He looked at the others and gave them another curt nod.

“Thank you for letting us have dinner here, Your Highness,” Henrik said before the rest of the group added their thanks.

Piers nodded once more. “Compile the estimates for the Lunar Pavilion rental for a New Year Ball. Different food should be served.”

“Of course, Your Highness, I will look into it and put together a plan for your approval,” Henrik replied in his professional voice. Her friends didn’t know she was dealing with ‘diplomatic concerns’ while they were going on, but Ilyana had noticed she was more tired than normal.

Axton revealed that Tori had become busier, so Henrik and Ilyana took over the Lunar Pavilion’s rental arrangements. Ilyana also lectured her on taking better care of herself and Sonia forced her to schedule at least two hours a week to go riding on Layla to relax.

Layla was kept at Piers’ house, so the day before, Axton came to pick her up with Layla, and Alexander in his basket, to ride around a bit. Alexander was seen by some junior students who were particularly excited that he was a cat riding in a basket on a horse.

“Tori, do not overwork yourself,” Piers told her in a softer voice. “You must let me handle the concerning issues.”

Concerning issues being Pargath’s possible ties to the Duraga Federation. Tori nodded. She’d restrained herself from asking about it despite her curiosity. If she was needed, then she would be contacted. So far, no one has bothered her.

“All right.”

“Piers, let’s go. The carriage is waiting.” Axton and Piers left, and Tori continued seeing off guests.

Alessa lingered behind. Tori didn’t notice until Sonia frowned. “I think she wants to come back with us.”

“That is a very inauspicious thing to say,” Tori said with a dull look. While the Academic Quarter was very safe at night, Tori still liked the idea of safety in numbers and couldn’t fault Alessa too much. She glanced over and saw Alessa talking to Gideon, who was nodding every now and then, but he didn’t seem to be paying attention. Tori looked at Sonia and lowered her voice. “Start going back. I’ll catch up after I thank Mama J and her family.”

Sonia followed her gaze to Alessa and sneered. “I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come.”

“Stop saying such inauspicious things....” Tori gave Sonia’s arm a gentle smack. JP dragged his sister out the door with the others, as Tori turned Gideon and Fabian. Montan had slipped out the door with Axton then walked back with the first group of students.

Of the student love interests she observed, Montan was the one who felt the most discomfort around Alessa. Perhaps it was because Gideon was a prince and didn’t show his discomfort easily and Fabian had lingering discipline as a former personal knight and kept a stoic expression.

Tori hadn’t seen Dimitri interact with Alessa, yet, as upperclassmen didn’t go to class until the next week, and Dimitri had been leaving campus to continue with his project following the plan he and Tori worked on over the summer. He hadn’t had a chance to run into Alessa, at least not that Tori knew of.

When he called her to discuss his project, he hadn’t mentioned Alessa, and Tori didn’t want to bring it up. Considering how Dimitri had acted when he found out about the charm, she doubted he’d be as open to Alessa as before.

Tori let out a little cough as she reached Gideon. “Your Highness, von Dorn, Baroness, we should return to campus. The shop needs to clean up.”

“Yes, of course!” Alessa perked up and nodded. She didn’t move and seemed to wait for Gideon to start.

The second prince did what was expected of him, and he took a step forward, heading towards the door. Fabian followed behind him and Tori motioned for Alessa to follow. Alessa was smiling wide as she not only followed, but reached Gideon’s side.

Tori thanked Mama J and her family once more before she walked out the door. She found Ilyana waiting for her at the door.

“I thought you went back with the others,” Tori said as she reached her. Ilyana shook her head, her thick brown hair falling in gentle waves around her shoulder. Four years and Tori still thought Ilyana was the prettiest girl in Lycée. Every year, an unassuming first year student would be star struck upon seeing Ilyana and that would usher in another season of secret admirer letters. Tori chuckled to herself. “I’m blessed.”

Ilyana tilted her head to the side, unsure what Tori meant. “I’m not going to leave without you.”

Tori’s face filled with a smile as she hooked her arm with Ilyana. “Our Ilyana is so good.” Ilyana lifted her chin and nodded as they quickened their speed and bypassed Gideon.

“Lady Agafonova and the Countess have a good relationship,” Alessa said behind them.

Ilyana didn’t look back as she answered with pride. “Naturally. We’re best friends.”

“I’m envious,” Alessa said with a sigh. “You are very lucky.”

“The luckiest,” Ilyana said. She squeezed Tori’s arm a bit tighter and pulled her forward, as if afraid she’d be stolen. “Let’s hurry. It’s almost time for you to call Fifi for her lullaby.”

Tori cringed and lowered her voice. “No one needs to know I do that.”

“You have a nice voice!” Ilyana almost announced it in a proud voice. Tori disagreed. “I like listening to it, too.”

Tori sighed. She was sure Ilyana only enjoyed listening because aside from Fiona, Ava, and in the presence of Alexander, Tori didn’t sing for anyone else. She had heard Ilyana mutter ‘special treatment’. When Fiona was first adopted and stayed with Tori in her tent at the delta, Fiona had trouble sleeping, not used to the lack of noise from other children. Tori told her stories and occasionally sang her a ‘lullaby’.

Except her lullabies were just slow jams from her original world that she had been able to get to fit the rhythm of Soleil’s common language. Fiona said she’d never heard them before and if she was too tired for a story, she just asked for a song.

“Does my brother know you sing?” Gideon asked. Tori silently cursed him.

“I don’t sing. It’s just a lullaby for children,” Tori replied casually.

Gideon narrowed his eyes and Tori pulled Ilyana forward to try to finish the conversation. When she got back to her dorm and got ready for bed and her call with Fiona, she received a different call.

The voice on the other end sounded calm and cool, but there was a hint of disappointment in it. “Tori,” Piers said. “You said you don’t sing.”

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“It’s the easiest room, how can you get stuck?” As part of the upperclassmen soft open, alumni of the Sword Association were also invited to try the escape rooms. As Tiff demanded to know why her boyfriend, GG, had failed to live up to her expectations in the easiest difficulty room, the staff member acting as the game master cringed.

“Tiffy, it’s my first time. Also, I blame Captain.” GG tried to throw the burden on to Ewan’s brother, former Captain Patrick. The bald man who was now a novice city patrol knight jerked his head back and looked affronted.

“You’re the one who didn’t put the pieces in the right order. How could I undo the lock if the order of the code isn’t right?” He almost choked out.

“GG, stop calling him captain. There are three captains in front of you right now,” former Captain Giselle said with a gentle tug on Patrick’s arm.

“Yeah!” Tiff pointed to herself. “I am the captain now!”

“Okay, Captain,” Tori said as she passed-by and shoved a cake-pop shaped like a 20D in front of her. Tiff wrinkled her nose, but took the cake-pop and bit into it. “Everyone needs to start somewhere. No one becomes good at puzzles and mysteries at once.”

“You’re not allowed to make any more of these. Not everyone is some sort of genius with puzzles and mysteries. What kind of difficulty level was that, Piers? Tori gave us three hours just to do the highest difficulty room and we couldn’t even get halfway through it!”

Tori closed her eyes and took a deep breath as the door leading to the room at the very top of the new building was thrown open and Axton stomped down the stairs. Behind him, Piers seemed unaffected by Axton’s frustration.

“Your detective skills are poor.” Piers decided to actively frustrate him more.

“Tori! Fire him!” Axton threw his arm back to point at Piers as soon as he saw her.

Tori looked at him with a helpless face. “Axton, he helped voluntarily. I can’t fire him if I never hired him.”

“Ban him! Don’t cook him food! Just do something!” Something had to be done to avenge Axton.

Behind him and Piers came Gideon, Fabian, and four imperial knights, all who looked tired and confused. They spent three hours in the ‘Attic’ room trying to find a secret room and retrieve a horse figurine with Piers, who was, unfortunately for them, the game master. Tori was going to volunteer to do it herself, as Piers didn’t give clear clues on what was needed and was rather harsh when it came to being a game master.

Yet Gideon insisted that his brother do it.

Look where that got them. Three hours and a failure.

“At least Piers let you out this time,” Tori said, still remembering Ewan’s lamenting call asking to be released because he was hungry.

“The time limit was only three hours,” Piers said. “The room usually has a limit of an hour and a half.”

Axton’s eye twitched and Tori rushed to try to calm him. “It’s the most difficult room for a reason. In fact, we even have a challenge for the opening month that if a group manages to escape that room within the time given, then the game is free. It’s meant to be challenging.”

“It’s not,” Piers said. Tori shot him a silencing look.

“Lady Tori, can we try the room again?” Tiff asked behind her.

“You have to sign up at the lobby for a time slot. I’ll go with you to authorize it,” Tori said. She patted Axton’s arm. “Go and get something to eat. If you want to try again, you can try again.”

Axton narrowed his eyes. “I refuse to go back there.”

Tori rolled her eyes and went to help Tiff’s group sign up for a time slot. GG assured Tiff that they would certainly escape this time.

In the cafe, Ilyana and Henrik were doing calculations on the Lunar Pavilion. From the looks on their faces, they were very concentrated, and Tori was hesitant to bother them. JP, Sonia, and Albert were in a medium difficulty room with Ewan. Tori motioned for Piers and the others to take a seat and went to order them food.

Even the knights were treated and when the food was brought to them at their table one over from where Piers and Gideon were sitting, Gideon’s knights commented that Piers’ knights had some non-standard side dishes.

“Oh, the Countess keeps track of our preferences, so each restaurant knows what we prefer, and it can be looked up. There is no need for us to request substitutions each time. We only report our name.” Sir Dobchek did not hesitate to humble brag. “She is very kind to us.”

Tori pretended she didn’t see the slight disappointment in the eyes of Gideon’s knights as she took out a notebook and sat in the chair between Piers and Gideon. “Tell me what you thought about the room.”

“Compared to the easier rooms, this is too much of a jump in difficulty.” Axton was the first to complain. “I felt that an hour for the easy rooms and an hour and a half for the middle tier room was fair, but if the time limit is an hour and a half for the most difficult room, I don’t think anyone will be able to solve it.”

“When you were doing the practice runs, did anyone complete the difficult room?” Fabian asked with some uncertainty.

Tori paused for a moment. “There was a trio that got through within the time limit. Piers, did you have to give them many clues?”

“Three. One clue per person was the limit given.”

“That’s a rule?” Gideon furrowed his brows and frowned. “But we asked for more than the number of players.”

“Two per person is the normal limit. Anymore and time will be deducted per additional clue. The one clue per person was the limitation given by the leader of the group,” Piers said as he calmly ate a pastry.

Axton smirked. “Did it annoy you that someone escaped the room you so meticulously planned?”

“The rooms are all escapable. Not everyone is like you.”

Axton’s smile fell at once and Tori sighed and looked back at him. “Don’t compare yourself with other teams. Each team is different.”

“If they took part in the dry run, then we know them, don’t we?” Axton asked. “Who was it?”

Tori shook her head. “That’s not important.”

“There were three people...was it Alvere? Is he allowed to play if he’s one of the game masters?” Gideon asked.

Tori kept her eyes on her notebook and continued writing some notes. “No.”

“Ewan got stuck with the others....was it a villager?”

“No-”

“A knight?” Gideon asked.

“No-”

“Then who was it?” Axton urged, impatient.

Tori took a deep breath and raised her head. “Kasey, Robi, and Fifi. Forty-five minutes.”

She watched the curious light in their eyes slowly fade. She knew they’d regret asking. Gideon narrowed his eyes and frowned. “The Chicken Girl?”

Tori shot him a glare. Piers gave him a disapproving look.

“Do not call her that, Old Man Prince.”

Gideon sucked in a sharp breath and looked at his brother with betrayal. “She told you?”

“That is all Fifi calls you,” Piers said before taking a sip of white wine.

Unable to blame Piers, Gideon turned his irritation on to Tori. “Why does your niece call my brother ‘uncle’?”

Tori shrugged . “She calls all my male friends ‘uncle’. Axton is Uncle Duke Axton. Ewan is Uncle Ewan. And so forth.”

Gideon flushed. “Then why doesn’t she call me ‘uncle’?”

“You’re not my friend.” She glanced up and watched his face twist with emotional damage.

“Are we at least not acquaintances?” Gideon asked. “Our families are friends.”

Tori met his gaze with a stoic look. “Those are our families.”

“But....” He looked at a loss and beside him, Fabian seemed to mirror it a bit. If Gideon wasn’t her friend, then of course Fabian wasn’t.

But she didn’t hate them now.

Tori suppressed her sadistic amusement and chuckled. “Relax, Your Highness. You, too, von Dorn. If I didn’t like you, you wouldn’t be here right now.”

Gideon’s eyes squinted. “That is a bit threatening....”

“You’re overthinking it,” Tori said with a small, dismissive wave of her hand. “We’re not friends, nor are we enemies. You are Piers’ brother and Piers’ brother’s friend. As long as you don’t treat me badly, I won’t treat you badly, either. I will even take care of you as if you are one of my own.”

“You are magnanimous,” Piers told her.

“I know.”

Axton rolled his eyes. “Going back to Senior Kasen and his children in the escape room, I can understand it. This sort of thing is something he’d be good at. He likely led the children around, right?”

Piers took another sip of his wine. “Senior would ask questions to make the children think and connect clues, but never answered them himself. Robi is very good at puzzles and codes.”

“What about Fifi?” Axton asked. The energetic four-year-old likely couldn’t put together much.

“Fiona guessed where the horse was as soon as the introductory story was told and said it must be put on the shelf next to the portrait to appease the ghost in order for the door to unlock and let them out,” Piers said with a slight curl of his lips. “She only needed her brother’s help to get the key to unlock it.”

Sour looks appeared on Axton and Gideon’s faces as Fabian looked dumbfounded. They looked towards Tori for an explanation.

“I didn’t tell her,” she said. A small slice of mille cake was placed in front of her and Piers took the clean fork. “She was so excited that she figured it out on her own.”

“She is four!” Gideon slapped the table. “How can a four-year-old figure it out?”

“It isn’t that difficult, if you think about it,” Tori said. “The story talked about a little girl who loved horses, and was heartbroken that she never had the chance to ride the one her parents got for her because she got sick and died. There is a portrait of a little girl and stuffed animals in the room, but there was only one horse toy.”

Of course, usually things like this made sense only after it was completed, and all the clues had been solved. She didn’t really blame Gideon for being confused. She was, too, when she first saw the game play. Not that she would admit it.

“But what would putting the horse next to the portrait accomplish?” Gideon asked with a frown.

“It is your one regret; a chance you lost,” Piers said as he lifted the fork with a piece of cake. He held it to Tori’s lips as she flipped a page in her notebook. She noticed the cake and opened her mouth for the offering. “Would you not want one more chance to be with what you love?”