The sun had begun to hide its weary eyes. I had my arms rested on the fence and I watched. As the sun slowly ran away from those that sought it’s light. As the light of candles and fires seeped out of homes. As some houses put boards back up where windows once were.

I laughed a little. I had already said goodbye for the day, yet here I was, just staring off into the distance. Some part of me didn’t want to return to the manor. I wished to stay here forever, to be stuck with the torture of the two senile old men.

I got up, I didn’t want to, but a part of me told myself. told myself that I must, that I had to.

There were a few things I needed to do at the manor anyway. I reassured myself with lies, but the truth hurt.

I walked.

I walked and walked.

Life was filled with so much walking.

I came upon the line of trees that separated the manor from the rest of the world. The darkness had already set in and there were no guards.

I headed in just like any other day. The absence of the servants saved me from their prying eyes.

I headed to the shed and stashed away the cloak. It sat neatly next to my one, perhaps a bit more battered, but that was okay.

I headed over to the annex, surprisingly not even the soft glow of candles escaped from the windows. The door was locked too, but no matter.

I hoisted myself up onto a nearby windowsill and began climbing. I had to weave across different ledges balconies and sills, but it wasn’t like anything had changed since the last time.

I arrived at my window and pulled myself up as far as I could. Reaching out to the uppermost window I pulled on it. the window opened slightly, and I shot My hand in. I was now dangling but that wasn’t for long as I unlatched the window below me and used my feet to pull it open.

With a swing I shot in before calmly closing the windows once more.

Before doing anything else I just stared at the windows for a second. It was a marvel that they managed to fix the windows, but also make sure they were just as broken as before. In their defence though, what kind of maniac would climb into a window on the second story without even a balcony?

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I found something else to complain about rather easily. The room smelt musty, it wasn’t that bad, but it felt like it hadn’t been cleaned.

I walked over to my bed and ran my finger along the top of my bedside table. The softness that now covered my finger affirmed my feelings. The damn maids didn’t even clean my room while I was gone.

I could, and would complain about this… just not now. It was already night and most if not all of the manor should be asleep.

But before I too could enjoy some rest, I needed to change the sheets. Although I have probably slept in worse, I didn’t particularly like the idea of dusty sheets.

It was a mightily big pain to do so in the dark, while also trying to be quiet. In hindsight I really shouldn’t have tried being quiet, the servants’ quarters were on a completely different floor.

When I was done, I sat myself on the end of my bed.

Was it really worth it?

That was the question I asked myself. I didn’t need the barony; I didn’t need the cumbersome title. Life seemed good now, everything would just work out somehow. I could save up for my own home with the money from the apothecary. I didn’t need the barony at all.

In the worst-case scenario, I could just kill mother… no that was a silly idea, magic exists. I didn’t know what magic was exactly, but I knew that it was all powerful and if not then pretty close to it. but then again, would the empire really put effort into figuring out the murder of a mere baroness, especially when war is around the corner…

I could also make it look like an accident. It wouldn’t be hard. I would be working with plants a lot; I was sure that I could slip something into her meal. Or even better she was old, I could sell her the wrong medicine.

I could also lure a beast over to the manor. there wasn’t a head guard anymore, not even some sort of secret guard. The hobgoblins weren’t comparable to my level at all, and the goblins weren’t worth a mention.

Normally I would swat away such dangerous thoughts, but they were tempting enough to stay.

In the end I did distract myself, I was far too busy to deal with planning a murder. Perhaps when the seasons change might I have the time. Anyway, what I needed to do tomorrow.

I needed to sneak into the library. I didn’t care much for grovelling to gain entry so it definitely had to be in secret. Mark had informed me of what I ws looking for and why. It was books mentioning the Caltari ocean. It was all to decipher what that Relic was saying, well the bit about the white fleet at least.

I flopped onto my back and looked up at the ceiling. I stared into the darkness, and it looked like the night, just lacking in stars.

I wanted to fly in that darkness, I wanted wings. I could be so far away from the ground, away from all worries and lies. I raised my arm to touch the sky.

My fingers danced as I imagined the freedom I could attain… if only I could have wings.

With a sigh my arm came falling down.

I rolled off my bed and crawled up the floor to my bed. I then lifted the sheets and entered into one of the few places in this manor I found comfortable.