Chapter 191 - Out the Cage

Had she really heard a mournful and chilling cry?

The room was suddenly silent, everyone apparently paying close attention, trying to listen to something else.

It hadn't just been Alexa to hear the lament.

The housekeeper dropped the porcelain tureen to the floor, and it shattered with a loud sound. At a glance, the Princess could have sworn she saw a nervous and suspicious reaction in the French knight's eyes, but it was very brief. Magnus exchanged a look with Alexa, but she didn't have much to say.

She just felt like she heard a voice calling, and apparently everyone had the same impression.

The owner of the house, however, avoided commenting on his housekeeper overturning the soup tureen in front of such important guests, and invited,

"Why don't we sit at the table for supper? I am ashamed of offering a so poor and unworthy reception... I'm not worth receiving such important princes in my humble abode..."

Alexa did not expect a knight to have the same wealth as a prince of such a prosperous kingdom as Holstein. Even more so when they did not announce their arrival in advance, but appeared unexpectedly in the middle of the night.

It was pure protocol, of course.

If Knight Sagnac was really ashamed of their presence there, he didn't show it. Even with the weird exchange of memories he had with Magnus as soon as he arrived.

"Captain Dubois said that his friend, the knight Sagnac, was very hospitable and I could not imagine this nobleman was my old jousting rival! I hadn't associated the name with the person," Magnus laughed, not bringing up the strange sound that everyone had heard.

"You have a beautiful and cozy home here. We are lucky the captain Dubois is your friend… and Prince Magnus had a faulty memory… We appreciate the hospitality," Alexa showed her dimples in thanking the knight.

"My precious princess, I would like to build a castle with the stars in the sky even if it were to be a shelter for you for just one night… My roof is not worthy enough, but I will remember for the rest of my days that the most beautiful princess I've ever seen has been here," he said, ignoring Magnus rolling his eyes spitefully.

Sagnac then turned to the Captain and tapped him on the back, his eyes narrowing as he spoke.

"DUBOISSS ... My friend Dubois ..." 

The Captain narrowed his eyes with the expression of a cat, while the young maid brought more food to the table.

'Wait ... isn't Dubois a friend of his, too? I'm confused!' The captain had a strange way of doing things, and an intriguing sense of humor too!

Alexa spent the rest of the supper making sure to eat just enough to not pass out, and refusing the Prince's insistent requests to eat more.

Magnus quickly explained to the host the reason for the secret trip and a 'problem' with their companions.

The housekeeper returned, asking for permission, and suggested to her master,

"The rooms are ready, Mr. Sagnac, and I would suggest allowing the Princess to retire soon. She must be exhausted."

The Princess was actually perfectly fine, but after faking a faint, and the report of her peculiar illness, Alexa could not even insist on staying. However, this meant that she and Magnus would sleep in separate rooms, then Alexa obliged.

In fact, the feeling of actual sleep was a rare thing since the spell. Maybe she really enjoyed a good night's sleep.

Saying goodbye to the men, she followed with the housekeeper, who took her to a room next to the Master bedroom. Alexa found a very comfortable female alcove, with changed sheets smelling of lavender and mauve.

Just seeing that soft bed made Alexa imagine her future sleep of the just there. Romeo's cage was already in the room, and the housekeeper helped her change into a richly embroidered nightgown.

"It is a pity that your belongings have been lost, Your Highness. But to sleep comfortably, if you don't take offense, there is all the trousseau from Emmeline, my Master's sister. This nightgown was not even worn, it was for her wedding day... "

"Oh, poor thing! What happened?"

"Your Highness, a housekeeper could not say that… The girl just died during the absence of the master, who had gone as usual to travel to some joust… Emmeline was to marry a baron, but she did not want to, because she liked another man… Who was obviously a diabolical garbage and didn't do her any good. And now, my master suffers from thinking he could have done something to stop it, if only he were here. He can barely stay in the house, because he can't stand it so empty and silent without his sweet sister..."

'Uhn, does that mean he spends his nights at the tavern, instead of at his house?'

Before Alexa asked, or rather, without Alexa asking, Mirna continued, "Nobody knows who was the man who disgraced the poor and foolish Emmeline. Even more because the master was against her marriage to the baron, and brought her here to avoid friction with the family."

It was a little funny that Mirna was doing exactly what she shouldn't be doing, it is, gossiping about her master, but at the same time it was a sad story.

Alexa wondered if it had been the girl's Shade to call, but ... it didn't make much sense!

"What we heard earlier… Was it an owl? That dreadful lament we all heard?"

The French housekeeper cleared her throat, carefully folding the princess's dress,

"A while ago an owl came to live nearby. Tonight, in particular, she looked like a woman calling! I don't usually let the other servants in the house think nonsense, or they'll be scared and mumbling around. Some say they saw the ghost of the master's sister around, but it's only rubbish to get some thrilling conversation and escape from monotony! But…"

"But…?"

"There's a problem in this house with unlocked doors at night. Please, Your Highness, as soon as I leave, close the door tightly ... Ghost or wind, open doors are always a problem for rest!"

The comment could imply several things, but the solemn tone of the last sentence, and the housekeeper's pursed lips, made Alexa realize that even Mirna had a limit on what she would say. Maybe she was talking about her womanizer master... or maybe something else.

"Yes, I will do that," Alexa agreed, and only after ensuring that everything was perfect, Mirna wished her good night and closed the door behind her.

The maiden lay for a moment, thinking about the evening's events, and whether Holstein would be all right. She closed her eyes, but there was no sleep at all, despite the comfortable, warm bed. Gradually, the sounds of the house were silenced, and she heard steps in the hallway going to the master room, and closing the door after it.

After a while, though, Romeo stirred in his cage, for no reason.

And after overcoming the dilemma of going out under the scented covers, Alexa went to check what disturbed the bug.

"Poor thing ..." she really hoped it wasn't a ghost. Looking again, she realized Alexander's pet had eaten all food.

"Uhn, didn't your 'uncle' feed you enough, Romeo?" the bird looked at her as if he understood what she was talking about, but of course, Alexa knew that there was the mind of an intelligent animal, not a human soul.

"Right. Do you want me to take you outside for just a little while to look for larvae or something tasty ... Is it a too beautiful full moon night for a nightingale to be in a cage? Is it a girlfriend in sight? Or something that upsets you?"

She would not be intimidated by a plaintive shade if Romeo was hungry or otherwise. In fact, she would even prefer it to be a shade than an evil owl that could threaten Romeo. The bird chirped louder, as if agreeing with the Princess' assumptions.

"How far have we come? Romeo, you can't start singing out loud and wake everyone up in the middle of the night!"

Alexa took the bird out of the cage, and was going to open the door, when she pictured in her mind the controlling housekeeper Mirna looking sternly at her, on the other side of the door.

The princess drew back her hand.

"What if I open the window a little bit? You go outside and come back by yourself,"

Alexa opened the window, and after a moment, Romeo flew from her wrist into the night.

Sighing, the princess watched the beautiful moon in the sky, and leaned on the windowsill, with a strange feeling in her chest. An inexplicable emptiness that at another time she would have mistaken for boredom. But in recent years, there was no boredom in her life. A noise caught Alexa's attention, coming from the door.

She immediately turned toward the door, surprised,

"Really? is someone really trying to open the door?" She was never tired of being surprised by some people's shamelessness! Could the knight really think his good looks and gallant manners would enchant the wife of an absent prince, a sick and fragile princess?

He certainly didn't know this princess! 

He was probably very successful with women. Alexa didn't even doubt this was the original cause of friction between him and Magnus! On the other hand, it could only be a kind of provocation against the Prince of Holstein. Captain Dubois had said that Allamand Sagnac was that type of braggart.

'Anyway, I'm not going to open it," she thought. A sudden shiver ran down her spine, before she could think of anything else.

An icy hand grabbed her wrist through the open window.