Lorelei suddenly woke up, her eyes wide open, sweating. She could feel the sweat dripping from her cheek onto the bed sheets. Her moist hands were gripping the blanket. A dream. She knew she had a dream. She desperately tried to remember it, but once she got within grasp of recalling it, the faint sensation of falling submerged her body. There was one thing she was sure of: the dream she had this time was different from the ones she had previously. She woke up sweating, not because of fear, but because of something she couldn't seem to understand. She got out of bed and walked towards the window with her long robe sweeping the floor. It was still nighttime, far from dawn. The moon was reaching its peak, its light gleaming across the curtains onto Lorelei's face. From the window, Lorelei could see the full brightness of the city below. From high up, it seemed as if every single one of these lights was a star shining those charming fiery colours into the night. A sight to behold for Lorelei, but a normal night for the people of Vinyl. She now understood clearly why Brant called this city the city of everlasting day. She leaned closer into the window, almost revealing half of her upper body outside. The wind currents blew away her hair in the sky. She stayed there enjoying the chill of that summer wind. Once she had had enough of looking out, she closed the curtains and walked to the door. She wanted to ask Brant a question, something she had been wondering ever since he talked about the cars. Lorelei pushed open the door and stood in the dark hallway. The only lighting the mansion had was the moonlight entering through the numerous windows. She walked along the path covered by windows and paintings. There was nobody, not a single person in this abnormally huge mansion. Lorelei thought it was odd. In the stories Clovis had told her, those huge mansions always had countless maids and butlers handling the mansion and making sure everything was neatly organised, but here, nothing. From what Lorelei understood, only three people resided in this mansion: Brant, Samuel, and the Duchess Iria. She kept wandering around the mansion, repeating their names over and over to make sure she pronounced them well. While walking, she heard someone speak from somewhere. She followed the voice until she reached the same door where she had first met the Duchess. The door was half-open, letting out onto the floor a clear yellow light amidst the moonlight. Light was not the only thing the door let through its little gap; their voices did as well. Lorelei peeked through and saw Iria and Brant. Iria had her arms crossed in front of her face, and Brant was standing up, talking to her.
"I'm telling you, it's the only lead we'll ever find. We're on out own here Iria, we've always been."
"Brant…"
"There's nobody in this entire continent that has hair like hers. Nobody except Clovis."
"Stop…"
"Even if it was just a little of it, I'm sure you saw it through her hood. She has the same colour as him."
"Brant. Stop it..."
"She may be his daughter, Iria. Even if the chances are slim, what else do we have?"
"Don't say that, Brant. I told you."
Iria placed her hand back on the desk and stared directly into Brant.
"We've been searching for years, Iria, years. If there is something that can lead us to him, it's believing the possibility that he has a daughter, and it's her. My assumptions may be over the head, but what do we have to lose?"
"Brant… YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT HE DISAPPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE TO HAVE A DAUGHTER WITH A WOMAN I DON'T KNOW OF? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT ME TO BELIEVE? THAT HE LEFT EVERYTHING BEHIND, THE PEOPLE, THE SACRIFICES HE MADE FOR THEM, US, TO HAVE A DAUGHTER?"
"Iria, please, calm down," Brant pleaded.
"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! HOW COULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT? I KNOW MY BROTHER; HE COULD NEVER HAVE DONE THAT, NEVER, YOU HEAR ME?"
"I KNOW HOW ABSURD IT SOUNDS, BUT I'M TIRED, AND SO IS SAMUEL. HOW MANY YEARS DO YOU THINK WE'VE BEEN FRANTICALLY SEARCHING? AROUND EVERY CORNER OF THIS CONTINENT. WE RISKED OUR LIVES OUT THERE, EVEN GETTING AS CLOSE AS ENTERING A PILLAR, FOR WHO? YOU, IRIA. YOU," Brant also lost his temper and replied back to Iria in the same tone.
"ENOUGH! THIS IS THE END OF IT!"
"NO, IT ISN'T! YOU ONLY WANT TO SEE WHAT IS CONVENIENT FOR YOU TO SEE AND NOT THE TRUTH. WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED OVER MAINTAINING THIS PERFECT IMAGE OF H—"
A crushing pressure filled the room, forcing Brant down to his knees and cutting his speech short. Even from behind the door, Lorelei could feel it. It was as if a hand was pressing down on her body, but not enough to press her down to the ground. She figured for Brant, the pressure must've been even more crushing. Iria calmly sat back in her chair. Her air shifted completely; she took on this playful yet firm tone. There was no frustration or anger in her expression. She looked at Brant and calmly said,
"I told you, Brant, enough. Have you forgotten who was in front of you? Have you forgotten who you have pledged to? Have you forgotten who you serve?"
"No…"
"Then who is sitting in front of you?"
"Iria Di Vileth."
"Who have you pledged to?"
"Iria Di Vileth."
"Who do you serve?"
"Iria Di Vileth."
Iria smiled at him. The pressure that had kept Brant kneeling disappeared, and he got back up. The feeling that locked Lorelei in place also went away.
"Good. You are dismissed."
"Yes, my lady."
When Lorelei heard those words, she got up and ran as quietly and fast as she possibly could to the nearest corner. Before she took the turn, she heard the door open behind her. She heard Brant's footsteps echoing behind her through the hallway. There were two possible ways for Brant to pass by: from the hallway Lorelei came from, the hallway she turned into, and the ones on the room's side. Luck wasn't on Lorelei's side since she heard his footsteps walking towards the corner. She stopped running and hid behind one of the drawers, placing both of her hands on the wall. The footsteps got closer, and Lorelei felt her heart beating even faster. Just when she thought Brant would see her, she heard a whisper.
"Press it. Near the drawer."
Lorelei looked at her side and noticed, on the side of the drawer, a bump on the wall. She pressed it just like the figure had told her, and the wall she was leaning against violently turned around, flinging Lorelei along with it. She landed face-first on a dusty tiled floor. Lorelei wiped off the dust that got in her hair and sat down to observe the room she was in. Two rows of shelves filled to the brim with books towered over her, so much that piles of books accumulated on the ground. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that this room had never been cleaned even once. It was a good thing she managed not to be found by Brant. Who knows what he would've done if he realised that Lorelei had spied on their entire conversation, but at the same time, what she heard from it was crucial and scary. She wondered if the same thing that had happened with Silvia and Maria would repeat itself again. They are searching for Clovis; she knows where he is: dead, killed by her. How could she tell them that? Especially if, from what she heard, Iria was Clovis's sister. Lorelei thought it was odd since she did not look like Clovis at all, whether it be by the hair colour or the facial structure. She wasn't able to see Clovis in her. Not only that, but the fact that they remembered who Clovis was. Lorelei thought those she killed would slowly fade in others' memories; how was it possible that Clovis was still remembered by them? She thought to herself: maybe she hadn't killed him, but her memory says otherwise; his eyes slowly fading reminded her of the truth: she had killed him, and nothing could prove otherwise. Lorelei knew she had to be as careful as possible around them; she wasn't fully aware of what they were capable of yet, so the best option she had was to go along with it and make sure she never revealed who she was. She got up from the floor and walked around the rows. They were all just as dusty as the previous ones and held just as many books. How was it possible to bring so many books to a single place, she thought, but that wasn't the end of her surprises. In the middle, a large round table was placed, covering almost the entire space. Lorelei wondered: who would ever need such a big table? She walked around the table, sliding her hand along the way, collecting the piling dust over it. There were huge books, wide open, all around the table; it was as if somebody was searching for something in them but never managed to finish. She went through the books, but couldn't understand what was written in them. It was another type of writing, another language that she had never seen before. She blew the dust off another book and went through it. Just like the other books: bold characters, weird letters, and incomprehensible writing. The only thing Lorelei could read from that one was the title: Vileth. Lorelei gave up on searching for one she could read and decided to keep on exploring the library. She wandered around the unending aisles of dusted shelves, looking for anything that would catch her interest, but nothing did until she found a squarish hole in the ground. She looked in, found a staircase leading downstairs, and decided to investigate further. The cracked brick staircase made every one of her steps resonate in the darkness. The further down she went, the less visible her path became, but Lorelei was curious; she wanted to know what was in there, so she kept walking down despite her decreased visibility. Her long robe obstructed her step, and because of it, she lost her balance. She went tumbling down at the mercy of the stairs and her own speed. She went down for what seemed to be an eternity, her body violently smashing against the stairs and bouncing off, repeating the process until she rolled over on the floor. She felt her heart pulsating in her chest, the blood rushing from it to every part of her body. It didn't hurt; it was just an unpleasant hot feeling. Once Lorelei felt her strength coming back to her, she tapped the ground, trying to find something that could help her get up, only for her hand to be met with a cold metallic surface. She opened her eyes and saw a wide, empty room. She wasn't able to see far due to the darkness, but she was sure that beyond what she was able to see, there was most likely nothing but gray bricks. She managed to gather enough force in her body to stand up on her own and walk over to the metallic surface. There, she saw a handle and grabbed it. The hood was heavy, but she managed to get it open, and beneath it there were even more stairs.
"Urgh," she growled, almost annoyed.
Lorelei was tired of these uneven brick stairs; the previous ones hurt her, but she didn't want to stop here, so she grabbed onto the excess of her long robe and walked down once more into the unknown.