Strolling at her own leisure pace, the servants in the Albrecht mansion all worked diligently based on the duties being assigned to them. To Madeline’s relief, none of the servants gave her those creepy outcast glances.
Their attention was more centered on what they were doing. The Albrecht mansion is not just big, but it’s no different from an estate either. How many servants could they possibly have to take care of such a mansion?
"It’s not advisable to walk alone when you haven’t mastered what routes to take in this mansion." Came the feminine voice that made Madeline turn around to see who was speaking.
Inna revealed herself as she stepped out from a corner. She was holding her cellar in hand, and from the look of things, Madeline could guess she was coming from the rooftop.
Smiling charmingly and getting rid of her strange aura, Inna bowed politely at Madeline who equally smiled in return.
"It’s you."
"Come with me, I’ll walk you to your room." Inna sweetly offered, using it as a way to steer Madeline’s attention from the other side of the mansion, and to her relief, Madeline willingly accepted without questioning.
"Okay."
With that being decided, the two ladies turned around to leave, but when Madeline chose to give that direction she was aimlessly walking to one last glance, her eyes crinkled when she noticed that the other side of the mansion appeared darker than the rest, as though no one had bothered to light up that part of the mansion.
It looked deserted.
"Tell me." Inna’s voice drew Madeline’s attention away from that direction. "How’s your stay in the Albrecht family mansion?"
"If I wish to be honest, I’d say so_so." Madeline remarked after recounting everything that has happened so far, and Inna displayed a knowing smile on her lips.
"Can’t blame you for that, the drama in this house never ends. Fortunately I am delighted with every single one of it."
"Shouldn’t you be having dinner with the rest of them?" Madeline curiously inquired as they went up the stairs.
"I already did, it is a family rule that has been going on for generations. Learning the world’s etiquette has become a bore to my ears these days, so I challenged myself, either I play the cellar, or go hungry." She mumbled.
Madeline found that technique amusing. In the future, she’ll be sure to try this on herself when she doesn’t feel like doing something. The two ladies continued with their friendly chat till they made it to Madeline’s doorstep.
"I’ll stop here."
"Thank you for walking with me, I really needed that." Madeline poured out her sincere thanks to the sixteen-year-old Inna who remained acutely calm.
"I didn’t realize I needed one myself, but I’ll leave for now. Till we encounter again, Lady Madeline." And she turned around and left.
Madeline watched her slender figure disappear from the stairs before going into her own room, feeling satisfied with the chat she had with Cassian’s sister.
Madeline stopped in her tracks after finding Cassian inside, and to her surprise, he was asleep on the king-sized mattress.
"When did he return??" Madeline blinked in bafflement. She didn’t even see him enter through the main door, or are there more than one ways to enter the mansion? Judging from the size, it was possible that there would be more than one way to the mansion.
"He’s asleep?" Moving closer, Madeline wanted to tap him awake, but she instinctively stopped herself since it would disrupt his sleep.
Has he eaten yet?
She felt his forehead with her palm, already looking concerned that his temperature must have risen, but that wasn’t the case since his temperature was naturally warm.
She wasn’t worried about herself, but she was for him. Shaking her head slightly, she covered him properly with the duvet and proceeded to have her bath.
After stepping out from the sliding door in her nightwear, she went to lie on the couch at the side of the room, taking a duvet with her. She looked at the young lad who was fast asleep on the mattress and anxiously averted her gaze.
She wanted to explain to him about her disorder when he returns tonight, but since he was already asleep, she didn’t bother to disturb him. She’ll tell him about it tomorrow morning if that’s the case.
Covering herself up, she laid down to sleep.
At midnight, the already tired Cassian woke up from his slumbers when he felt incredibly thirsty. His head was currently hurting and all he wanted to do at this point was just sleep.
Unfortunately, his thirst for water wasn’t giving him that chance.
Opening his tired eyes, he looked to his right to find the space beside him empty of a certain someone. His brows knitted into a concerned frown since he expected Madeline to have returned already.
"She isn’t back yet?"
Sitting up, he glanced at the couch to find it empty of her figure as well.
"She’s not here?" He murmured to himself, rubbing the sleep of his eyes and switching on the lights on the lamp. She wasn’t on the couch like he expected, but to his quick surprise, he found Madeline heading towards the door.
"Maddie?" He called her name, but got no response from her.
Curious to know where she was going, he got out of bed to go meet her, forgetting his initial reason for waking up in the first place, but to his surprise, he found her pretty eyes closed, as though she was...
"Is she.... sleepwalking?"
He blinked in surprise, his eyes returned to her face that proved she was still asleep. He’s been hearing about sleepwalking since he was a child, but this is the first time he’s seen someone sleepwalk.
"She still looks cute while sleepwalking." He softly commented as though everything about her had piqued his interest.
Her hands were reaching to open the door when Cassian gently stopped her. Rather than bothering to wake her up, he gently turned her around and guided her back to the bed.
He helped her lie on it and tucked her back in. Her eyebrows were slanted down, and her expression looked disturbed like someone who wasn’t having a good dream.
He gently gave her head a pat like it would soothe her nerves, covering her properly before moving to take some rest beside her.
"So you sleepwalk?" He whispered. He knew she couldn’t hear him, but for strange reasons, he didn’t find her sleepwalking to be normal.