Carole laid down in her bed for the rest of that day, and even the day after that. Even whilst she worked with her students, the cogs in her head were still turning and spinning. All to find both a reason, an answer, or even a clearer explanation of her situation.

What was she supposed to do?

Was this just a bluff? Should she just tell him to screw off?

She can always reveal his intentions to others and get herself off the hook. She was a respectable staff member, after all.

But would that make her someone who was complacent in what was just slavery?

Maybe it did not matter after all. She was already complacent in…

Best not think of that…

He could bring her actions up to as many as feasibly possible.

Despite his status, who would allow someone with her level and background of sketchiness around their kids after this?

What if Hildmire betrays her as soon as they met their little goal?

What if this whole thing is a trap?

What if-

She snapped back to reality by the sudden annoying jingle from her cell. She leaned back into her chair, rubbing the temple of her forehead as she answered her device, without even checking the name of the caller.

“Hello..” she managed out

“..... Carole?” that familiar, slightly congested voice rang out back to her. Carole instantly recognized the voice as she sat up and debated whether to get out of this the cowardly way by playing possum.

She was currently not in a good headspace to deal with this right now. However, despite her reluctance, she spoke back to the voice on the phone.

“Lucky... why are you calling me?” That was a name Carole thought would never come out of her mouth for a while but as soon as she did the voice on the other end did a little squeak of joy and let out that wheezing laugh that even now gave her a warm feeling in her chest.

“You’re… you’re okay?…”

It has only been two years.

“What. Do. You. Want,” Carole emphasized every word. This person would not be calling her right now unless it was important. She was not this cheerful the last time they talked.

Probably moved on by now haven’t she…

There was a pause after her question. Carole then deliberated hanging up the phone and moving on with her day. Even when a part of her wanted to stay on the phone and vomit out every stressful thing that has been happening over the past month. But thankfully before that thought could consume her, that wheezing voice came back on.

“You work at Asbjorn… manor specifically, right?”

Was this girl stalking her now... that’s… flat-

“Why do you care?” before she could finish that thought.

“Have you ever heard about the cult of flesh and blood?”

Okay, this was… arbitrary. Of all the things to call someone that you have moved on from and want nothing to do with, why talk about conspiracy theories?

“Yes, a baby-eating cult who lives underground,” Carole rolled her eyes. That group, as far as she knows, exists, but damn she had heard enough conspiracies theories from her old drug up cohorts already.

“Hm, I see..”

“Luc-,” Carole grit her teeth and tried her best to avoid raising her voice, “Emilia… What. Do. You. Want?”

“It's heavily based on the one goddess, two servants belief and... Carole, I don’t have a lot of time right now to explain... for your own sake, but if you ever get the chance to leave... I would find a better job position... outside of this hell hole….”

Carole could not believe this, Lucky...

Lucky was probably genuine... but Carole knew accepting anything from her, be it kindness, or comfort led to her dancing that razor-thin line. Plus… Carole can hear the hesitation in her voice… She… She didn’t want to call her in the first place… didn’t she...

“... Is that all you called me for?” Carole asked, giving the general aura of apathy.

The voice on the other end's cheery tone deflated, “Well... um... Carole... please stay safe... Alright…”

“I will, I will, I can take care of myself, I’m an adult,” Carole was already about to end the call before Lucky uttered those words back at her.

“Okay, bye...”

Like that the call ended and all Carole could do was sit with her head in her hands trying to ignore any emotion that may have been bubbling up. Force it all backdown and bottle them up.

The feeling of rot once again returned, replacing a regrettable and missed warmth.

She was not having a good morning.

Carole, still with conflicting emotions and thoughts running through her mind, waited outside the office Hide had shown her via text.

How did he even get her number in the first place?

Sadly, that was the least of her worries. Should she pretend there was not any deal and just call out Hide’s bluff?

As awful and sick as it was, at the end of the day, he was just a simple beast-man. Her word in any justice system would weigh more than his. She could say everything he had just said was a lie and get off scot-free. It would be so easy, awful, and underhanded, but so was he.

However... this place... keeping what is more or less a slave in their home, a slave to lobotomize and make into those odd… things was something that made her pause.

It was not right.

Creatures, that... seem so… offputting. Just something about them she could not put her finger on. They too seemed oddly familar.

This place is giving her a migrane, and to think her main worry was being preached to so she can turn away from her athetist ways.

People are strange and she rarely understood them, but this household, especially after that night, made her question how human these people are.

Not in the sense of morality like the former teacher she lived with. Although with the help of Lucky she knows he bled like any other human. But these people… are they even physically human?

“Can I help you? Or are you just going to waste time loitering?” said a familiar haughty voice. Carole was a bit startled at how fast this was going. She thus as calmly as she could crane her head to the direction of the voice, revealing it came from the usually sour Cherly.

“More the former,” she replied, she observed Cherly and noticed apart from his gaudy amount of jewellery on his body, he was wearing a simple white button-up blouse and brown trousers with heeled black boots that added a bit of height, allowing him to somehow look even more down at her.

Cherly grumbled, “If it's about Enoch’s behaviour, save it, he has been doing his work in his free time as of now. You don’t need to-”

“That is not what I need help with,” She said, trying to think of a good reason on the spot.

Cherly rubbed the temple of his forehead as if this very conversation was giving him a migraine.

“Then stop delaying and say it, Already”

“I… got a bag of mine, mixed up with the person who owns this office,” She thought about it some more and the lie came out as easily as any pure truth, “I just want access to know if it’s there or I have made a mistake. Of Course, I would want some supervision.”

Cherly groaned with annoyance. Although Carole knew having him around would make opening and getting the key difficult, she, strangely enough, had a second lie to say to help her out. She could say she got the key from a member of staff here who wants to get her this access card.

Play up the spacy girl impression people have of her.

If the kids of this estate are as ignorant as Hide claims, then that would make her lies easier to slip by them all. They know little of the importance of such things.

“Of course you did, why am I not surprised,” he grumbled taking out a key, “Just be grateful Auntie gave me a spare key or I would have left you out here.”

“I am so honoured,” Carole said dryly.

Just as the door unlocked, Cherly stopped in his tracks by a pair of arms wrapping around his chest in a bear hug, much to the man’s apparent surprise and embarrassment.

“Louie! what the hell!” He shouted with cheeks red.

Loukas stood behind the man with a big cheery smile on his face, “Sorry about that, but I was just stopping by and I couldn’t help myself”

Although Cherly glared at Loukas from the front, that did not stop him from having a smile tug at his lips nor the amusement in his tone.

“I was trying to help the angel girl with her lost stuff, like a true gentleman. She’s being an annoyance” He emphasized the last part full of jest as he shook and escaped from Loukas’ grip.

Loukas turned to her as his eyes lit up with familiarity. He then turned to Cherly and said, “If it’s not too much trouble, maybe I can supervise her when she looks around in Auntie’s office.”

Cherly looked somewhat relieved at his offer, as he did not seem to want anything to do with her.

Snobby boy...

“Fine, Fine you take care of it, just make sure she does nothing funny or steal,” and with a surprising amount of acceptance, Cherly turned around without a second thought and walked away.

It was not like Carole would prefer him breathing down her neck as she searched. In fact, despite her limited interactions with Loukas, she felt he would be less of a pain to slip from.

He did not seem very...bright and was a bit spacy.

It was rather interesting to see how trusting the brothers were with each other, despite their obvious differences.

As soon as Cherly was out of site Loukas then turned to her, twirling the oddly shaped pendant in his hand, and asked, “So what are you looking for?”

“Just my bag I left in there, I think there was a mix-up,”

“Hmm.”

Instead of what she expected, a swift “alright, then” and him opening the door without a second thought, he was more looking at her with a questioning look on his face. Carole gripped the head of her cane tightly.

Does he know?

Was her impressions of him false and this was just an act?

Maybe he's in on this or maybe saw through her lie and is trying to think of a way to report it. Maybe…

That questioning look disappeared as he gave her his usual laid back smiles and let out a light laugh.

“I guess even teachers make mistakes sometimes.” He turned the door handle and entered the room, waggling his finger at her to follow inside.

Carole let out a sigh of relief as she let herself relax following into the room.

The office was a stuffy, small space filled with clutter, from papers to pens to entire binders, all of which litters the floors and the desk. The walls were similarly overbearing but differently, bookshelves for walls that gave one an even greater feeling of smallness. The shelves were packed with books, a few of which were in a language she understood, and even then those few were in Latin.

Finally finishing the room was several pictures of religious iconagraphy and pictures even a small mat of worship. Brilliant.

Carole was at this point was surpirse Loukas and her students so far were not as uptight about this than she would have suspected. A small statue of a dog stood in the middle of the desk acting as a paperweight completing the room.

Carole was almost knocked off her feet by the overpowering messy aura of the place. It was giving her a headache, and she only wanted to get the key and get out. She thus did a mock search around the room, pretending to look for ‘her bag’ occasionally giving a glance at Loukas. The boy was not even focused on her and more on looking for said item himself.

What a gentle man that guy was.

She could have simply stolen the key right under his nose, but she did not want to risk getting caught and look more suspicious.

Thus she cleared her throat and said in her usual inflectionless voice, “Looks like it’s not even here… what a waste,” she let out a faux sigh as she passed her hand through her messy hair, looking as if caught off guard. “Oh yeah, almost forgot a staff member gave me this key so I can get an access card for the-”

Click

The door was swiftly closed by Loukas stopping her fake explanation. He was still holding the door handle and an oddly sadden expression.

Her blood ran cold.

“Loukas... why did you close the door?”

Loukas nervously twirled the pendant in his hand as he bit his lower lip and finally said.

“Carole... I know you’re lying, I.. I can tell. S-sorry.”

This is the furthest thing from good. Her mind was going through a million actions she could take to get out of this mess. The paranoia about Loukas crept in. If he's the heir... what if he’s in on it too?

It made sense. Why Hide assumed he wasn't? probably that good of an actor. Probably was planning on turning her into one of those creatures to keep quiet. Damn it, why did she even go through with this? Why did she even take this job?

“Lying about what?” she asked with her usual monotone as her hand was slowly reaching for the small sharp pocket knife. A comfort item despite, or better yet, because of the memories associated with it.

Loukas did not, however, seem to take on threatening mannerisms as his sharp teeth bite the tip of his thumb. He just seemed anxious.

“About the reason, you came here, you want to get the collar off Hildmire, right?” He asked, “The goat beast-kin, right.”

Carole’s gloved fingers wrapped themselves around the handle of the pocketknife, still ready for anything that may go wrong.

“You know about that?” she asked, not wanting to as yet confirm or deny the question.

Loukas stiffly nodded his head as he still bit into his thumb, “Yeah... I always knew some of my relatives were messed up... but to own a person out of the blue…”

“How long have you-”

“Look,” Loukas folded his arms as he looked to the side biting his lower lip, “Hide-I mean, Hildmire, only came to the main manor last year. I think he was transferred from one of my cousin’s businesses...money lending… I don’t know much but I can only assume its debt related. I saw that collar and... assumed the worst. He also has been asking me... very specific questions regarding keys and locations so...”

He bent his head down as he more or less glared at the ground mumbling, “Why this doesn’t surprise me… disgusting”

He then looked back at Carole and said, “Just take what you need and I would make sure if anything goes wrong to fix it up.”

Carole’s grip on the weapon loosened as he caught her off guard by his offer to help them.

“Excuse me?” she replied

“I mean my word, despite everything, holds a lot of weight, I can just say things like I took it and lost it or-”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Why are you are doing this? Are you and Hide friends or-”

Loukas shakes his head, still rolling around the pendant in his hand, “No no not all, more I-I think we're more positive a-acquaintances I hope. I mean I wouldn't mind if we were friends. I would really like that but...but I think we should not treat others like this... it's awful. Who does such a thing to another person? Being in debt is no reason to take away another’s freedom, I mean.”

He, dispite his stuttering, sounded genuine. His eyes held a soft aura to them as he spoke with honest disgust about the situation. Carole, as much as she tried to look for an easy twitch or signal of a lie. Even with her paranoia, she could not see him as a liar regarding his feelings.

Loukas was a sweetheart.

A soft... naive guy...

That led to Carole asking herself, if he was genuine, how can they have the future head be so...

ignorant?

Carole then without another word opened the drawer and grabbed the access card from the desk.

Loukas then opened up the door, letting her back out into the hallways.

“Thank you for your time,” she said, placing the card into her pocket whilst Loukas brushes a lock of hair from his eye.

“Your welcome, um... Once he gets out of here, call me or um...” He looked away pursing his lips.

“For what reason,” she said, looking at him with suspicion.

“I just want to make sure that it was a success,” scratches back his head sheepishly, “It would get kinda suspicious if I just hung around you guy. It's just to make sure you know…”

“I see.”

Loukas still looked somewhat nervous as he pulled out his phone, and then it occurred to her the reason for his awkwardness.

“So to make sure I-I... um... kinda need to have your number or something. I already got Hide’s but…”

Carole snorted, catching Loukas by surprise, “Don’t tell me… you were like this with Hide when asking for numbers ... he would eat you alive.”

Loukas had a slight blush at her remark, more or less confirming her statement.

“Ahem, I’m just… not used to asking for numbers.” He said while he gave her his whilst she gave her own. For convenience's sake, she also got Hide’s along with it to make sure the number that texted her was his and not from some random stranger's.

“I thought you had the experience. From the rumours... I heard you had at least a different lady friend to warm your bedside every night… I’m not exactly interested in that kinda thing too much...…... If you’re wondering,” Maybe it was his genuine attitude or how easily flustered he got. She could not help but feel light-hearted herself around him. It was an odd thing.

As expected, his face grew red with embarrassment as he bit his lip. Carole knew those rumours were not true by this point, but it was... mildly amusing.

“N-no, of course not, I have no clue why anyone still says that, And I w-wasn’t. I mean,” he stammers.

“So... It’s exclusively other men instead?” still in the same flat manner.

He somehow got even redder, “O-of course not, I never roll that way, I mean,” there was something very unconvincing in his voice.

“I…,” he shakes his head and folds his arms and mutters, “Ironically, that’s one of the nicer rumours..”

There was little light-heartedness in his tone right now, Carole gave him a curious look and ask, “Why do you think they say these things about you, especially soon you would kinda be their boss right?”

Loukas said a very hollow, “yes... I would in a way.”

He closed his eyes and continued, “It’s not their fault it's I think coming from my relatives... I’m not what can you call… popular with them… at all”

“Ah, I see”

“Yeah, always assuming the worst”

Carole wondered, is this a normal occurrence here for him?

The other Asbjorn siblings seemed to have a lot of freedom to go wherever they want and do whatever they want within reason. However, there was an overall sense of apathy towards the siblings. Like they did not matter.

Loukas, however, had something else directed at him, but she could not quite put her finger on it. This whole situation seemed strange to her.

“Then I guess I would… um… see you around.”

“Perhaps.”

“Cool, um... have a nice day, Miss-”

“You can just call me Carole, no need for formalities right now.”

Loukas gave a relaxed smile, “Okay, see you around Carole”

With that, he turned around and went on his way.

Carole had expected many things from today. Not one of them was a positive interaction with someone, much less the oldest Asbjorn sibling.

However, her phone brought her back to reality, to the crucial point of her thievery.

Now that she had Hide’s number, she didn’t have to wait for his assigned time or location. She then sent a simple text of "Its Carole, I got it" and then placed the phone back into her pocket and made her way back to her room.

By the time she came back, Carole had already received another text from Hide’s number with the reply, “Met me @ liberry @ 3 am ;) "

Carole after her reading of the man’s message laid herself down upon her bed staring up at the ceiling.

She was feeling so many things, tidal waves of emotions that left her ironically unable to feel much of anything. Even the unfortunately familiar feeling of rot that came barely felt by her.

Carole closed her eyes and tried to feel even less.