- I know it now! I know it! I know it! I know-it! I-know-it Iknowit Iknowit!!!! HahaHA! I am Arabelle the terrifying! Fear me!!!

Arabelle came rushing in from the roofed halls. It seemed she had actually taken the time to find the meaning of Arabelle and why the name was supposed to scare; it was really important for her if she could read books by her own volition and on her own to find about it.

- So, what did you find? Why are you, oh terrifying Arabelle, giving me sooo much fear?!

I playfully answered. My sister had actually given me some quiet and peace, so I’d play along with her now. Well also because she is my little… well bigger in size but smaller in age sister and as the elder I should take care of us and that includes entertainment.

- I know you don’t actually mean that I’m not that dumb. I’m actually putting a lot of effort to surpass you and be both the strongest and the smartest! Hahaha, fear me! Oh yeah, Arabelle is a terrifying name because about three hundred years ago a ruthless elven ruler ruled roughly and rigidly in the Romperrien Empire. This Romperrien thing no longer exists. But it’s also a cute name, because before elves and humans had met, Arabelle was the name of a famous toy in big human cities.

With this new information I realized how little I actually knew. What was an Empire? How can something you ruled over no longer exist? If you claimed it its yours, so how can it be gone? My sister had actually helped me more than what I actually expected. She was on a roll today. Wait. Maybe this is an illusion made by Grum and this isn’t actually my sister, but a test by him to see if I’d tell my sister I plan to escape if she seemed smarter? I can’t really tell, but all this thinking and overthinking was making my head hurt.

- Aha, so Arabelle can mean both good and bad things. One quick question, though… Where did you get this information? I’m quite interested in this Arabelle woman. And an Empire… sounds interesting as well.

My sister thought about it for a moment before answering that I should complete my promises as the good and wise elder brother. Quite a clever girl, my sister.

So, we decided to play hide and seek by my own choice. First of all, it didn’t give my sister so much advantage physically and secondly, we could explore the house, mainly the rooms we hadn’t had access to before.

As a “punishment” for “forcing” my sister to read about Arabelle she decided that I should be the one searching first. I counted to 100 and then started searching. I decided to start with a round around the whole building through the halls and then start checking each door and the rooms inside counterclockwise.

I thought that maybe my sister would’ve taken too long to find somewhere to hide in, making it easy for me, but I could also use that time to read the signs in front of each room to start building my mental map of the place, a tip I received from David the plant.

Failing to find my sister during the roundtrip, I started trying to open the first door. “Entrance” it is called. But what would I enter if I entered it? I couldn’t find out as it was locked. Onto the next door; “Botany”. A room that I hadn’t entered yet, but if my theory of the letter “Y” proved right I could very well enter it relatively soon to learn about “Botany”. Once again it was locked and so I continued until I could finally open a door.

“Geometry”. Now, I didn’t think that my sister would enter one of these rooms normally, but in a hide and seek game, where the hiders try to outsmart the seekers, she could very well be hiding in there.

So, I entered the room and took a look around. It didn’t look anything different from how I’d normally see it, rulers and other measuring devices together in that bowl near the table where Grum usually sits, three pairs of tables with their respective chairs and other materials which were prepared in case Grum got more students.

According to him the most he has had at once is four, but, in his own words; “it never hurts to be prepared”. After failing to find my sister in all spots I could think of I went back to the hall, searching for the next room I could enter.

And so, I went around the building, entering the Physics, Chemistry and Astronomy classrooms on the way. I got to my own room first and I searched for my sister for a while, then also realized that my room was too untidy and organizing it was more fun than searching through this gigantic building for my sister. After being happy enough with how my room now looked, I continued to my sister’s room.

Grum had taught me not to enter other people’s rooms without their permission first, so I knocked the door a bit and then, after not hearing any reply, opened it and looked inside. It was my first time inside her room, and it looked quite similar to mine. Same bed, chair, closet and even the same carpet. I looked around in some places where she could’ve been hiding and found a book inside her bedside table. “Diary” it was called.

Something about days it was, then. I tried opening it, but it had a lock. I, of course, didn’t have the keys and didn’t believe that it would help me in any way knowing what was inside, so I left it where I had found it and continued my trip. After entering about two thirds of the rooms I got into the library, one of the bigger rooms in the place.

This room actually looked bigger than before. Wasn’t there a wall after the third row of bookcases? Now there were five of them. I started looking around for my sister, through each hall that was formed by the bookcases. After that I went to search near the tables, but found nothing interesting, not even the book, smart of my sister, I’d have stayed and read it if I could. Still, I could try to find it…

After a while searching for the book, I realized that it wasn’t going to be easy, rather nigh impossible, to find it on my own, so I departed from the room to search for my sister once more. But when I was going to grab the door to exit, someone else grabbed it. Instinctively I went to hide, expecting to see Grum come in, but it was my sister, to which I quickly exclaimed:

- Ha! Found you! Finally….

My sister seemed quite angered, even angrier than what she’d be if I had normally found her.

- It doesn’t count! You clearly went to the library to read books and didn’t search for me at all! We have to go again!

And after that she showed me her tongue, trying to taunt me and trying to lead me to accept her challenge. But I kept my cool and calmly answered that I had explored other rooms, such as places where we had classes, my room and hers. She didn’t believe me though, still trying to make me play again, which I obviously didn’t want, if it wasn’t clear by now. Suddenly I remembered.

- Ah…. But I do have proof that I went to your room… - My sister looked at me doubtfully - You see, I saw a certain book with a lock. I’m also curious, what’s that all about? – And suddenly she believes in me.

- Ah…ah… It doesn’t matter! Still why did you look at that?! You didn’t look inside, did you? Please tell me you didn’t…

My sister was actually quite invested in said book, which made me even more curious, but I knew that lying to her was not going to be beneficial for any of the two, so I answered with the truth… partially. I told her I had found it and then put it back, not about my attempt of opening it and finding what it was about.

- Well, you still should hide, and I should search for you, those are the rules of the game, after all… - said my sister, still insisting on us playing hide and seek.

- Ah, but I don’t want to. Look, you win. I want to read about that Arabelle and about the Romperrien Empire and other interesting things. Please. – I made puppy eyes.

My sister looked at me for a moment and accepted, but on one condition. I’d find a book that interested her before she actually told me anything and then she’d teach me. It seemed like an ok deal, finding a book with those conditions didn’t actually seem that hard… But I wanted more.

- Hmmm that doesn’t seem fair… - I lied – What if you also tell me about that book I found in your room. – I suggested, making it more interesting.

- But that would make it unfair against me! I’ll only tell you IF Grum doesn’t come back home today AND if you teach me about what you read! – She replied. My sister was getting better at discussions and deals, I wonder where she learned that from…

- What if those conditions are added, but YOU also teach me what you learn…and before I teach you. – I replied, it was about my final offer. I could also find the book myself, but if two people read at the same time, we could read more in the same time period.

- Deal!

My sister actually looked very proud of herself with the result. Can it be that this is what she wanted? No… that would be a plan too complicated for her to create on her own. More things to study. Not that I minded too much, but they were piling on.