Music Recommendation: Mary's Nightmare- Amelia Warner
A few days later, young Noah walked the corridors of his mansion after he was done with Mr. Wheeler's classes in his study room. The servants and maids he passed by were quick to stop walking and bow at him until he left their sight before continuing their work.
He met the butler, who informed him with a poise stance and expression, "Master Noah, snacks have been prepared for you in the dining room."
Noah stared at the butler and said, "I am not hungry."
"Mr. Sullivan insisted that you eat and don't miss your meals," the butler informed him, his eyes sharply looking at the young boy.
"You can give it to him then," Noah replied before walking towards the mansion's entrance.
"Master Noah, you have been forbidden from stepping out of the mansion's property," the butler reminded him.
"I know," said the young boy before stepping into the garden. But he didn't stand there to enjoy the greenery. Instead, he walked around the mansion before coming to the stable, which was located behind the mansion.
Letting out his pet wolf from its kennel, he played with it before feeding and spending time with it. Minutes passed when he heard a carriage being pulled and prepared. It was a carriage that didn't belong to his parents or uncle when he noticed a woman's dress and feet below the carriage that moved above the ground.
As the young boy sat on the other side, he couldn't see the person but soon the carriage door closed, and the coachman drove the carriage away from the mansion.
Putting his pet back into its kennel, a young boy returned to the mansion and made his way through the corridors. Seeing the butler, he questioned, "Who visited the mansion?"
The butler only stared at him, not replying to him.
"Noah," Uncle James called him from behind, and the young boy turned to look at the man. "Did you finish your time with Mr. Wheeler?" The boy nodded before repeating his question,
"Who was the person who left in the carriage?"
"It was an acquaintance of mine. Unfortunately, time was short and she couldn't stay back. But she will be visiting us tomorrow," Uncle James smiled at him while the boy stared at him. Once the boy left, the man said to the butler, "Make sure that Wheeler gives him enough to study so that he's occupied for the next days. I will need you to time and keep an eye on him. Wouldn't want brother to be disappointed in him more than he already is."
The butler bowed, "Consider it to be done, Sire."
The next day, as ordered, a young Noah was given subjects and courses to finish. The boy did as he was told, but at the same time, he didn't miss the way the butler kept an eye on him. As if guarding him against a threat, but that didn't feel right to the young boy either.
The following afternoon, when the young boy decided to take a break, he went to his uncle to ask for his permission to leave the mansion grounds for ten minutes. But when he reached the front of the room, he heard grunts and moans.
The young boy frowned, and after staring for a second more, he turned around and made his way to the stables again. But while walking past the servant's quarters, Noah noticed something gold-like inside one of the rooms. He stepped backwards before his eyes fell on a little girl.
Having never seen the girl before, he wondered if it was a servant's child, not that he could remember. He watched her play with a cloth-like doll, moving it on the ground while talking to it. He noticed how the little girl looked happy with something so simple.
Noah stood by the window with a blank expression, watching the unknown girl play while wondering if there would be a day if he would be able to feel the same satisfaction as she did even though he had everything. Sometimes even the best wasn't enough in his family, as there were too many expectations of him.
When night arrived, Noah was walking on the quieter side of the mansion when he heard a slight commotion in one of the guest rooms. He walked into the corners and entered another room attached to where Uncle James was fighting with a woman.
He heard the butler say to his uncle, "Sire! I saw it with my own eyes. The little girl's skin shimmered like a diamond!"
"Where is your daughter, Becca?" His uncle questioned the woman. The woman had fear in her eyes and denied whatever the man asked. "If you don't know, I have no further use of you. It is unfortunate that we have to part ways like this," he said, running his hands into the woman's stomach.
Young Noah's eyes widened, confused as to what was going on. He noticed blood dripping from the woman's stomach, but suddenly he heard his uncle cry in pain before the woman ran out of the room with her daughter, who had been hiding a minute ago.
His uncle bled from one of his eyes, and he appeared furious when the butler returned.
During that time, the young boy followed the mother and the daughter with his eyes by moving closer to the railings. He noticed them climbing down the stairs, and the little girl turned around to look in his direction, but the place he stood was dark.
Soon his uncle and the butler ran after them.
Grasping what was going on, after the initial shock of what his uncle did to the woman and what was going to happen, he ran down the stairs. But it was late when he stepped outside the mansion, and his uncle had his hands through the woman's chest.
Most of the men went after the little girl.
"What did you do..." The young boy whispered in shock, watching someone die before him. "You killed someone!" he shouted.
His uncle turned to look at him, with one of his eyes bleeding, and said, "She damaged my eye. She knew she had to settle with me about it."
The young boy's eyes were wide in horror, and he shook his head, "Father and mother will know about it. What you did today."
The man walked towards him, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Don't be in such a haste, Noah. Do you think they will support a family member who saved your father? Or a nameless woman?" He smiled before saying, "It would be better to be smart and keep this within the family."
"You killed her," the boy whispered, watching the woman's body on the ground. Noticing a tremor running down the dead body, his eyebrows furrowed. Did the dead body just move?
Uncle James obstructed his gaze and tightened the grip on his shoulders, and he said,
"This is what happens when you try to go against the Sullivans. She would have sullied our names. Your father's name," the man lied, "In the future you will know, there are important and difficult situations that you need to decide. Family comes first and we keep each other's secrets."
And a young Noah at that time believed his family member.
But as years came to pass, Noah's thoughts changed, and he realised the wrong that had been committed. Though he had killed people, the murder of the woman he had witnessed at the back of his mansion years ago was the one that weighed heavily with guilt.
