BLOODY LOVE'S
Episode 123

Jose managed to slide into the third floor after prying one of the locked windows. There was no one on the third floor. All the servants are on the first floor. But Jose can not eliminate the discomfort that surrounds him. It feels as if it is being watched. But every time he turned to make sure, there was nothing behind him.

Jose still poults on this castle floor plan. He stepped cautiously in the corridor covered in red velvet carpet. This carpet disguises the sound of the treads of his shoes, but it will also dampen the voices of others, so Jose remains as alert as possible. Sometimes he looked around, making sure his position was safe. In his head was already composed what reason he would use if caught. He could tell that he wanted to go to the toilet and got lost. He can pretend to be drunk and admit to being on the wrong path.

The end of the corridor is divided into two branches. To the left will go to the guest rooms and the library while to the right will take him to the spacious room that leads to the master room. Jose stopped stepping a few meters before the intersection. He touched his own chest, which just felt hot.

The heat was not coming from inside but from outside, it felt like there was hot metal clinging to his skin.

At first Jose wanted to ignore that, but then he decided to check. His fingers touched the tux he was wearing. His finger touched something hard on his chest.

Uh.

Jose just remembered he draped his mysterious medallion since noon. Rolan was so worried that the medallion would invite supernatural beings, but Jose was skeptical. But because he did not want it to disappear, he draped it and hid it behind a shirt. Now, the eyes of the medallion necklace were hot. He looked down, felt his necklace from behind his clothes. Real hot.

"What are you doing here?"

Jose almost jumped in shock. When he lifted his face, his black eyes were fixed directly with Mary's clear blue eyes. The girl was in front of him, staring with a curious look. "What are you doing here?" reworked.

Jose opened his mouth in confusion. Maria is one step closer. Her white dress gently rippled across the carpet. Maria shakes her head, her eyes still staring curiously. "Hey, hey, what are you doing here?"

As soon as he heard the question for the third time, Jose only realized. The woman in front of him was not Mary.

***

Marco and Nolan finally reached the ground floor. The room is in a circle. The walls are curved shut them. There was only one door there, but it was sealed shut. There is no window.

Marco surrounded the room in curiosity. This place has good air ventilation. The stone walls keep the room temperature so that it is not stuffy. Marco guessed, they were now at the base of the chapel castle tower. The castle chapel has two towers, one on the west side and one on the east. The eastern one contains rooms to relax Duke Ashington while the western one is topped with bells for religious purposes. The roof is made open so that the sound of bells sounds loud.

When Marco and Nolan spoke earlier, the voices of the two echoed in a typical kind of vaulted space echo. Marco guessed they must be in the east tower. And if they're in the east, then their prison just now isn't underground. It's probably on the first floor, behind the castle. To get to ground level, they have to go up again.

As Marco examined the door without a knob attached to the wall, Nolan locked his gaze onto the stone staircase where they had descended, beware that the secret door had opened again and that a bad man had descended.

Marco pressed his ear against the door trying to listen. There's no sound whatsoever.

"How about it getting broken?" nolan Plan is slow.

Marco shakes. The owner of this castle likes tricks. Breaking down the door might even bring disaster. The door in front of them had no handle, nor was there any rail to shift. There may be another mechanism. Maybe that door wasn't even a way out.

Marco fingered the wall, looking for a lever or knob. Nolan was behind him, modeled what he did—croping the wall, pressing, searching, but in the spot that Marco missed.

"Marco," call Nolan slowly.

The voice of others will rise so high when angry, but Marco always lowers his voice a few octaves so that what is heard is a heavy sound that like coming from the bottom of the earth.

"Your name is Marco Argent, right?" reply Nolan astonished.

"Master," Marco's correction ferociously. "Mr Argent!"

He was patient enough every time Nolan kau-kau with him, he tried to tolerate considering the girl was from a slum that did not know the custom. Yet calling her first name without any frills was clearly an insult. He walked up to Nolan in a cold rage, ready to cling to the boy's head and cry. "It's good that we're stuck here. I'll teach you some manners, you should thank Marquis Argent for teaching you!"

Nolan hid his ignorant smile and put on a regretful expression. "Of course, it doesn't matter. Look at my feet."

Marco moved the oil lamp he brought to light the floor. The surface of the room is covered with black and white tiles like a chess board, each box has a side of thirty inches. Both of Nolan's legs stood on the same black box. The tegel went five inches deep.

"What do you think this is?" nolan asked, knowing that what he found must have been interesting to Marco and that the man would be able to solve.

Marco lifted his lamp higher, making the beam reach a wider place. "Wait there!" his orders while walking hastily to one of the walls of the room, then walked straight to the side of the opposite wall while calculating the distance. Nolan observes how Marco looks like a firefly being hunted by something.

After counting again from the other side, Marco returned to Nolan's side and observed the black box. "Try to get out" he said.

Nolan stepped aside obediently, and slowly the tile returned to its original level. Marco tracked it with one foot, but there was no change. Then he stood with both feet on the tile, and as he expected: the tile shifted down.

"The code isn't on the wall" Marco nodded in satisfaction. "Good find. There, find another floor you can step down."

Nolan grimaces. "What about his manners lesson?"

He was actually just being ridiculed, but Marco remembered the incident just now. Marco turned sternly and reached out suddenly, making Nolan gasp in shock. The girl closed her eyes and closed her lips, thinking she would be beaten.

But Marco only patted Nolan's head twice quietly, a gesture that was almost like a swipe instead of a pat. "Later," he said seriously. "When we're back in North Bjork, I'll definitely educate you until you'll wish I had better leave you here alone now."

Nolan opened his eyes and blinked slowly. He rubbed his blond curls that had just been rubbed. For a few seconds, he stayed in place. Nolan raised his face to say something, but then immediately canceled it. Marco was already walking away from him, busy researching the floor. Oil lamps are placed on the floor so that the rays illuminate them fairly.

"If ..." Nolan said slowly. He spoke in a soft voice, but since the room was empty and there were only the two of them there, his voice sounded quite loud. He crumpled his fingers in the sleeves of the coat. "If I find something good .. will it help you?"

"That will help us," Marco corrected without turning his head. He guessed the girl must have been terrified by now that he had brought up the matter of leaving Nolan alone here. "You know what's gonna help me? If you're being polite!"

That's not what Nolan wants to hear. But the girl shook her head softly and patted her cheeks, trying to strengthen herself.

I must be just confused, he thought, holding back the emotions that were currently swirling in his chest. The important thing now is to get out of here. Don't think about anything else, Nolan!