Lemon Sorbet | ✓

EP 05. BODY IN THE LIBRARY

"SO you have a dead body in your house?"

Leon nearly stopped short at how shocked he was, sputtering a little as he turned to me with a twitching smile and generously lifted eyebrows. Then did I realised he wasn't wearing his short, square glasses.

His face looked like it debated whether to laugh or sputter further.

Still staring quite ahead, I shrugged at his piercing gaze, my eyes devouring the Victorian decor instead of him. But I couldn't focus. Because right now, my childhood fantasy of seeing Castle Morning Star and all its secrets was diminished by sure-footed officers, and really the most interesting specimen in the entire bloody castle was the one walking beside me.

Or possibly, the apparent dead body in the library.

I still wasn't sure yet.

He cleared his throat.

I sighed. "Sorry, but I really don't know what else to say, and I rather feel like simple talks about the weather wouldn't cut it. Neither it is my strong suit."

He laughed lowly at my side-eye. "I guess that's mine instead of getting to the point."

"You do like toying a little," I admitted. Then turned to him in earnest. "What am I doing here, Leon? And please be honest. I feel like my soul's astral projected out of my body."

His twitching smile. "Is that a bad thing?"

I shrugged again. I'm not sure myself. I feel like I'm having an attack. Or attack is already happening. It feels like it's panic, but it can also be excitement. Panic and excitement are ridding most of my brain functions of use.

He sighed, loosening his smile a little. "Well, as you've stated, I have run into a bit of a funny story."

"A dead body?" I pressed. He nodded.

"I don't know who she is, where she came from, or why she's there but she's there, inside my library, sitting on my chair like it belongs to her. I found her myself, then called the authorities. You could say she belongs to this house." His eyes roved across the dark red walls and alabaster figures. The antiques are quite nicely put in designated areas to shine by themselves, because though the place looked overwhelming, it certainly wasn't because it was full of things; hardly. It was the atmosphere around it. The dark wallpaper, the sparse, dim lighting.

Leon shrugged. "She fits the creepy atmosphere like she has always been part of the house. Which is ironic, because Morning Star is literally another name for Lucifer. In Greco-Roman civilisation, the name was personified and considered a god, and in some versions was considered a son of Aurora, the dawn. But that's the planetary aspect. In its morning right, Lucifer. The Light Bringer."

All those facts made me blink, nearly losing my grip on the conversation as we shrugged on like this was usual. Instead, I shook my head and remembered the first question that popped into my head. "I thought this was yours?"

He shook his head. "Dramatic as I am, even I wouldn't have bought an estate that had Morning Star on the name. No, it's my grandfather's - my mother's doing really. She wanted a castle to restore to its former glory. A result of a cancophy of pearl and diamonds encrusted friends surrounding a table, I heard. And then she wanted one from a small town with a mass of land, but grandfather didn't want to get one in France because it'd be useless - she already has apartments there already, in Paris. So welcome Little Hodge, Castle Morning Star, you won the bid! A bit of irony there, isn't it? But I guess the bloody walls are part of the theme. She's bought it for sometime now, but it's my first time residing in it. Or anyone in my family for the matter."