“Hi Luke. Hi, Mrs. Bright." Rei greeted Luke and Ulfa who were sitting on the terrace of her house in a friendly manner. He was wearing a white pajama suit and furry sandals that looked warm.
“Hello, Fauns daughter. You woke up early too, huh,” said Ulfa.
“Her name is Rei, Ulfa. Rei Suzurao." Hurriedly, Luke whispered to Ulfa to tell Rei's name. Worried that Rei would be offended. But, apparently Rei is a girl with a big heart and patient. He smiled widely and let them in.
"It must be cold outside, Mrs. Bright. Come on in please. I'll make a cup of tea for you and make some hot soup."
Rei slightly stepped aside to make way for the two of them. Secretly, Luke surveyed the inside of the house. This was not a flashy, palace-like mansion, but a simple home with a strong and calming old European feel. Being in here, makes Luke feel like he's in the 16th century. The smell of hay and oats is quite even, but that doesn't make him sick. In the middle of the room, there is a wide and large staircase with two arms that still lead to the right and left. Then, in another room, there is a fireplace that looks like it just went out. The distinctive sound of burning wood tickled his ears.
"Through this way."
Rei turned into the corridor behind the stairs and he opened the second door on the left, so there was the kitchen. This is also great. Instead of a conventional kitchen like those at Luke's or Amy's, the kitchen at the Fauns' house is really, really old school… er, I mean vintage. Because, it was a large room with a stove and chimney, and cooking utensils from ancient times. The walls are still plain brick without any stucco and are quite thick. Rei said, this thick wall prevented bad events, like if there was a sudden fire, then this wall would prevent it from spreading out too fast. Then the window; there are three large windows in a row that face the backyard. Then there is also a small hole underground which is closed by a wooden plank. Rei said, that hole is a place for Herr Fauns to store his favorite wine.
Well, of all the antique and ancient furniture in the kitchen, luckily the Fauns were aware that they had lived in modern times so Luke could see the gas stove there, even though, yeah, the style was pretty old too.
“The actual dining room is in the next room, but it's only useful if Mom and Dad's extended family come. Most of the time, we eat here overlooking the plantations. Would you mind if we eat here, Mrs. Bright?" Rei said while handing two Chamomile tea cups in front of them.
“Of course it's fine. Precisely from here I can see a good view of the sunrise,” said Ulfa while sipping her tea and looking at the horizon outside where, in fact, the sky was still dark blue.
"Okay. If so, I made some hot soup for you—”
Luke rushed to his feet and approached Rei.
“I'll help. By the way, you said someone was in charge of cooking at your house, right? Why don't you just call him?"
"Of course. But she lived in a neighborhood that was a bit far away and would only come during the day to cook lunch and dinner. She also does occasional cleaning work. So for breakfast, I or Mom will often make it.”
He prepared the ingredients to make a somewhat unusual soup.
“I will cook miso soup. That's the breakfast Okaasan used to make when I was little," Rei said softly.
“Okasan? Who's he?"
“Okaasan means mother. My real mom .”
"Ah... ah, that's how it looks."
Wow, Luke felt really awkward at that time. Yeah, he felt that no matter how good the Fauns were to Rei, this child must still miss his biological parents. So, then He didn't say anything else.
The soup was finished shortly thereafter and they had breakfast in the early hours of half past five. The sky was still dark when Luke took a sip of the warm soup making him forget about the bad day that happened yesterday. Luke's burden seemed to be lifted for a moment. It's relaxing.
Several horses were heard neighing.
"I think the caretaker will be coming soon," Rei said, "You know, we can't take care of the animals alone because Dad and Mom are already busy with plantation business."
Then they chatted until the sky was reddish with a glimmer of light on the eastern horizon. And from upstairs, Luke could hear footsteps opening the door, walking, going down the stairs, then this way. So he chuckled, "Looks like your parents are awake, Kit, and they're on their way here."
For some reason, the response Luke got was a bit awkward. Both Ulfa and Rei immediately stopped talking and looked at Luke at the same time with a look that… I don't know, it was a bit of a strange look for Luke.
Ulfa asked to confirm. "How did you know, honey?"
“See, the sound of them walking is audible. Ah… it looks like they are turning this way.”
Rei also replied with a smile, "Ah, like the walls of this house aren't thick enough for your ears, huh, Luke."
Luke just chuckled at the joke. And sure enough, two people who were none other than Herr and Frau Fauns appeared in the doorway. They were still wearing blue and pink pajamas and matching colored sandals which looked very warm.
“Oh, son. Are you awake?"
"Yes, ever since, Dad ."
"There are guests apparently. Morgan , Mrs. Bright and her granddaughter .” Frau Fauns greeted in a flat and cold voice.
"Morning too, Frau Fauns."
The two Fauns were also sitting on the chairs with them, meanwhile Rei quickly stood up to prepare two more cups of tea for the two adoptive parents. Frau Fauns drank it immediately and then smiled at Rei.
“ Danke, meine Tochther. Der ist lecker —Thank you, son. The tea is delicious," he said quietly in German.
“I'm sorry we visited so early, Frau Fauns. Me and Luke were going for a walk this morning, actually."
Luke also replied to Ulfa's words, “Yes. And on the way earlier, we happened to see a white fox. Ulfa said it was your family pet, so we brought it back here.”
Again, unusual behavior ambushed this kitchen space. Herr and Frau Fauns, stopped drinking and looked at Luke, then glanced at Rei.
"White fox?"
"Yes. By the way, Herr Fauns, how did you get a white fox with a tail like that?"
A moment's silence, before Herr Fauns replied, “That… I got it when I was at—”
“So, Kitame ran away again, eh?” Frau Fauns asked Rei, cutting off the conversation.
"It doesn't look like he's running away," Ulfa replied with a chuckle, "I think he just wants to take a walk."
“That's right,” said Herr Fauns. "Maybe the cage is too ugly that he doesn't like it."
"Not bad, really, Dad, " said Rei. “No need to worry, Kitame won't be running away at night anymore. Sorry."
Rei's cheeks reddened temporarily. Then, they forgot about the conversation and talked to each other until the sun had really come out. Some of the workers in charge of taking care of the garden and livestock have also come. Ulfa chatted with Herr and Frau Fauns, while Luke chatted with Rei. it's so fun like this, especially since Rei didn't talk about the incident at school at all so that Luke almost forgot about it. But unfortunately, not long ago, Luke had to return to the fact that Luke's current position was that of a suspect who was free from surveillance.
It happened when Luke and Ulfa decided to go home after it was half past seven. Walked into the house happily and agreed to Ulfa's idea for an early morning walk. Then when they were only halfway there Luke heard a commotion. One of them is the sound of Ben screaming.
"Ulfa, let's hurry home."
"What do you think we are doing now, son?" said Ulfa so casually.
"That's not what I mean. I thought, I heard Ben's voice and he doesn't seem very nice."
"What do you mean?"
“ I don't know ,” Luke shrugged sarcastically, “but it sounded like he was having an argument with someone. Let's go home first, Ulfa."
the two of them jogged, however Ulfa was old so Luke had to keep pace. But on the way, he could hear Ben's voice more and more clearly, even though he didn't know what he was saying. What is certain is that there are familiar female voices and the voices of several men. Also woodcuts.
And so, when they got home, that's what Luke saw; Mrs. Bowleans who was messing up the living room and got into an argument with Ben about him thinking Ben was trying to hide Luke's whereabouts. Mrs. The Bowleans also brought several men as shields to threaten Ben. Then as soon as he saw Luke coming he pointed at the boy with an angry exclamation.
"Here he is! The killer! You! This time there is no mercy anymore! I'm really going to put you in jail!”
Oh… shit.
***