Claude frowned. "Nor I you, Sebastian Michaelis. Won't you come in? Your aunt is currently in the living room, Lady Lillith."

Lily was confused. It was obvious that the two butlers knew each other, but how? She quickly put that out of her mind when she walked into the living room. In there, she saw her aunt drinking tea. There was also a boy sitting in a chair who looked about her age. They both looked at her. Lily's aunt got up and hugged her. "Lily! How nice it is to see you!"

"The same to you, Aunt Helen. Who is this?"

As Helen began to speak, the boy interrupted her. "I'm Alois." He made no motion to get up. He only smiled at Lily. Lily suddenly felt uneasy, but didn't show it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Lily said. Then she turned to her aunt. "Aunt Helen, may I speak to you alone?"

"Of course. I didn't expect you to just come here only to see your poor aunt."

Lily ignored the passive - aggressiveness of her statement. The two left the room. Alois followed. Lily saw him and said, "This is a private matter."

"Oh, I don't mind," Alois nonchalantly said.

"I do. Please leave us alone."

Helen agreed with Lily. "Run along, Alois. Why don't you go to the library?"

Alois huffed. "I never get to have any fun!" Then he stormed off.

In another room, Lily bluntly said, "You never told me Uncle Benjamin was shot."

Helen was taken aback by Lily's unexpected statement, but she only kept her surprised look for a moment. Calmly, she said, "It isn't important how he died."

"He either committed suicide or he was murdered."

Visibly, Lily's aunt became angry. "What right of you to go into such details? I am still grieving over his loss! Why, if it wasn't for Alois and Claude, I would have gone mad!"

Lily's serious gaze did not falter. "I believe Uncle Benjamin's death and my parents' disappearance may be connected."

"That is ridiculous! The investigation ended months ago! That was a job for the police, not a nosy brat like you!"

"Nosy, perhaps, but I would rather be nosy than apathetic. I see this conversation is going nowhere. Good day, Aunt Helen."

Lily left the room and heard a voice from the staircase. "You made Miss Helen very angry."

Lily turned toward the staircase. Alois was sitting on a step. "You're not a very good niece."

"And what are you to her?"

"Not much, really. Just an abandoned orphan that she took in. I suppose she felt sorry for me and felt that she would be seen as noble by taking in an unwanted boy."

There was a sadness in his eyes, and Lily immediately softened a bit. "I am so sorry. I did not know-"

"I don't want your pity," Alois interrupted.

"It was nice meeting you." Then Lily started walking away.

"Don't you want to know what happened to your uncle?"

Lily stopped and turned around. "Yes, of course."

"I will show you something that would be useful to you, but I want something in return."

"What?"

"Chocolates. Lots of them."

Lily smirked and nodded. "Such a humble request. You can have as many as you want."

Alois stood up and slid down the staircase. "Come follow me."

Lily followed him to the basement door. She hesitated. "What's wrong? Are you a chicken?" Alois teased.

"That, I am not. Let's go."

The two went down to the basement. Alois walked to a wall, and Lily watched, patiently. He pushed a stone, and part of the wall moved. "Ladies first," Alois said, stepping aside.

"How gentlemanly of you," Lily said, sarcastically. She entered first. Alois followed.

"Just walk straight ahead until you get to another wall. Then turn left."

Lily went straight, but she stopped when it became too quiet. She turned around. "Alois?"

There was no response.

"Damn! He left me here! That dirty…" She took a deep breath and continued on. She wasn't going to stop now. She approached a wall and turned left. There, she entered a dead end that was filled with boxes. She opened them and saw that they were filled with books. Skimming through them, she discovered that most of them were her uncle's diaries. The others looked like black magic books filled with spells.

Before Lily could read any of them, she heard yelling and screaming from above. She ran to the entry of the secret passage; luckily, it was still open. She ran up the stairs out of the basement, and she entered into a nightmare.

The mansion was going up in flames.