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There was a stone bench around the fountain pool… that is, initially it was one. An angel stood on a raised platform in the circular pool. The small pool resembled a cup, the edges of which were made in the form of a bench.
The windows in the room were glass, painted with medieval subjects. Under the windows were niches in the medieval style of stone, where flowers in pots grew… most of which had wilted.
It was evident the countess left the flowers to wither, but many of them survived because there was condensation on their leaves! Amazing, that the evaporation of water saved them! They drank through their leaves. “Wow! Why make a fountain here? I’ve never seen anything like it!” I was impressed.
“Yes, this is the strangest castle I’ve seen lately.” Anton was no less shocked. “But where did this fog come from? How is this even possible, given the laws of physics? I do not understand.”
“And why did the owners plant flowers here… to then leave them?” I continued my husband’s reasoning.
“I don’t understand anything. So, the owners still lived here for a while, after which they closed the tower,” Anton thought out loud.
“We have to ask the count about it.”
“Don’t even think about it! I’ll have to tell him how we got here!”
My husband was getting angry. I didn’t waste time arguing because evening was approaching, and I wanted to take a closer look at the “attic.”
The frescoed windows around the outer wall of the room overlooked the outer wall of the castle just beyond the circular corridor surrounding this center room. The corridor had a floor of rotten planks. From the outer wall of the corridor was a stunning view: well-groomed and beautiful fields, hills, and a village. The room in the center was dark since sunlight hardly penetrated it. The ancient frescoes on the windows prevented the sun’s rays from illuminating the room.
I went behind the fountain where the wall was covered with blooming ivy. Looking closer, I saw another iron door. I knew it could possibly lead to the space with a rotten floor. However, it presumably could also lead to the roof with battlements, which we saw from the courtyard. I began to pull on the door. It was impossible to open.
“What’s in here?” I said to myself.
“This is the exit to the roof,” my husband explained, apparently immured because the roof was in such disrepair!
“It’s a pity. It would be interesting to see what is there,” I complained. I was upset.
“Honey, let’s get out of here. It’s late,” Anton urged.
“Let’s go to the first tower. We have to look around the whole castle to understand anything.” I wanted to solve the mystery of these rooms by all means.
Anton responded, “But there are the hosts and guests nearby… and what if there’s really nothing to see?” My husband was not happy with my curiosity.
“We’ll sneak in quietly; they won’t even notice! We are welcome to do that. I feel like I have to snoop around. They said there was nothing to see in the fourth tower.
But you saw with your own eyes that that was a lie!”
“Darling, don’t you think that this is a little out of our business?”
My husband wanted to protect me from nonsense since these strangers and their family secrets are not any of our business. But nothing will stop me from wanting to solve the riddle.
“And the angel is in a bowl,” I said, looking back at the fountain. “I’ve never seen anything more Gothic.”
This house seemed to be talking to me. Many rooms left a terrible impression, but I didn’t feel evil here… only a trace of mysticism. I felt the walls talked as if they were enchanted and trying to convey – no, shout – some information to me.
Here was a mystery needed to be solved… it was just waiting in the wings: children who disappeared from the luxurious rooms in which they lived so carefree; the Black Duchess, their mother, whom they feared; and the witching mist. What did Louise do? Was she really a witch? And most importantly, why did she conduct her rituals?
Chapter 6 Strange Parents
Anton’s diary
11.09.2016
A quarter of an hour later we were already near the first tower located next to our room. The corridor that led to the tower was located on the side where the owners lived.
The laughter of the owners could be heard in the distance. The count, countess, and their son lived right above the main entrance. We quietly entered their part. Everything was repaired there better than in other rooms. It was clear they lived here permanently. To the right of the entrance was a wooden partition with a door. The door was locked. Clearly, if there was an entrance to the tower, then it could only be behind this door since there was a solid tower wall below and from the street.
“Damn it!” Nora said angrily.
Something mysterious, locked with a key, provoked in her an irresistible desire to look there.
“Well, they are the owners and have the right to keep their property locked from curious Russian tourists,” I responded, trying to calm her down.
“It is not funny! I have to get in there!” Nora really seemed nervous.
“What’s the matter with you?” I pressed. “Since you came here, your mood has been changing at the speed of light. I don’t understand. Why do you want to go in there?”
“I do not know! More precisely, you won’t understand me! I just know I have to. I have to go there! You see, I should have been in such a castle since childhood… it’s hard to explain.” She was very nervous now.
“Darling, since I’ve known you, a lot of things seem strange to me.”
She laughed.
I really did not understand her mood swings. She wanted to explore someone else’s property! It was insane. She was so seriously angry… although typically she was always friendly. In general, her behavior was not like her usual self.
Nora spun around on the spot, stamped her foot, and almost fell. She abruptly leaned her hand against the wall on which a box hung. When her hand bumped it, she heard a similar sound to the clanking of iron. She looked at the box in bewilderment.
“What is it? Have you hurt yourself?”
“There is some kind of box here. I thought maybe it could be a key box.”
“Open the box!” I urged her.
“Oh… what is this?”
As Nora opened the box, she saw a large number of keys. Many of them looked quite ancient. It was there where the owners must keep all the keys. However, Europeans are trusting people. There were many tourists who visited the castle, and the keys were available to anyone. The only thing that prevented someone from taking them was the fact that criminals would not guess where to look for the keys. Truly, their culture was a mystery to me! Why lock the doors so securely against outsiders and yet keep the keys to those very doors in the public eye?
Nora picked up a suitable key. It opened the door. We stepped through and found ourselves in total darkness. Immediately we heard one of the owners return to their room on the other side of the corridor. It looked like it was the son. My wife and I kept silent, switched off the flashlight, and did not move. All this was like a childish hide-and-seek game.
“I’ll remember this vacation for a long time,” Nora whispered. “I think he’s gone to his room; let’s go.”
“Are you sure? It would be a shame if we were caught.” “Therefore, we must hurry,” Nora prompted.
My wife turned on the flashlight, and a spiral staircase appeared in front of us… another rather inexplicable lie from Dupré. The count had clearly said the tower was rebuilt for rooms… that is, the tower space served as a communication hub between the floors, and it was impossible to climb vertically. One could walk only horizontally and only on his own floor.
We took his explanation to be true since there was another staircase next to our room. We climbed it on the first day. There were only small rooms for servants, and they were located directly above ours. The count’s lies could remain undisclosed… but only for those who did not enter his territory.
We continued our ascent. There were two floors left for rooms. We then saw another door on the third floor. However, it wasn’t as old as the doors in the other towers. It was heavy and decorated with carved scenes from medieval life. We pushed it, and it opened.
This was not at all the abandoned antiquity that we saw in other towers! Yes, there was a layer of dust, but the room was very richly decorated. Huge, dense, and beautiful tapestries with hunting scenes hung on the walls. (My wife taught me this word; they were not “carpets” but “tapestries.”) The fireplace was made of white marble. It was covered with soot, which is understandable since they once lived here. A carved desk with images of saints stood by the window. Something like another desk was located along the wall. There were small people depicted on it. In short, it was an antique.
“Anton,” my wife continued to whisper, “Do you see that?”
“Yes, it cannot stay unnoticed. I think they are extraordinarily rich! Maybe they should sell it and then repair the castle,” I suggested.
“God! It is from the 15th century! Look at the quality of the furniture. There are almost no such things anymore,” Nora said wistfully. “But everything is locked ….” Nora searched for something in her pocket and suddenly pulled out a bunch of keys.
“You took the keys with you? And if the owners see?” I exclaimed.
“I don’t care if they do! You and I have entered a parallel world. It’s worth it.”
This time I agreed with her. It’s not often that an ordinary vacation is so interesting. Nora turned the key that fit into the desk, and an old drawer opened. It turned out that time affected it a lot: the drawer almost fell into her hands. Inside were sheets of paper full of notes.
“How much did medieval people write?” I asked in astonishment.
“Anton, I think these are letters and… diaries! Old French is too complicated… even this handwriting is hard to read. But you can definitely see the capital letters. He wrote to his wife. It says, “Louise, my love… I am waiting for your return.”
It’s so romantic.”
“Yes, if only we could understand the rest.” “Let’s take it to our room!” my wife suggested.
“Are you crazy?” I was indignant at such proposals.
“Have you noticed the order that is maintained here?”
“Yes! You bet. Everything is pretty well cleaned and preserved. No sign of rats. I think a man definitely lived here… judging by the style and hunting trophies. There are more weapons. I wonder if the swords are sharp?”
I went to the wall to pull a sword out of the fasteners.
“Be careful!”
The sword turned out to be very heavy and sharp; it was difficult for medieval knights to fight with them.
“Try to use this in battle,” Nora commented.
“Amazing!”
Now my mood was improving. Finally, I found something that pleased me: weapons and thrills.
“I think this is the Duchess Louise’s husband’s room,” Nora observed. “Gorgeous decoration. Why do they care so much about these rooms and have not sold anything… or at least why not show it as a museum exhibition?”
My spouse was clearly caught up in our investigation.
“Good question,” I simply responded.
“Anton, I think I can read some entries from the duke’s diary: “She came down from the carriage so easily. She became as thin as a girl; her hair became better: stronger and shiny… as if she were a young girl. It had a more beautiful, darker color, too.”
“I can’t understand further… ah, here: “The nails have become longer and whiter. She tried to hide her face, but it was hard to hide. I couldn’t help noticing that her lips were bloodshot; they turned red like the garnets in her ears. Her eyelashes have become longer and darker. And the unnatural blush was clearly not paint. I asked if she had a fever, but she shook her head and said she wanted to have a rest from the road. She was definitely hiding something. She seemed ashamed and hurt. But she didn’t want to talk about it. I’ve known my wife for too long.”
“If my French teacher had heard me, she would have been proud of me!”
“Maybe you shouldn’t read any more. Why would you want to dig into their private life?” I was genuinely perplexed.
“I don’t know. I just have to; I want to. Just support me, please.”
At that moment, Nora was so touching. Of course, I couldn’t refuse her. But this preoccupation with the Middle Ages frankly began to frighten me.
“Okay, read on,” I replied.
““The strangest thing is that I’ll never forget her skin at that moment. It became pearly white and very beautiful; and her freckles disappeared. All the tan came off. In combination with the red velvet she wore and the garnets in her ears, her skin looked especially bright and radiant.
““She walked like an unearthly creature; it seemed to me that she was 16 again. Her waist became narrower with no traces of all her pregnancies. She hugged me so tightly and carnivorously that I was surprised… and I felt weak. Apparently, I missed her too much.”
“God, how romantic it is! He describes her so beautifully!” My wife made a childishly dramatic face.
“Yes, but a strange description… pallor was probably considered sexual,” I replied.
“In the Middle Ages pallor was at the peak of fashion… the symbol of a woman’s purity. However, dark hair was considered a sign of a predisposition to evil.” Nora loved to study history.
“Times have changed a lot. Apparently, he hadn’t seen her for so long that she seemed to him more beautiful than usual. Is there anything else interesting?”
“Here’s an entry for 16.10.1452: ‘The night spent with my wife exhausted me, although I was waiting for her so much. I must have gotten older. This is strange. She was weird and wild. I asked if she had a fever, but she only shook her head and said she wanted a rest from the road. She was clearly hiding something. My duchess seemed ashamed and hurt.’”
“Maybe she was really a witch?” I grinned as I grabbed my wife’s hand.
Suddenly a strong wind blew through the window. The shutters rustled. I even shuddered a little but quickly pulled myself together.
“Don’t scare me!” Nora shuddered. “Listen. There’s more: ‘21.10.1452, I constantly feel unwell after spending time with my wife. I must be sick.’”
“Either she was an insatiable or the duke started having problems,” I decided to joke again. “However, this does not explain anything.”
“I agree,” Nora responded. “Here’s more: “Entry from 09.11.1452, “I had a very serious conversation with my wife. She told me all the details of the trip and that she had found a remedy for our misfortune. This requires urgent measures; delay can cost lives. We are worried about our children. We will take them to a safe place. Then my wife will finish the job. We will save our family. I am sure that the Lord will not leave us.”
“Wow! Anton, something has happened in this family; it’s obvious! The children’s rooms look so strange! How can you explain that?”
“I agree, there is some mystery here. Something serious has happened in this family which the lying count does not want to talk about. Frankly, I am sure that the count knows everything, but this information is not for outsiders.”
Nora continued reading, “‘Her hugs are suffocating. She began to hug people often as if it could save her from something or give her strength. Louise sometimes tries to squeeze me forcefully with her fingers or pinch me. It’s like she gets vitality from it.’ Horror… our duchess loved BDSM,” Nora laughed.
“And she was very promiscuous, apparently.” I was also amused by all the pornography of the 15th century, but there was something disturbing in these records.
“I think we won’t have time to read everything; we have to go upstairs,” commanded my wife. “Clearly, there is a dark secret in this family, especially since the count mentioned that the duchess was a witch. Frankly, I’m a little scared of these records. What could have happened to her?”
“We can’t assume anything. It doesn’t look like a disease; it’s just some kind of madness. Come on, honey.”
Nora’s diary
We walked up to the fourth floor. There we were surprised even more than before: the big, oak door opened with a creak; and the first thing we saw was… ourselves! I know it sounds like nonsense. However, this was exactly the impression created by a huge, Gothic mirror about two meters high and framed with carved wood in the imitation of a Gothic cathedral’s rooftop. It was racy and a bit frightening. The mirror created a sort of corridor… truly the room of a magical witch. It was no less than the queen’s room!
