"Hey, Ray?"

"Hm?"

"About a while ago...seeing everyone go without you not knowing what to do, I'm sure it's hard. But thinking about it, you sure is emotionally strong huh."

He just stared at Iris dumbfounded. This topic came randomly when they are sitting alone under a certain tree. They were currently taking a break as the others continue to play. 

"Uh...thanks. I guess."

"I know your an emo kid but..."

"Hey!"

"...I know you can do everything fine." Then she sigh as she continue, "Its just that, you easily give up. Yet until this time, you were actually already planning about it. Knowing the truth about the orphanage and those demons, and even as a spy. It sure is hard especially keeping the secrets."

"...I don't know if that is a compliment or anything but, thanks for understanding," he said as he smiled.

She nods and stared at the running children in the forest. "I'm just saying that you don't have to hide anything anymore. You have us. But lying about taking everyone out of this farm might cause you more problems in the future."

He flinched and stared at her, surprised. "You knew?"

"Your good at acting, but you can't hide everything from me. I know you guys. You easily give up...but you sometimes try something else to solve things right. I know we currently have no idea about the outside world and we also have to survive. The number of children we have to take are too much and they will be trouble."

"I know you would understand, but I also know you will oppose me too, right?" he asked.

"Might be. I don't want to leave them, but there are circumstances. So I don't want to decide about that yet."

"*sigh* I do hope you won't tell Emma though."

"Sure. If that's what you want."

Then as if on cue, Emma runs towards their direction, waving at them. She stood in front of them as she pants.

"*pant* hi *pant* guys..."

"Oh hey, Emma." Ray acknowledged.

"Emma," Iris stood up and pats the dust out of her clothes. "can I talk to you?"

Eh?  Ray raises an eyebrow.

"Oh sure!"

"Then lets go to the library." Iris said and started walking.

"Wait, Iris!"

She looked back at Ray and...slightly smiled. "Don't worry." then she mouthed, "I won't tell her."

Then the girls entered the house, leaving the boy behind.

------

Iris reached out one of Minerva's books and handed it to Emma, making the latter confused.

"I found something that might be helpful and it is someone you might want to meet after we escape." Iris started.

"Wait, someone?!"

"Yup. And it is the author of that book." Iris then open the book and pointed at the ex libris.

"Huh? William Minerva? Is he someone you know or...wait you never went outside!"

"Of course I can't do that. But I'm sure he's an ally since he tried to warn us."

"Eh?"

Iris then pointed at the sign. "See this lines around the owl. Does it seem familiar?"

Emma stared at it for a while before widening her eyes, realizing something.

"Morse Code?! And it says 'RUN'!"

"Yup. He might have published that and tried to warn us with the sticker. He also wrote other Morse Codes in his other works."

Emma reached out another book and read the code 'MONSTER'.

"You're right! Lets tell the others after our report then!" Emma exclaimed happily.

------

.....

...

"There's a secret room in this house?"

"That's right. And its location is...right next to Mama's room," Emma answered as she circles the wall between Mama's bedroom washroom and office drawn in a paper. "But our theory...that this area in between is not a mere wall."

"We noticed recently, every time right before Mama disappears, she always enter either the washroom or her office." Gilda added.

"And so we decided to put the theory to test and measure the distances of the walls both inside and outside the rooms." Emma said.

"The results?"

"They're not the same. There's a space worth about 10 steps of our footsteps in there. A side of that space is the wall from the washroom and the other side is a bookshelf," Iris answered. "But there's probably an entrance from both sides and inside will be Mama's secret room."

"...But, what is it for?" Don asked.

Emma glanced at him and responded, "Well, that'd probably be-"

"For her to make reports," Ray answered. "Mama reports into the HQ on daily basis. That's probably the room is for."

"So we're right!" the three girls thought.

"Ray, did you already knew that this room existed here?" Emma asked.

"Nope. But I've been suspecting that there's gotta be a room like that in this house," he answered.

"The let's go in!" Don interrupted. "It's where she communicates with the 'outside world'! If we investigate the room, we might even find out some whereabouts of Conny and the others!"

"But what about the key? It's a secret room so she must've locked it!" Gilda stated.

"Could you break in, Norman?"

"I mean it depends on the type of lock."

"Woah! Hold up!" Ray interrupted. "There's no need to do something like that!"

They stopped as they look at him.

"It may have communication device but it probably only connects to the headquarters. Mama have no idea where our siblings have been taken to. There isn't much information to gain in this investigation," he explained. "On the other hand, there's too much risk when we sneak in. Remember that we have transmitters embedded in our bodies. On top of that, we don't know about the situation of the security of the room."

"Still-!"

"Listen, there's more for us to lose than to gain if we attempt to break in. Forget it. We've discovered the room's location, that's great. However...it's still no place for us to break in at the current moment."

".....agreed" Norman sighed.

"I see." Emma responded.

Iris just nodded. Gilda silently agreed while Don reluctantly did.

"Anyways, we have other things to worry about instead." Ray added.

"Right now, we just have to be careful that sister Krone doesn't catch us doing anything sketchy. If we rush to take action, we're basically digging our graves." Norman included.

"Exactly. Mama aside, if sister Krone gets a gist about what were doing, were definitely screwed. Keep that in mind, guys." Ray added.

"Don't worry," Emma pats Gilda and Don's shoulders. "We'll be fine as long as we act normal."

"Yeah."

Don sigh in frustration as he headed to the door as Gilda follows. "...Gonna prepare for dinner."

"We'll be there soon!" Emma told them.

Iris pats Emma's shoulder and as if they agreed on something, the girls nodded to each other.

"I'll go first," she told the trio before exiting the door.

And as soon as Iris close the door, she immediately walk down the stairs and took the path towards the library, as usual. 

But instead of reading, it's just as simple gathering of books for the trio to inspect.

But her walk towards the room didn't go smoothly as she heard a short commotion at the end of the hall. Don bumping into Mama. Well, it's not a big deal since he's in a rush...

The direction of where Don was rushing to completely slips Iris' mind as he was supposed to be in the kitchen.

So she continue towards the library, collected some of Minerva's books and waited for the trio as she reads a book from one of the books.

-------

"This books....have Morse code!"

"Yep!"

The four read the codes as they discuss the thought of the author as an ally from outside, giving warnings.

"Anything else?!" Norman enthusiastically asked. "Like are there any notable comparisons in the content of the books?"

"Unfortunately, there isn't. The genres, publishing companies and dates of release all vary," Ray answered.

"Emma and I noticed something when we scanned Minerva's books," Iris interrupted and explained as Emma searches for certain books in the stacks of books to show to the other two. "There is one book that seems having irrelevant hint code for our current situation. And there is another one having no code. Both of them doesn't make sense."

Emma found said books and placed them on the table.

"Let's see, the coded one says, P.R.O...M.I.S.E...?" Norman reads.

"If I remember correctly, one is a stereotypical adventure novel, and the other was about some weird mythological story," Ray stated.

"There must be some deeper meaning behind these books," Iris added.

"The fact that only one book lacks a message in Morse code...the ripped pages...the message that read 'Promise' ...It's all too different to be a coincidence," Emma said. "I'm not sure how to put it but, I feel like these books will somehow come to play a really important role in our journey."

"Your basis?" the ravenette ask.

Emma smiled as she answered, "My gut says so!"

...which made Ray look at her in disbelief.

"What's with that look!"

"Well, I do think it wouldn't hurt to look into the mystery of Mr. Minerva and his books," Norman said as he close the book he was holding.

Ray raised his pocket watch and showed them the time.

"Let's get going. We should probably start helping with setting up for dinner too!"

Ans so, the four returned the books to the bookshelves.

---------

Footsteps echo at the hallway as Emma, Norman, Ray and Iris walk their way towards the dining room.

"Ray and Iris doesn't surprise me since they stuck their nose in books since we were little."

"But to think that Emma was able to decode the hidden message," Ray teases.

"Actually, it wasn't me who found first about the books! It was thanks to Iris who told me about it!" Emma responded.

"Well, that makes sense."

"?"

"I guess I can't take the credit for that too," Iris said as she's walking side by side with Emma.

"Huh?"

"I mean, the one who actually discovered it was Phil. He just happens to return one of Minerva's books when he showed me the code. After that, I got curious and also told Emma about it."

"I see."

"By the way Ray, what were you implying a whil-" Emma cuts off her question as the four of them noticed certain people missing in the dining hall.

"Where's Don and Gilda?"

---------------

Aaand thank you and I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!

I'll try updating as soon as possible so stay tuned!

^,^ V