Despite having a strong will to find the castle, where his daughter was imprisoned, Gustave didn't get far. He fell asleep underneath a giant tree after two hours of, what seemed to him, walking in circles. The night chill combined with the fact that somewhere near, everything was covered in frost, could have killed him if a kind soul hadn't helped him.

This kind person was Cecille, a woman commonly known in the village as a beggar. Her father apparently died and since she wasn't married, what little money her father left her wasn't enough to pay for a house and food. She'd usually stand at the gate to the village with a small beaten up mug and she'd beg for a penny or two.

Christine usually brought Cecile leftovers from lunch or on special occasions she brought her a big loaf of warm bread and a jar of jam. Christine was pretty much the only person, who behaved kindly to Cecile and the poor woman was forever grateful to her.

That particular night, Cecile was walking in the woods to clear her head and found Gustave. She knew how much it would hurt Christine if she left her father alone, so Cecile gently woke him up and helped him and Phillipe to her humble abode in the woods.

Cecile made herself at home in a little cavern in the middle of the forest, surrounded by trees and greenery. When she came there with Gustave, a fire was waiting for them and above it a kettle of water. A few feet away from it were spread dry leaves with an old blanket rolled up next to them. Here and there Cecile had hung up dried herbs and above the leaf bed sat a small owl, gawking at the visitors with it's sleepy eyes.

Cecile gestured for Gustave to sit down on her bed and immediately started mixing various herbs into her kettle, stirring the liquid from time to time. When it was ready, she gave Gustave a cup of the warm tea.

"Thank you so much, Cecile." Gustave thanked her while still sipping on the warm liquid.

"It's no problem, messieur. After all, Christine always helps me and now, I can repay her." Cecile said with a soft smile on her lips. "Now, cover yourself up with the blanket and rest for a bit. I'll take care of your horse. Tommorow, I will take you back home. And don't think of finding the castle, messieur, for it could only do you more bad than good."

•°•°•°•°•
Raoul couldn't get old Gustave from his mind. He reqretted leaving him alone in the woods. After all, there were a lot of dangers in the forest and who knew if Gustave wasn't already dead.

To get all troubles out of his mind, Raoul snuck out of his family's mansion at dawn to think while walking around the village. Once he returned back, he found an unexpected visitor at his gates. It was Gustave.

"Vicomte, please, could you help me again? I have found a path which could lead to the castle." Gustave started off as soon as he spotted Raoul. "And if that way is wrong, I can ask Cecile for a way for apparently-"

"Monsieur Daaé, I am pretty sure that you only experienced some sort of hallucination and now you believe it to be true!" Raoul interjected. "I mean, magic castles and ghosts aren't real! And even if there was a castle somewhere in the woods, we would surely know about it!"

"What's all this shouting for?" Asked a third voice from behind the gate. It was Phillipe, Raoul's older brother.

"Brother, monsieur Daaé, here, thinks that Christine apparently disappeared into some magical castle in the woods and there is a ghost keeping her prisoner there."

Phillipe only raised his eyebrows at the short tale. "Well, what would you say, monsieur Daaé, if you went in for a while? The night is rather cool tonight."

As soon as they let Gustave into the mansion, while he was changing his shoes, Phillipe pulled his brother to the side and whispered in his ear: "We will keep him here for a few days to observe and then send him to the asylum, for this man starts to behave as if he was mad."