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The feeling of dread overwhelmed her senses when Cordelia had approached Highgate, her eyes scanning up the estate that loomed over her darkly. A shiver ran through her as the iron gates groaned upon being opened, the sound of the crunching snow beneath her boots settling her bones with just enough grounding to keep her focused and pushing forward inside. Despite the fact that she had not stepped foot in her childhood home since her marriage to Ambrose, Cordelia had ensured that the groundskeeping and the interior of the house had been well cared for after her father’s passing. All of the furniture and artwork within was covered in white sheets of fabric, adding to the foreboding and macabre atmosphere of the lifeless home.

Cordelia spent far too long lingering in the foyer before a fire took hold in her belly, rising to her chest and causing her to continue forward. With Tilly at her side, she began removing the sheets, admiring that the inside of the estate had been kept spotless as she had requested. It would take some work to bring everything back to living order but for the time being she sought to ensure places to sit and feel comfortable before diving into her mother and father’s belongings to further uncover their secrets. The candles were lit for the first time in years, the manor finally looking habitable from the inside and out as Cordelia found her way to her father’s study.

Unaware of what was already occurring at Highgate, Ricard sat in the back of a carriage paying excruciating detail to every landmark and building as the carriage moved past, jotting down the notable details. One never knew when such information may come in handy.

He traveled light, as he always did - partially out of necessity and partially out of habit - but he brought no staff and only what could be carried in the small bag settled in next to him. Delwyn, who had returned from the far east several weeks prior, had been left behind to oversee day to day tasks in his absence.

Ricard exhaled, slipping the book he’d been writing in away into the bag beside him as the carriage slowed, indicating their arrival, before glancing out at the building, once again, noting any distinguishing features, anything that would cause Highgate to stand out from other Ishgardian structures - and the first thing he noted was the lack of staff, which didn’t come as a terrible surprise.

He stepped out of the carriage, tipping the driver before sending him on his way, and then letting himself into the building, wandering around a bit, and eventually calling out, his voice echoing down the halls. “Cordelia? I feel like a little direction here wouldn’t be remiss…”

The sound of the familiar voice rang through the hallways and found its way to her within her father’s study. Lashes fluttered as she lifted her gaze upward and smiled to herself for a moment. Pushing from the desk, Cordelia began her way down the hall, calling back to him. “It is hardly a labyrinth, Ricard!” Her tone was perhaps oddly playful and as she rounded the corner to greet him, her demeanor was noticeably different from the last time they were together. Still darkened and devoid of the bright and chipper personality most noblewomen adorned, as typical.

“Labyrinth, no. Unfamiliar, yes.” He tilted his head, gaze raking over her for a moment with a roguish grin. “I mean, I could take my time and wander, explore every nook and cranny without ‘adult’ supervision, if you like. Or is that for later?”

She offered a narrowed gaze at him with his jest, shaking her head softly. “Later perhaps.” Her reply came quiet, muted even.

Her arms outstretched at her sides just slightly as she approached him, gesturing at their surroundings. “My apologies you were not greeted at the door as usual, I’m sure you can tell already there is not a regular staff here currently as it is just Tilly for the time being.” She glanced around with furrowed brows before calling out for the other woman in hopes she’d arrive. “I believe she is working on some lunch in the kitchen…well, nonetheless-“ turning back to him, she lifted a hand in offering to take his coat and any belongings. “- welcome to Highgate, my childhood home.”

“Ah.” He shook his head, shrugging out of his coat easily. “Just tell me where to put these - I’m perfectly capable of hanging up my own things, thank you.” Ricard took a moment to scan his surroundings, taking in the front hall in a bit more detail.

“It’s quite the estate, a ways outside of the city proper though. I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so far out.” Blue eyes shifted back towards her. “How long has it been in this state? Empty, I mean.”

Cordelia sighed and gestured toward a nearby door where he could hang his belongings. As he would do so, her voice carried through the spacious foyer. “Thank you, my family tended to prefer to keep to themselves as much as possible, opting to have a bit more space and not having to worry so much about having society in their business.” Waiting for his return, she would offer an arm to guide him toward one of the hallways as she continued. “I had the staff transferred to the Grey Estate once my…father passed, nearly four years ago now. Even still, I made sure it was maintained despite the emptiness in case I ever chose to do something with it.”

A curious hum left him as he took his time hanging up his things, the wheels in his head already turning. There were hundreds of reasons why he could imagine a family wanting their privacy - having a child to keep out of the public eye was certainly one of them. He shook his head quickly, putting on an easy grin as he returned to her, taking her arm and tugging her close as he followed her guidance. “I could see this as a get away from the city if one wanted it to be - there’s just enough distance. But a topic for some other time.”

His gaze moved over the various details of the halls and the structures before falling on the woman beside him. “How well did you know the estate as a child? I mean - I was almost always in trouble for sneaking off to places my parents didn’t want me to go, but did little Cordelia go sneaking around to find hidden rooms?”

She settled in next to him as they walked, her own gaze moving about the details of the walkways despite it having been a familiar setting. “Most of my time was spent with my mother, nearly always at her side learning this or that and otherwise I was holed up in my room reading. That’s not to say that I never explored estate.” As they approached an upcoming door, her footsteps slowed as she gestured toward it. “Often I found myself sneaking around my father’s study, which of course caused me to find myself in quite a bit of trouble. I think I was always trying to learn about what he was doing so I could impress him…”

Her words trailed off briefly but her demeanor soon returned to the stoic stature as usual before she pushed the door open to said study. “I figured this was as good a place as any to start.”

Ricard quirked an eyebrow, guiding her through the open door and releasing her arm once they were both in the room. He quickly moved back behind the desk, eyes scanning the room looking for anything out of the ordinary, anything that might give him a hint of where the man who once occupied the space might have kept things he didn’t want anyone else to find.

As they entered the room, Cordelia stepped aside and simply watched on for the moment while Ricard went about sifting through her late father’s desk.

“So…out of curiosity, why here rather than a location more associated with your mother? She was the one with more ties to Adrian Cress?” He asked the question as he sank down into the chair behind the desk, now assessing the piece of furniture before him critically, pulling drawers one by one to see if anything remained within - any hint of a false bottom or anything that might leave a clue of where to look.

The question poised at her brought about a moment of reflection, brows knitting together in thought as it seemed to not have been something she had originally considered. A soft hum reverberated from her, she glanced off at a portrait hung on the wall of the family. “I hadn’t actually thought to do that, I really had little thoughts at all when I arrived. I just ended up here.” She approached the desk where he continued to rifle through whatever belongings or documents remained inside, leaning against the side. “We can certainly adjust.”

His hands paused their exploration as he leaned back in the chair, head tilting. “Well, then maybe there’s a reason you ended up here, hm? I imagine we’ll end up exploring a majority of the house anyway and if we fail to locate anything…then there is one remaining option for information but we can discuss that as a last option.” He motioned for her to come closer, drumming the fingers of his free hand against the top of the desk lightly. “You’ve been in here many times before, I imagine - and you knew the man who resided in this office - the things he wanted to keep close to the vest, where would he keep them?”

Her lids narrowed slightly, gaze held downward as she looked at the expensive woodcarved desk while he spoke. She nodded with a gentleness as it seemed her thoughts churned, that typical demeanor of hers fading yet again for a glimmer of a moment before Cordelia lifted her chin with a hmph. As he gestured for her, she pushed from the desk and rounded the corner to meet him on the other side. Hands rested on the edge of the wood as she clicked her tongue in thought. She chuckled, reaching for a small portrait of her mother that rested among the belongings on top of the desk. Flipping it over, she pried the framing from the back and grinned at the small key that glimmered from the backing of the frame itself.

“Now to find what this goes to…” Steel gray hues slowly scanned the room before returning to the larger painting of the three on the nearby wall, nodding toward it and offering the key to Ricard. “On the outside to everyone around him, his family was important to him, despite there being a different song sung within these walls behind closed doors. But if I were a betting woman, I would check there.”

“Are you a betting woman, Cordelia?” He quirked an eyebrow with a smirk before plucking the key from her fingers. His gaze raked over the item for a long moment before tucking it into his vest pocket as he turned towards the portrait of the family on the wall.

“Well…let’s see what’s hiding behind the picture, shall we?” He pushed himself up out of the chair, giving her a quick wink before slipping an arm around her waist and guiding her around the desk and over towards the portrait. Standing before the picture, he released his hold on her before crossing his arms over his chest - his tongue moving slowly across one of his canines as he assessed the size of the frame, trying to determine the best place to grip it. He unbuttoned his vest before stepping forward and reaching up to grip the edges of the frame, mindful of the size of the portrait as he pulled it away from the wall - muscles visibly tensing and moving under his shirt, as the portrait had no small amount of weight to it. Carefully, he set it down on the floor - leaning it against the wall as he stepped back to assess the wall and what was left behind.

Cordelia had waited behind for the time being, allowing for Ricard to do his investigations and only joining at his side once more after he had removed the painting from the wall to set it aside. “Seems I should be, hm?” She asked rather rhetoric in nature as they both gazed over the safe that was built into the wall having been hidden behind the Gray family portrait. With a quiet chuckle under her breath, she gestured to the safe. “I overheard my father mention the safe when I was younger, my luck will hopefully come from whatever may be inside.”

“See, if you hadn’t told me I would have gone on assuming that it was just a good guess on your part.” He grinned as he pulled the key from his vest, “But amazing what adults let slip when they don’t think little ones are listening, hm? Let’s see what’s been ‘hidden’ away by good ol’ adoptive daddy dearest, shall we?”

The grin fell away as he turned towards the safe, focused once again as he slipped the key into the slot and carefully opened up the safe, brow furrowing as he opened up the front to see what was within. A low hum escaped him as he reached within the confines of the container and stepped back holding a small stack of papers, which he offered to her as he turned back around. “Seems like the entire house wasn’t cleaned up after he died.”

She took the papers in hand as they were offered, eyes glancing over them briefly before she turned away to cross the distance back to the desk where she laid them in front of her as she took a seat in her father’s chair. Fingers splayed over the papers, a pause taking over her as Cordelia prepared herself for whatever else she might find among them. Finally, she began going through them, brows knitted together as her lips pressed into a thin line. “I think you were right, Ricard…” Cordelia took a soft breath as her gaze lifted to him. “The Cress’ wanted me dead.”

“Thinking and knowing are two different things.” Dark eyes focused on the papers laid out on the desk as he moved back behind the chair, setting a hand between her shoulder blades. “Was it all the Cress’s or just a handful? The details of the story make all the difference. Especially in ones full of twists and turns.”

He scanned the details of the documents - who the letters were between, what they were about, what they possibly implied…and trying to determine who might have known about them.

The initial feeling of his hand to her back caused her posture to straighten just enough to be barely noticeable. Without adjusting her head, she glanced toward him with the flick of her gaze quickly before returning back to the papers. She lifted a hand to pluck the silver rimmed monocle from her eye and placed it aside with a soft sigh. “I believe all of the ones that knew, though it is hard to say who that is.”

Narrowing her eyes, she hummed quietly before tilting her chin upward to look to him now. “Odd how it seemed in the letters to my mother that Adrian took an interest in my wellbeing as well as hers, though these are callous and devoid of any care at all.” She shrugged and looked back to the desk covered in papers. “Not that it matters in one way or another, I’ve no connection to this man and I highly doubt things would have changed much for me even if I had. This really changes nothing.

Ricard tilted his head from side to side before meeting her gaze. “Doesn’t that seem a bit odd to you? That there would be such an abrupt shift in the tone of the letters - from the ones to your mother to these? Even if in the end it changes nothing - the story itself seems incomplete and wrong. Like we’re still missing pieces of the puzzle.” He exhaled sharply. “Don’t misunderstand - What I know of Adrian Cress is not flattering and would lean into the idea that he had penned these letters calling for your removal - but I’d rather gather all the information we can before we move to draw any conclusions.” He shrugged one shoulder easily as he grinned down at her, motioning towards the desk and the papers. “And this is what we found in one room, there’s still others to explore - and…as I mentioned earlier…one other option to explore once the house has been searched from top to bottom.”

Folding her arms over one another as they rested to her chest, Cordelia leaned back slightly in the chair to look up to him. “Yes, it does seem odd, but again, it really makes little difference.” She took a breath, narrowing her gaze over Ricard for a moment in thought before continuing. “However… if I were to play along with your way of thinking, I suppose the next place to look would be my mother’s belongings.”

“It makes little difference to the end result, but to the story itself it could have significant implications. The full story is important, Cordelia.” The easy grin fell away as his gaze turned back towards the papers laid out across the desk. Something about them just didn’t sit right.

She tilted her head as her attention lingered on him a moment longer before adjusting so she could push from the desk to stand. “I am curious of this other option you keep mentioning. Though, I suppose let’s see what mother dearest kept hidden in her room, hm?”

Her voice drew his attention from his thoughts and he turned, offering her his arm. “Indeed, nothing like discovering your mother’s long lost secrets to make the day interesting.” A quick wink was given as he led her towards the door. “Not that I’ve ever engaged in such behaviors…” He trailed off as the pair entered into the hallway, exhaling slowly as if to gather his thoughts as his breath left him. “...the other option I keep mentioning - that I don’t particularly want to name - is talking to Vahalia.”

Ricard swallowed roughly, before glancing down at the woman on his arm. “...There’s no love lost between her and her father, especially after what the man did to her mother and attempted to do to her sister…but if anyone might have information about her father and the Cress family…it would be her. If we don’t find everything that you’re looking for here, speaking to her about the situation would be the next logical option.”

His suggestion caused her brows to raise in surprise, lashes fluttering with curiosity. Her attention remained forward even as she spoke, guiding them through the hallways of her childhood home. “Words I would have never expected from you, Ricard Blythe.” Her tone took on a lower octave, lips curling just so in a hardly noticeable smirk. It was true that she and Vahalia Cress had been growing acquaintances and business partners, though her trust for the woman still had yet to take root deep enough to be considered stable and considering the circumstances with her brother-in-law and the Cress sister, that was a complete other demon to tackle. “While admittedly I had foreseen a possible growing friendship with Vahalia, I have been on the fence about allowing my trust to rest with her seeing as, truthfully, I know very little of her.”

His head lowered an ilm, appearing sheepish for the briefest of moments. “I don’t offer the suggestion lightly, and it’s certainly not one I ever thought I’d be providing to you. But I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t, at the very least, give voice to all of the available options.” He exhaled through his nose as he lifted his head once more. “That’s reasonable - but as I said, she could be a veritable fount of information, particularly on Adrian.” He licked his lips quickly. “I would - for obvious reasons - not be accompanying you on that particular excursion, should you choose to pursue it. I’m pretty sure Bruce would snap me in half on sight.”

They rounded a corner and Cordelia shifted toward the first door on the right where she would grip the handle tightly for a passing moment before finally pulling it downward and pushing the door open. This room had yet to be turned down, sheets still covered the furniture and artwork, the curtains were closed causing just small slivers of light to beam through the tiny space where the fabric did not meet completely. “Though an option it is, all the same…” She whispered softly as her eyes adjusted to the change in lighting as she slipped her arms from his and approached the windows to pull apart the curtains with a loud whoosh.

Ricard paused, watching her for a moment before allowing his gaze to shift to the interior of the room. Bedchambers were always an interesting puzzle of sorts - they helped him in understanding a person, providing little details about who they were without intending to. He ran his tongue across of one of his canines as light filled the room and slowly, methodically started his search. “You said you spent a majority of your time with your mother, correct? She have a favored piece of literature…an area of the room she spent more time in?”

It was odd being back in this room, Cordelia hadn’t been there since her mother had passed many years ago. The space functioned as more than simply a bedchamber, it was somewhat designed so that Elsbeth had her lounging and resting area but also a space for her to enjoy her favorite pastimes. A soft smile graced her lips as she looked around the abandoned items in the room, from books stacked in small piles throughout the area to where her mother spent much of her time embroidering and tinkering with her jewelry making. There was so much of the woman that could be seen in her daughter including their interests.

“Hm?” She blinked back into reality after having a moment of reminiscent silence. “Oh, you can check the desk over by that window and anything by her workstations. If she wasn’t baking in the kitchen, she spent most of her time there working. I’ll check by her bedside, I know she kept her favored books in the drawers there.”

Ricard watched her for a long moment, a curious look crossing over his features before he offered a nod “As you wish.”

He moved over to the desk in question, scanning over the items that littered the top, trying to get an idea of the woman who once occupied the space before beginning to slowly, methodically, open and search each drawer, checking for false bottoms, for any papers or letters hiding within items already stored in the desk itself - anything that might have seemed out of the ordinary.

“Did you pick up any particular habits from spending so much time with your mother?” He glanced back over his shoulder for a moment before sitting down to flip through a small stack of papers he’d managed to find.

Cordelia had crossed the room to her late mother’s bed, sitting on the edge gently as if the abandoned blankets were frail and fragile. Carefully, she picked up a book on the bedside table, thumb flitting through the pages. “Quite a few, actually. I got my eye for jewelry crafting and stitching from her, my affinity for writing everything down…” She paused, smiling to herself as memories of her mother flashed in her mind before she shook her head and continued looking through the books. “She was not the warmest of people or even the most maternal, but she did her best and that was more than Archer did.” It was the first time Cordelia referenced her ‘father’ by his name, it was odd and yet she hardly stumbled over it.

With a soft and thoughtful hum, she pursed her lips as she reached into the drawer to pull out a small and worn tome, the page edges were torn and frayed, pieces stuck out of place here and there. It was her journal. Slowly, she went about moving through it until finally coming across a few pages that felt thicker than the rest. Tucked inside were loose pieces of parchment, which she pulled out carefully and went about unfolding after setting the book back down. “If it was true that the Cress family wanted Adrian’s bastard removed, I don’t believe he shared the same sentiment.”

“Oh? That’s a drastically different viewpoint from the one you found in the previous documents.” Ricard tossed the stack of papers he’d been flipping through back onto the desk, abruptly standing up before making his way over to the bed and easing down next to Cordelia - paying little mind to her personal space as he looked over her shoulder at the parchment in her hands. “Adrian and Elsbeth were sharing a bit of private correspondence behind the scenes, were they? Just what did the former Lord Cress have to say about his long lost oldest child that he couldn’t acknowledge?”

The question fell on deaf ears it seemed as Cordelia had become rather quiet, eyes quickly moved over the scribbled words over multiple creased pieces of parchment.

Ricard’s eyes narrowed as he peered over her shoulder. “Coooordelia?” Getting no response, he shifted, settling in behind her, one leg on either side of her - arms wrapping around her waist and his chin on her shoulder. “You know - I was thinking once we find what we’re looking for that it might be a good idea to go break in that desk in your ‘father’s office’. I’m betting it never had a real good ‘workout’ and could use a good stress test or two…”

Instead of flinching at the unexpected feeling of his touch behind her, Cordelia instinctively settled and relaxed into him as her eyes continued scanning each word exchanged from her blood father to her mother.

Still getting no response he huffed, turning and pressing a kiss to her neck, in a last ditch effort to draw her attention from the papers. “Care to share with the class what mommy and daddy were writing about?”

Her skin bristled with goosebumps at the gentle gesture placed to her neck, turning her head just slightly as to finally be cognizant enough to respond to his curiosity. “I’m not sure what the responses look like from my mother, but whatever she was telling him, Adrian was agreeing. I think he’s the main reason I’m even still alive, they seemed to actually care for one another, surprisingly?” Cordelia lifted the papers a bit, allowing him even better access to be able to read along with her.

“I told you earlier something was off.” He drew her back against him as he scanned over the contents of the letter, brow furrowing. “People change their minds all the time, sure, but the number of abrupt changes in this family are absolutely astounding if one were to take them at face value. This is why we don’t take things at face value. If I were to guess, someone higher up than daddy dearest was probably pulling strings - but I don’t know that we’re going to find the answers to that here.” He turned and nipped her neck playfully.

“Any other juicy details in these little scandalous letters your mother decided to keep hidden away in her bedchambers?”

She chuckled softly under her breath, the feeling of her skin falling between his teeth gently returning a bit of the devious nature they shared between them. “If there are, I’m not sure I would want to be privy to those details. Though, I suppose you’re right, seems there are at least two sides of this story depending on how you’re looking. ” Cordelia scrunched her nose, folding the papers over themselves as she shifted to be able to turn and face him a bit more. Resting her hands with the letters in tow into her lap, she fell silent as eyes narrowed on him before the inevitable inquiry finally came. “Ricard… considering what little I do know of your history with this family, I do hope you understand my concern here. I am able to trust you with this, yes? Admittedly, it is a bit late for me to ask for this reassurance, but here we are.”

He’d lifted his head from her shoulder, allowing her to move, his head tilting curiously as she spoke, fingers teasing the fabric of her dress as he quirked an eyebrow at the question. “My history with this family can be more specifically narrowed down to my history with your newly discovered half-sisters. But what makes you think you wouldn’t be able to trust me with this?”

“Nothing particular, but it’s a necessary base to cover. It’s not that I distrust you-“

A hand reached up, fingertips lightly trailing along her jawline before gripping her chin as he leaned in, brushing his lips against hers in a brief - but less than chaste kiss. “Your secret is safe, Cordelia. This information goes nowhere you don’t want it to go.”

Her eyes closed as briefly as the kiss lasted, leaning against him further. “I trust you.” She finally remarked shortly though offered an addition soon after. “I think more than I was even aware of considering the fact that reaching out to you regarding this simply happened out of second nature.” Cordelia turned again just enough to set the papers aside having seen enough of what had been written to date her curiosity for the time being. Unfortunately, she would never find all the answers as those holding the secrets were all long gone now. She knew this would have to be brought to Vahalia, if anything to be sure that there was no chance that it traveled to her from someone other than Cordelia herself.

“I think we’ve done enough reading for now.” She twisted again toward him, lips turning upward at the corner in a faint smirk, her hand running fingertips over his chest.

Ricard’s gaze followed the path of the papers for a moment before shifting to her fingers against his chest, meeting her smirk with an easy grin of his own before leaning back against the mattress and drawing her down against him. “Have we now? It is true that all work and no play makes me a very dull boy and we’ve been working very hard these last few weeks. I do think a bit of a break is in order.”

A hand reached up to cup her cheek as the other trailed along her spine, coming to rest on the small of her back.

“Mm, and you have become rather boring,” she replied in jest as she adjusted to reclining down with him comfortably. Pulling away from his touch just enough to lift her upper half, ruffling her skirts and hiking them upward as she contorted her body so she now straddled him. “Now, give me something better to fill my attention.”

( collab with @ricard-blythe-ffxiv

@sanguinecourt-ffxiv @house-cress)

#Pulling Strings and Spellthread #The Weaver #the perceptive smartass

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