The cold touch of the withered rose petals on Aluna's fingertips sent a strange tremor through her, a blend of curiosity that burned to her very core and a chilling premonition that gripped her heart, as if touching the remnants of dead beauty. The flower felt fragile and broken, yet it held a faint aroma of the past that felt inexplicably familiar, evoking an unbearable sense of melancholy, a trace of sentimentality that starkly contrasted with the coldness of this mansion, a house that felt more like a gilded cage. She tried to turn the locked doorknob, but it was futile. The door was solid and did not budge, as if concealing a secret that did not want to be revealed, a physical barrier that mirrored Rey's impenetrable emotional walls, walls that made her increasingly curious to tear them down, layer by layer, until she found the truth hidden behind them. Frustration gnawed at Aluna; her burgeoning curiosity made her feel trapped outside a truth that was so close yet unreachable, the truth about the man who now shared her bed but harbored so many mysteries, an enigma that had somehow stolen a part of her heart. The desire to know what lay hidden behind that door grew stronger, mixed with a tantalizing curiosity about Rey's closely guarded past, a mystery that now felt so personal, as if it held the key to understanding Rey's coldness towards her, and perhaps also, the fleeting warmth she had once felt.
Days passed with unspoken tension, the atmosphere in the mansion growing colder and filled with a suffocating aura of secrecy, like a thick fog that shrouded every corner and concealed the real truth. Aluna grew increasingly suspicious of Rey's motives. His cold demeanor, occasionally fractured by a deep sadness that emanated from his dark eyes, the photo of him with another woman that he kept so secretively, and that locked room were a constantly revolving puzzle in her mind, disturbing her restless sleep and haunting her in every corner of this grand house, making her feel like a stranger in her own home. She began to discreetly seek more information about Rey's past, observing his every move with the intensity of a spy, trying to catch any small clues that might have escaped the attention of the loyal and distant servants, the emotionless guardians of the Adrasta family secrets. She felt like an intruder in this house, gathering fragments of information little by little, hoping to piece together a complete picture of the man who now shared her bed, sharing fleeting warmth but separated by a deep emotional chasm, a chasm she somehow wanted to bridge with courage and burning curiosity.
One morning, when Rey left for his mysterious business affairs, leaving the mansion as silent as usual, Aluna felt a strong urge to act, a courage born of unbearable curiosity and a desire to unravel the mystery surrounding her husband, an impulse she could barely control. She remembered seeing Maya, the cold yet meticulous head housekeeper, storing a set of keys in her desk drawer, a habit she had casually noticed while delivering tea a few days ago, a small detail that now felt so significant. With her heart pounding, Aluna slipped into Maya's empty study, feeling adrenaline surge through her veins as she opened the drawer and carefully searched among the neatly arranged stacks of documents and Maya's personal belongings.
Finally, she found the key ring hidden behind an old leather-bound book that looked worn. With trembling hands, she took one of the antique-looking keys and hurried towards the second floor, her steps light but full of determination to uncover the secret behind that forbidden door, a door that felt like a gateway to the truth.
Standing in front of the locked door, Aluna felt a mixture of fear and mounting anticipation, her breath catching in her throat. She inserted the key into the lock and turned it slowly. A faint click sounded, and Aluna's heart beat even faster, pounding against her chest like a war drum. Holding her breath, she pushed the door open slowly, causing a soft creak that broke the silence that had long surrounded the room, a sound that felt like a whisper from the past wanting to be revealed. The scent of dust and stillness greeted her as she stepped into the room, feeling a strange chill envelop her skin, a coldness that felt like the lingering trace of frozen sorrow in the air, a sorrow that felt so real and heartbreaking.
The room turned out to be a bedroom, but it felt different from the other rooms in the mansion. Dim light from the heavily draped dark curtains created a melancholic and intimate atmosphere, as if time had stopped in this room, preserving unspoken memories. Dust covered most of the furniture, as if the room had not been inhabited for a long time, yet the trace of someone's presence still felt strong in the air, a sentimental aura that lingered in every corner.
On the dusty dressing table, Aluna saw several framed photographs. Carefully, she picked one up. In it, a beautiful woman with a bright smile and eyes full of happiness looked out, radiating a vitality that contrasted with the gloom of the room. It was the same woman in the photo on Rey's desk, but in this photo she looked alive and full of laughter, not just a frozen memory in a frame. Other photos on the table showed the woman in various happy poses, sometimes alone with striking beauty, sometimes with a man Aluna believed to be a younger Rey, albeit with a smile that had not yet frozen as it was now, a smile that showed a warmth now absent from his gaze. The atmosphere of the room felt heavy with deep sadness, as if the happiness that had once been there had long vanished, leaving behind a suffocating trace of longing and unspoken loss, a grief that permeated every corner of the room.
Aluna felt the cold touch of the past in that room, a heartbreaking whisper of sorrow, making her even more determined to understand the man whose heart seemed as tightly locked as this room, the man who had made her feel such unexpected emotional turmoil.
In a drawer in the corner of the room, hidden behind a stack of old, yellowed letters and several soft silk scarves that felt smooth at her fingertips, Aluna found a diary with a worn and fragile brown leather cover. Thick dust clung to its surface, as if time had long stood still in this room, preserving the secrets written within, secrets of a wounded heart and lost love.
With an irresistible curiosity, she wiped away the dust with her trembling fingertips and read the name written in faded but still clearly legible ink on the cover: "Ratih." A name that felt foreign yet somehow pierced her heart with a deep sense of curiosity, a name that felt like a key to unlocking the secrets of Rey's heart.