The news of Tthor's seriousness had spread like wildfire among the staff working at Warghost. The cooks spent the mornings doing everything in stony silence. The Blumbers had secluded themselves in the library, sitting across from each other near the enormous fireplace that took up almost an entire wall. They barely spoke to each other.

   Dedalus Blumber held a book in his hands but rarely turned the page. His eyes were fixed on the drawn letters but without reading them.

   Mariamne Llogann of Blumber used to sit on the edge of an ottoman, her body rigid. She always held a cup of tea in her lap and her teary eyes moved nervously from the burning logs to her husband who rarely looked back at her.

   Tthor's mother used to spend her afternoons, also in the library. But she chose to sit at a safe distance from the couple, in silence and with her arms crossed. Sometimes she would get up, she would pour some more tea for Mrs. Blumber who would thank her in a sweet tone and she would return to her seat without saying a word.

   Rémona spent the mornings in her room, with the door closed, and in the afternoons she walked through the cold gardens of Warghost, covered in a black cloak. She walked aimlessly and with her eyes glued to the ground.

   Darius wandered through the hallways, nervous, visibly upset, carrying out his tasks almost mechanically. And he ended up several times a day, standing in front of the closed door of Tthor's room, without really knowing how he had gotten there.

   Only Professor Evans was authorized to enter there. So Darius resigned himself to standing near the door for long periods until he remembered that he had work to do, or he retired to rest for a few hours each night.

   The demon locked up in the attic, he seemed very sad since he had received the news, he hardly ate and missed the boy a lot. The rotting meat that Darius brought him every morning began to pile up on the floor and the smell became more and more unbearable, almost as much as his lamentations. His screams echoed day and night throughout Warghost and when he didn't scream, he hit his forehead with his favorite green plate until he couldn't take it anymore and burst into tears. A sharp and penetrating cry that upset everyone, even more than they already were.

   Lee-Won was not resigned, like Darius, to staying in the hallway. He knew that they would not let him in to see him, for being a simple servant. And because of that, he hadn't bothered to ask Professor Evans for permission.

   He had tried to sneak out several times and at different times of the day but he always ended up running into Persseus Evans, who seemed to come out from between the very walls. And whenever he saw him he would ask him what he was doing there. He wanted to know where he was going and where he was coming from. So Lee-Won, quite tired by the third day of having to make excuses and give explanations, did not leave Warghost's kitchen. He spent his time helping his mother, cleaning and peeling several kilos of potatoes out of the air for dinner that day.

   When everything was silent and the night erased every last vestige of natural light, Lee-Won slipped out of his bedroom, behind the stables. He circled the abbey through the backyard, until he reached the stone front where, about fifty feet high, was the window that belonged to Tthor's bedroom. Quite skillfully, as if this were not the first time he had done it, he began to climb the wall, using the sharp edges of the stones to hold on to with his hands and use them as steps for his feet. Halfway up, he began to move horizontally and then climbed a little higher.

   He reached the edge of the window and climbed onto the sill. He opened it and entered without making a sound. He closed it behind him to prevent the icy wind from cooling the room. He walked at a serene pace to the bed where Tthor seemed to be sleeping peacefully. The boy's paleness and the stillness of his body greatly impressed Lee-Won, who had to make a great effort to stifle the sobs that were beginning to come from him.

   He reached for Tthor's hand under the blanket and squeezed it lightly. He knelt, close to his face, with Tthor's hand gently held in his icy hands, and watched him for several minutes.

   "You have to get well," he said suddenly in a barely audible voice.

   He felt tears soak his dark face, which glowed dimly in the light coming from the nearby fireplace.

   "You have many places to visit. We haven't gone through all of Warghost yet, much less all of Meaghdose," Lee-Won's voice became more muffled as he spoke. "Tthor...," he said pleadingly, getting a little closer to the sweaty face of his friend. "Don't worry. die, please. Don't do this to me, I wouldn't know what to do if you..."

   But he couldn't finish the sentence, because a noise made him startle. There was someone behind the door. Lee-Won managed to hide behind the heavy curtains of the window.

   The door opened slowly and Professor Evans's face appeared, his eyes large and bright, scanning from a distance first at Tthor's bed and then the entire room. A few moments later, he closed the door and disappeared down the south hallway. Lee-Won came out of hiding from him and knelt again near Tthor's face. He took his warm hand again and stayed there the rest of the night.

   The next day, before the abbey woke up, he slipped out the window and quickly climbed down the wall, the same way he had climbed up. He ran across the garden and into the kitchen, just as Darius arrived too. The little man looked haggard, pale, and yawned openly as he adjusted his face patch. Seeing Lee-Won he gave a half smile. Although she had tried to appear strong and even carefree in front of him, she couldn't do it. Seeing him crestfallen, with shiny eyes and visibly tired, made him more nervous and sadder. He knew that Lee-Won was suffering a lot and felt miserable that he couldn't do anything to lift her spirits.

   Darius cleared his throat and said, looking at him out of the corner of his eye:

   "I have to go to town. Do you want to come with me?"

   Lee-Won refused. He didn't want to leave the abbey, even if he couldn't get in to see Tthor during the day.

   Darius glanced down the hall, to see if any cooks were watching. He looked at Lee-Won for a few seconds and insisted again:

   "Come with me and, while we're at it, we'll visit Noel. She still doesn't know anything..."

   Lee-Won seemed a little surprised. He hadn't noticed that so he accepted the invitation.

   When the young man's mother had given him permission, the two set off towards the town, crossing the side bridge on foot. It had rained the night before and that morning she looked heavy and gray. Everything seemed out of place to the young Lee-Won and even disrespectful to his state of mind: some girls running along the road, smiling and ecstatic, the sound of birds singing from the branches of the trees, galloping horses. in the frosty meadow, the sky unfolding towards the sea, tinted with ochres, blues and reds and the smell of salt brought by the waves hitting the harbor wall beyond.

   Darius walked with his eyes fixed on the ground and barely glanced at those who passed him and greeted him.

   They arrived at the shoe store in silence. Darius left Noel talking to Lee-Won at the door, while he went to a wax shop to buy some long candles for Tthor's room.

   Twenty minutes later, he returned with several packages in his hands and a couple of envelopes. As he had imagined, Noel's eyes were teary and he could barely speak. The news of Tthor's seriousness had greatly impressed her. Her uncle, Mr. L'Vois, made them come in and offered to prepare them some valerian tea to calm their nerves.

   The kitchen was small, like everything else in the house, on the upper floor of the shoe store. They sat, the three of them in silence, around a circular black wooden table. The shoemaker put the kettle on the fire and began to crush green leaves and flowers in a container.

"Is there anything we can do for Tthor?" The young girl said, nervously squeezing a thin handkerchief between her chubby fingers.

   "Professor Evans barely gives us news of his condition. Much less can we get close to see it," Lee-Won explained bitterly.

   "He's been unconscious for three days," Darius said nervously. "And I think it's better this way, because the pain would make him suffer a lot if he were awake."

   "But... there will be something we can do," Noel insisted, helping his uncle fill the cups with an aromatic yellowish infusion.

   Mr. L'Vois placed the sugar bowl on the table and apologized when he heard the door of the business open. Darius waited patiently for him to come down the stairs and looked at the two young men knowingly. In just a whisper of voice he told them:

   "We have a problem and I think you two can help me solve it."

   Lee-Won raised his eyebrows in surprise and Noel stopped sobbing almost immediately. Darius looked back at the staircase and, seeing that it was empty, he showed them a brown envelope that he had under other smaller ones.

   "Little Wilgenyna has written to Tthor. As you know she is her cousin and they are quite close. The girl doesn't know anything about her... And I thought it would be very cruel of us to send her a letter from her, giving her bad news..."

   Noel nodded, more and more strongly, as Darius spoke.

   "From what he has told us, they love each other very much...," Darius continued, raising her tone of voice a little. "She lives very far away and it would be very difficult for her to endure all this... there alone..."

   Lee-Won looked at Darius for a few seconds and began to nod as well. He then pronounced, mysteriously:

   " I think I know what you want us to do. Noel and I take care…"

   The young girl looked at them, first at one and then at the other, without saying a word.

   "We only have one problem, we don't know Tthor's handwriting," Lee-Won said looking at Darius.

  Hearing that, Noel raised his eyebrows.

   "I understand!" He said, gently tapping the table. "You want us to write a letter to Tthor's cousin, pretending to be him so that she can stay calm..."

   "…And thus gain time, until Tthor wakes up and fully recovers and can write to him in person. Because, he will recover...!"

   "He will do it!!!" The two young men chanted with a new vigor in their voices.

   Darius, with a hint of a smile on his lips, took a piece of paper from the pile in his hand.

   "Tthor had given me a letter for his cousin three days ago, before…," Darius couldn't finish the sentence.

   He sipped his tea and took a deep breath.

  "I have sent it, but I have left this thing that he gave me.," and he showed the paper to the young people. "There Tthor wrote down Wilgenyna's complete address, so that I can write it in the Canopus when sending it."

   Lee-Won looked at the letters carefully.

   "They are not difficult to copy," he assured, smiling.

   " I thought so...," Darius stated. "I'll finish making my rounds and I'll come pick you up in half an hour, more or less. Alright?"

   The young people nodded.

   Three quarters of an hour later, Darius joined Lee-Won in the shoe store. And they walked together to the post office. They deposited the letter, said goodbye to Noel and returned along the cobbled path without saying practically anything to each other.

   Darius glanced at Lee-Won as they reached the kitchen, which was packed and fully operational.

   " How has it been?"

   "Hard...Lee- Won said. "We have made several drafts.

   "Was it difficult for you to copy his lyrics?" Darius wanted to know.

   "No, what it cost me was to deceive this poor girl. If I were in her place, I would like to find out that the person I love most in the world is..."

   "...sick...but with the best care and about to wake up," Darius snapped, frowning.

   Lee-Won bit his lip and stared at the floor, blushing and feeling miserable.

   "Tthor will thank you when he's recovered and finds out what you've done," Darius assured him, gently patting him on the shoulder. "Ah!" And be careful tonight when you go see him. Don't forget to close the window before you leave...," Darius whispered mischievously. Professor Evans has caught my attention, because apparently, when I brought more logs to feed Tthor's fireplace, I forgot to close the window …"

   Darius winked his only eye at Lee-Won and disappeared down the hallway, leaving a young man a little more cheerful, in the middle of the commotion of half a dozen women preparing lunch.