As promised she went outside with him, there was only one thing she had forgotten and that was how energetic kids his age could be.

After getting used to the bright light coming from the sun he started running around excitedly. And who could blame him? He had been locked inside for over three years without being able to go outside because of his condition. And to be honest he wasn't the only one who was excited to go outside, she was also happy to get out of there for a bit and relax. 

"Look miss, over here!", he exclaimed kneeling in front of a bush.

"I'm coming", she said and without noticing it an honest smile appeared on her face.

Turns out the boy had found a baby bird who had fallen from a nest and was hiding there. To her surprise the bird didn't seem to be scared of them in fact he jumped straight into the boys hands and made himself comfortable there. It was the first time she saw him smiling like a kid his age and it melted her heart seeing him so ecstatic.

"Are all birds friendly like this?", he asked, carefully stroking its head.

"Not quite", she answered.

"Oh", he said looking a bit disappointed and she just couldn't resist and patted his head.

"Just because not every bird is as friendly as this one doesn't mean that none of them are, same goes for us humans. You just have to find one that likes you for who you are."

"But how are birds supposed to know what I'm like?", he asked curious.

"I guess through observing you before getting closer", she said surprised by his question, normally people didn't question stuff like this and just went on with their lifes without thinking about it twice. 

"But this one wouldn't have been able to observe me before. So did it base its actions on how it felt when it first saw me, like humans?"

"Maybe", she said looking at the small creature in his hands. 

This was the first time she heard someone comparing the behaviour of animals and humans like this, but she had to say it was an interesting approach of the topic that most adults couldn't think of.

"Say, what do you want to be when you grow up?", she asked.

It was a question she never had the chance to ask herself as her future had been decided from the moment she set foot in this mansion. Thinking about it now she couldn't think of a single thing that she might actually enjoy, because she never really had the chance to try out different activities. All she ever did was do research and experiments that she was ordered to do.

"I want to be a baker just like my mom", he said.

"A baker?"

"Yes, mom always used to take me with her to work and I like baking, it makes me feel at ease, like everything is going to be fine. What about you miss? Did you also want to be a doctor since you were little?", he asked looking up to her with his dark grey puppy eyes.

"I've been studying to be a doctor and scientist since I can remember", she said with a smile, but it was visible that her mood had dropped thinking about the past.

"But did you want to be one?", he asked and for a split second she saw the image of someone else in him. 

"... I-"

"What are you doing here Marianne?", asked a voice behind her.

As she turned around she saw Claude standing there next to the main butler.

"And why is he out here?", he said pointing at the boy who was hiding behind her.

"We were just going for a walk, we didn't mean to-"

"You know that he isn't allowed to leave the lab. And since you can walk around and do nothing I expect you have already finished all the reports I asked you to make, bring them to me once you've brought him back inside."

"I'll ask someone to deliver them to you once I'm done with them", she said, the smile on her face disappearing. 

"So you're not done yet?", he asked in a sharp tone.

He had been having a horrible week and all his pent up frustration was now directed towards her even though what she did wasn't all that grave. 

The real reason he was out here was because he was looking for her, as it had been weeks since they last actually talked to each other and he wanted to know how she was doing. But seeing her smile like this made him remember everything he had missed because he prioritized his work over his friendship with her and Cesar.

Realizing what he said to her he looked her in the eyes full of regret. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. It's just that I've been having a rough week."

"It's alright", she said, she knew how much work he had to do and right now she wasn't being of any help to him by walking around and doing nothing. "I'll get back to work and make sure that something like this won't happen again."

"No it's fine, you can stay outside for as long as you want to, you're also having a rough time and you weren't able to take a break for a while now."

"Really? If that's the case-", but before she could finish her sentence she was interrupted by a thudding sound.

As she turned around she saw the boy lying on the ground, his breathing shaky and his eyes twitching. For the first time in long she was overwhelmed by a sense of panic as she picked him up and brought him to the laboratory as fast as she could, leaving behind a horrified Claude with his butler.

By the time she reached the lab his breathing had become more stable and his eyes had also stopped twitching. After finishing her examinations she came to the conclusion that nothing was wrong with him and that it was probably his lungs acting up again. Which was strange as it seemed he had fully recovered, but it wouldn't be the first time she was wrong about something like this. 

After making sure that he would be alright she left to look at the other experiments. 

Not even five minutes after she left he regained consciousness, but there was one problem. He couldn't move his body.