Leah sat at the edge of her bed, her voice trembling. "I swear... I saw it move. The teddy bear. It turned its head and looked at me." Her hands, still quivering, clutched the hem of her skirt like it was the only thing anchoring her to the present.

Across from her, Alice leaned in, eyes wide and sparkling with curiosity. "Wait, wait, wait. You're saying the teddy bear moved? Like, really moved?"

"Yes!" Leah hissed, her gaze darting toward the door as if half-expecting something—or someone—to creep in. "It was holding a string in its stubby paws. I didn’t see what I tripped on until I turned around, and it was just... sitting there. Upright. Like it was waiting for me."

Jane, arms crossed and unimpressed, let out a heavy sigh. "Or maybe you were just tired and tripped over a rock. Hallucinating teddy bears now?"

Leah shook her head, adamant. "I know what I saw."

Alice leaned back, her expression thoughtful. "Say... what if that was the child of Lady Nyssira?"

Silence fell.

They had never seen the dukedom's heir. The mansion was full of servants, but none dared mention the young master. No one said he had died, yet no one had ever seen him either. What if... just what if the child was thrown into the forest after his mother’s death? What if he became something else?

Jane groaned. "Now you're both just inventing ghost stories. A cursed child locked away in a haunted forest? Sounds like some twisted bedtime tale."

"But what if it isn't?" Leah said softly. "We never saw him. All we know is we’re forbidden from entering the forest and never allowed to speak of the young master. That bear... it wasn’t normal."

They fell into deep discussion, tossing around every piece of information they had, trying to piece together some truth. But no matter how long they talked, no answer came.

Jane finally stood and stretched. "We’re not getting anywhere. Let’s ask a senior maid tomorrow. Maybe they know something."

Alice and Leah exchanged glances before nodding. Jane was right. Speculating would only get them so far.

The next morning, Alice joined Senior Rayna and Lola for her new duties, leaving Leah and Jane to work in the kitchen alongside Senior Sheila. As they walked, Leah couldn’t hold back her curiosity.

"Senior Sheila... why were you asked to carry a sack of potatoes to the forest yesterday?"

                Leah was also curious about the potatoes, she had to carry over to the forest.

Sheila froze for a split second. Her face paled. "Why? Did something happen?" She did not like where this conversation was going, she was scared what Leah was going to say next.

“Umm… Did lady Nyssira’s child die in that forest?” Leah whispered as she slowly came close to Sheila, and Sheila just expressed the most clueless and wondering look.

“No? He was still clearly alive. Lady Anavriel, the Head Maid, and a few others clearly went to check on him a few days ago.” She calmly said, but now she got curious of what made Leah say it. She looked deeply into Leah’s eyes and asked her seriously, “Did you see something?”

                Leah’s gaze shifted back and forth between Sheila and Jane. And slowly with her resolve forming, she spoke with a low voice and told Sheila everything she went through when she went to the forest.

With only the flickering light of their lanterns to guide them through the dim hallway, the revelation hung in the air like a storm cloud. Leah and Jane exchanged wary glances.

***~~***~~***

That night, the three girls gathered again in their room. Alice flopped face-down on her bed.

“How could senior do this to me?!” she groaned.

                Leah just looked at Alice pitifully while Jane just smirked and looked down at her as if she was pathetic.

“Maybe next time, don’t jump at an opportunity without asking questions first. Now you’re stuck on laundry duty.” Jane just said as matter-of-factly to Alice, condemning her of her decisions.

“Waaaaah! It’s even further from my goal to meet with a noble man!” She continued to cry, and Leah not knowing what to say about Alice’s situation just chuckled before changing the subject.

“Anyway, so the young master did not die at the forest. That means, whatever possessed that teddy bear meant something else entirely.”

                Upon hearing Leah, Alice rolled over and stayed at the ceiling.

“So your saying something else is with the young master in the forest?” Alice asked.

                Jane and Leah, gulped before nodding and continued, “Yeah, it seems so. I wonder if the young master is okay. Didn’t senior Sheila said something before about a ghost violenty grabbing the maids’ hairs?”

Alice slowly sat her sore body up. “Then we can’t just leave him there! If there’s really a child left with a violent ghost all by himself, we have to check.”

Then Jane stood up, adamantly disagreeing with their decision. “Absolutely not. Are you insane? Didn’t you just hear Leah say that the ghost is violent, it grabbing hairs might be the least of our worries!”

“I also said there’s a child,” Leah muttered. Her tone had shifted—softer, thoughtful. She looked down at her hands, then up at her friends. “I have younger siblings back home. If they were left alone in some forest with a violent ghost, I’d want someone to save them too.”

A long silence stretched across the room.

Jane sighed. "Fine. But I’m not going with you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you."

Alice and Leah shared a quiet look.

"We understand," Leah said gently. "This is our choice."

At the crack of dawn, the forest was still cloaked in shadow. Alice and Leah slipped from their quarters, cloaks drawn tight and lanterns flickering.

From her bed, Jane remained still, pretending to sleep. But as the door clicked shut, she sat up and stared into the door cloaked in darkness they just left from.

They made their way through the winding trees, guided by Leah’s memory of the path. The forest was colder than before, the air heavy and damp. Every snapped twig made their hearts jump.

And then, through the foliage, a cabin appeared. Weathered, but clearly not abandoned from how neat it looked.

Leah signaled for them to stop. They crouched behind a thick tree trunk, eyes fixed on the quiet structure.

They didn't know what they were about to find.