A month passed quickly. Grandfather and Nana had remained in the fort working on the hospital day and night—finding staff, cooks, cleaners, even gardeners. The medical staff had decided to convene every day at the fort to go over the contents of the books. Varn had suggested this idea to the Marquess, and the other practitioners received the idea well, agreeing that having a common understanding of the books' contents could be instrumental to them working together, where most of them had had a more solitary practice before. They needed, for lack of better words, to be on the same page.

Since my grandparents were around, I had found no opportunity to leave on the excursion to the mines. An opportunity was just ahead; I just had to wait until Grandfather left. Even though no one said a thing, the hospital had consumed so much of my grandfather's money that meals were slowly becoming more scarce. Where we had three slices of bread, it became one, and where meat was available, there was none. I even heard there was a delay in paying salaries.

And taxes during this type of winter were rarely enough because my grandfather didn't have the heart to demand even the little pennies that kept the people of Ismere from starvation and death during this time, where the harvest was non-existent and working at the mines had come to a halt due to the weather. All this left me deeply troubled. I didn't think things were this bad. That made me more anxious to find the mine.

The day was finally upon us. The old building had been transformed so much that one would have imagined it was newly built. I stood in front of the building beside my grandparents. A large crowd had gathered at the gates, eagerly watching on. My grandfather stepped forward and made a small speech with a hearty smile. Varn and the other doctors and staff stood behind us at the doors of the establishment, grinning in their uniforms and white lab coats. There was a ribbon at the gates that separated us from the crowd.

"I, Marquess of Ismere, now declare by the power bestowed upon me by the crown of Valtherion that this institution is now officially open to the public." He then took his military sword and cut down the ribbon. At that, there were loud cheers and shouts and the blowing of trumpets and confetti made by the town's children.

The crowd was directed in by the knights of the fort and my grandmother, who looked on in extreme delight. The people present took their time looking around, then Varn and some of the staff explained which services were available. The most important news was that most of the treatments were inexpensive, and some were even free. That seemed to make the crowd cheer even louder. The simple opening ceremony turned into a full-on celebration. There might not have been food or drinks available, but just the music and the new hope in the hearts of the people made them revel and cheer loudly, dancing along the wide courtyard outside. It was like the first ray of sunlight after a long storm.

I was standing beside my grandfather, his eyes glossy and a wide grin on his face.

"Thank you," he whispered. "I never thought I'd see—" he trailed off before looking at me.

"There is no need for that, Papa," I said, equally emotional. I had waited for this, scared I was biting off more than I could chew. But it actually happened. This day made me realise that my plans were possible. I found strength to continue.

"How will you maintain this?" I asked suddenly, remembering the money shortage.

"We will find a way," he said, still smiling, but I could see the strain in his eyes. It was a look of uncertainty.

When night rolled in, Mildred brought me back with my grandmother while Grandpa stayed behind to hand over administrative rights to Varn, though it was previously agreed that my grandmother would be the hospital's director.

That night, I slept soundly, tired from the long day that had begun early in the morning.

The next few days, a mobilisation movement to transfer all those sick with consumption from the slums to the hospital began. All the wards had been opened, and the three hundred patients recorded from the census were moved in, all in various stages of infection. For a while, until the disease was contained, the hospital would only receive outpatients, save for some special cases like pregnant women and those in need of urgent care.

The side houses found on the property became boarding houses for the doctors, offices, and medical herbs storage rooms.

Freya's mother and Luca's mother were now being taken care of round the clock, and I could see they seemed more relaxed and cheerful. I'm so glad.

A week later, my grandfather packed his bags to go back to the barracks.

"I've been away for too long," he said over dinner. "I'm glad Victor was available. He really took charge. I've been getting very clear intel. Everything has been fine, but if I don't show up, I fear the morale of the men will go down. I don't want them assuming I've been ill. The soldiers on base rarely get intel on what's happening at home," he said over dinner the night before he left.

"Why?" I asked, perplexed.

"Information going there is restricted to prevent it from leaking to the enemies. Imagine it this way: if the barracks fell to the people of Tar and our information was scattered around in the form of messages, and they found out our sick were all in one place… you get what I mean. It's not a new rule; it's been around for a long time. Only myself and a few others get intel, and we often have to burn the letters as per protocol. So unless the guard changeover happens, most of those men are isolated from the outside world."

"I see," I answered. But at the back of my mind, my scheme was underway. I had a window of a few days to go down to that mine.

Grandmother was to go for a meeting about food supply to the hospital in two days. That would be the perfect day, since the meeting was in the evening when patient activity dwindled.

Two days to organise everything. Hmm, I hope it works out.

“Luca… Luca…” open the door. I whispered through the door. It was eleven thirty at night. I had snuck out of my room to talk to him.

D-day was tomorrow, and I needed Luca to agree to come with me. I knew I had to stage the mine discovery somehow. Even if I found the mine, it would be extremely suspicious if I were to come back and just tell them where it was. It would be beyond suspicious. I needed to move, and move fast, but not without a plan. The plan was to "get lost" and wander into the mine, then with Luca's help, get back and announce the discovery. To get him to agree would prove difficult.

"What do you want again?" he whined, exhausted.

"Just open up," I retorted, scared I'd be caught.

The moment he opened the door, I pushed through, much to his surprise.

"What are you doing here?" he half-whispered, half-shouted, trying to grab me and drag me out.

"Look, Luca, I need your help. If you agree, I'll give you this." I tossed him a pouch of gold coins.

He caught it and opened the top of the pouch. "Why?" he yelled, seeing the amount.

"Shhh!" I gestured, and he closed the door behind him loudly and locked it before coming over. I had sat on the chair in the corner of his room, and he sat on the edge of his bed.

"Even my dad doesn't get this kind of money in a year. What exactly do you want? Speak fast. If what you want is something illegal, take back your money and leave," he exclaimed, setting the money aside like it was a cursed object. He was overly cautious, eyeing me keenly.

"Listen, as you know, my mother was the Marquess's daughter, and my grandmother owned some of the mines since her family were coal barons."

"Right," he answered.

"Well, as I was going through my mother's old things, I found this." I pulled out a map, half-torn, from my pocket and a journal. "Though you can't read this, it's my mother's journal that describes a treasure chest she buried near a willow tree with gold coins worth one hundred million stored inside." (Lies.)

He gasped. "I didn't know money like that existed," he whispered back, taking the map from my hand. "Where is the rest of the map?" he asked, curious. "Is this why you wanted help mapping out the mines earlier?" He got off the bed and sat on the floor, and I moved down onto the carpeted floor as well.

"Yes," I smiled back. "If we could get to that treasure chest, imagine how it would help us—the hospital. Imagine how much food we could buy," I whispered.

Luca's eyes were shining bright with excitement. "So how do you want me to help?" he asked, eager.

"Take me there tomorrow night," I answered.

But his facial expression dropped. "Night? Are you mad? Do you know how dangerous it is out there?"

"Come on, Luca. Is the money not enough? I have more." I scrambled to remove a secondary pouch from my waist. "This is some of the money my mother gave me. I have some more upstairs. Come on, please."

He sighed heavily. "It's not about the money. Those mountains are dangerous. We could die."

"Have you never gone at night?" I asked, curious.

"I have, but I've always gone with my dad, who is a retired soldier," he emphasized the word soldier loudly. "Those mountains are infested with wolves and bears. I won't go. I won't die out there with you."

I was becoming desperate. If only he would agree, the benefit we would get. I didn't want to bring it up, but I found myself blurting out:

"Think about your mother. The food isn't enough, Luca. My grandparents can't feed three hundred people out of pocket. Please!" I yelled.

He looked horrified as I shook him, begging.

"Okay," he replied slowly.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Luca, what's going on in there? Who's with you? Why are you yelling?" Freya's voice called out.

"Nothing," he yelled back. "I had a nightmare," he responded, lost for words.

"Open up, Luca!" she called back.

"I'm fine," he responded, his face red with shock, looking at me on the floor. How would he explain himself if he was caught with me? How would I explain? I thought, my mind racing.

Luckily, Freya stopped pursuing the issue and left after a few more knocks. I stayed for a while just to be sure, then left after Luca checked that the coast was clear.

Something weird is going on, was all Freya could think. She had peeked out her door some time after midnight and seen Evelyn's red hair turn the corner down the hall. Was she imagining things when she heard a loud shout from Luca's room? It was so loud it made the baby stir and roll around in the crib. She wanted to make sure he was okay, but he repeatedly refused to open up to her. What exactly was going on here?

So when she heard the next door open thirty minutes after she left him alone, she knew she had to check—only to see Evelyn dash down the hall and turn. She didn't see her face, but only one person had fiery red hair in that fort.

A silent determination to press the information out of Luca the next day formed in her mind.