After walking just a short distance, Lon looked at "his" house.
It was a two-story building made of white stone, with countless grapevines growing across its walls. The house had a small yard, where two modest apple trees grew, and around them were flower beds adorned with various blooms.
A short staircase with white stone railings led to the front door. The windows were rectangular and vertically shaped.
The house looked fresh and clean, without any dirt or scattered leaves. It was clear that this place was regularly cleaned and kept spotless.
«How clean… It's obvious they clean here every day, and they do it well.»
There were two reasons for that.
The first was that members of the middle class always cleaned up after themselves — or had someone else do it. It was because the middle class aspired to be closer to the nobility. Among common folk, it was believed that cleanliness equaled wealth. Lower-class people rarely bathed, while high-class individuals did so daily. This always created a stark contrast that was hard to ignore.
The second reason was that Donald — Renvel's father — was a partial mysophobe, who disliked dirt and dust. Since childhood, Donald had hated touching filthy things, which only worsened his phobia. But in a way, this was a benefit — living in a clean place was always better than the alternative.
These were the two main reasons why Lon's house, and others in the middle class, looked so well-kept and fresh — even in this world.
Smiling, Lon took a key out of the inner pocket of his coat and inserted it into the iron gate, opening it and stepping inside.
He followed a small stone path to the steps, climbed them, and stood in front of the door.
Selecting another key from his keyring, he inserted it into the lock and opened the door.
As the door opened, it immediately revealed the house's interior.
Directly ahead, a few meters in, was a staircase leading to the second floor. Before that, the first floor was divided into two parts: on the right was the kitchen, with a dining table, chairs, and a large cooking area. On the left was the sitting room, where guests were received. There stood a large stone fireplace, and across from it was a sofa with a coffee table, surrounded by stacks of newspapers and a vase of flowers.
Gas pipes ran along the ceiling, providing light to the house.
All in all — the house looked nice. It radiated comfort and coziness that Lon had never felt before. Of course, that was partly due to Renvel's memories, which "manipulated" his subconscious. But even knowing that, it didn't really spoil his opinion of the place. It still felt comforting, even if it was a lie.
Lon sighed.
He took off his shoes and set down his cane, slowly walking through the house and carefully examining everything.
In the hallway, he noticed many paintings and photographs depicting members of the Habott family. There were so many that even with Renvel's memories, Lon only recognized the main ones.
One photograph showed the current Habott family: Donald and Ramana, along with their children, Renvel and Santi. All of them were looking into the camera without a smile, as if the photo meant nothing to them.
But that wasn't true — it was just that the cameras used to take the photo were very old, and the process took a long time. Some people simply couldn't keep smiling for that long. Of course, there was another reason: photo sessions were considered something honorable — something to be remembered. So people didn't smile because of the seriousness of the moment.
«I actually remember that photo session… It was pretty funny...» — Lon smirked.
He continued exploring the first floor until he decided to check the second.
Standing in front of the stairs, Lon looked up at the second floor and thought:
«I've seen everything on the first floor… It was pretty nice. I definitely felt that sense of comfort I always imagined back in my old world… But now, time to check the second floor and try to get into Santi's little library to learn more about this world.»
He climbed the stairs slowly, step by step, until he reached the top.
Lon looked around.
He stood in a small horizontal corridor, with five different doors on each side.
To the right were two doors, directly facing each other. From the stairway side was Renvel's room, and opposite it — Santi's room, the one he needed.
But instead of going to Santi's room right away, Lon entered "his" own room to change and freshen up. It had been quite a tiring day — even more exhausting than the one where he had to fix the boilers.
Lon slowly opened the door to his room and looked inside.
In the middle stood a bunk bed, with nightstands on either side holding vases with flowers. Opposite the door was a desk with a chair and a gas lamp. Next to it was a wardrobe with a built-in mirror.
Lon stepped inside, took off his top hat, and placed it on the bed. He began undressing and looked at himself in the mirror.
Renvel's body wasn't particularly athletic — you could see a faint outline of muscles, but nothing very noticeable.
However, Renvel's face was quite decent — not overly handsome, but definitely attractive. Fair skin and blue eyes made for a striking combination.
«Not bad... I didn't expect to become such a good-looking guy...»
Lon smirked and quickly put on his casual clothes — light brown trousers and a vest.
«Ha! So easy! Now that's what I call style and comfort...» — he thought, admiring himself in the mirror.
He grew even more convinced of how great the fashion was in this world.
Lon smiled and quietly left his room, heading to Santi's.
He stopped in front of the door.
«He's not going to be upset, right? I don't think so. We're brothers after all… And besides, I'm not going to take anything, just borrow a few books.»
Having made up his mind, Lon opened the door to Santi's room.
Santi's room was slightly different from Renvel's. Instead of a bunk bed, it had a single bed in the corner. The rest of the room was filled with bookshelves!
He was a real bookworm!
«So many books… Did he rob half the library?»
Lon walked carefully through the room until he reached the bookshelves. He scanned the titles, hoping to learn more about this world.
He picked one at random and read the title out loud:
— Let's see… "I'll See You in the Endless Night, Even If I Die"? What is this? A romance novel? — He stepped closer and read the synopsis:
— "This story tells of a young girl, Alle, who meets a young prince named Loge. Loge is the prince of the Kingdom of Gola, who doesn't want to become king, and so he runs away from the palace! That's when he meets Alle, who invites him to stay with her for a while — and he agrees. And so, our romance begins!"
— …
«So it's a love story… But what's it doing in Santi's collection? He doesn't read this kind of stuff...»
Lon shook his head. He figured it was probably just a mistake. After all, who hasn't read a love story? Nothing too surprising for a boy his age.
Santi was only sixteen, so it was understandable.
Lon looked at more titles, hoping to find the kind of books he needed.
But… what he saw next was completely shocking!
"I and Our Night…" "The Ether Tonic That Will Arouse You…" "But Can You Really Be So Cruel?.." "The Hundredth Night in One Breath…" — and those were just the first five titles he noticed!
All of them were either romance novels or erotic stories — clearly inappropriate for someone Santi's age!
What kind of indecency was this?!