I was hurrying up the grand imperial staircase when the piercing wail of the emergency alarm erupted, shattering the peaceful stillness of the mansion.
Startled out of my racing thoughts, I stopped halfway up the stairs, my fingers instinctively tightening around the handrail. My heart was pounding so violently that I had to take several deep breaths to steady myself.
Had a burglar broken into the mansion?
That was the first thought that crossed my mind as I regained my composure. Suddenly on high alert, I surveyed the vast interior of the house, half-expecting to find a suspicious man dressed in black, with a cloth covering his face, lurking somewhere.
But there was no one in sight.
Or so I thought, until I spotted a woman hurrying down the staircase on the opposite side. Even from a
