Archive of Our Own ^beta

The servants finished doing their rounds of the castle, the candles were blown out and the windows were sealed. When Heisenberg heard his door lock he knew it was time to put his plan into action. Tonight would be the night he finally escaped. After shoving his remaining clothes into a bag he started to pick the lock to his room. He gave a silent cheer when he heard the lock pop. The door opened with a small creak as the teen poked his head into the dark hallway. The little lord looked both ways before deciding that it was safe for him to move, he took a deep breath and began his trek.

It took him twenty minutes to get to the first floor of the castle. Sticking to the shadows and stopping when he heard voices made his movements slower. He made it to the kitchens as the last of the maids were walking out. He grabbed a couple of drying meats and a block of cheese and wrapped them in a cloth. Looking at all of the food in the pantry he knew that he had to pack light but the ache in his stomach was making it hard for him to turn away. He stole one more piece of meat and made his way to the courtyard. Heisenberg shifted the straps of his bag and pushed through the grand double doors ‘so far so good’ he thought.

He entered the dining room and heard voices from behind the door “ How did he get out?!” a woman’s seething voice pierced through the air.
“We do not know my lady, both the young masters and the mistress were asleep when we last checked.” another woman spoke her voice trembling.
“I'm positive that he couldn’t have gotten very far.” another added. There was a sharp sound of a weapon being drawn and a gasp.
“Let me make something very clear, if that child is not found then Mother Miranda will have all of our heads. Now wake the others up and find him.”
“ Yes Lady Dimitrescu.” with that the sound of loud footsteps traveled away from the dining room and lighter steps seemed to go up the stairs.

“Like hell I’m going to let them bring me back.” Heisenberg scoffed, he waited for a few minutes and then continued on his way through the sitting room. Opening a door on his left he walked into the Duke’s room. “ Alright I'm here, you said you could help me.” Heisenberg set his bag down.
“Ah lord Heisenberg I wasn’t expecting you this early. You must really be set on leaving.” The Duke greeted the boy, while still keeping his eyes on his ledger.
“ You would too if you had to stay in this hellhole.” the boy shot back.
The Duke shrugged his shoulders “ I still have business to finish, I’ll meet you at my carriage. It's right outside the castle walls.”

“Fine, but you better not go back on your word.” Heisenberg gave The Duke one last glance before sneaking out. It didn’t take long to reach the castle door that led outside, he trudged through the falling snow and was halfway to the carriage when he saw the shadow of a figure approaching from behind. The young lord raised his face and turned to the person behind only to stop when he saw the face of his father in front of him.
“Karl, what are you doing my son. You’ll catch a cold.” the man chided
“F-Father?” Heisenberg felt lightheaded and dizzy, the man pulled him into a hug. It was cold and smelled of flowers.
“Karl you need to go back home, your mother would be so worried if something happened to you.”
Heisenberg pushed away from the hug “This isn’t my home anymore. She is not my mother, and” he paused and looked away from the man “ And you aren’t my father.” There was silence; everything around him began to disappear, the snow stopped and the carriage was gone. All that remained was little Donna and Angie dressed in their matching nightgowns too thin for the cold winter night.
“ You can’t leave. We’re family, and we’ll miss you.” Donna sniffled and looked at her uncovered feet. “ I had to get you to stay. I thought that if you saw what you wanted too then you would stay.” She explained, she held Angie close to her as tears ran down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

Heisenberg picked Donna up and walked back to the Castle; not a word was spoken between the two the whole trip. When they reached their destination a maid was waiting for them with a warm blanket. “Lord Heisenberg, we are so glad that Mistress Donna found you. We didn’t know why Mother Miranda requested putting some of Miss Donna’s flowers near your rooms but I can see that it came in handy.” The two were put back to bed and stayed in their rooms the entire night. The next morning Heisenberg received a stern lecture from Mother Miranda and a swat on the head from Alcina.

In the following days Mother Miranda announced that Heisenberg would be relocated to his grandfather’s factory to take his rightful place as a lord of the village. Happy to finally be able to leave the Castle, Heisenberg left without saying goodbye to any of the Castle’s residents.