,

When morning arrived, Penny was up and ready with the books. Reading as she held a quill in her hand, making star marking which she felt to be important. All the books which Damien read to be about vegetables were nothing but a book filled with the secrets of the white witches. It seemed like they had created a series of books which in the name of vegetables when in truth each of it had its topic which was completely different from the normal eye. 

Every word and every line that was marked in the pages was important. There was an explanation on how to create a ritual, how to spill magic on the lands, how to draw out blood and track a person out. It was almost a treasure that Damien had stumbled upon when he had gone to the councilman's house. 

For a man to collect it, did it mean he knew about it? Damien had told her on how the man was responsible for deaths that took place in the council, was it supposed to be shared with the witches. If the witches did know about the existence of the falsified books, then there was a higher chance of them stealing the books for their own use but maybe they did see the books but they never got to read the actual content that was present. 

Turning the pages, she continued to read but there were a few things that didn't make sense. At times she had to go look up another book to understand what it meant. Penny was sure that these books were written by the very same witches who were burnt here before the church was rebuilt. It was a mystery how the secret room survived the fire. She read the lines,

'One of the very first few magic we happened to tap to find about the forbidden magic was 'harvesting energy'. We started by placing objects we considered to be dear to us, throwing it in the fire which was replaced to something else. And every time we pushed forth with the minimalistic ritual, it was aimed for a higher energy source for a greater need until the time where we replaced the objects with animals.'

Penny could only imagine that in time, the witches had moved from using animals to bigger beings like humans. She studied the transformation figures, the circles, and lines, trying to understand what each of them represented. Some lines formed to a triangle while others were small that were placed around the circle, but there was always a circle. 

Hearing the knock on the door, she turned towards the door to find it was Lady Maggie who had arrived at the door. 

"Good morning, Penelope," she greeted her, "Oh, are you busy?" she asked seeing the books that surrounded Penny on the bed, "What are you reading?" she asked curiously as she stepped into the room. Damien had gone down to greet one of the councilmen who had come to the mansion to take up the report about what happened to the dead councilman. 

"Good morning, Lady Maggie. Uh, just some books on vegetables," she shrugged her shoulders like it was nothing important. 

"Hmm? Are you both planning weddings so that you both can play husband and wife?" Lady Maggie asked with one glance at the books and then looking back up at Penelope who looked red, "I take that my a.s.sumption was wrong."

"..." Penelope didn't add any words so that she wouldn't add any fuel to the existing fire of words. 

"Well, I came here hoping you would like to accompany me to one of the tea party. Don't worry it is completely safe and with only ladies who are attending it. So Damien doesn't have to be jealous," but Lady Maggie doubted that Damien was the jealous type, "You don't have to agree out of compulsion. Come if you are free," said the Lady. 

It wasn't that she had any specific plans today and Damien had been busy since the wake of the early morning of the day with the councilmen coming and going as it seemed that the man who was killed was an important person. They were holding a funeral for him soon to pay the last respects. 

"I wouldn't mind," Penny answered to receive a pleasant smile where the lady appeared to be delighted. 

"Okay, then. Shall I see you down at eleven?" Lady Maggie asked to receive a nod. Returning back the nod, Penny saw Lady Maggie step out of the room. 

"Cooking for Damien," Penny spoke under her breath before going back to read the inscription as there was plenty of time for the clock to strike eleven. 

When the clock did strike eleven, Penny had got ready by then and she turned to look at Damien who appeared to be reading the notes she had made. With the information that was hidden to others, she had written a few things about the circles and the lines but a lot more about the moon signs as that was something Damien had been interested in earlier. He laid on his side on the bed. 

"Do you think this is okay?" she asked him, her hand touching her hair so that it didn't stick out strangely. 

"Yes, it looks fine," he said without looking up from the sheets and having his eyes on the parchments which she had written. Penelope sighed. It wasn't like people would take in her appearance badly as Penny knew she was pretty. With a pretty face and expensive dress, also with the person who she was going, she knew no one would question her but females were always spiteful. 

His sister Maggie had told that she was inviting her because it had only females in there which made her wonder if Damien was the jealous type. Wanting to test, she said, 

"Oh, I wonder who I will meet there. Did you know before I was brought here, I often heard about how the servants who worked in the sheds were handsome. There was also a book apparently but I wasn't well versed when it came to reading back then."