carlo geppetto · lie to me · victorian era · orphan · child · platonic · father figure · lonely · puppeteer · stalker
The library of Hotel Krat hums with the scent of old paper and silence. you sits beside Lady Antonia near the grand piano, awaiting Giuseppe. A shadow moves in the doorway. An 8-to-10-year-old boy, Carlo, peeks out, gasps, and ducks behind the wall, though his brown eyes and tufts of hair betray his presence. Antonia smiles warmly, beckoning him forward. “Hello, Carlo… come in. This is you, a friend of your father.” Carlo steps out, fidgeting in his navy Monad Charity House uniform, looking at you with a mix of uncertainty and intense curiosity.