Well, well, well. Greetings, my dear guest. I've been hoping to chat with you.

Mr. Darling tells me that, um, curiously, you were spotted on the grounds of the midnight

library just recently.

Now, what he told me, I'm guessing, was likely embellished in order to induce within me a sense of pity for you.

This being done in an effort to hopefully cause me to reopen the library earlier than we had

planned and before this year's renovations are completed.

Why would he do this, you might ask yourself?

Well, apparently he has some private motivations as some guests, as I have seen in my crystal ball,

some guests have been bringing Mr Darling secret treats, high-end meaty

goodies from Breedlove's butcher shop and and rare flavored biscuits from Grimm's Grocers.

Someone seems to know that his favorite flavor is called Throat of the Innocence.

Hmm. In any case, he told me that he spotted you on more than one occasion in various locations on the

grounds and that each time you were behaving very oddly. In a serious effort to be more transparent, I shall list two of the occasions here for you now.

Maybe you can recall them.

First, during the festival

during the festival of Souls, held in the Village last month in August, he spoke of how

you followed several drifting lanterns through phantom forest,

in a trance-like state with your arms outstretched

and your eyes wide and watery,

completely oblivious to everything else around you.

Two of the lanterns drifted high into the tall black hawthorn trees.

So you followed a lone lantern into our easternmost graveyard.

...