Verdant Castle

It stands as high as the middle of the doorframe, and has a round ‘hand’ held out, though it doesn’t extend past the drum on its chest.

“Oh no, what is it doing now?”

“Oh dear, I think it’s just confused by the new person! They’re not used to places where people come and go a lot.”

“So working as your assistant will be good for them! Is this someone who comes here often? They’ll get used to their presence faster if so.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Yes, they come visit often, my er… I met them a while ago, they helped Nero and I during the investigation of who had stolen my mother’s statue.”

The strange lockette pats the toy soldier on the head, and scoots it out of your way so you can step into the room.

“So sorry about that, my summons are alive and I can’t really control them exactly. They’re harmless, just very curious, and since most of my jobs have been more isolated they aren’t used to people yet.”

“This is Bonnie, she’s forgetting to introduce herself again.”

“Oh no… Maybe I’ve been a bit impacted by working in isolated places too!”

“It’s alright, I’m sure you’ll get more used to things. It’s only your first day.”

“Yeah, definitely! I’m going to do my best!”

Something seems off about the whole exchange to you.

It’s almost concerning enough to prompt you to say something privately to Queen Iola…

…but then you remember that exchange you had overheard at the start of winter.

You only see one living summon right now, rather than the nine you recall Symphony mentioning… but as you glance around the room, you spot another living summon crouched behind the stove.

“Oh, hey, leave the Stewy alone!”

She scoops the summon away from the Stewy like a naughty child, and deposits it with the other one.

“Honestly… I stand by what I said in the interview. These guys are harder to manage than any other task you could possibly give me.”

You linger a little longer before leaving the room, but now you have research to do - how much control do lockettes actually have over their living summons…