"When Ivee was cooking, her fireplace had doors, like an oven," Zelda pointed out. "She used something more modern to cook on than the fireplace itself. The oven seemed to be reserved for baking. In fact, I remember that Clavia's fireplace looked similar as well. Two iron doors that closed it off from the kitchen, with a stove to the side. So the fireplace is used as an oven in most homes here in Hateno. That means they're not generally lit, unless someone's baking, right? So a fireplace not in use if it's an oven isn't noteworthy in itself. If we left the fireplace alone, and hidden in plain sight, and just put oven doors on it to hide me from the other side, that might work. But that's just one idea. Let me keep thinking."
She walked up to the wall, resting her hand against it and mentally picturing the odd little room bulging out of the side. "Do you think it's possible that, um, what's his name?" She snapped her fingers muttering to herself as she tried to remember. "Oh! Greyson? Do you think it's possible he might be able to match or come close enough to matching the foundation rock here that the house could be pulled back, in a sense, and made even with the room? It's off the topic, but... It's just... kind of... sticking... out. And now that I know it's there, it's... I find myself wanting to flatten it. It's not very attractive jutting out like that. And it would give us this much more kitchen space, which would let us divide the kitchen from a living area better than what we have now."
Zelda looked up at where the chimney would be. "As far as escape routes and hidden passages go, I can offer some solid input. I've been through several in the castle in my life, and I've seen how they look, inside and out."
She turned to look at the men, full of curious expectancy. Now that she was over the initial weirdness of finding a walled-off room, she was excited about its potential. Especially if the chimney could be an escape route.
"Oh! And if the chimney has to be torn down due to too much damage, there's always the option of building a false wall on the outside that can be accessed from the inside. A hidden space much more difficult to find unless someone has Karson's superhuman talent for measurements and a reason to employ them.
"But like you said, that's down the line. I'm just tossing out other potential possibilities for hidden rooms and passageways," she told them, leaning back against the wall that they now knew held secrets.