*Scribble* *Scribble*
The faint scraping sound could be heard in a room filled with only darkness of the night. Scattered on a desk were opened scrolls with an exquisite handwriting common in all of them. A particular scroll was opened, its ends faced towards the two large windows concealed behind the dark curtains. In between the opened scroll and large window was a person….a man, the one behind the faint scraping sound of the pointy tip of the quill pen.
Underneath the chandelier, the man of ethereal beauty buried himself in doing his work with the help of the lighted candle on a candelabrum standing erect near the edge of the desk. His crimson eyes focused on the sharp strokes made on the paper of the scroll, and his glossy ebony hair unified with endless abyss of the night.
His lips were drawn into a thin line as he focused on the matter at hand. His aristocratic clothes were the same as his hair, blending in the darkness that surrounds him.
''…...''
All of a sudden, the scribbling stopped and the man raised his head, his blank gaze was forward, expecting someone to be in the room….or something.
''My lord.'' A prickling eerie voice sounded out of nowhere, capable of sending terror to all except two people in the Langston Grand duchy.
But….then, the people were two. Now they are three.
''Lycos.'' The man called out a name, his voice the same as in the family dinner, full of authority and dominance.
''Yes, my lord.'' In response, a dark shadow of a person appeared right in the man's gaze. Swirling shadows that vanish and appears to no end. No clothing or skin on the shadow, apart from the way it seemed to wearing a robe with a hood over its head.
The only visibility on the strange entity was underneath that hood. A crimson glow like the eyes of a human but darker than the man's own.
''You bothered my work.'' The one thing the man loathed in this world was to be bothered. His wives and children knew better than to disturb his peace.
''Apologies, my lord, but this servant has reports.''
''What is it?'' The man released a frustrated and soft sigh as he dropped the quill pen on the paper and fully concentrated on what Lycos wanted to tell him.
''Another has been sent to kill the fourth young lady.''
''.....'' The man kept quiet for a moment and stared deeply at Lycos, who patiently waited for his words.
''And what am I supposed to do, Lycos?'' He asked calmly.
''My lord's order was to look after the fourth young lady…..''
''Lycos.'' The man whose identity was blatantly obvious from the ongoing conversation interrupted Lycos's words. It was a rude act but not between them whose relationship was that of a master and a servant.
''How old is the fourth young lady?'' Grand duke Langston pointed out indifferently. His manner did not depict a father who just heard of another assassination against his youngest child.
''…..'' Lycos did not respond to that simple question. He already knew the meaning behind the simple question alone.
''Forgive this servant, my lord.'' Lycos's shadowy form bowed with his apology.
''That child is no longer under my protection. If only her mother had accepted my request, then I wouldn't bother with such trivial matters.'' Saying that, the man picked up the quill pen, about to resume his scribbling. He then added. ''The fourth young lady is at the age of succession. If she wants to kill and succeed me, she needs to stand on her own without assistance. If her death is the first among her siblings, then so be it. She will be recorded as a pathetic descendant of mine. That's all.''
''...''
''I presume my words are clear, Lycos.''
''As you wish, my lord.'' Not surprised at the cruel words spewed against his own daughter, Lycos agreed without an argument.
Only a mortal like the grand duke can be quite ruthless against his own blood.
Lycos silently judged. However, the words of the grand duke were correct, after all. This was the only way to preserve the true existence of the Langston family.
But….
Should the grand duke be aware of what had happened?
The fourth young lady's drastic change in behavior, her first kill and the fact that she finally sensed him who does not belong in this worldly dimension?
'I guess she doesn't deny her true self anymore….' Lycos thought, recalling something that had happened with the fourth young lady and the second young master.
''Should I be aware of other information, Lycos?'' Grand duke Langston did not raise his gaze from his work.
''There is nothing to report, my lord.'' Lycos replied without hesitation. Deciding not to say a word about what happened with the fourth young lady and the dead assassin, the demon silently disappeared, but not without a thought.
'The connection with the fourth young lady....it's strange.'
*****
''Lalala….'' Walking down the hallway, Jane happily hummed to a song she heard from a wandering merchant. It was a brand new day, and Jane loved humming the tune of the song to start her day as her young lady's personal maid.
Speaking of her young lady, Jane's sparkling eyes dimmed a bit, and her curved lips relaxed into a thin line. Was it her imagination? Or was she just paranoid? Her young lady seemed a little different.
There was an upcoming battle between the fourth young master and her young lady again. As a personal maid to her young lady, she naturally knew about it.
A life and death battle which involved her young lady. Just thinking about it had scared jane a lot. What if her young lady does not come out lucky at the end of the battle like the previous one?
Jane thought her fourth young lady would have cried to her as always, but this time.…it was a little different. In the previous night when she voiced her worries, her young lady smiled like she was not bothered and pleased about the battle with the fourth young master.
It was very strange….and different.
'No, what are you thinking, Jane?' Jane shook her head side to side, before the closed doors of her young lady's room. Her young lady was still her young lady! There was no need for her to have unnecessary and doubtful thoughts.
Perhaps her young lady just tried to reassure her in the previous night by smiling to ease her worries. There was no need to think further and just trust her young lady, even if that was a little hard at the moment.
Taking a deep breath, Jane calmed herself and erased every doubtful thought from her mind. She plastered her happy smile on her face and raised her fisted hand to knock on the door.
*Knock* *Knock*
''Good morning, young lady. It is time to wake up.''
After a moment of receiving no response, Jane knocked on the door again. ''Young lady, this maid will enter now.''
The same as her words, Jane pushed the door and took her light steps inside the dark room. She gently closed the door, careful of her sleeping young lady. Turning her head to the side, she noticed the small back of her young lady and the melted candle wax on the candelabrum. She then sighed to herself about her young lady forgetting to blow the fire out before sleeping.
'What is that smell?' Jane's nose twitched at a particular scent in the room. Feeling a bit nauseous, she hastened her steps to the closed windows, desiring to open them at the moment. However….
*groan*
Jane released a faint moan as her body was about to fall. Thankfully, she was able to balance herself before she fell to the ground and wake her young lady.
'I almost tripped.' Jane figured out, looking down for the object that almost made her body kiss the ground.
'Huh? What is this?' Catching the sight of something on the ground, Jane squinted her eyes, bending down to the ground level. Her fingers were stretched, hoping to feel and have an idea of what was on the ground.
'It's a hard….boots?' Jane was puzzled by her own discovery. Her young lady hasn't worn her training clothes since the last battle. Did that mean her young lady was training secretly? Besides, her young lady's boots weren't this hard.
'I should open the curtains.' Jane decided, standing up and rushing to the old cream curtains. Pulling one aside, the room brightened up in an instant, and Jane was finally able to have a clear view of her young lady's room.
Now she could see what tripped her.
Immediately, Jane's eyes zoned on the foreign object on the ground. Perhaps she had forgotten to place her young lady's boots in the right place, but that was very unlikely.
This was Jane's thoughts until her eyes caught the sight of muddy soles of boots. The size was big, and it was very obvious that this belonged to someone, particularly a man. Trailing the hand upward, Jane's eyes also caught the sight of dried bloodstains on the floor, and a whole human body that laid lifeless in her young lady's room.
A possible dead person was in the room of her young lady. This blankly registered in her mind. Abruptly letting go of the curtain, Jane did the first thing that came to her.
''AHHHHH!''
She screamed her lungs out, without thinking of her young lady for the first time.