''Young lady!''

In that moment, when the flames had engulfed the little figure of Raven, all doubts within Jane had ceased to exist.

''H-H-a-a....'' Terror filled the maid as she cupped her lips with tears trailing down her cheeks. Directly in front of her wide-eyed gaze were the vivid flames burning the body of her precious young lady.

'Young lady...' Jane shut her eyes, unable to look at the burning flames any longer.

This...her young lady burning in those flames was her fault....exactly her fault.

If she hadn't been standing here, her young lady wouldn't have entered the flames. Jane, unaware of the barrier, blamed herself for the sudden tragedy of her young lady.

The trembling maid was tempted to jump into the fire and save her young lady. However...she knew that she couldn't do such.

Not only would she lose her life, her young lady would also be implicated. There was nothing she could do with her identity as a lowly maid.

*sob*

''Young lady...''

Above the sobbing maid, all gazes were focused intently on the burning flames where the little figure of the fourth young lady had been flung inside the intense heat.

''Fifth sister, congratulations on the fourth young master's victory.'' The Grand duchess was the first to break the silence. She plastered a grin on her lips and congratulated the fifth madam while cooling herself with a folding fan.

In her heart, she cursed Edwin for generating this much heat. Not only was she suffering from heat, but her makeup might melt off her face if she wasn't careful. At the same time, she was disappointed that the same hateful child came out victorious.

Now, her son has another troublesome competitor on his plate.

'I have to eliminate him before he grows more of a threat like the second young master.' The Grand duchess calculated, holding herself from slapping off that proud smile on the fifth madam as the other wives followed her actions in acknowledging the victory.

''Thank you, your excellency.'' Her entire being was now flushed with success. Such sight was obnoxious as always to the other wives of the Grand duke.

''Sixth sister, there's no need to be sad. His excellency will definitely comfort you.'' The fifth madam did not forget to step on the tail of the quiet sixth madam.

Even if she knew that the sixth madam would not react, she just wanted to rub her son's success in the face of the woman who seemed to always look down on her.

'Hmph! My son is a true Langston.'

At least, the fourth young lady was now out of the succession battle. Now, she wouldn't be anxious about the pure blood anymore. Only the second young master has the pure blood and fifth madam preferred it that way. The second young master was a full-born noble child compared to a half-born noble child.

No matter what, she would never swallow the fact that her son was not born with that power and a child of a lowly maid was the complete opposite.

She would never!

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'Anyway...' Not bothering with the silence from the sixth madam, the fifth madam began her own calculations for her the future of her son.

Now that the fourth young lady was out of the way, the twins of the fourth madam were no big deals for her son to deal with. Other than them, the other siblings were the major problem and her son needed to train harder than before to be on par with them.

'I need to have a meeting....' She thought, planning meet with her son's swordsmanship tutor after leaving from here. Following this, the fifth madam put aside her thoughts and dwelled on the fact that her son had come out victorious in the life and death battle.

She momentarily forgot that she had been against such battle from the moment her son loudly suggested it in the family dinner.

Her thoughts were on how she would spread words of her son's strength far and wide away beyond the walls of the Langston Grand duchy.

Perhaps she could have a tea party to brag about her son. However...she would have to seek the permission of the grand duchess first.

The fifth madam thought that was not a problem. Now that her son had won, the grand duke would have his sights on him just like the second young master. The relationship between them would also improve and she might be on the same level as the extremely favored second madam.

The fantasies of the fifth madam knew no end.

On the other hand, the sixth madam remained quiet as ever. Unlike the other wives, she wasn't with her folding fan. Her face was even barely with makeup.

Her attention was focused on the flames that had not yet gone off.

'In the end, she's useless...' To say the sixth madam was disappointed would be an understatement. With the sudden change in her daughter, she had found hope in making goals come true.

Now...she didn't know how to describe the feelings within her.

Disappointment...anger...

'I can't believe I even held expectations...' The sixth madam thought, taking her dull eyes away from the sight of flames.

'And she's the reason...' They narrowed on the sight of Jane still shedding miserbale tears and calling out 'young lady.'

For a moment, the sixth madam regretted not removing the maid from her daughter's side. If the maid had not been there, the fourth young master would have been dead, not her daughter. During the battle, she could tell her daughter had the upper hand. She only wondered why her daughter hesitated when the opportunity to eliminate her opponent had presented itself before her.

'It doesn't change anything...' The sixth madam sighed to herself. Blaming the maid would not change that her daughter was now dead, and the fourth young master was the victor. Apparently, she would have to hold a funeral and mourn for the death of her daughter in the following days. After that, she would have to find another way in making her goals come true. Her daughter being dead did not mean that she would give up just yet.

It was just the death of a usless child that did not mean anything to her.

There were other children she could use in the Langston family...like the second young master.

While all thought about the victory of Edwin and the death of Raven, none of them expected another surprise from the battle that had already ended.

In the huge flames of fire still vivid as ever, a gush of wind penetrated through that fire as though something just escaped from within.

Behind Edwin was a little figure standing upright and holding a dagger with blood dripping from its blade. Most of the training suit on her figure were burnt off. Even the boots were gone, but the important areas were still shielded from sight.

No scratches, no blood, not patches, no torn flesh...nothing was found on the skin that indicated the burning touch of flames.

''Huh....'' Stunned, Edwin didn't even have full time to react as his vision turned sideways much to his surprise.

''EDWIN!!''

The last sound his ears caught was the scream of his mother.

''Thanks to you Brother Edwin, I once again learned a lot from this battle....'' The familiar voice of a little girl followed after the dreadful scream and Edwin's last breath. Turning sideways, ruby eyes zoned on the fallen head in the pool of blood with the body on the side.

The huge burning flames of fire were slowly vanishing after Edwin had taken his last breath. However, no one paid attention to the sight as their eyes were solely focused on the black-haired young lady.

One reaction that everyone was surprise, and an unanswered question that they had in their hearts was how?

'Don't tell me....' Amethyst eyes belonging to the Grand duchess narrowed on the little figure of the black-haired young lady.

''Number one is not to be overconfident....'' Raven began listing as she took her steps towards that direction. The blood shook underneath her feet, but Raven bore no disgust to herself, stepping barefoot on the blood of another.

''Number two....'' Lifting up Edwin's head with a handful of his hair to her face, Raven bore a wide grin, ignoring the tiny leak of blood dripping from the neck that splattered on herself.

''...is not to waste time.''