*Scribble* *Scribble*

The faint scraping sound could be heard in a room filled with only the 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 in his grasp.

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 the 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.'' After a moment, a prickling eerie voice sounded at first, capable of sending terror to all except two people in the Langston Grand duchy.

But....then, the people were two. Now they were 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 very dark shadow of a person appeared right in the man's gaze. Swirling shadows that vanishes and appears to no end. No clothing, skin or anything on the shadow, apart from the way it seemed to wearing a robe with hood over its head.

The only thing visible underneath that hood was a crimson glow, like the eyes of a person 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.

''This one has reports, my lord.''

''What is it?'' The man released a frustrated, 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 him.

''And what am I supposed to do, Lycos?'' The man calmly asked after a brief pause.

''My lord's order was always to look after the fourth young lady.....''

''Lycos.'' The man whose identity was blatantly obvious from the ongoing conversation interrupted Lycos, who was speaking. 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?''

''.....'' Lycos did not respond to that simple question. He already knew the meaning behind the simple question alone.

''Forgive this one, my lord.'' Lycos's shadowy form bowed with his apology.

''She's no longer under my protection. If only her mother had accepted my request, then I wouldn't bother with such trivial matter.'' Saying that, the man picked up the quill pen, about to resume his scribbling. He 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 help. If her death is the first among her siblings, then so be it. She is just a pathetic descendant of mine, that's all.''

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''......''

''I hope my words are clear, Lycos.''

''As you wish, my lord.'' Not surprised by the cruel words spewed against his own daughter, Lycos agreed without an argument. The words of the man were correct, after all, so there was no need for him to say a word in retort.

But....

Should he tell him about what he saw?

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 between the fourth young lady and the second young master.

''Is there anything else for me to know, Lycos?'' Raising his gaze once more away from the opened scroll, the man arched his eyebrow in question.

''....It is nothing, my lord.'' Lycos had stood upright a moment ago. Deciding not to say a word about what happened with the fourth young lady and the assassin, he silently disappeared, but not without a thought.

'The connection with the fourth young lady....it's strange.'

*****

''Lalalalala....'' 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 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 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 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, while standing in front of the closed doors. 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 for her to think further. She should 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 twisted the handle of the door down and pushed it to the side. She took her light steps inside the dark room and 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 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 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 that, 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, expecting it to something materialistic. 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 the dirty sole of a boot. The size was big and It was very obvious that this belonged to someone, particularly a man. Trailing the boots 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 possibly dead person was in the room of her young lady.

This blankly registered in Jane's mind.

Abruptly letting go of the curtain, Jane did the first thing that came to her.

''AHHHHHHHHH!''

She screamed her lungs out, without thinking of her young lady for the first time.