" Haha!" He laughed awkwardly, "No, young master, I wanted you to see my daughter before I could visit the duchess."
Rothvale was still part of the Bloodmoor duchy, and Count Julian was a vassal under the mother. He was tasked with governing Rothvale and most of the surrounding smaller towns.
"What will I get if I take your daughter as my lover?"
The man was clearly looking for a way to establish connections with our family and didn’t care which position his daughter got.
"But young ma..."
I raised my hand, stopping him mid-sentence.
"I heard you recently obtained something strange...."
I left the words hanging in the air. The count’s eyes widened. Nothing can be kept a secret as long as they live in the duchy. Word had reached my ears easily but I wasn’t sure what it was.
It was curiosity that made me stop and visit him, or I would have gone directly to the capital.
"Young master you heard wrong...."
I turned to his daughter, who was sitting next to me, and took her hands into my larger ones. She blushed and playfully tried to tug it from my hands.
"If you give me your heart I’ll take very good care of it, you’ll never suffer."
She lowered her head even more before turning to her father her eyes filled with mist.
" I was the one who found it, Father. Just give the book to master Lucian, or I’ll give it to him myself."
She said her voice was soft despite trying to sound fierce. I chuckled at her attempt, it was cute.
Anger flashed through the count’s eyes before he went back to his cheerful, smiling face. Just as I thought he was a clever but greedy man.
"Luna, go with the count to bring the book back."
I turned to Luna who was standing behind me. She nodded and looked at the still sitting count. He seemed reluctant to leave.
"Count."
Luna’s voice seemed to startle him out of his thoughts. He looked at me before turning to his daughter and shooting daggers at her. The woman leaned into my arms trying to avoid her father’s gaze.
As the knight in shining armor I was, I pulled her closer giving her the protection she was asking for.
I nodded at Luna before she followed him upstairs to what seemed to be the count’s study.
"Countess, you’ve been quiet?"
I asked her. She had done nothing but sip her tea and smile. She turned to look at me, then opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
" Mother has not been feeling well, she has a sore throat. "
The count’s daughter’s voice came dismissing her mother’s weirdness. I shrugged and turned to look upstairs, where I could hear approaching footsteps.
The count appeared first while Luna followed behind carrying a small wooden box.
"Did he cause any scene?"
I whispered to Luna as she set the box in front of me. She shook her head denying it. She slowly opened the box revealing a black covered book.
It was worn out and dirty with a sheet of dust on top of the book.
"Count, are you having a problem with cleaning servants?"
Luna wiped the book before passing it to meet. I opened it and started to read whatever was roughly written inside. The book was the size of a small diary and I could feel the magic pulsating inside the pages with every read.
I closed the book and put it back into the box then Luna closed the box softly.
"Count Julian, do you know what I hate the most?"
I said and stood up. His daughter, who had been holding my forearm, almost fell. I could see tears gather in her eyes.
"What are you planning on doing young master Lucian?"
He said and also stood up, his chair was knocked over from the force of his standing.
"Liars, I hate liars the most count," I turned and gestured at the countess and teased him, " I would have preferred if you were like the countess.... or whatever this thing is. "
I had noticed something was wrong with her the moment I met her. She had the familiar smell I was used to despite having been cleaned.
A corpse that was starting to decompose.
" Where is the real book? "
I asked sitting back down. His daughter turned to look at me, then back at her father.
" Father, what is he talking about?"
She asked but no one answered her.
" Young Master you must be mistaken. This is the real book. "
He tried to explain while stepping further from the table.
" Since you can’t stay the truth," I turned to Luna, " kill him."
Her sword appeared in her hand, she stepped and she slashed towards the fumbling count.
"Wait.. I’ll..."
Luna decapitated him before he could even finish his last plea. I turned to look at the countess who was still drinking her tea mechanically.
"Beautiful," I said and turned to the pale daughter, " would you mind telling me how your mother was created?"
She didn’t answer, but tears started to stream down her cheeks as she watched her father’s head roll on the floor, leaving trails of blood. The count wasn’t fully dead since his mouth was still trying to talk.
"You promised me your heart didn’t you?"
I held the girl and pulled her to me, her body was shaking from fear in my arms. She didn’t meet my eyes but tried to get out of my arms.
"Take me to his study."
I held her hand and pulled her with me as she reluctantly followed behind me. She wouldn’t have been able to put up any resistance even if she wanted to.
Luna led us to the count study. The place was full of books scattered everywhere.
"Do you know where the real book is my dear?"
I asked the crying girl. She shook her head and covered her face as sobs shook her body. She was useless.
"Detect."
My magic spread through every corner of the house trying to detect any hidden entrances. I walked to the bookshelf behind his desk and started to touch the books randomly.
When I touched the tenth book a click filled the room before the shelf started to move inward and open.
I moved back with a smile. After I had activated my magic, I sensed different secret hallways around the house, and the one in the study, they all seemed to be leading to a much larger room behind these walls.
"Well lead the way."
I pushed the girl to the front. She turned back to look at me but I waved her forward. She took a deep breath and stepped into the tunnel.
I followed behind her as our footsteps echoed in the quiet hallway. Red crystals lit up following our movements as we went deeper. After a short walk, the hallway opened to a large, fully lit room.
"Wow, the count sure knows how to hide."
I said looking at what looked like a lab. There were potions everywhere with blood smeared on the walls and papers scattered everywhere. I bent down to pick up a paper that had scribbles on it, but I couldn’t understand anything.
"The one who wrote this has bad handwriting."
As if a switch had been triggered, the crying girl in front of me went quiet before a dagger was aimed right at my throat.
"Useless struggles."
I said and caught her arm. Her eyes widened in shock, but she didn’t dwell on it; she produced another dagger from her dress sleeves and tried to stab me again.
I caught both of her arms and pulled her to me and kneed her directly on her stomach. She screamed as blood and spit splattered out of her mouth. I let her go and stepped back. Her body swayed as she tried to remain upright, but it eventually couldn’t.
"You really think your little tears can fool me?"
I said looking at the kneeling girl. She looked up at me her eyes filled with unadulterated hate.
"You lunatic."
She spat out and tried to spit at me. Luna came forward and slapped her , the slap almost broke her neck.
"I presume you’re the one who’s been doing those experiments?"
I kneeled in front of her and lifted her chin. She avoided my eyes refusing to look at me.
"Where’s the book?" I asked her, then turned to Luna, who was standing beside me," Look around this place."
The girl’s eyes widened, and she stood up abruptly, trying to stop Luna. I kicked her on her side sending her across the room. She hit the side of the table a scream escaping her.
" If you could just tell me where it is I’ll give you a painless death."
She looked up at me and burst into manic laughter, her beauty gone with the wind. What remained was a mad woman.
"You’ll kill me anyway I’d rather die than give you blood sucking leeches anything, just die you...."
I slapped her across her face shutting her up. Her blood was now smeared on my gloves. I really wanted to take them off, but I didn’t want my hand touching anything dirty.
"Master, I found it."