While Viella was busy keeping Elias’s focus on her, Lily was executing her own mission.

She had slipped through a side window and found the maid’s quarters. She noticed a spare maid uniform and smirked. she quickly changed into the spare uniform and tied a white medical mask over her face. She tied her hair into a bun like the other maids there.

She checked her reflection. She looked like she worked there.

As she moved through the back hallway, she caught a glimpse of Viella. She saw Elias leaning in close, the silver gun glinting in his hand.

Lily’s hand instinctively twitched toward where she usually kept her own weapon, but she forced herself to keep moving. The book first, she reminded herself. Her lady can handle a little drama.

She walked straight toward the grand study, but as she reached the door, a senior maid stepped out from a side room and stopped her.

"Wait! You there," the maid barked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "What are you doing in this wing? This floor is already finished."

Lily didn’t panic. She lowered her head slightly, keeping her voice muffled by the mask. "The Master requested an extra dusting of the study,"

she said, her tone flat. "He said the study wasn’t cleaned properly and if this mistake happens again everyone working here will be fired."

The maid looked at her suspiciously, her eyes traveling from Lily’s shoes to the mask. "And why are you wearing that mask? It’s not part of the uniform."

Lily let out a fake, raspy cough that sounded real enough.

"I caught a terrible cold, Ma’am," she lied, letting out a weak voice. "I didn’t want to sneeze on the Master’s precious manuscripts. I thought it would be better to hide my face than to lose my head."

The senior maid winced, stepping back a pace to avoid the "germs."

"Fine, fine. Just be quick about it. And don’t touch the papers on the desk!"

"Of course, Ma’am," Lily murmured.

As the maid hurried away, Lily’s subservient posture vanished. A sharp, mocking smirk stretched beneath her mask.

That’s some stupid maids you’ve got here, Mr. Elias, she thought.

She slipped into the study and closed the door with a soft click.

Just as Lily entered, she felt something liquid touch her feet. There was a foul odor in the room, but it was too dark to see clearly. She walked over and opened the heavy curtains.

As she turned, the sudden view Infront of her made her stop in her track. It was blood , everywhere on the floor.

No wonder why she felt something liquid and sticky. She had stepped right into a pooling mess of it.

"So it was the smell from this..." she whispered, the metallic scent hitting her full force.

She didn’t waste any more time. She looked around the room, and it was easy for her to find the book since it was sitting right there on his table. She saw the name on the cover and snatched it up. But as she moved to leave, something else caught her eye on the desk.

There were loose pages scattered about, and as she looked closer, her eyes widened with surprise. Every single page was filled with Viella’s name. They were written over and over again, and beside each one was a weird, jagged symbol she didn’t recognize.

She flipped through pages till she came upon different name this time.

It was Dante’s name.

The next was Alina’s. Every page held the name of another person related to Viella and Dante, all marked with those same haunting symbols.

"This definitely has something to do with the plot or whatever my lady is talking about" she picked up some papers and tugged them inside her uniform.

Lily moved like a ghost holding the stolen book and pages against her chest as she disappeared into the shadows of the mansion’s exterior.

___________

Inside, the atmosphere was tense.

Viella’s smirk remained fixed, She extended her hands and moved her fingers where the muzzle is placed and she pushed it aside.

She reached up, her fingers brushing the spot where the muzzle had been, and looked Elias dead in the eye.

"I wonder what will happen if your patience runs out..." she mused, her voice a chillingly calm purr.

"I would love to watch it."

Elias lowered the gun, his expression unreadable for a long.

The silence was soon gone replacing with a sound.

Bang.

The sound of the gunshot echoed through the marble hall, followed immediately by the sharp cry of pain. A maid collapsed to her knees, her tea tray clattering to the floor. She began to shiver violently, her face pale as she clutched her arm.

"I am... I am so sorry!" the maid sobbed, gasping through the pain. A small puddle of spilled tea was already mixing with the dark red blood rushing from the wound in her arm. She had made a simple mistake,spilling a drink and paid for it in lead.

A few droplets of the warm blood hit Viella’s cheek. She didn’t flinch. She stayed perfectly still. The guards around them stayed silent as they watched the scene. Seems the rumours were true.

Elias slowly turned his gaze back to Viella, the smoking gun still held casually in his hand.

"I hope you got your answer now..." he whispered, his voice smooth.

"...my dear Viella."

Elias reached out, his fingers slowly caressing her cheek. He smeared the warm blood across her skin, his thumb tracing the line of her jaw with a gentle touch. His gaze dropped to her lips for a lingering second before snapping back to her eyes, searching for even a hint of fear.

Viella didn’t give him the satisfaction.

"Thanks for the example... I will keep it in my mind," she said, her voice like ice.

She caught a glimpse of the clock in the corner of the room. Exactly thirty minutes. If Lily was as good as she claimed, she was already clear with the book.

"Well then, I don’t want to waste my time any longer here," Viella continued, pulling away from his touch. "Like you said, I should go and search for my answer. I was only here to show you, no matter how much you try, you can never break me~"

She turned on her heel. The guards had already efficiently dragged the bleeding maid away, leaving only a dark stain on the expensive rug.

As Viella walked toward the massive front doors, the heavy iron gates in the distance caught her eye. A black car drove past the villa’s entrance.

Viella blinked, Through the tinted window, for just a fraction of a second, she caught a glimpse of someone familiar.

Was that... Dante? She shook her head, the blood on her face starting to dry.

No. Why would he be here? I must be seeing things because of the adrenaline.

She stepped out into the afternoon sun. This time, as she passed the gate, the guards didn’t block her path. Instead, they stood still and bowed deeply, their eyes filled with a new kind of terror.

Just as Viella finally reached the car, her expression instantly changed. Her knees buckled slightly, and she leaned against the hood, a violent shiver racking her frame.

"Holy shittt... that was scary," she gasped, her voice trembling. "I was holding my breath the whole time. " She keep breathing fast. "I knew it!!!! that stupid Elias is a freaking psycho! Damnnn..."

She looked up, her eyes landing on Lily, who was already leaning against the car with a look of pure disgust on her face.

Lily’s eyes were fixed on the red stains on Viella’s skin.

As they both stared at each other, they spoke at the exact same time

"Where did the blood come from?"

Viella reached into her bag, pulling out a handkerchief and frantically wiping at her cheek. "It’s not mine," she answered first, her breath still coming in short bursts. "That crazy psycho shot someone right in front of me just to make a point. How about you?"

Lily’s expression darkened even further. "Well, something similar. Your crazy psycho had blood all over his office. I had to step through a literal puddle of it just to reach the desk....yuck"

Viella rolled her eyes, a mix of exhaustion on her face. "I believe he’s a living devil. No wonder he has such a cursed world inside a book with living humans. He doesn’t see people like human being but some pawn in his gams"

She climbed into the driver’s seat, her hands still shaking as she gripped the steering wheel.

"Anyways. Most importantly. Did you get it? The book?"

Lily patted the heavy bag at her side, her face turning serious. "I got the book. And some pages you’re definitely not going to like. We need to go, My Lady. If he realizes what I found in that study, he won’t wait for a deadline to finish us off."

Viella nodded, her foot hitting the gas.

_________

Meanwhile

"Lord Dante, why are we taking this road?"

Alina shifted in the passenger seat, her heart starting to race. She recognized the area. How could she not when she comes here all the time.

This was the road leading past Elias’s estate. A cold sweat broke out on her neck. What if those useless guards noticed her in the car and bowed? She had always made sure they acknowledged her status with a bow whenever she passed.

If they do that now, Dante will know I’ve been here, Alina muttered under her breath. That will be a problem.

"I opened a new restaurant nearby," Dante said flatly, his eyes fixed on the road, hands steady on the wheel. "I wanted to check if my staff is working well."

"Oh... that’s nice. I’ll be the first one to taste the food then," Alina said, forced a smile. But the moment she looked out the window, her smile vanished. The villa was coming into view. The guards were standing right there at the gates.

Alina was panicking now. As the car approached the main gate, she hurriedly made an excuse. "Oh no! My earring!" she cried out, dropping to the floor of the car to "look" for it. She stayed tucked away, hidden from the view of the guards so they wouldn’t see her and offer their usual bow.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she found the earring and sat back up. She peeked out the window and let out a long, shaky breath. They had passed the house and were already clear of the estate.

But as she settled back into her seat, the relief didn’t last. For some reason, the atmosphere inside the car felt significantly colder. The air was heavy, and Dante hadn’t said a word since she sat back up. Was she overthinking.....? Probably not since Dante can never be cold to her she blushed.

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TO BE CONTINUED.