I fidgeted nervously as Violet sat in front of me, patiently reading the two newspapers I had brought out for her. One was the Aelheim Chronicle, while the other one was called the Arian Tribune, and was more focused on kingdom-wide matters, rather than just those that pertained to Aelheim itself. Regardless, today these two newspapers both had different variations of the same headline.

  Duke Indri Bravely Gives His Life Fighting Unknown Hero!

  Violet’s hands clenched around one of the two newspapers, so hard her knuckles had gone white. Regardless, she did slowly read, mouthing off the words to herself in a low whisper. I wished she’d read them silently, at least that way I wouldn’t wince knowing just what exactly she was reading.

  “-risked his own life to delay an unknown Hero,” Violet mumbled, her knuckles going whiter still. "-died to protect his only daughter."

  All I could do was sit there and wait. Honestly, I would have much preferred if she’d had an immediate outburst as I’d expected. This was much more unsettling.

  The Godblade’s presence was there again, a pressure right behind my eyes, as if it was watching this keenly too.

  Finally, Violet set down the two newspapers and glared at me. The paper crumpled in her hand. She slowly unclenched her fist, though the paper, of course, did not regain its shape.

  “Explain.” She glowered.

  “Are you angry?” I asked quietly.

  “I'm pissed off as hell,” Violet snapped. “Mostly ’cause you didn’t fucking ask me first.”

  I winced. “I’m sorry. There wasn’t really time and I-”

  Violet cut me off with a sharp glare, then let out a long, tired sigh. “There really wasn’t?”

  “No.” I finished.

  She sighed again. “Don’t ever do something like this again without at least asking me. I’m fucking tired of people ‘doing things’ for me without asking. My whole life’s been that shit.”

  She tossed the crumpled newspaper onto the bed and leaned back, arms crossed.

  “You killed your father,” I murmured. “There are few justifications this Kingdom would have accepted for something like that. I didn’t see any other solution that would keep you from being hanged or beheaded. This was the only thing I could think of. You know about the Auction House, right?”

  Violet slowly nodded.

  “That woman had been there, too. Silver. That gave me the idea to just…try and pin both things on them. Keep us out of it. It looks like it’ll work.”

  Violet’s glare only faded slightly. “And is that the only fucking reason?”

  “No,” I admitted, staring at my own clenched hands. “If I were honest, that would make them take a deeper look at those tunnels. I destroyed what I could, but someone might be able to put two and two together. They might realize just what your father was doing.” I looked back up at her. “If they did, then something like the Kingdom’s Laws would not matter anymore.”

  It was obvious from Violet’s blank expression that she didn’t quite understand, and so I elaborated: “Your father was obsessed. That’s why he focused on only one application of his research. Reviving your mother was…honestly, the tiniest part of it. He knew how to make Artifacts.” I emphasized. “If people knew, they would try to make them again, with more Transmutation Circles. They do exist. Then….”

  I couldn’t accept those atrocities starting again, in some other corner of the Kingdom, this time with the Crown’s support.

  “Then I would go and smash all of them by myself.” Violet huffed.

  “There would be a lot of smashing to do at that point,” I said. “Forget just this Kingdom, you might have to go up against the entire world.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  I stared at her, deadpan. Violet stared right back. After a moment, she finally sighed. “Fuck me, this pisses me off.”

  “I’m sorry. I should have asked you first, but there was no-”

  “Not that part.” Violet cut me off. “The part where this actually makes a lot of fucking sense.” She sighed. “That bastard gets to be remembered as a goddamn hero. Well, that’s fucking ironic.”

  “You…aren’t upset with me?” I finally asked, more confused than anything else.

  “You told me why, didn’t you?” Violet said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “If you didn’t, then we’d have a problem, and I don’t know about you, but I feel ready to go right now.”

  Some of the tension left my shoulders.

  "What about you? You know they'd fucking kill you too, right? It was your sword." Violet pointed out. "You'd be right there with me."

  I paused. "Right. I guess there's that too." Honestly, in all this time, that thought hadn't occurred to me. Not even once.

  Violet's expression softened. She shook her head, and muttered something under her breath, something I didn't hear. Her cheeks were faintly pink.

  The silence stretched for a few seconds, and then she stared at me again. This time, with a very serious expression on her face.

  “What?”

  She chewed her bottom lip before asking, “Did you kill the maids?”

  “That’s…actually something I need to talk to you about. It’s kind of…the last loose end.”

  “This does feel…odd,” I murmured, taking a few testing steps. Anias’ mana coiled around my legs. It was an odd feeling, like I’d added dozens of compressed springs to my legs. Each tiny effort on my part made my leg jump.

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  “Pardon, My Lady,” Anias said. “I’m not used to doing this for someone else.”

  “No, it’s…fine.”

  We were inside Indri Manor, and in front of me was the ruin of a Transmutation Circle. A single, large line cut the circle clean in half -my Godblade’s doing. All around the room were dozens and dozens of Artifacts. The treasure of an entire Kingdom all gathered in this one room.

  Memories flashed in my head every time I closed my eyes. I had to focus.

  “Here she is.” Mathias stepped into that small chamber, leading an old, weathered-looking woman behind him, dressed in a maid's outfit. If I had to guess, the woman must have been in her early sixties, perhaps late fifties. “This is the head maid.”

  The woman’s face was pale. It had been as she’d stepped into this room, and on seeing Duke Indri’s body, it had gotten paler still.

  “What have you beasts done to him!” She cried out, moved towards him. Anias made to block her path.

  “Let her,” I murmured. My voice was entirely too soft for a room that smelled this heavily of blood.

  The woman stepped forward, hunched down over her fallen Lord, staring at the body in disbelief.

  I stepped closer, my footsteps silent against the stone. I tilted my head, letting my red eyes bore into her without blinking. "What is your name?" I asked politely.

  The maid was just staring, and so I had to repeat myself. “What is your name?”

  She looked up at me, some red to her cheeks now. Anger. “What did you do to him you monster?”

  “Me, a monster?” I asked, genuinely curious. I kept my tone perfectly conversational, as if we were discussing the weather rather than the butchered corpse lying between us. “Mathias, did you blindfold her as you led her here?”

  “No, My Lady.” The adventurer answered.

  I nodded slowly and moved a step closer to the woman. “You saw them, didn’t you? The cages. Do you think they were for storing fruit?” I hissed. “I’m told there were collars, too. Tiny ones.”

  The woman’s glare slowly faded, and in its place, she started to look very pale again. Her righteous anger aside, it wasn’t like she was completely blind or brainless. Duke Indri had sworn with his dying breath that his staff knew nothing of the children. Looking at the genuine, sickening horror dawning on her face, I knew he had been telling the truth. Not that they were blameless, especially not the one who’d drugged me, but it was something, at least.

  “Now, what is your name?” I asked.

  “It’s…Mari.” She said, finally.

  I nodded, glanced down at the corpse. “Tell me, Mari. How long have you been working here?” My voice was numb, empty.

  “T-thiry five years.”

  I nodded. “And how many Dukes have you served, in that time?”

  “T-three.”

  I smiled, took a step back. “Then would you say that you are loyal to House Indri, and not just whoever is its Head?”

  She stared at me, either not understanding or perhaps understanding all too slowly. “Y-yes?”

  I took another step back, gesturing gracefully around us. "Then I am afraid your loyalty is at an end," I spoke with the gentle, reassuring cadence a mother might use to scold a toddler. One that my mother had so often used, I realized distantly. "When all of this is discovered... I’m afraid House Indri might not be for this world much longer. There might not be a single trace of this manor, or its people, left."

  Mari’s shoulders slumped, and then shook. Was she…crying? Good. It seemed like she did take her duty seriously after all.

  I closed the distance between us. Reaching out with a small, blood-specked hand, I gently laid it on the maid's shoulder. The older woman flinched as if burned, her whole body rigid, but I kept my hand there, smiling down at her. "But it doesn’t have to end," I whispered.

  “What?” The woman looked up at me. Whatever she saw in my face drained the last drop of color from her own.

  “This tunnel was never here. Duke Indri died fighting a Hero, one who came in here with Alestian spies. They disguised themselves as Manor Guards, waiting for the right time to strike. Perhaps they used Artifacts that changed their appearance. A rather well-funded operation, is it not?”

  Mari hesitated, seeming to understand what I was saying. It was hard to be the head maid of a Great House for this long and not pick up something of politics.

  “T-they did, aye.” The woman said, shakily. “I-I knew there was something wrong. A f-foul air about the manor. L-Lord Indri died protecting us.”

  I smiled, gestured to the corpse. The smile had no real warmth behind it. It was empty, just like I was, at this moment. “Indeed. And now he will be buried with honor. The same honor he brought to his entire house. The same honor his daughter, Violet, will no doubt uphold. Helped by her loyal servants, yes?”

  Mari swallowed, and then finally she nodded. “Y-yes. Of course.” She hesitated. “Where…where is Lady Violet.”

  “She is being taken care of.” My smile withered in an instant. “She will be back when she feels like it.”

  The woman trembled and shakily nodded again. “I…I will keep the manor ready for her.”

  “Indeed. See that you do.” I patted her on the shoulder. I watched her tremble and felt… nothing. Not satisfaction. Not guilt. Just the quiet click of another problem solved. This was the easier way, though if I didn’t believe this woman, I would have had every single maid at this manor killed without hesitation.

  I turned towards Anias. “Anias, fetch me a blank Magical Contract scroll. We are going to make this arrangement official.”

  Violet was quiet for a time after I finished my recollection. She might have been quiet, but her eyes were certainly expressive enough. She was staring at me. I tried and failed to not fidget under her gaze.

  Perhaps it would have been good to embellish some of the details, but…just thinking about that made something inside of me clench.

  There was a dull hum inside my head, not from me. From the Godblade, I think.

  “You sure as hell were fucking busy.” Violet finally muttered. “Here I thought we were both on our last legs.”

  “Anias -my maid- did tell me to wait. I uh…I’m not very good at waiting.”

  Violet sighed. “Why the hell did you go that far?”

  “You wouldn’t want me to kill anyone, right?” I asked, honestly.

  Violet stared at me. I wondered what she was seeing. “You would have?”

  I looked away from her, unable to meet her gaze. “I…would have hesitated, but in the end, yes. I would have.” I’d already resolved to kill every single person in that manor if it had come down to it. It terrified me how easily the thought had come to me. Perhaps I had always been my mother’s daughter.

  “You have a few screws loose, you know that?” Violet drawled.

  I flinched as if struck. I may have gone too far. “I’m starting to realize that.”

  “Don’t you dare do some shit like that. Guess I can’t keep you from thinking about it, but don’t fucking do it.” She said firmly.

  “I might not have a choice, someday.”

  She glared harder. “Then we’ll fucking see when that happens.”

  There was a brief pause. Violet huffed, turned away.

  “Honestly, I don’t fucking get it. It sounds smart and all that, but it still pisses me off.” Violet muttered.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Violet pointed. “That pisses me off, too! At least fucking own it, you know? Don’t be like….” She trailed off. “Like him.”

  She was right, I suppose. There was something cold inside of me. I didn’t want that to be all of me, however. “I’ll try. Though I’m just hoping I don’t have to think about something like this again.”

  Violet nodded slowly. Sighed. Stretched out her arms. “You got any other mindblowing things to tell me or what?”

  “Do you want to become Duchess?” I asked.

  “Fuck no.”

  “Then no, I don’t.” I smiled. “Though, you should still be Duchess for a little while. Give the title up after that.”

  “Why?” She stared at me dubiously.

  “Your father’s heroic-” I swallowed. “His reputation will keep the other Dukes from moving against your District for a little while. They might even make shows of giving concessions and the like, since you are his daughter. I think a few months of that might be good. Some stability for your District would be nice too. Then…well, then you can just hand it over to any random family member, I guess.”

  “Sounds like a fucking pain in the ass.” Violet rose from the bed, stretched her arms out. “I don’t know the first damn thing about being a Duchess. My father wasn’t exactly trying his best to teach me.”

  “I don’t think mine was either,” I murmured, the statement forced before I’d even thought it. Odd, though it felt right. “I’ll help you. As much as I can, anyway.”

  “You’d better,” Violet grumbled and turned to face me. “So…now what? What the hell am I supposed to do now? Don’t tell me you expect me to just sit around.”

  “I can only imagine the destruction you would cause if I did do that,” I said sarcastically. Actually, as it happened, I did have something in mind.

  “How do you feel about being a tutor?”

  Volume 1 End.

  did not have one. This story was very much written day to day, as even I was confused how well it went, minus some growing pains.