The Rochefort vil wasn’t as grand as their maie, but it had its charms. High-stone fences ran along the edge, keeping the outside world out.

  Etched into the main iron gates was the family crest: a raven, its wings spread wide and fag forward with a shield in the ter of its chest.

  e's te grandmother had always said that the bird was watg over Rochefort's family, alerting them of trouble, uiding them tood fortune.

  Funny, though — if that was true, the bird must have been taking a nap for the past few geions. With so few Rocheforts left, it felt more like the raven was just hanging around, waiting for someoo remind it what the hell it was supposed to be doing.

  Sitting on the bed, e ropped up by a bunch of pillows. Her fever had e down, but she barely felt better.

  Seb, her assistant, stood by her bed. His long, silver hair in a tight braid and gsses made him look like a cute librarian from children's fairy tales. He wore a buttoned-up white shirt, bck vest, and trousers. The only touch of color ink handkerchief in his breast pocket.

  He was reading and opening her letters. Most were invitations to balls, teas, and parties, others were reports from the duchy, and some were pleas and requests for help. "What do we do with all the gifts and presents? The entrance is full and the guards are refusing them entry,” he asked.

  "We open them of course," e got off the bed, slipping her feet into the fluffy slippers, she ed herself in a soft b, "I love the smell of bribery early in the m, it always makes my day better," she said, dragging the b behind her.

  “...” Patch, her physi, followed her with a chuckle. Tufts of curly, ginger hair stuck out from beh his bandana, puffing up like sheep’s wool. He slipped a hand into his hide coat, rummaging through its many hidden pockets before pulling out a pair of gloves and putting them on.

  Maya, her maid, quickly lifted the b so it wouldn't be dragged on the ground, moving like a little gray mouse trying not to draw any attentioraight bangs shadowed her eyes, hiding them like a secret, and she moved so silently that if one weren’t looking closely, they’d swear she wasn’t even there.

  Graham, her cook, was the tallest and the biggest of the four—probably because of his love for food and inability to stop eatie being full to the brim. His soft bob cut framed his round face, making his dimples stand out even miving him a strangely cheerful look no matter the situation.

  He fed e pieces of fruit on the way to the courtyard, while Seb tio read the letters and messages.

  · · ─────── · ???· ─────── · ·

  The guards were carrying in the rge presents, pg them into the courtyard, o the stoatue of a raven, where the gifts were already piling up.

  e received a variety of things, from jewels to unique paintings and everything iween.

  Patch sorted the gifts into piles based on value and rarity, while also cheg for any signs of poison.

  "No name, no address, and no signature either," Seb said, eyeing the st two chests suspiciously.

  One was ed in silk with a flower patterogether with a golden string, while the other looked like a normal woode, the kind that sailors would use to carry their belongings.

  Patch opehe sed chest, his eyes shining at the sight. "Whoever sent it, I like their style," he said, lifting a bag, causing whatever was io hiss and rattle. He quickly opehe bag to reveal a couple of snakes, "Woah, they look so beautiful and vibrant."

  "Must taste as good as they look," Graham licked his lips, "Snake soup is good for the health, Lady e. I could make some for you to try, if you'd like," he offered.

  e's i also sparked. "They are alive?" she asked, leaning closer to take a better look.

  Patch opened a box o the bag and revealed a huge spider.

  She shuddered in disgust but didn't back away, "Is it alive too?"

  "Alive and kig," Patch said, chug, "They are probably hungry and thirsty."

  e dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Give them the care they need, and if they are edible, add them to the menu," she said.

  "Of course, Lady e," Patch called over a few guards, instrug them on what and how to feed them.

  "Shall we see the rest?" e asked, turning to look at the st chest, her mood improving slightly.

  Receiving dead, gruesomely mutited animals used to be a regur occurrence during her academy life.

  The anonymous losers would get so desperate they would send her packages with bloodied, headless pigeons, rodents, aera. Instead of searg for the culprits, she would retaliate by iing the dormitories with living versions of the same. One could find them in their beds, others in their baths and closets.

  They never bothered her again after that.

  Seb uhe string and lifted the lid of the st chest, revealing ropes, whips, s, and shackles, all ly arranged, almost too elegantly for what they were. He didn’t pay them much mind, though, instead pig up the hat rested on top. “My beloved, I ’t wait for our enter,” he read, his voice ft.

  e's heart fluttered, not in a romantic way, but in a rather sid twisted way. The tent made her feel queasy. It was like the package was a mirror, and whoever sent it, had sent it to reflect a piece of her at her.

  Maya and Patch exged gnces with Seb and Graham. It was their first time to witness Lady e being addressed with a title such as "My beloved", their first time seeing her receive a letter from an admirer, and their first time seeing her so disturbed.

  They've only been serving her for the past three months after all.

  Lady e picked them up when they were only twelve, but instead of serving her right away, they spent ten years living in a military enviro as part of Rochefort's army, training to bee her most trusted aides.

  She thought the disciplihe training, and the experience would make them more reliable, and she wasn't wrong. They became as disciplined as any soldier, and effit as any butler.

  They had survived battles, wars, ah itself, having no qualms about taking a life.

  It was also thanks to the four of them that the Duke of Rochefort barely made it back alive five years ago.

  · · ─────── · ???· ─────── · ·

  Meanwhile...

  Jax rubbed his eyes before looking through his binain. The tree he was hiding in gave him a clear view of the vil and the surrounding area, including the courtyard.

  Who was that goddess ed in the b? Her long hair was loose, falling down her shoulders in a mess of waves. Her features were delicate, almost dollish, but the way she carried herself oozed power and trol ─ tradig herself, like a rose and its thorns.

  ‘Lady e,’ he read the words from one of her servant's lips and choked on air. He almost fell from the tree, his hands tightening around the branch he was sitting on.

  That was Lady e?

  The "e"?

  The "She-devil"?

  How? When? Why? What?

  Jax's mouth hung open. Was it the ck of fine clothes, the simple hairstyle, or her face? How was this the same woman who was rumored to be a vile witch with a songue, a heart made of stone, and a soul that crawled out of the pits of hell?

  He couldn't believe it. He refused to believe it.

  He tio observe her rea to his gift, her expressions and her movements. The way she tilted her head to take a look, her eyes sparkling with curiosity as she examihe snakes and the spider; her expression of disgust that sted a fra of a sed before turning into amusement.

  "Give them the care they need, and if they are edible, add them to the menu," he read her lips.

  'She wants to eat them?!'

  Jax's stomach ed. Alright, now he actually started to believe that she was the same wicked woma during the ba. But, how could a person seous have such a foul character and strange appetite?

  And then it was Lu's gift turn. Her expression turned bnk, the only thing that gave her thoughts away was the way she tightly pressed her lips together and the slight frowween her eyebrows.

  It wasn't anger or disgust that she was feeling, it was something else. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on. And then it hit him. It was reition.

  She reized the owner of the gift, and she reized the message behind it.

  Jax was there when Lu went through the darkest days of his life. He was there to see him fall apart, and to see him pick himself back up. He was the one who was there to see the worst of his friend's suffering, and to see the best of his achievements.

  Lu had always beeive. He liked to keep his cards close to his chest, and even closer to his heart.

  Most of the time, he would send his people to care for the nobles' gardens, but sometimes, he would take the job on himself for whatever reasons.

  Jax gulped. Was there somethiween Lu and Lady e, a secret they kept from the public?

  All Jax knew was that she accused Lu of stealing and shed out on him until he colpsed in pain. That was it.

  There was no way for her to ever have a thing with a oner much less with a bastard like Lu, who had no status to his name. Right?

  Lu showed no i in womeher. Even now, he was helping Jax to take revenge for him, not because he cared about her.

  That was right.

  Maybe she didn't reize the sender. Maybe she tortured so many poor souls in her lifetime her sce was finally gnawing at her, and the guilt was eating her alive.

  Yeah, that must have been it.

  They didn't fit each other at all! There was no way those two had a history. No way.

  Jax mentally spped himself for having such a ridiculous thought that showed pure disrespect toward Lu ─ he khe man, and his tastes were far above anything as low as that. Lu would never fall for a woman like e, he was smarter than that.

  After watg Lady Rochefort for a while, Jax noticed that everyone seemed happy to serve her. Even the guards, who usually looked bored, had smiles on their faces as they moved the gifts, and her servants didn't look like they had to fear her.

  It ure respect, and maybe even admiration.

  'ells and mind trol is she using on them?' Jax wondered, ‘Are they f themselves to act that way? Are they afraid that they would lose their job or something?’