The De Noir manor was situated at the southern part of Arden, near the woods and without any neighboring houses or small villages.
The King offered Lord Knight to stay at the palace during his vacation but he refused the offer and told the King that he wanted a place where he could be at peace, and the palace, being the center of political affairs and eyes of many, wasn't a place inclined to the word "tranquility" for him.
So the King, as generous as he was, sought for a solution and offered Lord Knight places where he could stay for the meantime, including the De Noir manor, a property owned by his late mother, Princess Celestine.
Now that Lord Knight decided to stay in the manor, people were more cautious to not stay near the property for folks felt his domineering and dangerous presence as if he would eat anyone alive just by his look.
Besides, the townspeople tend to avoid the said place just as much as how everyone avoided North Ridge, for they believed that the manor had dark energy. There was one time a traveler sought for refuge on a rainy night in the manor but the morning after, he was found dead. Rumors also had it that one time a hunter from the woods passed by one night, he heard loud cries of a woman coming from the manor.
From then on, like North Ridge, the mention of De Noir manor would bring horror to the townspeople. Every time a mother reprimanded her children, one would often threaten to bring them to the said places if they remained unfilial. However, many years had passed and more exaggerated stories were made that were too outrageous to be true.
Another blast of breeze came and the wind chimes of the De Noir manor continued to move, creating rather disturbing noises.
The manor was filled with darkness, only illuminated by a few old chandeliers, which unfortunately did not make the manor look less frightening. A tall and big man clothed in brown and white was stiffly standing at the manor's door like a royal guard guarding the palace, the only person around apart from his master.
And there he was, at the main hall, calmly sitting in a big chair made of oak, steel and leather, his hand at the chair's armrest tapping slowly, which was creating a low sound that seemed too loud in the middle of silence. His legs were crossed above the carpeted floor like a king in his throne, with his other hand holding a chalice.
The wind chime stopped. He stopped tapping the armrest as well, eyes narrowing.
Just a few seconds after, the tall double doors of the manor frantically opened along with a strong wave of wind.
A resounding sweet chuckle echoed.
But it soon stopped when the visitor had scanned the place briefly with her bright blue eyes.
"Oh my devil... what kind of place this is, Reed?"
"My lord, I did not see her coming—" Before Stuart, the poor butler, could finish his word, another disturbing breeze came along with a loud shutting of doors behind the second visitor. Realizing how his hair got ruined by the wind, Stuart sighed and just stepped back to let his lord handle the visitors.
"You cheated, Ella. I said we run the same path but you took another! I will not take this loss this time!"
"Just accept it, David. You will never win against me no matter how you try."
A cough made the two divert their attention to who was in front of them. Ella cleared her throat and fixed her hair that was slightly ruined with all the running. David, on the other hand, took his time examining the place they were in. It didn't take more than five seconds for him to wrinkle his nose.
"What a poor place to live in, Reed. I bet you can do better."
"And why," Reed put the chalice at the table beside him. "are you here in the middle of the night for such an unannounced visit?"
Ella smiled. "To surprise you?"
"And I am very much surprised," Reed returned with obvious sarcasm.
"I could see that very well in your expression, my lord," David said in the same sarcastic manner.
"I could only wonder how you manage to escape Amanda's grip, you little devils."
"It is a shame you expected us to remain idling in that big lonely house, Reed. We don't understand why you are treating us like children—"
"Because you are."
Ella subtly glared at him. "We are eleven—"
"Which exactly is the reason why you are considered as children. You are just eleven, still very far from legal age."
"But you know we are not like those children out there. We can fend for ourselves just right," David butt in.
"And why is there a need for a nanny?" asked Ella.
"Amanda is a housekeeper, not a nanny. I only asked her to watch over you two—"
"Which we do not find necessary."
"You know I am not restricting you. I am only trying to discipline you by putting you grounded for a fortnight for what you have done on the past occasion."
"But it has been eleven days, Reed!"
"Yes, and you have three days to go before your punishment is lifted."
"Can't you make an exception just this once, Reed?" David asked in a calmer tone, smiling.
"If we haven't escaped, we will die in boredom!" Ella cried dramatically as if Reed would be touched by her pretentious acts. He had known the twins for years after all. He knew how their mind worked, especially when it came to manipulating him.
It was a shame for a man like him to be a warden of such vigorous and stubborn children. He didn't understand what had gotten into him to do such a heroic act.
"One day, Reed! Let us stay for one day in Arden and we will head back home tomorrow night to continue our punishment. Just one day, please!"
"We won't give Amanda a hard time and we will be at our best behavior," David bargained.
Reed massaged the bridge of his nose. He had a serious business to take care of here in Arden, and then another problem surfaced. He should have known better that raising children wasn't easy to do, especially for a man who had no plans of marriage.
"Fine. Just one day and you are done."
"Yes!" Ella and David smiled widely.
"And I hope the next time you barge into my place, do have better manners. Why were you running like tornadoes when you could have walked properly?"
"Oh, that." Ella chuckled. "David came up with a match like the usual so we had a race. Of course, I am a faster runner than him so he lost."
"You know there is no such thing, Ella. You won because you cheated, so technically I did not lose."
"You are such a baby, Dave. Why can't you just accept your defeat?"
"I will only accept defeat if it was a real loss and not if my opponent won for cheating."
"I did not cheat—"
"Yes, you did."
"I only—"
"Enough on that matter," Reed cut them off, his voice full of authority and his eyes staring at them dead cold. "If you insist on making trouble in my place, I shall throw you out myself."
And the twins knew that their coldblooded warden, Lord Rayden Knight, never said empty threats.
*****
After Arianne canceled their meeting for a family affair, Melrose decided to tell the housekeeper in charge for food supplies that she and Felicity would go to the market in her stead.
The housekeeper was reluctant to give her what she wanted as per the lord's command; Melrose was to do nothing related to maintaining the household. However, at the end, the housekeeper could not refuse her lady as Melrose promised it would not reach her father and if it would, she'd hold herself responsible.
"Why, of all places, did you decide to be in the market, my lady? You could have gone in the library, or in the park," Felicity said while they were in the carriage.
"Have you forgotten, Felicity? On this day I go to Vernice orphanage every month."
"But why are we heading to the market? And you haven't asked me to let the footman buy presents for the children."
"I will buy things for the children myself this time."
"But..." Felicity's voice toned down. "What if the lord will know?"
"He won't. Well, unless you or the footman will spill the beans. But of course you two won't do that because I have your loyalty."
"But the market has eyes, my lady. What if a word will reach his lord?"
Melrose understood why Felicity feared that her helping an orphanage would be known by his father for Lord Lewis never liked the idea of sharing what they have with other people.
Their servants were the only exception as they were working for them so it was reasonable to give them something in return. Lord Lewis never tolerated such heroic acts from Melrose, the reason why she kept some of her whereabouts hidden.
"Father's acquaintances are all gentry. None of them will not dare step foot in such a place they call chaotic and dirty. And people of lower class only know me by name. I also didn't wear something striking to not get attention. I'm sure it is safe."
"I could only hope, my lady." Felicity sighed.
Melrose took her time buying presents for the children. Although she had yet to imagine a life of a mother, she had this specific fondness for children.
Maybe it was her lack of siblings, or maybe it was the lack of warmth of a family, she couldn't really guess. But then maybe she was destined to be such a person for those unfortunate children who needed people like her who could cherish them.
After two hours of wandering around the market with Felicity and her footman, Jefferson, carrying all the things she bought, she finally had enough. They headed back to the carriage and went straight to Vernice orphanage.
But to her surprise, the chaotic orphanage welcomed her arrival. Sister Maria, the head of the orphanage, told her that Stephanie was nowhere to be found and must have ran away.
Stephanie was a ten-year-old child who just came recently after his father, a low-ranked knight, was killed in the middle of suppressing rebels at the town's border. She heard that during the past weeks, Stephanie never talked with anyone and barely ate anything. Her loss must have hurt her so much.
Melrose had only seen Stephanie once for she was brought to the orphanage just a month earlier. But that didn't make her less worried. In the world they were in, danger was not only found in the dark. Danger could be everywhere, especially for a fragile child.
And a child's mind was the purest yet also the most vulnerable. Once she had seen cruelty, it would forever stay in her mind. It would forever haunt her.
"Watch out for a girl with honey blonde hair in a green dress, Jefferson," Melrose said as she climbed back to the carriage to search for Stephanie herself.
Felicity was looking through the right window while Melrose was on the left. Her eyes scanned everything she could see to find any trace.
Yet, an hour had passed but they failed to find anything.
Melrose stopped the carriage near the market, deciding to search on foot, which was immediately questioned by her handmaiden.
"My lady, it is not appropriate for you—"
"Nothing is not appropriate when it comes to saving a life, Felicity."
"But the lord might—"
"I will deal with Father myself if he finds out about this. Let me find Stephanie first and we shall talk about other matters."
Just as when she was to step outside, she saw a child running. It was Stephanie!
Melrose was about to call her, but her eyes widened in horror when Stephanie ran to cross the street with a carriage fast approaching.
She ran after Stephanie without thinking. She heard Felicity's shout but she couldn't care less.
The coach didn't seem to notice the child as he was looking straight ahead, beating the horse to run faster. And Melrose was completely stripped from her logic to think about what could possibly happen to herself. She wanted to do something. She ought to do something.
Before the horse could run over Stephanie, Melrose caught the child in her arms. But it was too late to run. In that split of second, she was sure the two of them would get hit. So she did what she could – embrace Stephanie with her body protecting her.