The evening one day before.
"My lady… your brother wants to meet you." A servant informed Grace.
"Bro… Brother? Heh?" Grace gave a mocking smile whether it was to the servant or to herself is unknown.
"Alright, take me to him." Grace said.
The servant led grace to a hall where Daniel was waiting for her impatiently.
"Grace you are here." As soon as he saw her, Daniel jumped from his seat and walked to her hurriedly.
"Hello… Brother." Grace said her eyes devoid of emotions.
"Come here, haha you are very lucky, see what I bought for you." Daniel said as he pulled a vial of potion from his pocket.
"…" Grace looked at him, her eyes which were devoid of emotion a few seconds ago showed surprise. Why?
Then she looked at the vial in Daniel's hand.
"You bought a potion… for me?" She asked.
"Of course… who else will I get this potion for? You are my sister and this is my gift for you." Daniel said as he pushed the vial to her.
Grace took the vial and looked at it for a few seconds.
Then her eyes moved back to Daniel, he smiled at her, that smile… it made her flinch. What was wrong with her 'brother'?
'Heh… what the hell is it now?' Grace thought as she looked at Daniel.
To think that she would live to see the day when her brother will bring her gifts. The same brother who would beat her up all the time, and be praised for doing so by her 'father'. Why?
Because she was a lowborn. She was the result of the humiliation that her mother had suffered at the hands of Baron Crest.
She had been given a title as well, 'The disgrace of Crest'.
And now, the same person who gave her that title, was calling her sister. He even bought her a potion to boot.
Now the question is… will she drink the potion that her 'dear brother' had bought her.
To answer this question, let us know more about the lady named Grace.
17.
What is that…? That was the number of times she had almost died while living in the house of Crest.
And 18.
Now what is that? That is the number of times she has made fools of the Crest family's treacheries.
No matter how they tried to harm her, she always came out safe. They tried many ways to deal with her, yet she had more ways to deal with them.
But… wait a minute… something doesn't match.
The numbers… they don't match… right?
Because 17 is the number of times they tried to hurt her and she saved herself. And now the 18th is on the run. Now it's her who is playing with them, now it is for her to see if the Crests can save themselves from her.
So… to answer the question… will she drink the potion?
…
"Sister… hurry up and drink the potion." Daniel urged.
"Sure brother." Grace said as she opened her mouth and gulped down the entire bottle.
…
After finishing the potion, she looked at Daniel and smiled.
"Done… That was very good. Thank you, brother." Grace thanked him.
"Haha… good, good… you are very lucky Grace. When master asked me to bring a potion, I took out the most expensive potion that I had. If not for master explaining me that I have been doing wrong with you all this time, I would have never bought out such an expensive potion. Consider it an apology. I am very sorry for everything I have done to you." Daniel apologized after he told her how he took out the expensive potion because of his master.
"Master…" Grace looked at him, as for the apology, she had long stopped believing any words coming out of the mouth of anyone in her 'family'.
…
"Oh yeah… you can call him by name as well. Master only likes it when I call him 'Master', otherwise he prefers if others call him by name." Daniel proudly stated how his master gave only him this precious opportunity.
"O… Okay. So, does he want something from me." Grace asked. Now she did not know who this master was and from the looks of it, she was supposed to know this 'master' after drinking the potion, she could not call him master either since her brother just told her that only he has the 'privilege' to call him master.
"Oh… master has a solid plan; he wants to make the Baron his friend. But he needs someone who could help him make friends with Baron. So, I suggested that he make friends with you first. Haha… of course, initially I thought about making you masters slave but then master hit me a lot and told me that women are not objects. So, I need to respect you. That's why you can be his friend now." Daniel admitted his mistake.
"He… hit you? And told you to respect women? And you will do what he said?" Grace was taken in by surprise.
'What the hell is going on here?' She thought.
Has this 'brother' of hers gone made. And who is this 'master' he is talking about.
"How does he want to make friends with the Baron?" She asked.
"Oh… it's the same way as he made friends with you." Daniel replied.
"You mean… giving him potion?" She asked as she looked at the vial.
"Of course… well, master wants to meet you tomorrow, come to my house by 4, don't be late okay." Daniel said.
"… Sure brother… I will make sure to be on time." Grace replied.
"Alright then, bye." Daniel said and left the hall.
'What in the world is going on here?' Grace never saw this coming.
'This is bad.' Why? Because Grace had always been able to see what was coming.
She was not given proper clothes; she did not mind. She was not given enough food; she did not mind. Because she always saw it coming. She used to sneak into the family's library to learn about various things, and the thing she liked to learn the most is politics. Grace is young, just 25, but she has read, learned and lived politics, she could see what move anyone around her would make.
But what happened today was out of everything she could have ever expected.
Her brother suddenly became a good brother. Why because his master asked him to? Who was this master? And
'What is the deal with this potion.' She said as she took a small container which began to fill with potion.
"I will be leaving to my brother's house tomorrow. Please protect me if something goes wrong." She said as she looked at the gates through which Daniel had walked out of.
Her shadow moved slightly before everything became normal again.
…
The next day.
"Grace you are here… come and sit here. Master might be coming here anytime now." Daniel said as he led her to sit beside him.
Grace who was still new to this behavior of her 'brother' nodded before sitting beside him.
…
A few minutes later…
A handsome young man appears in the garden where they were sitting.
"It's nice to see you master… Please have a sit." Daniel immediately stood up as soon as he saw the young man.
"Master… this is my sister, Grace." Daniel introduced her to the young man who looked at her seriously.
'This young man… is the master?' Grace was alarmed
"Ma… Master?" She asked.
"Yes, why are you so shocked, didn't I tell you about him yesterday, now listen to master carefully, he has very important job for you." Daniel said.
"… Ye… Yes… nice to see you master." Grace fumbled as she looked at the young man who continued staring at her.
'drrr…' She felt something within her shadow. Something was wrong, her shadow… or the being inside her shadow… it was trembling.
'How can that be.' Her alarm turned into fear as soon as she realized what this could mean.
Then, her eyes eyes met the eyes of the young man.
She flinched.
'Damn it' It was a bad move, he noticed it.
Then the young man smiled and took a sit.
"So, miss Grace, is it? You did not drink the potion, did you?"
He knows.