The afternoon sun woke Lilith from her deep slumber, her eyes fluttering as she sat up. Her right hand felt heavy and she looked at it, Vincents cheek was resting on her hand as he slept. "Did he stay here all night?" She thought as she looked around the unfamiliar room. She thought it must be one of the guest rooms since it looked less used. "Vincent…" she whispered, softly touching his hair with her free hand. His eyes opened slowly as he sat up, when he realized she was awake he sighed in relief. She smiled softly, noticing his eyes lingering on her throat. "Ah…Natalie must have washed off the make up." She thought, the bruises on her neck must be pretty bad if he had that pitiful look on his face. The door opened and Natalie walked with a cart, a relieved smile on her face. Lilith could smell the food and her eyes shined in anticipation. Vincent scoffed, the only time he has ever seen her smile so happily was when she saw food. Natalie took the lid off the dishes and set it up by the bed. Lilith tried grabbing the fork but Vincent saw her hands trembling and grabbed the utensils before she did. She raised an eyebrow and frowned. "You trynna take my food?" She asked, her lip upturned on the left, giving him attitude. "No. I'm trying to feed you." He said holding back laughter at how upset she got over thinking he was trying to eat her meal. "Seriously where does she pick up phrases like that?" He thought smiling. She cleared her throat embarrassed, he got some of the chicken with the fork and fed her. As the juicy meat almost melted in her mouth she moaned in satisfaction. Finally some food, he kept feeding her, she finished the whole chicken, soup, bread and vegetables, but Vincent didn't even touch the three pieces of asparagus. "In what world does an entire chicken fit in a ladies small stomach." He thought, always amazed at how much she could eat. She was eyeing the asparagus, not wanting to leave anything on the plate, she was well satisfied but still wanted to finish everything. "You won't give me the asparagus?" She asked confused. "You like it? To me it's gross but if you truly want to eat it i'll give it to you." He said, uncomfortably piercing it with the fork and bringing it to her mouth. She gladly ate it, finding it funny how grossed out he looked that she was actually eating it. When she was done she sighed deeply, resting her back on pillows. He reached the lower rack of the cart and pulled out a small dish, when he removed the lid and there was a huge slice of chocolate cake, her mouth immediately watered. She licked her lips in anticipation. "I can't believe she's acting so normal after everything she went through…." He thought, she was happily eating and the only thing he noticed was that she was weaker since she hadn't been fed the past weak, but other than that, nothing had changed. "This is so good.." Lilith said as she ate, the tea was complimenting the cake so well, and it wasn't overly sweet so it was easy to eat. When she was done Natalie came back to bathe her and freshen her up, tearing up when Lilith flinched during the bath when the water touched her wounds, since some of the scabs were still a little open. After a while the water had turned a little pink from some blood leaking out of the scabs. Vincent never left the room, but Lilith didn't mind, she knew he wasn't staying to be a pervert, he was simply concerned and wasn't looking at her when she was fully naked. She drank some medicine as Natalie rubbed the ointment on her legs, and Vincent helped rub it on her back. They convinced her to lay back down before the duke, Cyrus, Thalia and the duchess came back when she was relaxed to hear the details she wrote on the diary. She allowed Vincent to start reading the first day Vanessa was here. As she described everything in detail the duchess and Thalia were pale, feeling queazy. The duke listened in silence and Cyrus looked like he was in disbelief. "She was using torture methods…" the duke said. She noticed Vincent was reading pages she hadn't told him to and she smacked his arm, taking back her diary. But it was too late, he had read the page where she was thinking about his and Cyrus body, how they were handsome in their own way. He looked at his brother a little offended, the thought of his wife looking at his brother shirtless didn't sit right with him, but he didn't say anything since Lilith called him out on being in love with Thalia. "I saw him smile…it was beautiful, the warmth and affection in his eyes could be seen from all the way up here, I wonder what it feels like to be the one looked at like that, to be the reason someone smiles that way, I couldn't help but think of how lonely I was.." the words written in her diary echoed in his head. Considering she had been going through literal torture her thoughts might have been affected by that and she was craving affection, but he couldn't help but think, maybe she really meant it. The door opened and a butler walked in, a serious expression on his face, so they knew he was there to bear bad news. "The maid Vanessa has escaped, she cut through the ropes tying her with a pocket knife she had hidden in her clothes. She killed the two guards that were standing outside her cell." He said. The silence in the room was loud, Lilith sighed, the back of her head rested on the headboard as she stared at the ceiling. "I don't think she'll come back into the mansion, she is a trained mercenary so she knows staying here puts her life in danger, most likely she will go into hiding." Lilith said in disappointment. The duke rubbed his temples, the stress of it all getting to him. "I'm gonna organize a search party." Cyrus said as he walked out. She was surprised at how upset he looked considering he never really spoke with her, except the time she slapped his hand for trying to take her fig. "Lilith….are you feeling okay?" Thalia asked sadly. "Yes…i'm doing fine, thank you for worrying about me." Lilith said, observing Thalias eyes, something was off and she couldn't put her finger on it. She appeared to be sad, but deep in her eyes, there was something that made Lilith uneasy. "I'll stay here with Lilith until she feels better, and have a new room prepared for her." Vincent said, not wanting her to go back to the room where she went through all the abuse. The duke stood with his wife, excusing themselves since they needed to handle the situation. "I'm so sorry Lilith…I really wish I would have tried harder to see you…if I had maybe this wouldn't have gone on as long as it did." Thalia said, her eyes tearing up. "It's fine Thalia, I have been through worse….this is nothing but a slap on the wrist." Lilith said. Vincent looked at her concerned. "This is nothing? Been through worse? Just what kind of life did she used to have…" Vincent thought. Thalia teared up more, she clenched her fists as her lips quivered. "No, I wanted to be your friend, yet I was unable to see that you needed help…i'm such a failure…." Thalia said. Lilith felt strange. "Does she want me to comfort her or something?" She thought. "Thalia…for now let's just let her rest, she needs to get her energy up." Vincent said as he helped Thalia up, and walked her to the door. As much as he cared for her, he felt Lilith was not in a great emotional state to comfort someone else. "Okay….i'll see you later Lilith…" Thalia said as she bowed. When Vincent closed the door Lilith was finally able to breath, releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding. Natalie stood next to the bed, just watching her quietly, and Vincent sat on the chair he pulled up next to the bed. "Is it wrong that I want to eat again?" Lilith said embarrassed. Vincent scoffed. "Really? Again?" He teased. "Yes…." She said shyly. "Alright, i'll ask the cooks to prepare something for you, and i'll send Melinda and Betty in with your medication and vitamins." He said as he left. Natalie had a satisfied smile on her face as she watched them interact, in her mind she thought Lilith had a crush on Vincent, when in reality, Lilith was numb to him, she didn't like him, but also didn't hate him. "What is it?" Lilith asked. "He seems to be very worried about you…" Natalie said. "You're not?" Lilith teased, a playful smile on face. Natalie knew she was just playing, so she just sighed at Lilith's dismissal of Vincents actions, she just wanted Lilith to be happy. Lilith found out the next day that the duke set up Vanessa with false information since he knew she was listening in at his office. The Saturday shipment wasn't real and the real shipment was going to arrive on Monday afternoon. As well as the fact that prince Arsalan and Odette had sent her letters, but Vanessa had been hiding them in her own room so Lilith wouldn't find them. She had to respond to the letters apologizing for the late replies, but she avoided saying anything about Vanessa. Prince Arsalan immediately replied saying he was sad they didn't have a chance to meet again, but he would keep in contact through letters. No signs of Vanessa had appeared, and the duke had sent count Grimrose a letter explaining the situation, however instead of count Grimrose being angry he replied with a letter asking him to have mercy on Vanessa and to just send her home, saying he would handle things on his own. The duke was shocked, how could he ask him to have mercy on a maid that tortured his daughter, the whole ordeal was strange and he started thinking about what ominous secrets that family was hiding. "That young lady really has horrible luck." The duke thought. He started feeling a little pity for her, although the idea of her still planning to spy on them lingered in his mind. That night, she was moved to a bigger room, Melinda, Betty, and Natalie now assigned to be her personal maids. Vincent kept checking on her for every meal to make sure she ate it all, though that in itself wasn't difficult since she seemed to absorb the food like a bottomless pit. After three days of people hovering over her, she finally had some time alone. Being able to breathe without anyone asking if she was okay, and able to relax freely. She sat on her new, bigger window bench and looked through her sketchbook, just staring at the drawings of her parents. "I was blessed to be loved by you…" she said to herself as she gently caressed their faces on paper. After all that happened, she lost hope, for days she wondered why she wasn't able to fight back. It was because she had given up, it wasn't because she wasn't strong, but she did not have the will to survive. Depression had sunk it's teeth in her and she didn't even notice. She had chances to escape Vanessas grasp, but she didn't. She felt like she deserved it. Taking a deep breath she lost all hope to go back home, she would do to her best to live a long full life here. She flipped the page to Miyano, his soft features and gentle smile. She never did get to confess, and find out if he liked her back, but the chances of him liking her romantically weren't high since at the time, him and Ayano had been closer, and Ayano made sure people knew they were a thing. Loving him as much as she did hurt, she felt like he owned her heart, like if her soul yearned for him. "I'll keep you in my memory…I know you can't hear me, but from the moment I wake, to the moment I sleep, i'll have you in my heart." She whispered. Burning every detail of his she could remember into her head, her heart aching as she mentally prepared herself to forget him. Next was Yuki, her pretty russet brown eyes, straight burgundy brown hair, and chubby cheeks. How she would walk in to her apartment as if she lived there, wore Estellas clothes, and when Estella studied she would make her snacks. "Yuki…I wanna go back to the time you first told me your name…you were the best thing to ever happen to me, I-" she stopped as her eyes teared and throat burned from holding back from crying. "Damn it…I can say goodbye to everyone else…but NOT you, not you…" she whispered as she wiped her tears. As much as she loved her parents, she knew they would let her free and live her life, saying goodbye to them was easier because they were in her heart, and she was used to not seeing them for long periods of time, but the person she desired to have by her side was Yuki, her platonic soulmate, her person. "I wanted our kids to be friends…our husbands to be good friends, and our lives to be intertwined until the end of time. How could I possibly forget someone who gave me so much to remember…" She whispered, but now, all that was in the past, no longer a possibility. She wiped the last of her tears and closed the book, if she wanted to focus on her survival she had to forget her past and move on. Lilith hid her sketchbook in a hole she made under the bed, and patched it so no one would be able to find it, along with her secret journal. She kept her "diary" in her cabinet in case tried searching through her room, they would get her diary and have no real information on her. As she got into bed, she realized she hasn't had a dream meeting the original Lilith in a long time. Perhaps she wouldn't communicate with her anymore, Lilith scoffed. "She never even gave me any useful information." She thought, for now her goal would be to escape and live peacefully, hoping to avoid the Grimrose family execution at the end. Her eyes fluttered as she drifted off into sleep, hoping she could live a long healthy life. Days passed since Vanessa disappeared, the search for her was still discreetly ongoing, and Lilith's body was healing rapidly because of the ointment Vanessa left behind. Natalie looked impressed as she rubbed her back with the ointment. "There are no scars, and the bruises are almost completely gone." Natalie said a little freaked out at how fast it was healing her. Lilith was eating some grapes as Natalie finished her back. "Yeah, she used to frequent the black market for this ointment, she got a lot of her weapons there too." Lilith said. The past days Vincent was eating lunch with her, and it wasn't awkward anymore, after a while she even started anticipating lunch time just so she could see him. She loved staring at his handsome face, since a few of his features reminded her of Miyano. "I want to go hunting…" Lilith said, turning to Natalie with puppy eyes. "I'll see what arrangements I can make." Natalie said, bowing and exiting the room. Lilith exhaled and her smile faded, it was getting difficult to keep up her happy appearance. The days in war came in flashes in her mind, she never thought she would struggle with ptsd, but Vanessa appeared to trigger it by making her remember the pain and suffering. Seeing people she was living with for months dead at her feet, children, families. The useless feeling of not being able to protect those innocent lives. As strong as she was, there was no way for her to protect all those people at the same time, as a human there was only so much she could do. When she got caught by the enemy along with a couple of people from her platoon, they were tortured for days on end, when they were rescued, some didn't make it. It was her first months in, and after that she trained like hell so it wouldn't happen again. A knock at the door made her flinch as she came back from her flashbacks, taking a deep breath she opened the door to Vincent hiding something next to the door. "Hi…what are you hiding?" She asked. "I wanted to say…I accidentally read your diary in the part where you mentioned being lonely…" he said guilty. Her eye twitched, a red hue covering her face in embarrassment, since that paged described how she ogled at Vincent and Cyrus while they trained. "So I came to give you this…" he said. He pulled a box on the floor with holes, she reached out suspiciously to pull the lid off. When she opened it she saw glossy black fur and large golden yellow eyes looking up at her. It was a puppy, she dropped the lid and cried as she reached in to hold the puppy, even though it was clearly a baby it was a little heavy. "Oh my god…I love you…" she said to the puppy as she showered its face in kisses. Her hand reached out and grabbed Vincents collar, she pulled him in and kissed him deeply, when she let him go she went back to coddling the puppy. His face turned red as he cleared his throat, that was one thing he never thought she would do. However, seeing her so excited made him smile, she was so focused on the puppy he was sure she didn't even realize what she did. "What will you call him?" Vincent asked as she made baby sounds, the puppy licking her face excitedly and tail wagging full force. "Tatsu…" she said hugging the puppy tightly as she wiped her tears on his soft fluffy fur. He looked at her strangely. "What does that even mean?" "Dragon…or fierce…" she said, smooching Tatsu affectionately. "Oh, I guess it's a befitting name.." he said, watching how she started playing with his paws. "Thank you Vincent…" she said, her mind now completely focused on Tatsu. "Would you like to walk with me in the garden?" Vincent asked. "Yes, I would love to." She said as she followed him out. Tatsu was big for a puppy, but as she looked at him closely he couldn't possibly be older than four weeks. He was the size of a two year old child. The breeze was gentle, carrying the scent of flowers in full bloom. Tatsu had fallen asleep in her arms, and she was still smiling like a child. Vincent had been quiet as he watched her, but she could see the satisfaction on his face. "Where did you get him?" She asked. "I went with Cyrus to the black market to search for Vanessa, we had no luck, there were no signs of her anywhere, I happened to look at a seller and I saw Tatsu tied up in a small crate, his black fur reminded me of your hair.." he said as he reached out to touch her hair, rubbing it between his thump and pointer finger. She watched him quietly, and he brought up the strand of her hair to his lips. The aura between them changed, chills ran up her spine as she witnessed his charming smile. "I thought of you and before I knew it, I was putting him in a box to bring him to you…" he said. His eyes looking deep into hers, as if he was searching for an answer. She chuckled softly, putting her finger on his chest. "Well, thank you, I really needed this…" she said. Tatsu woke up and wagged his tail, she thought he wanted to walk so she put him down. He started sniffing the ground and exploring, she realized this must be the first time he has been free. He started chasing a butterfly and they watched him happily. "What an innocent soul…." Lilith said softly. Footsteps from behind her caught her attention, she turned around quickly and saw Thalia walking towards them with a grin on her face. The maid holding a lavender cotton lace parasol, matching Thalias doll like dress. "Lilith…how are you?" She said holding Liliths hands. "I'm doing great, what are you doing around here?" Lilith asked, a polite smile on her face. "I wanted to walk in the garden for a bit, I was told the flowers were blooming beautifully." Thalia said in a dreamy tone. Tatsu barked at the butterfly and caught Thalias attention, her eyes widened, Vincent was walking towards Tatsu to see why he barked, but Lilith watched Thalia. It seemed like Thalia noticed that Lilith was watching her with a darkened expression, as if inspecting her, Thalia gulped as a chill ran up her spine. Thalia tried to smile but Lilith could see fear in her eyes. "No….that's not fear….thats…" Lilith thought when Tatsu jumped on her legs. She bent down to pick him up, looking back at Thalia she seemed a bit more comfortable now that Lilith was carrying him. "Is she afraid of dogs?" Lilith thought. She never saw anything in the novel about Thalia being afraid of dogs. It wasn't sitting right with her, Thalia was now back to normal and Vincent scratched Tatsus ear. "He's adorable…where did you get him Lilith?" Thalia asked. "Vincent gave him to me, as a gift." Lilith said, smiling at him. "I see…well, i'll continue walking, let's have dinner together! I'll let the duke and duchess know!" Thalia said excitedly. She waved goodbye and her maids followed her whispering. Lilith forgot for a second that Vincent was with her, she continued walking and when he turned to see her she was gone, looking around he noticed she had kept walking and he scurried after her. She got to the valley and sat down in the bright green grass, running her fingers through it and touching the small flowers. Tatsu rolling around happily, Vincent caught up and sat in front of her. "You really enjoy being outdoors don't you?" Vincent asked. "Yeah, it feels so…free…" she said, breathing in the sweet air. She didn't even notice her hands making a crown out of the flowers she plucked out of the grass. Vincent laid back, leaning on his elbows as he watched her fingers expertly weave the flowers. The faint familiar laughter of children sounded deep in her memory, how she used to spend hours with the kids making crowns, necklaces, and bracelets out of flowers. Losing them wasn't something she was prepared for, and it took years for her to stop having nightmares about it. Out of instinct, when she finished the crown, she placed it on Vincents head, his eyebrows raising as he saw that distant look in her eye, like she wasn't all there, like if she was looking straight through him. "I wonder what goes on in your mind…" he thought, life returned in her eyes as she seemed to realize he was with her. She smiled as she fixed the flower crown on his head. "Who taught you how to make flower crowns?" He asked, he never imagined she would have that talent. "I don't remember….it just comes naturally…" she said, if she told him the truth about her other life with the orphans, she would probably accused of being a witch, and be burned alive. Thinking about that, her head starting hurting as a woman's soft humming echoed in her head, like a soft affectionate lullaby. As fast as it came, it also disappeared, she scratched her head in confusion, Vincent was touching the flower headband gently, scared to rip it. "Do you like it?" She asked. "I feel like a true king." He said in a teasing tone. "Your majesty." She said as she bowed her head. He laughed at her silly response, her face was always so serious it was nice to see her have a fun side. Tatsu jumped on her lap, yawning as he got comfortable, finally tired of playing. Vincent watched how gentle she was petting him, seeing a light in her eyes that had been diminished not too long ago. "Tell me about your childhood…" he said. His curious eyes made him seem like a little kid. Her eyebrows furrowed and lips frowned, anything she knew of Liliths background was because Liliths memories played in her head like if they were her own. "Maybe if I tell him, he'll feel pity and not kill me later on." She thought, since that would be pretty convenient. She opened up, told him how Vanessa and other maids would starve her, shove rotten moldy food down her throat, the abuse, being locked in a stable in plain winter, having just hay to cover herself with from the cold. How her parents never spoke to her unless they needed her to do something for them. The amount of times she was tortured and forced to flirt with men to a close a deal for her father, and the reason Vanessa came was to try and force her to spy on the Allard family. "How…how can parents let their child be treated that way…" he said. Since his mother had always been a kind woman, and although his father was a little distant, he had a good relationship with overall, he struggled to understand how her parents could possibly treat her like shit. She shrugged. "I don't know, and I do not care, that's all in the past, now I just want to live all on my own, a long peaceful life." She said, daydreaming about having a small house in the mountains with her and Tatsu growing old side by side. Vincent noticed how many hours had passed that they were just sitting there talking since the sun was beginning to set. Showering them with golden light. Unexpectedly he enjoyed talking to her more than he thought, but now it was time to get ready for dinner, and he wanted her to join the family. Helping her up they began walking back to the mansion. Lilith walked into her room, sitting at her vanity as she held Tatsus sleeping body. Natalie rushed in. "My lady…I was looking for you everywhere…" she said with teary eyes. "Oh my god…that's right…I told you I wanted to go hunting…" she said. Natalie saw Tatsu and she looked at Lilith confused. "Oh, his name is Tatsu, Vincent got him for me.." Lilith said. Holding him up to her face with a bright smile. "That is wonderful my lady, I was told to get you ready for dinner…" Natalie said, she looked a little worried since that never happened before and wanted the dinner to go smoothly. "Yeah, Thalia told me to eat with them for dinner.." she said as Natalie started brushing her hair, her gentle hands giving Lilith a motherly comfort. " I hope we can get along well…" lilith tbought taking a deep breath.