No one except a single maid knew what had happened in the mansion that night. She looked out of the corner of her eyes as a person was killed and then brought back to life.
'What do I do now? Will anyone believe me if I tell them what happened? What if I end up dying as a result of overcoming this issue? What do I do now?'
The maid bit her lip as she kept herself hidden. She had no intention of coming out, but before she could keep herself hidden, she was found out.
Loud footsteps headed her way and her breath felt stuck to her throat. She knew she should not speak up, but her throat still made the noise to alert Fenrir about her whereabouts.
"Hello? Is anyone there? Are you trying to hide from me? That won't work. If you come out now, then I will be merciful to you and make it hurt less for you. So, stop hiding and come out now."
Fenrir's voice sounded like a sweet melody that beckoned the maid to step closer to her end. She tried to get away by crawling out of the way, but her legs and head collided with something solid in her way.
When she looked up, she felt her throat close, and a scream escaped her mouth.
"It breaks my heart to see you trying to run away from me like this. *Sigh* I cannot have you run around and betray my secret. Now, what do we do with you?"
Fenrir asked as he looked down at the maid. His eyes had a terrifying golden glow that made the maid take a step back. She could feel her life flashing in front of her eyes at that moment.
Humans make mistakes. At times, they were most desperate, and the maid was no different.
With her voice shaking and her eyes filled with tears, she made a desperate motion to hold on to Fenrir's crippled legs for more support.
It was ironic how she had to hold on to a cripple and beg for her life. But the female had a hard time feeling anything but terror at the moment.
"I-I will do anything! Please, don't kill me. I would be of great use to you if you gave me a chance to show my worth. I-I promise you that I will not cause you any harm. Please, believe me."
The maid kept her head bowed, but a thousand thoughts went through her mind as she did this.
She was sure that her end was near, and it made her regret everything she had not done.
'If I knew I was going to die, then I would have confessed my love to the merchant's son and taken this chance to do whatever I wanted to. I would not have let anything stop me from living my life to the fullest…'
Regrettably, she would not even have a chance to rectify her life. Surely, this man would sink his blood-covered hand into the maid's chest and kill her.
"You will do anything for me? That is an offer that intrigues me…truly, humans are at their worst when they know they have nothing else to hide…but very well, I will take your offer. You get to live this one time."
The maid breathed a sigh of relief, and her legs suddenly felt like they had life again. She tried to push herself to stand, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her where she was.
Fenrir's reaction shocked the maid, and her legs, which had just recovered, lost their strength once more.
"Now, who said that you could stand up and walk away? I might have given you permission to live, but that does not mean I am not going to take any precautions on the way.
First, we should establish what you can and cannot do while we are contracted. I'll go first. You are not allowed to tell anyone about what happened here or anything about me. If you do, then your insides will explode. Now, it's your turn. Tell me what you are not supposed to do."
The maid was shaking by this point. Her head refused to pick itself up and she could feel the pressure around her increasing. It felt suffocating and she was sure her eyes hurt under all this.
Despite her feeling like she was going to die any second, the maid blinked herself out of that shock and managed to reply.
"I will…. make sure to behave like I usually do and not cause anyone to look into my situation. I-I promise you…please don't kill me."
The maid finished her words with a plea for her life as well.
Fenrir's hand moved through her hair in a mocking way. It imitated someone stroking her hair affectionately, but because the maid knew the truth about Fenrir, she felt that the hand was too bony and scary.
She could also feel something sticky, leaving a residue behind as Fenrir pulled his hand back.
"Good girl! With our vows, the pact between us has been completed. Now, if you try to betray me or cross me, your heart will explode. But on the other hand, if you help me out, you will reach a height you have never seen before.
Who knows, your fate might change entirely. It all depends on how well you manage to please me."
Fenrir spoke in a low and seductive voice, but it only creeped the maid out more.
She felt attracted to the crippled man's voice, and a part of her wanted to surrender to it. But she still resisted, knowing fully well that her life was online here.
"I-I will not disappoint you. I should get going now."
Mary quickly left, but before she left, she felt she should turn around to look at Fenrir one last time.
The settling sun made Fenrir's features glow. It made his face look sharper and much more angular than before, and yet, that delicate face possessed a beauty that made people forget everything else.
"Ah, by the way, once the banquet starts the day after, it would be in your best interest to not come here. I am afraid that the food we serve here would no longer match your appetite."
Fenrir warned the maid, but she had no idea why he said this to her.
As far as the maid could tell, she was a normal human being. So, unless Fenrir wanted to do something dangerous to the food, it should not be a problem for her to come and eat it.
But as much as the maid wanted to ask why she should not attend the banquet; she knew keeping quiet would be in her best interest.
She quickly made her way back to her house and entered it. Her caretaker looked at her with an annoyed expression from the dining table's main chair.
"Rui, you finally crawled your way back home? Where is your pay? Don't tell me you have not received it yet. When are you going to be able to repay me at this rate? It has been ages since I took you in."
The elder raged as he almost threw the plate he had been holding on to at Rui's head. It hit its mark, but it did not hurt as badly as it usually hurts to get hit.
It was tough to tell if this was because she had gotten insensitive to what happened to her over time or because she was lacking awareness to do anything after the shock she just had.
Rui just took the attack head-on and kept walking to her room without replying.
"You freak! Listen to me and reply back if you hear me tell you can get away me. No dinner for you if you leave now-!"
Rui slammed the door to her room and pushed her back against the wall. She felt exhausted after all that happened, and her hunger did not come back to her.
Her door got knocked frantically and she could hear her adoptive father trying to break it down. But it somehow held on and she breathed a sigh of relief as she felt the old man finally leave.
She wanted to fall asleep, but in the middle of the night, she woke up with a sudden pang of thrust. She wanted to drink something, but the thought of putting water in her mouth made her feel annoyed.
Her body had no energy, but she somehow managed to push herself to her limits and make her way out. She kept walking until she reached the door and then opened it.
One step, then two, and then three. She kept walking until she reached the end of the corridor and then pushed the door open.
Rui had no idea where she was going. She just knew that she needed to quench her thirst and she needed something other than water to do that.
Her eyes fell on naked flesh, and her trust ignited once more. Before she knew it, she felt her fangs pierce something soft.
"Y-You! What are you doing? Get away from me right now-!"
The man yelled, but it fell on deaf ears.
A sweetness filled Rui's mouth and she was sure that she had never tasted anything this divine before. She drank and drank until she could not anymore. And then she pulled back, only to look down with a pair of terrified eyes at her benefactor's dead body.
The man was dead, and his unseeing eyes looked back at Rui.
"W-What happened? Did I do this? I don't remember…I need to hide the evidence of what happened."
Rui yelled, and her heart thundered in her chest. She knew she needed to correct what happened and to do that; she needed to take care of this body first.
Fire was one way to resolve this mess, and before she knew it, she had lit her house on fire.