Just as Winters was about to fall asleep, a sparse sound came from outside.
She slowly opened her eyes and got out of bed to hide under the curtains.
"Hyde you get in there and cut through Winters skirt."
"Miss Amelia, Mrs. Beatrice would scold you if she knew."
"Hyde you keep your mouth shut and you'll be out of Tudor Manor tomorrow."
God, her poor family needed that paycheck.
Hyde held up the oil lamp, trembling slightly, no longer daring to disobey Amelia's orders.
The wooden door was pushed open with a creak.
The thin Winters hid in the curtains and watched calmly as her sister barged into her room with a servant.
The faint light of the fire flickered and flickered like a ghost in the darkness of the night.
They approached the closet cautiously, not yet opening its door.
Winters whispered an incantation, and the firelight suddenly turned into a huge phantom snake, and Amelia fell heavily to the floor in terror.
"There's a snake, there's a big snake in Winters' room."
Amelia staggered a few steps got up and fled Winters' room.
The scissors fell to the floor with a clang.
Hyde froze in place, tears in her eyes as she watched the great serpent slowly fade back into the firelight.
It was the lowest-ranking illusion of the Sutherland family.
Behind the curtains Winters slowly walked out, "Hyde, you can cut this dress."
Hyde watched in surprise as Winters walked towards her, Winters picked up the scissors on the floor and handed them to Hyde.
"Ms. Winters you actually know illusion magic?"
"As the Lordess of the Sutherland family, why wouldn't I know illusion magic?"
Winters asked rhetorically, a strange blue color flickering in her pupils.
In the Sutherland wolf clan pupils were a status symbol.
Amelia was the lowest order pink.
Hyde was a bit nervous, and without hesitation, she knelt straight in front of Winters and said very reverently, "Miss Winters, please forgive me for being unreasonable."
"Hyde, do it and cut this dress, otherwise, Amelia will expel you from the Tudor Manor."
Seeing that Hyde did not dare to do it, Winters had to take the scissors back from her herself and cut the dress she would wear tomorrow when she met the Duke of Massa in front of Hyde.
"Thank you, Ms. Winters."
"Hyde, you don't have to thank me, I didn't help you for nothing."
Winters smiled as she listened to the sound of shattered fabric, she continued "From now on Hyde will be working for me."
Although Winters' voice was gentle, it had a creepy feeling in Hyde's ears.
Ms. Winters was scarier than Ms. Amelia.
Hyde took the tattered skirt Winters had cut and exited the room with heavy steps.
Winters breathed a sigh of relief and dragged her injured leg back to the wooden bed once more.
No matter what, this was the first step she had taken.
It was also the first step towards saving herself.
Now Winters could finally get a good night's sleep.
*
The next day, at the crack of dawn, Winters was rudely picked up by a servant.
"Miss Winters, the carriage to Massa Castle is ready, Mrs. Beatrice asked you to leave quickly, your dress is broken, here is a new one."
Hyde, who was standing on the side, lowered his head and handed the new dress to Winters.
It was a dress with polka dot stripes, something gorgeous to look at.
The dress was a little long, but it covered her wounds from Eric's bite.
Amelia stood in the doorway looking panicked, afraid of seeing the huge snake again.
Snakes were the natural enemies of the Wolf Clan.
There was also a long-standing feud between the Wolves and the northern Serpents.
"My sister, what is wrong with you?" Winters put on her dress and stepped forward to take Amelia's hand.
Although Amelia was disgusted, she didn't dare to show it now because Duke Massa's people were in the manor.
Lady Beatrice had warned her earlier.
In the eyes of the entire Massa City, Lady Beatrice was the best stepmother in the world, and she, Amelia, was the cutest stepsister in the world.
"I'm fine, dear Sister Winters, you're so beautiful today, happy birthday!"
"Thank you, you're lovely too, Amelia."
"I'm fine, dear Sister Winters, you're so beautiful today, happy birthday!"
"You're lovely too, Amelia."
Winters and Amelia walked side by side down the avenue of Tudor Manor, the weather was great and the roses in the flower beds were in full bloom.
Neither spoke much on the way.
Winters was filled with thoughts of how to catch the person who poisoned the Duke of Massa in Massa's castle, while Amelia was thinking about why the great snake from last night hadn't bitten her dear sister.
If Winters died, the entire Tudor manor would be hers from now on.
The pumpkin style carriage pulled up next to the fountain.
"Miss Winters and Miss Amelia, please get into the carriage."
The carriage drove slowly down the road, and in fact Tudor Manor and Massa Castle were not very far apart.
After a quarter of an hour, they soon arrived at the Massa Castle.
The Duke of Massa favored Winters and had decorated the venue for her birthday party at the castle.
Winters knew that all of this was Duke Massa compensating for the loss of her parents in the battle with the Serpents.
"Ms. Winters, Duke Massa has guests right now, so you can rest with Amelia."
"Okay, Uncle Mike."
Mike was a loyal servant who had followed Massa for half of his life, with a high eagle nose and sharp eyes.
It shouldn't be someone who could poison and kill Count Massa.
"Ms. Winters, did you hurt your leg?"
"Just a fall, it's fine."
"That's something to watch out for, Duke Massa will be heartbroken."
The two of them, Winters and Mack, were talking, and Amelia stood obediently on the side as if she was isolated.
Mike looked at Winters, his eyes more than a few points to measure, in his eyes Winters has always been a timid girl, he did not expect today Winters can talk to him so much.