When Adara arrived back at their Residence, they were preparing for the next day. It would be a nerve-racking day and a lot depended on other people.
Adara let herself fall onto the couch with a sigh. Letting her head rest on the back of the couch as she stared up at the ceiling. She was not looking forward to the King's Birthday Celebration.
"Is it the corset?" Cale asked, worried. She had simply left for a few hours and then returned, how could he not be worried? "You know you can just take it off."
She waved his concerns away. "No, it is not the corset. I can breathe fine." She sighed again. "It is just tomorrow. I do not want to go. Why am I obliged to go to the King's Birthday? The only good thing coming out of it is the fact that we are stopping the Plaza Terror Incident. And even that we are not doing ourselves."
Before Cale could respond, Adara turned her head towards the door and a few seconds later, a knock sounded at the door.
"Ron?" Cale asked in confusion when he saw him come in.
"Good evening, Young Master and Mistress." Ron bowed to Cale. "Young Master. This Ron would like to make a request if possible."
"A request?" Cale repeated.
Ron lifted his head to make eye contact with Cale. "Please take care of my son."
Adara blinked. She was not included in this conversation, she was simply reading her book she had picked up from the side table. But the sudden request caught her off guard. Oh, is he going for good now? But leaving his son behind?
Cale was equally confused. "Son? You mean Beacrox?"
"Yes?"
"Why?"
Adara saw the polite smile disappear from Ron's face. She got a shiver down her spine at his expression, a sharp reminder that he was an assassin. His expression was of an assassin's. A cold and ruthless one. Adara had not met a lot of professional assassins like Ron.
Her head has become a bit of a taboo among the wiser of the crooks in the Underworld. In the beginning, she met a lot, but the professionals now realise that, while the price was only increasing, her head was not disappearing. And the ones who took the job never came back.
So only the dumb and inexperienced had come to take the job.
But as Ron spoke with an assassin's expression, she was reminded of her past troubles. "I need to go hunt some foxes." His expression changed, it seemed less ruthless. "Our Young Master knows that I am someone who kills people, right?"
Adara turned her attention back to her book.
Cale raised an eyebrow, hiding the shivers that had gone down his spine as well. "So?"
"So, I'm going to kill people."
"Leaving your son behind?" Cale asked, frowning slightly.
"Yes, sir."
Cale made a motion with his hand. "Is the fox a person?"
Adara looked up at Ron. He was smiling. It was faint. The corners of his lips were barely elevated. But it was one of those smiles, where she only wished he never smiled again. "That's right. I have to go kill a group of foxes." Like his smile, his voice was cold. "Rip them into pieces."
Ah, Adara realised. The Secret Organisation. He wants to kill them. But is that the best idea? she wondered. They did not truly know how many there were, nor where. But, from his words, Ron already knew or had means of finding out.
Either way, whatever she would say, would not change his decision to leave. But we need him in a year, she remembered. I wonder how you will deal with that, she thought, watching Cale's face.
"Go and come back," Cale finally said after a few sighs.
Ron's smile disappeared.
Cale continued. "I'll tell Hans that you are taking a leave of absence. Report to me every so often. You can receive money from the Flynn Merchant Guild with your ID plague. And why would you leave Beacrox to Trash like us? He is an adult. He will figure out what to do with his own life."
Adara held in her snort. Of course.
It was the best course of action, actually. There was no true need for Ron to be with Choi Han after he dealt with the Plaza Terror Incident. Since Lock is able to transform into a controlled berserk state, Choi Han will have no need for Ron nor Beacrox's strength.
But he would be needed in a year. For Choi Han, Adara thought. But also for— more importantly— a peaceful North-Eastern Region.
"However, the duration of your break is only 1 year," Cale added. "Enjoy your break. Don't get hurt while you are out there."
Adara watched with disguised confusion as Ron started to quietly laugh. He stopped laughing. Like a dog looking at his master, he looked at Cale. "Young Master, is reporting to you once a month enough?"
Cale made a dismissive hand motion. "Yes. Do as you please."
Ron walked to the door. "I will see you in a year, Young Master. Young Mistress," he added. Without waiting for their answer, he closed the door behind him.
Both Adara and Cale, after getting ready for bed, slept soundly that night. Happy they were rid of Ron for a year.
Adara awoke the next morning to footsteps walking too close to her. There were three pairs of footsteps. She could not recognise them.
She stayed still, not moving at all, not letting her breath get out of hand or her thoughts. She could hear the three whispering.
"Awh, do we really need to wake her up? She seems to be sleeping so peacefully."
"Shush. The Countess— and that nice butler, Ron— ordered that she look her best. If we are to go everything, she needs to be awake now."
"Okay then. Wake her up."
"Me? Anne, you must be out of your mind. She is sleeping too calmly for me to wake her up."
"Oh, all the gods are looking at you two in pity. I'll wake her up."
So, they are not assassins then.
She heard a pair of footsteps come closer, hand on a shoulder. "Young Lady?" she heard a voice whisper in her ear. "You need to wake up. We need to prepare for the King's Celebration."
Adara pretended to wake up. Her face scrunched up and her eyes squinted. "Hmm?"
"Yes," the voice whispered. "That's it. C'mon now, Young Lady, you need to get up."
She opened her eyes further, looking into the kind face of a maid above her. For a second, she saw her Unnie's face. But upon further inspection, she realised she did not look like her Unnie at all. She recognised the maid, having seen her in the hallways before. She was the old Housekeeper, her face seamed with wrinkles. "What time is it?" she asked, her voice slightly hoarse.
The Housekeeper patted her shoulder. "Too early, Young Lady. But it is needed. The Countess herself ordered it."
Adara threw the blanket away from her, slowly getting up from her laying position. She now sat at the edge of her bed. One of the straps to her nightdress fell off her shoulder so she tiredly put it back up. "Where to?" she asked with a yawn.
The maid that had woken her up nodded, pleased that there were no objections. She was not sure how the Young Lady would react, but she was pleasantly surprised. "You will have a bath first, Young Lady. It has already been filled and warmed."
Adara dragged herself to the large bathroom. The three maids followed after her. She frowned. "Are you to be assisting me?" she asked, the lights of the bathroom too bright for her sensitive eyes.
The maids all nodded, the Housekeeper speaking up. "Of course, Young Lady. Do they not do that at the Thornwin Territory?"
She shook her head. "They do do it at the Thornwin Territory. But I do not let them."
The Housekeeper's eyebrows raised. "Do you have a problem if we do it?"
Adara shrugged. "I guess not."
The Housekeeper was naturally confused about this, staring at the undressing Adara with confusion. But her face dropped as soon as she saw Adara's body.
Her body was filled with scars. Across her chest was one— along with a small silver tattoo over her heart—, multiple on her arms and legs. It shocked the Housekeeper, the two other maids were just as shocked as her. Such a pretty lady, with such a pretty face had such ugly scars across her. Even her face was ruined. If she was a painting, it would be torn.
But the maids all gathered their expressions, knowing it was not polite to stare so heinously. Adara slipped into the bath quietly, not a single sound from her actions, only the rippling of the water.
Almost immediately, the maids came attending to her.
It was odd to Adara, who had only bathed alone. She could not remember a recent time when she had been assisted when bathing. One of the maids was attending to her hand, washing it, cleaning it, the other maid at her other hand. The Housekeeper was washing her hair, massaging her scalp and putting all sorts of nice-smelling things in it. Adara closed her eyes, feeling sleepy again.
"Ah, Young Lady, do you swordfight? Your hands are soft but calloused."
She opened her eyes slightly, peering at the face of the maid who had spoken, the one who was doing her nails. She was young, with short dark hair. "Yes, I do swordfight," Adara responded. "And no need to call my 'Young Lady'. Just 'Young Mistress' is fine."
The maid frowned. "But, that is not your correct title."
Adara closed her eyes again. "Everyone says it anyway, they are so used to calling me 'Young Mistress' that the switch to 'Young Lady' is odd."
You became a Young Lady and not a Young Mistress on your 18th birthday, and the people around you were expected to adjust accordingly to the change.
The maid shrugged. "They should know better. It is— slightly— disrespectful not to call you by your proper title."
"I do not care either way."
The maid looked at the calm face of Adara. Maybe she is Trash, the maid thought. She has been nothing but nice to us, but she does not care for proper titles. But she changed her mind. If that is all it takes for her to be named as Trash by the world then it is quite undeserving. Regardless of how you act, the Countess ordered you to be the prettiest. And the prettiest we will make you.
Adara was feeling quite peaceful. She was trying hard not to fall asleep.
But, the other maid spoke up. "If I may speak, Young Mistress?"
"Sure."
The Housekeeper narrowed her eyes at the maid that had asked for permission to speak. If she says some horseshit to the Young Lady, all of the gods will have trouble forgiving me for what I am—.
"I think it's very courageous to be a Young Lady who knows how to swordfight."
The Housekeeper's eyes widened. "Anne! You can't say—."
Adara waved her hand, or well, tried to. "It is fine. I do not mind." She looked at the maid with the blonde wispy hair whose name she just learned was Anne. "What makes it courageous?"
Anne, now feeling shy because of the Housekeeper, Hilda, who was glaring dagger at her, shrugged. "It is just—." She swallowed, looking away from Hilda. "I have never heard of a Young Lady who knows how to swordfight. I understood it was more an activity for the Young Masters to partake in."
Adara agreed. "I guess it is an activity they are invited to do more often. It is often part of the basic curriculum of a Young Master. But not always." Her brother could not swordfight. Nor could Basen. "But I know another Young Mistress who is learning how to swordfight, so I am not the only one."
Anne's eyebrows raised, excited. She did not know what 'curriculum' meant, but Adara was suggesting to know some information about another Noble. "Really? Who?" Anne was interested in most forms of gossip, of Nobles and servants alike.
"Young Master Cale's younger sister, Lily."
Anne's face turned red. She had been asking for gossip on one of her mistresses. She lowered her head in shame, avoiding Hilda's eyes even more now.
Bonnie, the maid with dark hair, decided to take the conversation. "Do you take part in tourneys, Young Mistress?" It felt wrong to her to call Adara 'Young Mistress', but it was what she wanted, so Bonnie had no choice but to agree.
"No," Adara said flatly. "It is not allowed to be publicly known that I can swordfight."
It would be fine for Lily, Adara thought. She has a family that loves her and would support her if any rumours would spiral. Plus, her reputation is better than mine. But, aside from the fact that the assassins would know, if any rumours were to spread about me, some of my Family would probably cultivate them instead of diminish them. What is more, my Father still disagrees with my learning archery and how to swordfight.
Anne, recovering from her shame, suddenly looked up. "Not allowed?" she repeated. "Whatever do you mean, Young Mistress? How can it not be allowed for you to do something?" In Anne's mind, it was a wonderful thing to be a Noble. Being able to buy whatever you wanted, dance around at a ball with handsome Young Masters in big swishy dresses, not needing to have anybody order you around. It did not make sense how someone would be able to tell Young Mistress Adara that something was not allowed.
Bonnie, more refined than Anne was since she came from a fallen Baron's Family, tried to shut her up. But Anne was not catching the hint.
Adara shrugged, her shoulders coming above water, before disappearing back underneath. "You said it was courageous that I knew how to swordfight. Others might call it odd. I already get enough remarks about how I dress. They say it is too masculine. I do not need more remarks and dirty looks because of which activities I partake in."
Anne frowned. She... she had never thought about that. Maybe, as her friend, Bonnie, was always saying, there was more to being a Noble than frilly dresses.
Bonnie, on the other hand, was sighing, wishing they had never brought up the subject at all since now Adara was looking a lot less calm.
Hilda, the Housekeeper, was done with both girls.
After drying Adara's hair with a magic device, she told Anne— the most excited of the three to dress her up— that she could pick the dress, as Adara had not once looked at the dresses that Ron had packed for her. Bonnie, knowing Anne, said that they should start doing her makeup in the meantime.
"Makeup?" Adara repeated, sitting in front of a vanity mirror in a foreign room wearing only her undergarments. She had never worn makeup. She never needed it. Her Dark Elf genes were enough to make her prettier than humans.
Bonnie, seeing her disbelief, quickly waved her hands. "Oh, don't worry, Young Mistress. We know you don't need it, but Anne actually had a good idea for once."
Hilda snorted.
Adara made a motion for her to continue.
"Well," Bonnie spoke up, hesitating. She was feeling a lot less confident without Anne here. She usually relied on Anne speaking up to hide herself, or simply having Anne next to her as reassurance. Able to take the attention off of her at any moment. But now she was alone with Hilda, the old and strict housekeeper. And Adara's harsh dark eyes were not helping her. "We noticed that, ah, Young Master Cale has a bit of red around his eyes. We thought you two would like to be, uhm, matching at the King's Birthday, so we would like to add some red around your eyes as well?"
Adara had never thought of that. She knew what Bonnie was talking about, she had not been Cale's best friend for 4 years now only to not know every inch of his face. But she would have never thought to be matching in that way.
Seeing her contemplating face, Bonnie quickly added, "If you allow us to, of course, Young Mistress."
Adara made a motion with her hand. "It does not matter, do what you want." They were already going to pick the dress, what did it matter if they added some red around her eyes too?
While Bonnie and Hilda decided to distribute the tasks evenly, Anne came in to observe her— likely trying to see how a certain dress would look on her— but then disappeared back into her closet, muttering to herself. Hilda was now doing her hair, as she was better with hair than with the precision needed to do makeup.
"Would you like your hair up, Young Mistress?" Hilda asked, brushing through her hair. "It would look nice on you."
Adara's mouth pulled into a grimace, her eyes closed so as to not disturb Bonnie's work on her eyes. "No. Just let it loose."
Hilda did not seem satisfied with that. "What if I put half of it up, while the other half is simply loose?"
Adara sighed, she thought the whole thing was useless. "Sure, do what you want."
Bonnie had finished with one eye and was moving on to the next.
After a few more moments of silence, with Anne coming in, taking one look at Adara and loudly disagreeing with her previous thoughts, Adara was considering the aspect of choosing clothes with a new-found appreciation.
I never knew choosing a dress was such a thought-inducing process, Adara thought, only slightly mocking. Anne had been going at it ever since she left the bath.
Bonnie was finished with the other eye as well by now. She was simply staring at Adara, trying to figure out what to add.
"What is it?" Adara asked, opening her eyes slightly.
Bonnie waved her hands in worry. "Oh, nothing, Young Mistress. I, uh, just am trying to find something I can do with the makeup."
"And can you?"
Bonnie became quiet at that.
She could cover the scars.
It was possible. It would not be hard.
She knew Hilda was avoiding looking at her scars too much, as was Anne. Anne was particularly not fond of everything not 'picture perfect'. But Bonnie felt her eyes kept going back to them.
I could cover them up, she thought, still staring at the scars. She would be truly beautiful then. Picture perfect. Like a Noble. She would be more ladylike as well. I can fix them.
But that brought her out of thoughts. Fix them? Bonnie thought to herself, realising what she had been thinking. There... there is nothing wrong with them. Her scars are a part of her just as the rest of her face is, there is no need to cover them up. She was trying to convince herself.
"No, Young Mistress. There is nothing else to do, you look beautiful."
Adara did not miss how her eyes had lingered on her scars for such a long time. But she did not say a word, only let her hair be moved further by Hilda.
Footsteps came to the door, Adara recognised them as Hans's. Ah, perfect timing.
He knocked on the door. "Young Mistress? They told me you would be in here."
"Come in, Hans."
The door opened and Hans held in his laugh at seeing his Young Mistress in a chair, surrounded by two maids, one of whom was doing her hair. "Do you require me to help with anything, Young Mistress?"
It seemed Hans did not hide his laugh well enough because Adara's eyes narrowed. "Stop laughing and go help Anne. She still has not picked the dress."
Hans bowed his head, a smile still on his lips. "Of course, Young Mistress."
Bonnie watched Hans go, feeling rather useless simply sitting there. "Young Mistress, do you mind if I do your nails?"
Adara raised an eyebrow. "My nails? Did you not already do them?"
Bonnie shook her head. "I meant colouring them, Young Mistress."
"What colour?"
"Red, if possible."
Adara cringed. She had let them add red to her eyes because nobody would be able to tell unless they were close to her. She did not want to attract the attention of the Bloodthirsty Motherfucker, Redika, with Cale already having bright red hair. If they added red nails that would be another red thing to add. "No. Just let my nails be, they do not need colouring."
Just then, Hans and Anne came out of the closet.
Holding between them a pretty blood-red dress.
Adara stared at the dress. Suddenly regretting telling them they could choose whatever dress they wanted. She had not even known there was a red dress.
Still with her eyes on the dress, she told Bonnie, "Sure. Do my nails. Red, if you please." There was nothing more red than the dress they were holding, what did her nails matter?
Hans kept his laugh to himself.
"Hans. Do not dare say a word."
"Of course, Young Mistress."
Soon, it was time for the dressing.
"You know, Young Mistress," Hans began, pulling at the corset strings.
"What?" she hissed out.
"Beacrox, the chef, recommended this dress actually. He said you would look good in red," he informed her, tying the strings in a tight bow.
Adara rolled her eyes. "Of course, he did." Of course, Beacrox, the torture specialist, thought someone would look good in a blood-red dress. Maybe I should not have let them choose the dress, I look good in every colour so it does not matter.
But it was done, she was in the dress. There was nothing left to do. Her hair was done, her makeup was done, her nails were done, and she was wearing her sun pendant.
"Young Mistress?" Anne spoke up. "Can we switch out that necklace you are wearing for another that would suit the dress more?"
"No."
The three maids blinked at the curt response. Hans smiled nervously. "Ah, it's the Young Mistress's favourite necklace. She would not take it off for the world. And I think it suits the dress quite nicely."
"Uh, yes I suppose it does," Anne said, taking a fake look at Adara's dress.
Adara looked at Hans. "Is Cale still sleeping?"
"No, Young Mistress."
She went to the door and opened it without a second thought.
She heard people talking inside her and Cale's room. Opening the door, the first thing she saw was the beautiful Roslayn with her red hair dyed to a brown.
"Oh, Miss Rosalyn, brown hair suits you very much," Adara spoke up.
Rosalyn turned her head to face Adara, recognising her formal words as hers. "Thank you, I thought—." She stopped short as soon as she saw Adara.
The kittens ran to Adara in fascination. They never thought they would see her in a dress. "You look so pretty!" they exclaimed, running in between her feet.
The dragon was quiet, but both Lock and Choi Han were staring at her with blank expressions. Cale also had taken a moment to stare at her, surprised. When they heard yesterday that the maids had plans for her, he did not think that was what it entailed.
Adara narrowed her eyes at the staring group. "Why are you all like that? I do not look that much different."
"Of course not," Cale said smoothly. "We were just momentarily surprised, the dress looks good on you."
Rosalyn, Choi Han and Lock all echoed his compliment, still staring blankly.
Adara was not impressed.
Cale, now done with his momentary surprise, realised just how red the dress was. He frowned. She will attract Redika's attention very quickly. He could see Adara knew that too.
But he shook off his thoughts, turning to the 6 other people in the room. "Alright then, please head to work."
There were two teams, Roslayn and Lock, and Choi Han, the Black Dragon, On and Hong. These two teams would need to locate and take care of the bombs.
They were here, so early in the morning, because they were going to use the short opening that the guards created by switching Knights for the night shift and the day shift to enter the locations where the bombs were to dismantle them. Once the Black Orb activates— that was put yesterday in place by Choi Han— they would need to wait at their stations and observe the members of the Secret Organisation and the situation at the Plaza.
The Birthday Celebration was to start at 9 a.m., Adara knew. Now that she had no pockets, she could not check her pocket watch. But she knew they would need to be on their way after Cale got ready. And Cale would certainly get ready faster than she had.
"Don't forget to bring back the dismantled magic bombs," Cale added.
Rosalyn smiled. "You promised to give me one of them."
Adara turned to look at her. That is how he bought her services then, she thought. She had wondered what Cale had offered to get Roslayn to help while she was getting her hair done.
"Of course," Cale responded.
Rosalyn had a pretty smile that made Adara's heart beat faster. "Should be enough to pay for my services."
A magic bomb? Adara thought with a snort, forcing her heart to calm down. More than enough.
She suddenly felt cold, the night breeze coming from the window chilling her. The 6 individuals in the room decided to go on their way, the cold breeze reminding them. All of them left through the window at a very fast speed. Some of them left with spells, some with stealth. It did not matter. They left.
Cale and Adara were left in the room alone.
"You are wearing a red dress," Cale brought up suddenly, bringing his large shield with silver wings forth.
"And you have red hair," Adara responded, bringing her identical large shield with its glowing silver wings forth.
He sighed. "Let's use it if we need to."
She hid her shield. "Of course. Only a little of its strength. Undetected."
"Of course," he repeated, hiding his shield as well. He sat down on the couch, seeing his reflection in the mirror. "It should be fine," he said, more to himself than to Adara, seeing his bright red hair in the mirror.
"It will be fine," she responded, sitting down on the couch next to him. "You will not die. And any limbs you might lose will be regrown in... under a month."
Cale cringed, that did not reassure him.
Adara thought about what happened in the novel that Kim Rok Soo read. The Blood-Crazed Mage, Redika, had gone into a frenzy when seeing Rosalyn's red hair. He kept repeating that he needed to cut off Rosalyn's head to take her red hair and red eyes. Maybe she shouldn't bring that up.
"It is not likely you will be close to the lunatic," Adara reasoned instead. "And if you are, then the chances are that Choi Han is also close by. He has already been given the order to kill. No harm will come to you."
He sent her a look at her reassurance. "Don't only worry about me, you are wearing a blood-red dress."
Adara shrugged. "I will dodge if he tries to take my dress."
Cale chuckled. It was such an Adara thing to say.
After Cale was ready, they both got on a carriage that was waiting for them in front of the Residence's Main Gate. It was not a Henituse Carriage. And certainly not a Thornwin one.
"My, Adara, you look amazing," Amiru exclaimed, her face slightly red.
Adara smiled her sickly sweet smile. She had smiled it so often and Cale still felt uncomfortable at the sight of it. "Thank you, Unnie. You look absolutely breathtaking."
Amiru turned even more red at her praise.
Cale sat in the carriage with a silent expression. He knew Amiru mostly paid attention to Adara, and he knew Adara had no other choice but to pay attention to her to keep her nauseating façade up. But he felt annoyed by it. "Why did you want to go together?" he asked, bluntly.
Amiru blinked, forgetting he was there. But then she remembered how he had helped her two days ago and she smiled. "Young Master Cale, Adara, what do you think about our territory building a Naval Base?"
Cale smiled, as did Adara. A true smile, no fake ones.
~~~