LOGINJane rushed to the top of the staircase, her black loafers making a dull sound as she huffed, finally reaching the highest floor which took more time than she thought it would. A part of her even regretted looking too amazed at the mansion.
What will that blind man do to her if she's late?
Jane gulped dryly.
The severed head... she couldn't bring herself to ask Wren about it but seeing that she was at ease speaking about the young master, Victor Mildred, she wondered if his murders were ever known by the outside world.
The butler, on the other hand, seemed to know.
As she walked closer to the attic, fear caught her heart, making her nervous. Her heart had thumped so loudly she could almost feel it about to jump from her stomach, leaving her nauseous.
"Ah!"
A sudden voice slipped but it didn't came from her.
Jane's head lifted swiftly to the door at the end of the hallway.
She could hear more moans coming from the room, sounding like a cry. And the voice was unmistakably a woman's.
No way...
Jane's face turned blue upon the sound of the cry. She could also hear the loud sound of thumping and the door that rattled at the end of the hallway.
Gulping, Jane rushed with immediate speed. Her hands raised towards the door, and she pushed the door open, feeling that she had hit something with her elbow, but paid no attention to it.
She reached forward, finding that the room wasn't dark anymore, perhaps because the curtain was seeping with light now. But that was the least of her worries; the sound of the cry was. With the help of the sunlight, she managed to find her way to the source of the sound, only to feel her breath stop with a start as she saw a tall man burying his face in the neck of a woman.
His pale fingers had rolled the woman's dress skirt, crumpling it as his fingers traveled to her inner thighs. Raspy breaths seeped from his lips, his red tongue seeping out from his mouth as he then licked the corner of his cherry colored mouth.
A single droplet of sweat dripped from his jaw, falling to his taut chest, where it was exposed by the buttons that had been loosely unfastened to carelessly seduce.
The woman, just like him, was lost in pleasure, crying out as her wrists were pinned over her head. She didn't seem to be in pain; rather, if it was painful, she looked like she would have enjoyed it. The way she cried like a cat underneath him, purring when his tongue licked the red line over her neck.
"Gasp."
Jane realized belatedly, like a fool, that what was happening before her was not the murder she had imagined.
Her cheeks turned immediately beet red.
Without thinking, she stepped backward and slammed the door closed with a loud thud!
That was...!
How immoral! Were they having sex in the bright afternoon?
The sun had just gone up, and they were smashing their lips like there was no tomorrow.
Jane gulped again when she recalled what she saw. The man standing before the man, his silver hair ruffled loosely around his head, his blue eyes turning red under the glare of the sun, and his smile that kept twisting his lips as he kissed the woman's neck, was slightly flushed as if he was enjoying the greatest meal.
The sight of his pale skin turning red and his lashes glowing with the color of those burning irises, a chill ran down her spine.
The man's face was... perfect. Flawless as if he were carved straight out of an angelic statue.
Though what she saw was immoral to say the least, she couldn't help her heart that was thumping loudly for a different reason than fear.
She gulped when she recalled how those eyes appeared only to feel her back being knocked, and when she moved aside from where she stood, seeing a woman stepping out with a stagger from the room.
She swayed, and thinking instinctively, Jane raised her hand to lend a hand when a bigger and paler finger wrapped snugly around her wrist, pulling her quickly to the side.
"What do you think you're doing?"
When she turned around, she saw the tall figure staring at her.
Bright blue eyes.
Jane's gaze couldn't help but be stunned at the pair of eyes that seemed to be looking down at her. The crystal blue hue reminded her so much of the time she had gone out to the boat for the first time, the color of the lake when the sun had just dipped below the horizon, leaving a sparkling blue surface that reflected the stars above.
His eyes were almond-shaped, resembling a snake's, with long lashes that fell straight across his eyes, casting a faint shadow over his protruding cheekbones. Though all his features were sharp, including the tall bridge nose that curved with a faint hook, at the same time, they fell all harmoniously on that face, giving it a rather soft look. It was a handsome face that if one took the features once again, one will realize how beautiful he was.
Then the man's lips opened. The pale, plump, red lips uttered out a tone much colder compared to the warm red color of his lips, "I asked, ' What do you think you were doing?'"
Jane gulped, realizing that she had stared at that face far too much than necessary.
This man... isn't he— the same man whom she had seen before she fainted?
The young master, Victor Mildred!
The murderer who had used a severed head as a decoration on his wall!
"Hic!" Horror filled her eyes immediately, and she tried to snatch her hands back, but for some reason, the man in front of her had such monstrous power that she could feel her hand being frozen in place even though she had tried to use her entire body to move her hands away from him.
"Do you know," Victor languidly spoke, "I have a very bad temper. Everyone here knows about it, but it would be terrible if you had to learn my temper by example."
Jane gulped; the ice-cold voice was enough to make her body freeze, and her head find the best solution to survive.
"I- I heard a cry, and I thought someone needed help." Her voice trembled when it came out despite her wishing it didn't.
They did say that in front of a predator, one has to play dead or show no weakness, but she couldn't do the same when the predator in front of her was this frightening.
"So you came in thinking you can help... whoever is inside the room?"
Jane felt that he was mocking. His tone didn't sound that much different, maybe it even sound so indifferent to her ears with how placid he had spoken, but the way he had let out a faint scoff was clearly wondering if she even have the ability to protect herself.
"Haha!"
She eyed his laughing self like he was crazy but she knew, he is crazy.
"Even though you fainted so quickly yesterday?"
At this, Jane's eyes turn as wide as a saucer at him.
"You... aren't blind."
Victor narrowed his gaze and smiled, "I am blind."
"Liar," she immediately argued and Victor raised his eyebrows. He was quiet, not for a choice, rather as if he was waiting to see what she would say. "There was a head on the wall... you were laughing and even now, you turn your face entirely towards me... and could grab my hand. That's not what a blind person could do, I've seen a blind man before and he wasn't like you."
And she could see the way those eyes looking at her, those crystal blue eyes that seemed to be gazing deep into her, not just physically but into her soul, to a corner of her heart she wasn't even aware of.
"I am blind but do I have to prove myself to you that I'm blind?"
When his lips curled to smile, her heart felt as if it had came to a stop. She didn't know if she was feeling chill or if a fever was bursting from her, all she could do was watch as the man smiled back at her, the look of his face was devoid of human warmth.
Jane gulped. He wasn't blind! She could be so sure about this as his eyes were still zeroed on her despite claiming to be blind. As she was about to argue, his voice sharply cut to her ears.
"Didn't they warn you not to talk back or ask question to me?" Victor reminded her, startling her with the fact, "There are rules in the Mildred House and a misfit like you could be in some, some," he sang in a melody, "great danger, little one."
And in that right exact second, Jane could almost see the face of the severed man in front of her. The next second, she could even see her own head being in that wall, hung without a body.
She gulped, fear harrowing into her bones as she sink in fear watching Victor's lips that had curled in a smile, as if enjoying her frightened reaction.
In the morning, Jane went to eat alongside the other maids in the servant dining hall. Although she was eating there, it didn't mean that she was with the maids or that they had somehow come to accept her as one of them. Instead, it was quite the opposite.The maids, whether it was under Annie's orders or simply because they had all fallen under her influence, none of them wanted to come anywhere near Jane. The seats surrounding her remained noticeably empty despite the dining hall being crowded with servants. Conversations that had been lively only moments before would gradually quiet down whenever she walked past, and if by chance someone happened to sit close to her, they would eventually find an excuse to move somewhere else. Without throwing insults or exchanging harsh words, they had managed to isolate her from everyone else in the manor.At first, the treatment had bothered Jane. Every meal felt awkward, and every silent glance or deliberate avoidance reminded her that she did
Although she had let out quite a lot of grumbles throughout the day, if she were being truthful, what Victor had done for her was no different from teaching. It was something she had always longed for but had never possessed the privilege to receive. While other children learned from parents, tutors, or kind strangers willing to spare a little time, she had spent most of her life watching from the sidelines, convinced that education belonged only to people born into better circumstances than her.She couldn't tell whether Victor was helping her because there truly was a trace of goodwill hidden somewhere beneath his cold exterior, or because he was simply bored and found amusement in extending mercy whenever it suited him. Perhaps it was neither. Perhaps he merely found her useful enough to invest his time in. Whatever his reason was, she could not bring herself to reject it.Either way, Jane spent the entire day buried in the books Arnold had lent her regarding mental illnesses. She
“It doesn’t.. sound like a loving marriage.” Jane couldn’t help but say it aloud, unable to stop herself from voicing the thought. She wanted to see what Victor had to say, expecting perhaps a frown or a quiet denial, only to find him smiling instead. Not a wide smile, but one that looked oddly amused, as though he had been waiting for someone to reach that conclusion.“I did think they were in love,” Victor tapped his finger on the book and hummed thoughtfully before continuing, “the fact is, my father love to chase and my mother knew that better than anyone else. To keep him under her lash, what she had to do was to show she would never become his own.”Jane blinked slowly, trying to understand those words. It sounded contradictory, yet somehow it also made a strange kind of sense when she imagined the two people he was describing.“That means your mother had planned everything?” She asked carefully as she wondered if there is anyone in the world who would allow themselves to be loc
Although his words carried a faint bitterness, when Jane looked at his face, what she saw was not resentment but someone merely stating facts as they were. There was no grievance hidden beneath his expression, no trace of anger or lingering sorrow. He spoke with the calm indifference of someone recalling yesterday's weather rather than pieces of his own childhood. It was strangely unsettling. Victor genuinely seemed unable to find anything wrong with the life he had lived, almost as though he had long accepted every hardship as something entirely ordinary.That was what confused Jane the most.Victor was always someone who placed himself above everyone else. He was selfish, proud, and rarely willing to compromise whenever it came to his own interests. Yet strangely enough, when it came to the course of his own life, he seemed to have possessed almost no choices at all. Where he lived, whom he would marry, even how he spent his childhood... every decision had apparently been made by so
Something seemed to have snapped inside Morningstar. Despite always being a man who wore a smile regardless of danger or insult, this time he genuinely looked as though he had reached his limit. What his subordinate had said had gone too far. The man hadn't merely tried to force him into making a decision. He had questioned him, challenged him, and openly implied that he was weak. Evangeline couldn't tell which offense had angered Morningstar more, but whatever it was, it had clearly struck a nerve.For a brief moment, Morningstar simply stood there staring at the man on the ground. Then he slowly raised a hand toward him. Almost immediately, something akin to a sphere of black energy began gathering above his palm. Darkness swirled and compressed together, twisting into a mass so dense that even Evangeline could feel the pressure radiating from it. The atmosphere inside the cave became heavier. The shadows around them seemed darker. Morningstar was going to bring that same hand down
But seeing her suddenly fall silent and pretend she had nothing more to say, Victor looked distinctly displeased. One of his brows slowly rose while his face settled into an openly judgmental expression, as though he were the one most offended by her little act. His fingers began tapping lightly against the wooden table in a slow, rhythmic tick... tock... tick... tock..., each quiet tap making the growing silence inside the office feel increasingly uncomfortable."If you have nothing else to do," Victor finally said, "then leave."For a brief moment, the words visibly struck Vanessa. Jane caught the subtle flicker immediately. The confidence that had been sitting comfortably upon the woman's face faltered ever so slightly before she quietly composed herself again. She lowered her eyes toward the floor, took a small breath, then briefly glanced toward Jane before finally returning her attention to Victor."I wanted to," Vanessa replied evenly, "but... haven't you heard it from your fat
"Anyway, I heard that you're going to be taking care of the young master from now on," Wren continued and Jane furrowed her eyebrows at the news. She knew she would have to do business to stay in this mansion, even though she doesn't want to stay, but she couldn't willfully dispose herself from wo
Day or night, Jane couldn't tell anymore. All she know was that she had been moved from one place to another. Sometimes alone in a carriage or with so many people in a room. For some reason, her eyes were kept tied with the cloth with no one ever letting her open her eyes at all. But for now, she s
"Once you're done over here, go do the rest of the laundry from the East Wing."The old bigger callously pushed the mono glass from his left eyes in place and stared at the paper board in front of him as he demanded his task towards Jane.Jane didn't feel small with the obvious condescending attitu
“Where are you?”The sound of thunder shook Jane’s trembling body even worse. She was already cold from the rain soaking through her clothes, dripping down her skin, and that gentle voice made it worse. Like a snake's, his voice slithered through the air, coaxing, as if he was simply trying to lure







