"Hey Mister, I really have somewhere I need to be right now." I pathetically lied. It was a weak lie, I'll admit it. But I had to try every trick in the book before it was too late.

"MISTER?" The man who acted as Mr Grigori's right-hand man said in disbelief. "Do you not realise who you are speaking—"

"It is fine, Johnathan." Mr Grigori calmly intervened as he gestured for Johnathan to drop the subject matter. "I'm sure she's just feeling overwhelmed right now. She's probably heard about all of the rumours."

"Rumours?" I asked dubiously as I stopped in my tracks.

The men who sensed my lack of footsteps also stopped to turn around and face me. "Are you unfamiliar with these rumours, my dear?" Mr Grigori inquired.

I paused to think of what the perfect response should be. Unfortunately, I was drawing blanks. "Uh... no," I weakly responded. "Truth be told I'm simply passing through to do some sightseeing."

"Is that so?" Mr Grigori commented thoughtfully. "But it must be dangerous for a young woman such as yourself to be left unaccompanied, yes?"

I scratched my head, once more puzzled with how I should respond. "Ah, it's fine. I have a friend waiting for me in Utah."

The men looked at each other in complete befuddlement. Shoot! I was hoping that they would be less likely to kill me if they knew someone was expecting me! I knew I should've watched more true crime while I was still alive...

"My dear, you are aware that you are in Strătemir right now, yes?" Mr Grigori informed me in a no-nonsense tone. "I have never heard of this Utah you speak of."

...

I should've known this universe was different from my original one. "In my defence..." I trailed off as if I had a complete sentence worked out in my head. In truth, I was just winging it. "I did trip over a branch before I found the boy."

A concussion is believable enough, right? ... RIGHT???

Johnathan turned to Mr Grigori once more to give him a look of doubt. But Mr Grigori's eyes were still firmly planted on me. As I anticipated what his reaction may be, he caught me by surprise. The last thing I was expecting was for him to break out into tears.

"Bahaha!" Mr Grigori boisterously cackled to himself. His energetic laughter must have caught the attention of several other mob members as one by one they all slowed down their pace to stare at the man in astonishment.

As Mr Grigori attempted to wipe the tears from his eyes, he turned to face Johnathan while cradling his son in his arms. "I like this girl. She is amusing."

Uncertain of whether or not it was okay to drop my defences, I gave the pair a sheepish smile. Mr Grigori turned to face me once more as he was finally done with his laughter. "Here, you hold the child."

"Uh-okay," I meekly replied as the boy was practically pushed into my arms. Never in a million years did I think I'd be saddled with babysitting duty like this.

By the time we finally reached Mr Grigori's residence, I found myself lost for words. I got the impression that the man was wealthy, but never did I expect him to live in what could only be described as a Transylvanian castle.

As I was escorted inside, I was completely mesmerised by each and every nook and cranny of this place as my eyes were drawn to all of the armour suits that littered the endless corridors.

Once I was finally led into what I believed to be Mr Grigori's office, I looked around to admire all of the walls that were covered in authentic leather-bound books.

"Please, sit," Mr Grigori said as he gestured towards the chair before his desk. Without a word, I sat at his beckon. Seeing as my eyes were still transfixed on the appearance of the room, I had yet to notice that myself, Mr Grigori, and Johnathan were the only ones in the room. Not only that, but even now I was still holding his son in my arms.

"Vana, I have finally come up with a suitable proposal that should solve our little problem." Mr Grigori said while removing his overcoat before sitting in his desk chair.

Problem? Ah, yes, we were stuck at an impasse weren't we... Wait. I still don't know what the exact problem is anyway. Why was it wrong for me to be the one to discover his son in the first place?

"Johnathan over there has advised me that it would be in my best interests to limit the details of my proposal to you." I looked behind me to see Johnathan smiling and waving at me from the fireplace. "So, taking what he said into account, I have a question to ask you..."

I turned to face Mr Grigori once more as I anticipated what he may ask of me. He proceeded to wipe his glasses clean before he started, "I would like you to become Stefan's caretaker. He may not speak, but do not underestimate him. He is quite a handful."

"Say what..." I trailed off. "You mean like a nanny?"

"Yes. I assume it must be quite costly to travel the world alone. Employment like this could help fund your future travels, yes?"

But to be a nanny to some kid I just met... isn't that a bit much?

"Besides, I see that you are already wearing a maid attire, I trust that this means you already have experience with handling children?"

As I looked down to confirm his words, I wanted to kick myself seeing as that he was correct. How could I have possibly missed this???

Internally, I called out to open my status in order to confirm one last thing.

Mission objective: Raise Stefan in secret from childhood to adulthood

Ouuuuhhhh!!! I swear I could kill that goddess right now! I just know she had this lined up for me since the beginning!

In defeat, all I could do is muster up one last sigh before I signed my freedom away again. "Fine."