Once I was finally excused, I collapsed on my mattress in a much-needed break from reality. Never did I think I'd be put into a situation like this. One minute you're just minding your own business, and then in the next, you're saddled with a kid. Aren't things progressing a bit too quickly in this world?

As I turned onto my side, Mr Grigori's last words were still fresh on my mind.

"If I said no, then what would've happened?" I asked jokingly.

"Well..." Mr Grigori said while momentarily stroking his chin as if to think of how to articulate his next sentence. "Well, I suppose we would've just had to kill you." He said before breaking out into that all-too-familiar laughter.

I smiled in response hoping that he was joking, but his eyes told me that he was dead serious.

"You can't blame me; we just can't afford to risk Stefan's secret leaking outside of this house."

Stefan's secret... I was still hung up on what he meant by that even now as I laid down on my new bed. He's only a child, what could be so special about him that his father can't risk leaking out to the rest of the world?

Well, no matter. It's of no concern to me. All I need to focus on is seeing to it that Stefan is brought up correctly. Speaking of which, this mission sure is going to take a long time if it means I have to see to it that he reaches adulthood.

Sigh. And here's me hoping I could get out of this place in about a week!

The next morning, I woke up to the loud sound of knocking on the door. "Uh, just a second!" I said while racing out of bed to get changed.

"Vana, when you're ready, Mr Grigori would like to have a word with you in his office," Johnathan said before taking his leave.

"Is that so?" I said while barely catching myself from falling. Gah! Stupid tights! "Thank you, I'll be with him in just a moment."

"Today I thought I would introduce you to the rest of my family so that you can properly settle in," Mr Grigori said with a smile as he neatly packed a letter he had just signed off on into an envelope.

Gesturing to my right, Mr Grigori pointed towards Johnathan. "Although you are already acquainted, I should clarify that Johnathan here is Stefan's doctor who is currently treating his..."

"Illness. His illness." Johnathan said with great force.

Hoping to get a better answer, I decided to play dumb. "Oh no, Stefan is sick? My, what is it? I hope it's nothing too severe!"

"Stefan has... Haemophilia." Johnathan said in a solemn voice as he adjusted his hat in discomfort.

I audibly gasped as I covered my mouth. "Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that Mr Grigori."

Mr Grigori made another gesture with his hand as to drop the subject then and there. "Let's just... visit Atticus, shall we?"

As we walked down the corridor, my eyes were drawn to a large painting of a beautiful blonde-haired woman.

As I slowed down my pace, I finally stopped before the painting. "Who's this?" I asked absentmindedly.

"That is... my late wife Sorina." Mr Grigori stood longingly at the painting before leaning against his pressed fist to the wall. "She's no longer with us."

As Mr Grigori powered his way ahead, I slacked behind alongside Johnathan who began to whisper into my ear. "She was his greatest love. Not a day goes by that he doesn't think about her."

Once we finally caught up to Mr Grigori, we could hear him whispering while almost maintaining a strong stance with the figure behind the door. All I could make out what the sentence "do not treat her like the others".

"Ah, Vana! I would like to introduce you to my eldest son, Atticus."

As I drew closer to the door, a figure slipped out from the room. I was met with a young man who was perhaps a year or two younger than myself. He strikingly resembled that of an Adonis with his curly swept black locks that partially hid his right eye. He most certainly takes after his mother when it comes to his beauty.

With a cheeky smile, Atticus went to hold my hand and plant a drawn-out kiss on it. "Charmed." He said with a wink.

"Mm-hm," was all I could muster up as a response. It probably came across as ruder than I had hoped, but what could I say. I felt uncomfortable with the way Atticus looked at me.

"M-Mr. Grigori, I can't find Stefan anywhere!" One of the servants called out in a gasping voice from the end of the corridor.

"Stefan..." Mr Grigori mumbled in a scorning tone. "Please excuse us for a moment."

And just like that, Mr Grigori along with Johnathan rushed down the corridor after the servant. Seeing as I was now left all alone with Atticus, I intended on turning to face him but was caught off guard by his friendliness.

He was standing barely inches away from me. "Uh, can I help you?" I said in discomfort to Atticus.

"Yes, you may. Come with me," he said while pulling me into his room by the wrist.

Once inside he turned to me cheekily while never letting go of my wrist. "Also, you are to call me young master."

"Young master?" I questioned as I raised an eyebrow at his ridiculousness. "Not even your father makes me call him master."

"Well, I insist you call me it. It's what all of the other female attendants referred to me as."

"Uh-huh," I said doubtfully. "Speaking of which, what happened to Stefan's previous caretaker if you don't mind me asking."

Atticus tilted his head from side to side as if he was contemplating whether or not to answer my question. "I drove them away," Atticus finally said with glee as he pushed me down onto his bed.

I knew it. This guy is nothing but bad news!