After holding themselves back for an entire month, the Daem clan wasn’t having it any longer. The pudgy balding man in a smart looking suit yelled for his maids, “WHAT’S TAKING SO LONG?”

Hurried footsteps echoed in the hallway. A young female voice came from the doorway, “Apologies sir, the young master was calli-”

“And that’s your excuse? You’re blaming my son now!? What a shitty half-daughter you are. Hurry, fix my suit.”

She flinched. Regardless of her own fears, there was nothing worse than getting on the master’s bad side for the day. With tears welling up in her eyes, she stumbled over to the drawers near the master, “... Sorry.”

“Shut up, just hurry.” The balding man was sweating. His tone was completely unapologetic, and the stress in his eyes was as clear as day.

The girl rushed, but made sure to make no more mistakes. One more and it would result in a beating. She knew exactly which drawer had the needles and threads. In a matter of seconds, she’d gathered up a black thread and successfully threaded the needle. When she first started her maid duties, she’d often miss the needle’s eye.

“Tch. Can you move any slower?!”

Shivers ran down her spine. No... Not again... She sped up. By doing so, the fabric on her uniform between her shoulder and neck flittered up and down. The signs of a large bruise caught the master’s sight.

He would’ve smacked her then and there; had she not been handling the needle threading his precious suit, “Unsightly.”

She remained quiet. Talking now would just hurt her much more later down the line. This is life... It’s fine... I’m okay... Being alive is better than dying...

A minute passed. The girl breathed a soft, relieving, sigh. “It’s done.”

The master looked to check the fabric. It was seamlessly stitched together. In fact, if one were to look at it without prior knowledge, they wouldn’t even realise that it was ripped in the first place. He turned his attention to his half-daughter, “Leave.”

She immediately packed up the needles and threads and left the room. If she was given an order, she’d follow it immediately. The first few beatings were rough enough to hammer that point home. This was life. Her life.

The bathroom, her safe space. She knew that she had a few minutes before the matron returned.

The small reprieve that one could get from simply sitting in an empty room was her safe haven. This house, the Daem family’s stead in Aurum, was quite beautiful. The architecture was amazing and elegant. The rooms were spacious and comfortable. Even the décor was somehow both sleek and regal. Yet... Still.

It was hell.

“Are you crying?!” An older female stood in the doorway...

“... Mother...” Huh... Oh. Oh no.

The older female slammed the door shut behind her. “You dare... Your mother was nothing but a bitch. A whore concubine. You dare compare me to her?!”

The girl wildly shook her head, “No! No madam!! It was a mistake, I apol-” SMACK!

It began.

The master sighed. It was a twisted relationship. He heard the smacks and thuds from where he stood. Still, no matter how much he couldn’t bear the sight of her, her face sometimes brought forth echoes of a better time.

The master rushed to the bathroom. All he could hear now were heaved sobs. He slammed the door wide open. The matron stood with bloodied fists. “Enough. I need her to come with me.”

The matron walked past him with a satisfied grin on her face. “I was just finishing up.”

He ignored his third wife’s attitude and waited for her to resign to her chambers. Two minutes passed. The girl remained limp on the floor, sobbing. “Get up. Clean yourself, we’re leaving in ten minutes.” He closed the door and walked downstairs.

Words never once left her mouth, but her body complied. She slowly pushed herself up off the ground. She slipped on her own blood, smacking her face into the marble.

Still, she complied. She pushed off the ground again. Managing to get to a sitting position, she looked at her hands. They were painted by blood. Her own blood.

Her entire body was battered, but she pulled herself to stand. A wobble here or there as she took the steps needed to reach the sink. Moments after, she looked at herself in the mirror. All she wanted to do was cry, but there wasn’t time for that. After all the beatings she’d taken throughout her life, she’d gotten used to covering up the aftermath. If she didn’t, the master wouldn’t be happy, and the matron would be even more angry. It wouldn’t be that difficult to cover this up.

Minutes passed.

The master patiently stood, waiting.

“Father! Look what I can do now!” The sound of a flame flickering to life came from behind him.

He didn’t turn around. “How wonderful. Keep up your studies if you want to take part in the acolyte’s ritual.”

The boy yelled in triumph, “Yes sir!”

He took two steps away from his father, “What’s this bitch doing here?”

The master turned around, “That’s better. Let’s go.”

She nodded.

The boy was audibly confused, “What?! Why?! Why is she going with you!” After a moment, he laughed, “I get it! You’re finally going to let the dogs have their way with her, right?!” He continued laughing.

The girl walked, in silence. There wasn’t a speck of blood left on her face or hands, the master noticed. She also managed to clean the bloodstains off of her uniform in all of the obvious places.

Even though it wasn’t a long walk, there was still a horse-drawn carriage waiting for them outside the house.

The master stopped a short ways before the carriage.

“This is the last time you’ll see this house. I take it you have nothing valuable?” He looked at her.

She nodded. She only had a hairclip left to her by her mother, which she was already wearing. Everything else was the family’s possession. She had no attachment to those things. She couldn’t quite figure out why he was asking such a question though. After the constant ridicule she’d get for asking questions when she first started working as the family's maid, she’d learnt to avoid doing things like that.

The master sighed. “Your name, the one your mother left you. Do you still remember it?”

She choked back tears while nodding.

The master gently raised his hand. She flinched. He nestled it on her shoulder anyway. He felt her pulse skip a beat. Her eyes were ghastly, full of fear, “Mary. You’re an eyesore. I’m going to drop you off at a kennel, survive on your own.”

He started walking over to the carriage. “Aether Academy, and go as fast as you can!” He yelled out to the driver.

She didn’t reply. The only thing she could hear now was her heart beating twice as fast.

Rai didn’t know why the headmaster called him to his office, so he hoped that it wasn’t anything all that serious. For some reason, he felt a tingle as he was about to knock on the door... That’s weird. First time that’s ever happened. He knocked.

“Come in.” He heard Rodrick’s voice from inside.

Rai opened the door.

Rodrick’s head raised from his desk. A pudgy balding man turned to him at the same time. The only one who didn’t look at him was the blonde girl with golden eyes and a crinkled up maid uniform. He blinked at them, “You called for me sir?”

The pudgy man glared at him.

Rodrick looked serious, “Rai, this is Lord Dillon Daem. He’s from the Daem family. He manages the secondary branch of the family.”

Dillon whipped his head around to Rodrick, “He’s the one?”

Rodrick nodded.

Rai stared blankly at the headmaster. He pointed at himself, “He wants to see me?” Rai turned to the blonde girl, “Who are you?” She flinched. Rai noticed her flinch. Huh? That’s odd... is she okay?

Rodrick interrupted, “Rai. Not now.”

Rai turned to him and nodded. The message was clear.

Dillon had multiple veins popping out of his forehead, but he didn’t lose his cool completely. He stomped over to Rai, “You’re the one who killed my nephew?”

Rai frowned at him, “That... was me, sir.” He showed more conviction in his words, “What happened was because of his decisions. I did what I had to do in order to survive.”

Rodrick simply let the interaction play out. He didn’t quite understand what Rai was talking about when he mentioned 'Pico's decisions', but listened intently to find out.

Dillon’s eyes widened, “You. You know, don’t you?”

Rodrick noticed a twitch. Dillon’s eyebrow just twitched as he asked that question. What could this be about... Rodrick pondered, but kept his attention where it was.

Rai smiled, “About the experiments? Pico’s body was almost entirely augmented. If that’s what you’re talking about, then yeah. I know.” He watched the blonde girl to see if there was any reaction.

Nothing.

Even if she was from the Daem family, she probably didn’t know anything about their inner workings.

Dillon eyed him suspiciously, “Was there anything else?”

Rai realised what Dillon was asking about. The Daemon. He thought it best to stay quiet about that, just like Kallad advised him to, “What else could there be?”

Dillon reacted in a way that no one was expecting.

He sighed, “Okay, how much do you want to stay quiet? I didn’t care for the brat; but I have to make sure family secrets stay within the family.” Dillon was offering Rai ‘hush money’, just like Kallad said he would.

Since the possibility of being offered hush money was suggested to Rai by Kallad, he wasn’t that surprised at it. Still, Dillon didn’t give Rai a number. What should I say? How much can I really ask for here? Kallad said to just accept the money, so I will... but I have to give the number?

Rodrick’s jaw doubled up and dropped again. This was unbelievable.

Dillon started to sound like a merchant, “Come come, no number is too high. Just tell me how much to keep this all under wraps.”

No number is too high? Rai stared blankly at the pudgy man, “100 Platinum pieces.”

Rodrick’s jaw dropped to the floor. What in the ever-loving fuck?! That’s comparable to an Aspect’s salary... Does Rai really know what he’s asking for?!

Dillon grumbled. If he couldn’t keep things under wraps, then his brother would have him killed. This was important. “100 is too much. 50 would be far more doable.”

Rodrick’s jaw somehow tripled up and dropped a third time. HE’S CONSIDERING THAT NUMBER?!

The blonde girl didn’t react at all. In fact, it was almost like she wasn’t even there.

Rai grinned, “What happened to ‘no number is too high’, HUH?! If you don’t want the secrets spilling, then 100 platinum pieces, or no deal.” He stared daggers into Dillon’s pleading eyes.

Dillon kissed his teeth, “Tch! Fine. 100 platinum pieces will be delivered to the school by the week’s end.” He turned to Rodrick, “Headmaster! Make sure he gets the payment.” Dipping into the branch’s savings for this is definitely worth avoiding the head of the family’s ire, but it still stings so much!

Rai formed a devilish smile. At times like this, he felt immense gratitude for Kallad. Learning to ‘play the part’ had never been so useful before.

Rodrick still couldn't believe it. Never in his lifetime had something like this happened, let alone on Academy grounds.

Dillon was about to leave, then he turned around, “Oh. I’m leaving that here. Its name is Mary.” He pointed to the blonde girl. Rai and Rodrick’s attention went to her.

Dillon closed the door behind him as he left.

The only sound that could be heard in the room was the echoes of Lord Dillon’s footsteps through the closed door.

The girl didn’t react. She hadn’t moved once since she flinched at Rai’s question.

Rai and Rodrick stared at each other. Then at the girl. Then at each other again.

“What just happened?” Both of them asked each other at the same time.