Chapter 3 - Go Call the Butler Yourself!-Early M; Amoria Pace, Luxana's Room- *Spsh* The suddeion of cold water jolting me awake, I rose from my bed with a startled shriek, "Ugh, what is it?" The sudden spsh of water catg me off guard seemed far too bold a move for any ordinary maid. Could it be that those disgruntled maids from yesterday sought revenge? And right then and there, my heart halted. My eyes widened in terror as I locked gazes with the imposing figure before me—my nanny, who was tall and broad, with a stern, imposing demeanor that suggested a domineering personality and a pent for cruelty. Who had haunted my nightmares for the past six years. A shiver ran down my spine as the memories of my past traumas came flooding back, and I found myself paralyzed with fear at the sight of the woman who had once made my life a perpetual hell. I etrified with horror. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to run, but I was frozen in pce, uo move as she took a step closer, her eyes filled with malid cruelty. The nightmares that had pgued me for so long were now standing before me in the flesh, and I knew I had to front my fears ond for all. Summoning all the ce I had left, I strained myself to meet her gaze and whispered, "My soul does not pit exhortation to be yours. Hence, I grant you no authority over my maniputor." "HAH! So now, YOU'll tell me who gets to manipute you? DEAR PRINCESS, from the start till the end I'll FOREVER be the one who will trol you endearingly. I am the maniputor of your soul, I do not require your permission to do anything! I am...." (tinues bbbering)-Amoria Pace; In one of the corridors- "Oh, God! I 't believe that happened in the princess's room! I ain't goihat pce ever again, I swear!" said a maid, her voice trembling with fear. "Screw this, I'm resigning. I've got six damn kids to raise, and I ain't gon myself killed for this job!" replied the other maid, her face pale with terror. "Who said anyone wants to die? Pull your brain cells together, how do you pn to leave the pa such chaos? The iigators will be here any sed, every little dust particle will be questiohat moves in and out of this pad we won't be able to even flintil the case is solved. " replied the other maid, her voice ced with a mixture of panid reason. "So, what the heck are we gonna do now?! Just wait until we're all dead? Who knows what those murder's are pnni!" excims a maid, her hands trembling as she spoke. The chatter tinuous "Move out of the way!" howled the butler in full ay. The doctor and the butler rushed to my room, their faces etched with and urgenbsp;Why, you ask? Oh....cause there's been murder. Who's been murdered, you ask? Oh, it's my beloved nanny. The doctor's trying his best to save my nanny's life, while the butler is desperately searg for clues to catch the killer before they strike again. The tension in the room is palpable as time ticks by, with each sed feeling like ay in this deadly game of cat and mouse. But I swear by the heavens and the hell that I will not let this woman stand on her feet again.*30 minutes prior to this i* "I am the only one who has accepted you and brought you up, do you think your foolish little words will scare me? You have no idea how much...." (Nanny tinues bbbering) ....Mother............mother.............do I sider this my st ce, mother? In a frenzy of unbridled fury, I unched myself at her with a force that sent us both crashing to the floor. The impact rattled through my bones as she nded heavily beh me, her bulk abs the shock. For a moment, she y there dazed, her broad, fat body sprawled out, struggling to prehend what had just happened. But I gave her no time to recover. I was on her in an instant, my fists a blur of merciless i. My knuckles ected with her face with a siing, bone-jarring ch. The sound was almost drowned out by her pierg scream—a wail that shattered the air like gss. Her eyes, wide with a mix of shod terror, locked onto mine, but all I saw was the face of a betrayer, someone who had brought nothing but pain into my life. She had always seemed strong, this nanny of mine. Her broad shoulders, her t frame, the way she lumbered about the house like an immovable force—but now, in this moment of reing, she was nothing. Beh my onsught, she itifully weak, a mere shadow of the strength she had once preteo possess. I grabbed her by the colr, the fabrig in my fists as I yanked her upward. Her head lolled helplessly, her eyes rolling back as I shook her with all the fury I had bottled up over the years. "You ruined my life!" I bellowed, the words tearing from my throat like a beast unleashed. "How dare you show your fae after all these years!" My grip tightened, and I watched with a detached sense of satisfa as her face turned a mottled red, then blue. She cwed at my hands, her nails scraping against my skin, but her efforts were ughably feeble. "I... I... I'm... sorry..." she choked out, her voice a pathetic rasp, her eyes wide and gssy with fear. "Sorry? SORRY?" I spat the word, venom dripping from every sylble. "You think a simple 'SORRY' make up for all the pain you've caused me?!" My voice was a thundercp, shaking the very walls of the room. I felt her body tremble beh me, but I was far from done. With a savage growl, I sank my teeth into her hand, tearing at the flesh until the warm, metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. She let out a gut-wreng howl, her body writhing in agony. "You viole, UGHHHHHHH!" she screamed, trying in vain to pry my jaws open. But her struggles only fueled my rage further. I released her hand, blood dripping from my lips, and unleashed a flurry of blows upon her. Each strike was delivered with brutal precision, every punch a hammer driving nails into her coffin. I felt the bones beh her skin shatter, the sharp crack of breaking ribs, the dull thud of splintering cartige. Her screams grew more frantic, her pleas more desperate, but they only spurred me on. Spotting a heavy flower vase on the desk, I snatched it up and brought it crashing down on her head. The por shattered with a violent explosion, sending shards and a spray of blood into the air. A deep gash split her forehead, blood p down her face like a crimson waterfall. The sight of it stirred something dark within me—a primal satisfa that made my heart pound with exhiration. Without hesitation, I grabbed a pen from the desk, my hand trembling with adrenaline. I plu into her throat, the sharp point tearing through flesh, muscle, and sinew. She gurgled, blood bubbling from her lips as she tried to scream. Her eyes bulged in their sockets, filled with panid the dawning realization of her impendih. "I told you," I hissed, my voice low and venomous, "my soul does not pit exhortation to be yours." I twisted the pen savagely, and her body vulsed, a strangled scream tearing from her throat as the life bled out of her. "This is for every time you hurt me, every time you made me feel worthless!" I screamed, tears blurring my vision as I drove the pen deeper. Her hands, slick with blood, cwed weakly at the instrument of her demise, but it was no use. "P-please..." she rasped, her voice barely a whisper, a pitiful plea for merbsp;"Hahaha, right, wasn't I simply your pawn to curry political favor with the Queen and gain acquaintah the Royal Family? *Tears falling* bu-but di-did you th-thin-k I ud-wouldn't fa-find out, that you *sobs* you *sob* you h-ha-had the main role i-i-in ki-kill-ing ma-my mother"? {But did you think I wouldn't find out that you had the main role in killing my mother?} I cried, the tears streaming down my face as I stabbed her throat again and again, the pen slig through flesh and boh each thrust. I leaned in close, so close I could feel the heat of her final, bored breaths on my cheek. "Beg all you want," I whispered, my voice a cold, emotionless monotone. "You'll get no mercy from me." And with that, I pushed the pen i time, driving it home until I felt her flesh give way pletely. She shuddered violently, her eyes losing focus, her body going limp beh me. I stood up, my chest heaving, every muscle in my body taut with the aftershocks of violence. Blood was everywhere—on my hands, my clothes, spttered across the walls and floor. It was a grisly se, a portrait of madness and brutality. "Please die happily, May God Bless your Demise." my voice eerily calm as I grabbed a vial of poison from my drawer as I forced the liquid dowhroat, watg as the life faded from her eyes. "In your life, please attempt to bee a better nanny." I said with a soft smile, g my hands together in a silent prayer for her soul. But as I looked down at the broken, bloody figure that had oned se in my life, I felt nothing. No guilt, no remorse. Only a twisted sense of satisfa. She had gotten what she deserved, and I knew, deep in the darkest recesses of my soul, that I would do it all ain without a moment's hesitation.*bsp;*bsp;*bsp;"Haha, I didn't think such a murderer resided in this pace," said a sarcastic voice from behind, leaning nontly against the wall beside the entrance of the baly. I stood frozen, my eyes fixed on the lifeless body of my nanny, my face a bnk vas devoid of emotion. Each breath felt bored, as though the very act of inhaling and exhaling had bee an insurmountable effort. It wasn’t fear of the murder I had itted that paralyzed me; it was the bone-deep exhaustion that sapped my will to move. The voice that reached my ears was unmistakable, belonging to the man who had vowed to rescue me from this torment. Yet, in this moment, I found myself utterly drained, bereft of the strength to even aowledge his presehe promise of salvatio distant and hollow, overshadowed by the relentless fatigue that weighed down my spirit. I tossed the bottle of poison aside, the gss king softly as it hit the floor. "Grab the pen and that bottle, you don't want to leave any evidence, do you?" he asked, his voice smooth yet ced with an edge of curiosity as to what move I'll make . "What do you want now, Cillian"? I asked, my to and ued. My mind was elsewhere, trapped in a loop of horrifying images—the brutal end of my nanny, the woman who had raised me, now reduced to a grotesque memory. "Oh, are we so familiar now that you call me by my name? How amusing," he said, a smirk pying on his lips. "I believe this isn’t your first murder." His words dripped with sarcasm, but there was an underlying serioushat made me uneasy. He leaned closer, his breath warm against my ear as he whispered, "Luxana, listen closely. People like you shouldn’t be here, pying with fire. It’s only a matter of time before you get burned." A chill raced down my spine as his grip tightened on my shoulder, but I refused to flinch. I had e too far to show any weakness now. "..." "Let’s first clear the mess you made; we don’t want to be caught." His tone shifted, being more authoritative.I shot him a suspicious gnce, my mind rag. What did he stand to gain by helping me? He moved with purpose, gathering the evideny crime with a practiced efficy. "When they ask you what happened here, tell them you were ihroom. You heard the screams but were too afraid to e out. The attacker wore a bck suit and had his face covered. You don’t know who he was or why he did it. That’s all yonna say. So, just stick to the facts ahe authorities hahe rest." His logic was sound, and I couldn’t deny it. If I said more than necessary, I would only dig my own grave deeper. He g me, his expression disapproving, a out a frustrated sigh. "Wheime es, I'll tell you everything, so until then, all I want is to grant your wish, and iurn, you help me with what I want." I remained silent, weighing his words. "I’ll e again tonight. If you e out with me now, people will suspect you. Stay ihroom until someone finds you," he suggested, his voice loersuasive. "And what if no one does?" I challenged, my heart rag at the thought of being trapped in this nightmare. He sighed again, exasperated. "Then you go call the butler yourself." I sidered this. If I reported the murder, my suspi would likely decrease. I nodded slowly, the decisioling in my mind like a stone. As he slipped out through the baly, he turned bae, his expression serious. "Luxana, I will help you avenge your mother, I promise." His offer caught me off guard, and I felt a flicker of something—hope or perhaps dread. There was a siy in his voice that trasted sharply with his intimidating presence. Yet, a nagging doubt lingered in my mind, whispering that there was more to his iions tha on. I was caught in a web of uainty, and as much as I wao trust him, I knew I was treading dangerous ground.To be tinued...