----
Amanor house abroad.
The man had a small ck snake in his hand. The snake
would asionally flick out its tongue.
"Sir, Matthew Darling has disappeared this time. The
Darling family went to thest ce he was seen. We sent
people to assassinate them on the way, but we failed
again."
n, the butler, stood aside, lowering his head, not daring
to meet his boss’s gaze.
----
"A bunch QPuseless trash. I don’t
keep idlepeople around me. If there
is a nexttime, ask them to go to>
hell." Fae man with dark eyes.féaned
backin his chair. He was calm and
composed.
----
"Yes."
n wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"It’s time to visit an old friend in Aleria." The man stared at
the small viper coiled around his wrist.
"Sir, it would be better if you stayed here. I will go to Aleria
myself and put an end to the Darling family." n’s eyes
were firm.
The man’s eyes were deep and cold, like a bottomless
abyss, sending chills down one’s spine. "When do I need
your permission to do anything?"
n hurriedly said, "Sir, that’s not what I meant. I’m afraid
that if you go..."
“I’m just informing you." The man’s face darkened.
Knowing that he could not stop his boss’s decision, n
was determined to protect him.
"Yes."
----
n left the-study. The man smoked
one cigarette after another, closiag
his eyesyand leaning back in his
chair.His mind was nk, andé-his
entire body was enveloped i@the
smell of tobo.
He thought, ‘Darling family, this is what you owe me. You
shouldn’t be living happily while I suffer. Only when you are
all dead will I feel at ease."
----
The next day at ckpool Vige.
Danielle and the others got up early in the morning. As they
were guests in the vige, they felt uneasy. Hence, they
couldn’t sleep well.
Raina was a little surprised to see Danielle awake. "Did
you sleep wellst night?”
"I slept very well. I used to live in the countryside. Are you
preparing meals? Is there anything I can help with?”
Danielle was surprised to see Raina chopping chicken.
These free-range chickens were usually kept forying
eggs, and they were not eaten except on New Year and
special asions.
----
Raina was verystraightforward and
said with ashe "It’s a bit messy
here, youngdy. You don’t need te
help. Yorrean go back to your rom
and get some more sleep. I’ll Ietall
oe know when the meal is
rea y.”
----
Danielle shook her head, "I’m well rested. I’ll help you add
firewood."
"You’re such a fair and gentle girl. I didn’t expect you to
know how to do these chores,” Raina praised.
“Why don’t you go out or turn on the lights at night, Raina?"
Danielle asked out of curiosity. She had many questions
and this seemed like a good time to ask Raina.
"It’s a long story. People in our vige were cursed a long
time ago. If there are too many people out at night, there
will be serious consequences.”
Danielle wondered, ’A curse? Can a curse stille true in
this day and age?"
“What curse? Yesterday, I saw the vige chief talking to
crows." Danielle was intrigued. This sounded a bit
superstitious.
----
Raina nced at Danielle cautiously. "It’s not that I don’t
want to tell you, but you are not from our vige, and
knowing these things will do you no good."
Raina continued, "The crows are the guardians of our
vige. They circle over the vige every night to protect
us. Only the vige chief is able tomunicate with the
crows.