Under the illumination of the dim candlelight, Sarina finished writing two letters. She put away the quill, screwed the cap of the ink container, and placed them in the compartments, then she folded the two letters.
Once done with this, she snuck back to Kylina's room, placing her diary where she first found it. Treading carefully, she closed the door quietly, entering the hall toward her room.
Sarina entered her room, closed the door, and blew out the candle. The room fell into darkness once again. She wasted no more time and got into her bed, ready to sleep, covering her body with the white blanket.
…
Early in the morning, Sarina woke up and did her usual routine, putting on her maid outfit and meeting with the two maids before getting the to-do list for the day.
After obtaining their tasks, they went toward the kitchen to prepare their breakfast.
"Oatmeal again," Kylina complained.
Sarina took a big scoop of porridge and placed it in her wooden bowl before saying, "Let's hope there are leftovers next time." Sarina then motioned for her to scoop her own portion.
Kylina didn't say anything else, grabbing the spoon and scooping porridge into her bowl.
"Oatmeal isn't that bad. It can pair up with anything, as long as one has the creativity to try different flavors," Lisa spoke her mind.
"Well, I guess so." Kylina didn't argue; she then looked to the side. "Sarina, why are you steeping two separate containers?"
Sarina's lips curled up. "Well, I wanted to try out the Matron's favorite tea."
Kylina raised her brows. "You know there's an unwritten rule…"
This unwritten rule came from the maids not daring to touch the tea leaves that the Matron enjoyed, for fear that she'd retaliate by overworking the evildoer who dared to touch her tea leaves.
Lisa glanced at Sarina. "Hm, if the Matron inquires about it, I will not be afraid to point fingers at you."
Kylina nodded. "Likewise."
"Such great friends both of you are," Sarina playfully rolled her eyes in turn.
After chatting while the tea steeped, they headed to the domestic hall and sat at the round table. They began scooping their spoons into their mouths while sipping their tea occasionally.
Lisa peeked through the window as she mentioned, "By the looks of it, today will be gloomy."
Kylina swallowed her food, responding in turn, "Such days are great for resting."
A weak voice rang out. "Yes…"
The two maids looked toward the odd-sounding voice that rang out from Sarina. There they saw her looking extremely pale with a yellowish tint, her eyes seemingly beginning to look bloodshot, sweat having accumulated on her forehead.
The two of them were stunned by the sight. Just a few moments ago, Sarina looked completely normal—now she appeared sickly.
Huff huff
Sarina panted before saying weakly, "I don't feel so good."
Lisa was the first to react, standing up from her chair and going toward Sarina, who was now clenching her heart. She lifted Sarina's curtain bangs, placing her palm on her forehead.
She furrowed her brows, glanced at Kylina, and said, "She has a severe fever. This isn't normal—she was just fine moments ago."
Kylina agreed. "Yes, it doesn't look like a common sickness or cold. This is too strange. Should I call the Matron to look over this?"
"Yes, her condition is too abnormal to be anything light. Call her to check on her condition," Lisa replied.
"Okay." Kylina quickly got up to look for the Matron.
As she was leaving the hall, Lisa asked, "Sarina, can you stand?"
Her weak voice rang out. "Yes… I think so."
"Alright, I'll try to bring you to the couch."
"Okay."
Lisa wrapped her arm around Sarina's shoulder, helping her move toward the couch. Once she was there, she made Sarina lie on the couch.
Lisa didn't stand there watching her friend struggle. She went toward the kitchen to make medicine to reduce the fever.
As Sarina lay on the couch looking at the wooden ceiling, she felt horrendous. She felt nauseous, dizzy, found it difficult to breathe, her body felt hot, and she was on the verge of vomiting. Her vision spun as the ceiling kept warping around, appearing illusionary.
She didn't have the energy to move at the moment; she just felt like closing her eyes and lying there. She found it difficult to breathe through her nose, so she resorted to breathing through her mouth.
Such a scene was too familiar to Sarina. Many times she had treaded on the verge of death.
Sarina mentally smiled. "Heh, rewards are only given to those who are willing to take risks."
She had now taken a gamble that involved her very life. If something went wrong, she would die before regaining her power. That would just be too pitiful. Without a certain percentage of success, Sarina wouldn't have thought of such a plan, but she knew this gamble was highly likely to reap immense benefits. She wasn't much of an idiot to take a risk with minimal chances of failure.
With the poison she had concocted, she had poisoned herself!
Kylina didn't take long to arrive at the Matron's room. After all, it was located on the same floor.
Knock knock
Kylina knocked with worry written all over her face. "Matron, we have a problem. Sarina's condition is too abnormal. I think you should take a look."
"..."
There was only silence on the opposite end of the door.
"Is she not there?" Kylina thought.
She knocked once more and repeated herself, but the Matron had not replied.
Kylina furrowed her brows, quickly thinking: "The Matron shouldn't be on the upper floors as of now since she had attended the Masters already—unless she's outside? That shouldn't be the case if we didn't hear the door open..." She stopped thinking. She now wanted to open the door to see the situation inside.
She grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, examining the room that was about double the size of the regular maids' rooms. She saw the Matron lying in her bed.
"Slacking off?" Kylina joked inwardly, but she noticed a peculiarity with the Matron: she was pale with a yellowish tint, her forehead was visibly sweating, and she was panting. She instantly made the connection that her condition was similar to Sarina's.
Kylina quickly approached the bed and nudged the Matron.
"Madam, are you feeling unwell?"
After repeating herself a few times, the Matron slowly opened her eyes.
"Kylina..? Yes, I'm feeling… unwell," the Matron spoke slowly.
"Madam, should I call the Lords? Sarina seems to be in the same condition as you."
"Yes, please do so… I was just fine moments before feeling extremely unwell… This isn't normal." The Matron exhaled and continued, "Reach for the second compartment of the desk… There is an artifact that can connect to the Lords… You just need a piece of mana stone to activate it… Just put it closely together and think of connecting to Master Teren."
Seeing the Matron, who always bossed her around, in such a weak state left Kylina with a different side of the Matron she never knew she would see.
After listening to the Matron, she nodded. "Okay."
She headed toward the desk and took out a dark purple sphere that was as big as the radius of her palm. In the same compartment was a pouch. She opened it and took out a piece of mana stone, putting it close to the orb and thinking about contacting Master Teren.
Strangely, when she did that, the orb glowed with a slight purple light as the piece of mana stone started to turn into dust. Kylina had never wielded an artifact of this sort, for she was a mortal who wasn't allowed to wield magic, much less an artifact. But it was a matter of common sense to know that the artifact had activated based on both the reaction of the orb and the mana stone.
She waited until the mana stone eroded completely before she hurriedly spoke to the orb. "Master Teren, Madam Matron's state is very abnormal—and Sarina's too. They both fell extremely ill in just a few moments. This isn't what occurs normally. I wish for Master's guidance on what to do."
When she finished, the orb replied back, "Calm down, Kylina. I'll be there shortly."
It was early in the morning. Teren was there to oversee and prepare the operation of the hotel business. When he sensed a fluctuation in the communication artifact he had given the Matron, he was seated at his work desk revising the expenses, reviewing the maintenance records, and planning for the forecast for the summer season. Hearing Kylina's story about the condition of both maids, Teren didn't think much and acted swiftly. He contacted Ralliere and Kalser, who were nearby, to come to the house as soon as possible. He only expected Ralliere to show up since he was at another establishment. On the other hand, Kalser was out of the estate managing the transportation of goods from the villages at the periphery of the clan.
"Has someone intruded?" He was inwardly worried about this—especially now. Not long ago, he had heard youths on the street conversing about the performance of his son and how he had humiliated Gent. Although Teren didn't grasp all the details, he had a general idea of what had happened.
He wasn't too worried about his son and company. Evil acts committed against clan members would only result in severe consequences.
"I'm almost certain this is revenge for what happened. Hmph! Dare to harm the personnel under me?" Teren thought that there was a chance the Jotos were behind this incident. Of course, other culprits couldn't be ruled out.
After having bad blood with the Jotos for generations, undoubtedly any ploys directed at him and his family would only make him think they were behind it. After all, it was his cognitive bias that led him to automatically think of the Jotos.
Going out of his office, he made his way and spoke to his attendant.
"I've got something to take care of. I may not come back for an appropriate amount of time. I've also told Ralliere and Kalser. Just tell the other employees about my absence and continue as usual. Report to me via the artifact if anyone comes causing trouble."
When the attendant first saw Teren, his body subconsciously straightened a little and he appeared rather stiff. When faced with his boss, he didn't dare make any unnecessary movements and listened to his boss with a bow. He said, "Yes, boss."
Teren nodded. He was a little worried that somebody would cause a situation at the hotel during his absence. Perhaps someone had planned to cause trouble at his house and then at the inn.
He didn't tell Ralliere to wait at his location. Instead, he told him to go to the Fang household with him. He was sure Ralliere would inform other family members to keep an eye on the establishments. If it was truly a trap, he would be able to see who the troublemakers were.
Without a clear target to attack, one could only defend and wait until the shadows unveiled themselves. That was the advantage someone who was hidden had. Throughout history, countless important figures were assassinated and dealt with accordingly. Why? Because as public figures, it was easy for information about their every move to leak—they were constantly watched by onlookers. Taking advantage of being overlooked by the crowd, those with malicious intent could hide until they saw an opportunity. After all, reputation and fame came with a certain price. The spotlight would be seen by those in the shadows, but those in the light would not be able to see the indistinct lurking shadows.
Teren quickly made his way out of the second floor and onto the first, where the restaurant area of the hotel was located. It was a bar connected to an outdoor and open area. As a hotel business situated in a clan, it didn't have many visitors; it was only during certain seasons that foreigners would come. In order to sustain themselves, they had developed part of the hotel into a restaurant-tavern business.
Here, a few people were chatting while eating their plates filled with food; some sipped their beverages. It was still early morning, so it wasn't unusual for the place to feel quite empty.
When the servers and staff saw Teren walking out, they lowered their heads in front of their boss who wielded magic. When he passed by them, they felt their clenching hearts relax.
He closed his eyes, rubbed his temples, and tried to think of the situation. He had a vague idea of what might've happened. As he left the establishment, he quickened his steps.
He wasn't too far nor too close to the Fang Household.
Teren's mood worsened. "A rat must've caused trouble in my house. They've gone too far!" Not only was this an attack on his people—it was a personal attack, as someone had managed to get into his personal space. What bothered and surprised him the most was that the defensive array implanted in his house hadn't even been activated. The culprit must've been highly skilled to have their presence remain unknown even to the defensive array, that encompassed the household.