"Evading paying taxes, narrating a fake story using servants, and bribing the Vice Commander to fill the ears of the Commander from the capital city...." Luna, just uncaring, looked towards that nobleman, tilting her head as she began to speak; some nerves were visibly hit.
Commander Kelleth spoke, her voice tight with controlled frustration as she realized that indeed the Vice Commander was more enthusiastic about the arrest—now understanding why—yet she said, "Very well, Princess Luna. We'll return with proper authorization. But don't mistake bureaucratic delays for escape routes. Justice will be served."
"Of course, Commander. I wouldn't dream of it." Luna inclined her head with perfect courtesy. "I'll be waiting."
As the soldiers began their orderly withdrawal, Luna stood perfectly still, watching them go with that same empty expression she had worn through countless political negotiations.
Only when the last armored figure had disappeared beyond the estate gates did Sally approach her, her yellow eyes filled with concern.
"Luna," she said quietly. "That was... impressively handled. But they'll be back within days, and with everything they need to override your objections."
Luna nodded once, already aware of the truth of her words. "I know."
"Then why—"
"Because," Luna said, turning toward the manor house that had been her cage for three years. Looking at it, she already knew that they were not going to come again, especially how her uncle, who had need to keep her in check, would not allow her to be arrested and then enter the capital city on that pretext.
After all, now that Victor was dead, she might just reclaim her princess position to gain immunity from judgment—so right now, she was a snake they might not want to touch—nor was she interested either way.
From now on, she would live a dead life away from any outside hassle only if she survived the upcoming assassination attacks she knew were on the way.
"I wanted to sleep in my own bed one more time before everything ends."
A Week Later
"Cough cough - my lady, I can't - COUGH - breathe-"
The young maid's words dissolved into violent retching as she collapsed to the marble floor, her delicate fingers clawing at her throat. Blue veins spider-webbed across her pale skin like ink spreading through water, her body convulsing as foam bubbled from her lips.
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Other servants rushed forward in panic, their screams echoing through the grand dining hall as the girl's eyes rolled back, showing only white.
Luna sat motionless at the head of the long table, a silver spoon held delicately in her hand. She watched the chaos unfold with the same detached interest one might show while observing ants scurrying after their hill had been disturbed.
The spoon clinked softly against the porcelain bowl as she set it down, her crimson eyes never leaving the dying girl's face.
"I'm not in the mood to eat," she said calmly, her voice cutting through the hysteria like a blade through silk.
She rose from her chair with practiced grace, smoothing her dress as servants wailed around the convulsing maid. Her footsteps echoed with measured precision as she walked away from the scene, each click of her heels against the marble a countdown to the girl's potential death.
"Dr. Brennan is already waiting in the east wing," she mentioned casually over her shoulder, not bothering to look back. "The antidote is foxglove extract. Standard nightshade poisoning."
Behind her, the frantic sound of running feet filled the corridors as her pre-arranged physician rushed to save a life Luna had known was forfeit the moment the girl lifted that spoon.
14 Days Later
THUNK!
The crossbow bolt split the air where Luna's head had been a heartbeat before, embedding itself in the leather-bound ledger she'd been reading. Ink splattered across the desk like dark blood as wood splintered.
Luna's pen continued moving across the tax documents in her lap, her handwriting remaining perfectly steady despite the assassin's projectile now quivering inches from her face.
"Third window from the left," she said conversationally to Sally, who was already moving. "Crossbow, not longbow. Probably the old oak tree."
Glass exploded inward as Sally launched herself through the window in wolf form, her snarl echoing from the grounds below. Shouts and the wet sound of violence followed moments later.
Luna made a careful notation in the margin of a trade agreement, her expression unchanged as screams cut through the morning air.
"Amateur," Sally reported upon her blood-spattered return. "Hired muscle." Pthoo~!
"Mm." Luna signed another document. "Double the window patrols."
She hadn't even glanced up from her paperwork, treating attempted murder with the same casual attention she'd give a scheduling conflict.
18 Days Later
The bathwater kissed her skin like liquid fire.
Luna stood calmly in the copper tub as chemical burns bloomed across her arms and torso like dark flowers, the water around her turning a sickly yellow as acid ate through fabric and flesh alike.
Steam rose from her reddening skin, but her expression remained perfectly serene as she reached for a thick towel.
"Delayed reaction acid," she observed, her voice steady despite the welts spreading across her chest. "Activated by body heat. Someone wants me disfigured, not dead."
Sally burst through the door with towels and neutralizing solution already in hand, her yellow eyes wide with alarm.
"How much?" Sally demanded.
"Not enough to kill." Luna stepped from the tub with the same composure she'd use when exiting a normal bath. "Enough to scar."
She opened a drawer and withdrew a vial of clear liquid, pouring it over the chemical burns without even a wince as it burned worse than the acid itself.
"Dr. Brennan," she instructed as Sally helped her into a loose robe. "And have the water tested properly this time."
Twenty minutes later, as the doctor worked to neutralize the remaining acid, Luna stared out her window at the gardens below with the same blank expression she'd worn throughout.
"They're escalating," she murmured.
"We could leave," Sally suggested before she spat, "Pthoo~!"
"There is nowhere safe," Luna replied, her reflection in the window looking like a ghost. "Better to face it here."
One Month Later - Midnight
Finally, after enduring a series of assassination attempts and escaping them just like walking in the garden, Luna made her way within her room and took a seat on the bed.
The window exploded inward in a shower of steel and shadow.
Five figures in black poured through simultaneously, moving with lethal precision as moonlight glinted off curved blades. Professional killers, Luna noted distantly - the kind that cost serious money.
"Sally!" Her voice cut through the chaos as she rolled behind her desk, a throwing knife embedding itself in the wood where her head had been.
This time was different. This time, there were too many.
Sally burst from the shadows in wolf form, tackling the first assassin with a bone-crushing impact. But even as her jaws closed around his throat, two more blades found their mark in her silver fur.
Luna watched in growing horror as her protector - the one constant in her life since Javrian's abandonment - began to weaken.
Blood matted Sally's coat as she fought with desperate ferocity, but the numbers were against her.
A blade meant for Luna's heart took Sally through the shoulder instead. Another opened a gash along her ribs that painted the Persian carpet crimson.
"No...," Luna whispered, but her voice was lost in the clash of steel and Sally's pained howls.
Even though Luna could see that Sally was winning, just a realization made her lower her head and turn towards the window from where the moonlight was coming, and then doubt a single thing.
"Maybe," she whispered to the uncaring darkness, her voice hollow as winter wind, thinking she was just making a futile effort to live at the cost of harming others, "it's better for me to die."
Then came a voice ringing in her head the moment she closed her eyes.
:: N-no, HOW CAN SOMEONE KILL JAVRIAN!. ::
'!'
"Haah... Haah... What?" Her eyes shot open as Luna lurched forward, looking ahead while Sally stammered, taking a seat after killing all of the assassins.
In that dark room, looking around, Luna felt a strange pain, grief surging within her body, as if what she heard were not just words but carried raw emotions and a voice that belonged to her.
Unknowingly, Luna's lips parted and she, looking towards the wounded Sally, asked, "Sally, Javrian is fine, right?"