The sun was setting by the time Austin woke up. Having remembered that he had not yet settled the issue with the servants, he left the room with the intention to do so. However, Edwin happened to be at the foot of the stairs and caught him there.

"Your grace, dinner's ready."

"I'll have it later."

Suddenly, Edwin bowed down low, making Austin stop in his tracks once more. "Sir, please let me handle the servants."

Austin frowned. "Why?"

"All these would not have happened if I had not been careless. Let me atone for my mistakes. Please."

While Austin looked at him contemplatively, Edwin asked once more. "Please have dinner with the miss while I handle the servants."

Austin was bought over by the idea but he did not want to let it show. "She's awake?"

"Yes, I checked on her earlier so I've also made her dinner. I was just about to call her down for dinner."

"I'll do that then. I have business with her anyway."

"Thank you!"

"There's nothing to thank me for. Leave."

Austin watched Edwin walk off before going to the dining hall. 

There was a plate of steak with mashed potatoes and corn as sides and a bowl of yogurt with several fruits that would be easy on the stomach in it. He carried the food up to Eva's room, intending to eat in the room with her.

Austin stood in front of the door with his eyes closed and a frown on his face. What an idiot I am.

He had forgotten that he would have no hands left to open the door. He put his plate down, knocked on the door, waited for awhile before opening it, then picked up the plate again before entering the room.

The curtains had already been drawn open and the room was dyed in the pink colour of the setting sun. He set the food down on the table by the window and turned around to find that Eva has already walked over by herself. They sat themselves down from across each other and dug in.

After he ate a few mouthfuls, he noticed that Eva has not taken another bite after the first one, so he looked at her to find that she was staring at him curiously.

"I'm eating with you to make sure that you finish your food obediently. Eat."

"I'll eat. I didn't forget about my promise to be your sword and shield."

"I'll eat with you till I trust that you will. So, eat. Or do you need me to feed you?"

Eva shook her head then dug into her food once more.

When they were done with their food, Austin breached the topic that he has been delaying for too long. "You probably already know this since you've lived in the servants' quarters for a while... Your parents are still alive."

Eva nodded to show that she understood.

"It's about time for me to hand them over to the royal couple to receive their proper execution. I've been holding them captive in the basement, kept alive in the worst possible condition, to be tortured by the family members of the people they assassinated for no good reason. The royal couple was close to my parents and there were a lot of issues to deal with after my parents died, so they want a piece of your parents as well." Austin looked and talked like he was some kind of villain at the moment.

Eva felt a tug in her heart. She was not surprised since BaoBao filled her in of all that happened to her parents after she had woken up. Instead, she felt slightly saddened that it was as if Austin was trying to play the bad guy now even though he was clearly not one. The way he reminded themselves of the cruel things he did to her family reminded her of what she did to him earlier in the day, so she could tell that he was intentionally drawing a line between them. 

She sighed inwardly. He could have left it as it is and let me stay as the bad guy...

"Do what you want you want to my parents. My family had this coming. As for me, I'm no longer their daughter. I was never seen as one anyway. I'm yours now."

When Austin read her last sentence, his eyes grew a little wider and a slight blush crept up his face. He knew what she meant but he could not stop the image of them being together from creeping up in his mind. Moreover, he could not deny the fact that he liked the thought of it. He lightly coughed. "Mm, yeah."

Seeing his odd reaction, Eva checked what she wrote and suddenly realised how her last sentence sounded ambiguous. 

"Of course I meant as your bodyguard, as promised." She hastily wrote out, shoved the notebook to his side of the table, then brought her finger to nose to rub it while looking out the window.

"Of course, I know that." Austin now blushing hard. Ahhh... She knows what I thought. I must look stupid now.

BaoBao watched the entire thing unfold with judgmental eyes and an open mouth. He had no idea that a previously tense moment could so suddenly become so pinkish. The slowly fading pink light of the setting sun even added to the atmosphere. He had no doubt that if anyone were to walk in now, they would be mistaken as some awkward couple who just started dating.

Just forget about your families, make up, and kiss already! Ugh!! BaoBao thought to himself secretly.

"Then, once you're well, you'll show me where your family's underground hideout is?" Austin quickly moved on to the next topic to break the awkward atmosphere. Now that he has Eva on his side, he could save time on searching for the secret entrance.

"I can show you tomorrow."

He looked at her seriously again. Knowing that he could not treat her too nicely or softly, he nodded. "Alright then."

"I also have a request."

Austin raised an eyebrow to prompt her.

"Can I read all the botany and science books there are in the library? I have an idea on what I can leverage on since my physical capabilities aren't the best."

Austin grinned a little at her request. This was what he liked to see about her. It felt right to see her driven and working hard again. "Knock yourself out. The library is all yours."

With that settled, Austin cleared the dishes from the table and returned to work in his private study, while Eva went to take a bath before getting to work in the library immediately.

 

Meanwhile in the west wing of the mansion, Edwin managed to get the truth out from the servants after a thorough investigation and in depth interrogation.

They ended up selling each other out and the tense relation between the maids and manservants also became clear for Edwin to see. He felt horrified to learn that he had allowed all these to happen when they were all under his management.

Edwin could not afford another slip up. He spent the rest of the night thinking about what would be the most appropriate punishment that would control their big mouths and maintain the image of the Bryse household.

The next morning he told all the involved servants that they would be reassigned new responsibilities that was equivalent to being demoted and that their pay would all be cut for the following months until better conduct was observed. He also left them with a stern warning. "If you act in a way that disgraces the Bryse household once more, out the door you go. Overstep your boundaries too much, and it'll be your lifeless body that'll be leaving this place."

Now that the issue with the servants was settled, Edwin contacted and brought the proper authorities under the royal couple to follow Austin and Eva to Eva's family's hideout.

On their way there, Eva informed Austin of the person who requested for Esmeralda's death.

"Saddie?" He looked at Eva with surprise in his eyes and a frown. "But why?"

"She was jealous."

"Just because of that?" His frown went deeper. He knew that Saddie was well loved by her family almost to the point of being spoilt, but he had personally witnessed times when Dylan would correct her whenever she went overboard, so he did not expect her to stoop to such methods. 

He went deep into thought to think about the best way he could handle this issue.

Why did you bother telling him about Saddie? He would have found out anyway once he finds the request letters.

It's a way to build trust. If I only wait till then, it may come off as me hoping that he would not find the letters.

How complicated...

 

Once they reached Eva's house, she led them to the wardrobe, took out the clothes that were hanging so that entry would be easier for the bigger sized men, then activated the mechanism camouflaged at the top-middle of the back of the cupboard.

It opened up into a narrow and dark passageway with vague dirt steps that looked steep. It led down into the darkness below. She jumped in first and demonstrated how they could slide down using the smooth side of the stairs that was to the left. Austin went in next followed by everyone else. Edwin stayed with the carriages just as he was instructed to do so.

When Eva reached the bottom, she quickly moved off to light up the oil lamp that was nearer to the door to her house. Without it, it would be complete darkness in the tunnel.

Austin and the others were astonished to see what they had underground. No one has officially tried anything like this thus far. After sliding straight down, they found themselves in a big tunnel that was large enough to fit four men in a row. A pretty looking wooden door was within sight down the tunnel. 

After everyone has slid down, Eva led the way to her house.

While her house was being ransacked by the guards, she brought Austin to where her parents kept all the letters. He saw how all the envelopes were marked with the particular symbol that he has grown familiar with by now. He easily found the one asking to assassinate Esmeralda and the one that confirmed she has the money to pay them. He took the second letter and turned the rest in to the head guard.

Now that she has done her part, Eva stood by the side quietly. Even if she tried not to, the room proved to be a strong trigger for recalling all the times she spent with her family. Austin caught the forlorn look in her eyes since he was standing by the side with her.

"We'll leave the rest to them. They know what to do."

Eva nodded and followed Austin out of her house. When she saw the tunnel leading into darkness on the other end, she got an idea of something she could do instead of idling time away waiting for the guards to be done with their jobs.

She tapped his shoulder to grab his attention then wrote on her notebook. "This tunnel also leads to different places. Call the head guard and we can go together."

"One of it leads to the letterbox, doesn't it?"

Eva nodded. She was not surprised that he figured it out by now.

After Austin called the head of the guards over, Eva took down the oil lamp near her door and led the way into the darkness. Just a little further down, there were three bicycles parked by the wall. Beyond this point, the tunnel would gradually branch off into different directions. It was possible to get lost in the tunnels if they were unfamiliar with the layout.

She showed them how to open the different entrances and how her parents accessed the letterbox from the bottom. If anyone wanted to reveal this, they would have to either displace the letterbox itself and activate a certain mechanism or dig down deep below in the area surrounding the letterbox, which were things that Austin could not do to a public road. There were some limitations he had to keep to even though he had the royal couple's backing in his revenge plan.

By the time they were done and back at the carriages, the others were also done taking everything they could use as evidence against her family. Eva quickly drew a map of the entire underground maze and handed it to the head of guards before they would go their separate ways in their respective carriages.

The head of the guard appreciated everything Eva did. It made their job much easier. However, he knew that she was the daughter of that family, so he voiced the question that has been on his mind the entire time. "Why're you doing this?"

Eva looked surprised then frowned slightly and pursed her lips as she wondered about how she could explain it to a random person.

This made the head of the guards more curious but Austin stepped in. "Is there anything else that you need?"

"Ah, no. Sorry for prying. Thank you for making our job easier." The head of the guards left with with a nod of his head.

Edwin and Eva watched the guards leave while Austin stared at the letter in his hand contemplatively. When they could no longer see the carriages and bandwagons, Austin spoke. "Eva, you still feeling alright?"

Eva nodded.

"Edwin, take the carriage and get Saddie and Dylan to Esmeralda's house. Now." After dishing out the order, he started walking in the direction of Esmeralda's estate with Eva following closely behind him.