“Mum … mum?” Mary was awake, I could see that, but she still chose to keep her eyes shut and ignore me, at least until I poked her cheeks with my index finger. “I need you to speak to Hannah.”

“What have you done?” She finally said, annoyed by her interrupted sleep.

“Why does everyone always assume I did something bad?” I questioned her.

“A large chunk of the merchant´s district exploded because of you. If that isn´t something bad, I don’t know what it is.” She looked at me with a mixture of disappointment and anger. Maybe I should have told her what we were going to do. “Don’t try to justify it, at least nobody got harmed … well, except those that already had enough.”

“You don’t condemn our actions?” I said with a hint of hope growing inside me.

“I definitely do. But I also know you would have found ways to do it anyway, with, or without the funds I provided.” She sighed and closed her eyes again as if she was tired of me. She breathed out loudly, rubbed her eyes and finally sat up to look at me properly.

“What can I do for you, honey?”

“Hannah doesn’t want to work for me because of what I am. I have the feeling that whatever I say, I won´t make any progress.” I concluded.

“It´s pretty hard to believe you when you lie whenever possible.” She said, now full of disappointment.

“I didn’t lie to you!” I shouted indignantly.

“I meant her. Maybe you would make some progress if you stopped to look at her like if she is some kind of tool.” Maybe Hannah would have trusted me in that case, or maybe she would have run away at the first opportunity. Whatever would have happened, I couldn’t even try this route out.

“I … cannot do that.” My deal with Aska was still valid. I couldn’t allow myself to have any attachments to Hannah, no matter what. And worst of all, I needed to show that whenever I could.

“Fine … I´ll tell her everything.” Mary said.

“Everything?” I bit my lower lip as I couldn’t discern how Hannah would react. Mary didn´t know everything about me, but she knew enough to paint a very grim picture of me.

“Everything.” She said once more, smiling bitterly. “I´ll show you that the truth is sometimes more valuable than any lie you can present her. And I will give my best so that you get what you want.”

“You will help me?” I asked surprised.

“On my own terms.” She said and nodded with a mischievous grin. Gently, she patted my head and looked into my eyes. “The truth may hurt though …”

I didn´t know how to react to the happiness spreading inside me as her fingers went through my hair and ruffed it up considerably. I loved it, but I also got the feeling Mary did it on purpose with some kind of hidden agenda. Maybe I was too suspicious of everything and everyone though …

“If you ever need any help …” She didn´t have to coax me into supporting her. I saw her as my family, as a precious person and thus, I would help her willingly without a second thought.

“Lennart Cobalt. Do you remember him?” I did. He was the paedophile I threw into the water. Mary bought him up once already and I seriously couldn’t understand why she did it a second time. “He was found dead on the river bank. The case was ruled as an accident. Apparently, there are quite a few nobles who would congratulate you for what you did. Just to clarify, I am not among them. Nobody deserves to die.” Her hand went to my cheek where she caressed me with her thumb.

“Even the girls he abducted and probably rot in some cellar at this point? Mary, I´m not going out there to kill random pedestrians.” I held her hand closer, worried she would be put off by my answer.

“Still, he deserved a proper court hearing if he really did these things.” I smiled bitterly, knowing full well she would always sympathise with my victims, no matter how despicable they were.

“Are you defending him now?” I asked, really hoping she wouldn’t.

“Absolutely not. I … pick your victims carefully, can you do that for me?” That surprised me a bit. She knew she would never be able to stop me from murdering and thus, she didn´t even try.

“I have a list now, thanks to Tom. There is nobody innocent on there and neither will anyone care about their disappearance.” The second point was much, much more important for me, but I was willing to adjust my list because of her.

“That’s good enough …” She said and ruffed my hair one last time before standing up. “This is going to be a long night again …” She sighed unhappily, but there was really nothing I could do. I needed her help because she could do what I couldn’t. “And, what are you going to do?”

“I´m thinking of inspecting all the money we made.” I smiled happily, and turned around, only to stop in the doorframe. “The princess of darkness taking her leave!” I said and jumped out of the nearest open window, clad in my black attire.