I wasn´t led towards the Mr. Schlaumeier and the second prince, but rather back towards my carriage which didn´t really come as a surprise. I wasn’t explicitly told that my lessons were cancelled for a week, but the meaning was clear. Fascinatingly enough, the king did plan for this outcome out of many, which made me respect him a bit.

Nevertheless, with so much free time at hand, I chose to visit Mary in her study. She was walking up and down the room as I entered and certainly didn´t expect me to be back this early.

“… how did it go?” She asked after a short pause in which she looked at me as if she saw a ghost.

“Better than expected, worse than it could. My dead father has quite the chatterbox.” I said and threw myself on the sofa.

“… he betrayed us? I´m so sorry Lucinda, this is all my fault.” She explained, still standing in the middle of the room.

“Indeed.”

“I should have selected him better. I should have known how tempting it would be to betr-“ She ruffed her hair, started walking again and looked way more distressed than ever before. I wasn’t the only one who was quite nervous because of the current situation. Maybe she was even more agitated than I was.

“Mum, it´s fine.” I claimed, even though the exact opposite was the case.

“You even told me we should stitch together all loose ends.” Yes I did, but she didn´t let me. It was alright though. She had her way of dealing with things and just because it failed once, it didn´t have to fail a second time.

“MUM! It was our decision, not yours alone. I agreed. There is nothing to worry about.” I said, hoping to give her a bit of faith in herself.

“There is!” She claimed. Well, there were quite a few worrisome scenarios, but she would come out of them largely unscathed.

“No? In the worst case scenario, I reveal myself as a vampire, burn down the whole mansion and tell everyone I held you hostage.” I explained with a huge grin on my face.

“That´s unacceptable. I will not let you go.” She said and finally sat down beside me.

“I will not let any harm befall you. Period.” I leaned over to her, rested my head against her shoulders and closed my eyes. Even though her attire was a bit in the way, I felt her warmth, something I dearly missed out on for quite some time already. She wrapped her arm around my shoulder, pulling me even closer to her. There was something beautiful in ending an argument like this. Peacefully, without any leftover words to say.

She was everything I had left over from my feelings. Luna was no more … or not yet and I couldn’t see Sofie, the cute ball of happiness anymore. Aska forbid everything else, and I intended to follow his warning. For Mary. For Luna. And for Sofie.

“Mary, Lucinda told … Lucinda?” I still had my eyes closed as Hannah barged into the room, interrupting the peaceful time we shared.

“Burn the letter.” I commanded drily, but still refused to let go of this warmth.

“Which letter?” Hannah asked. I couldn’t help but smile for a second as I heard how Hannah stepped towards the chimney and rested there for a second, apparently warming her hands there. “How did it go?”

“Great …” I said, finally lifting up my head. “I need drugs.”

“Not again …” Mary sighed, but didn´t outright deny my request.

“Okay. Thick curtains, dark bed linen and a few candles will do the trick as well. And Mary? You will need to organize a donation gala. You need to invite the king and as many nobles as you can. Host it in the church I asked for, that will probably incentivise them to give us more gold. I´ll be busy for … I don’t know how long.” I looked towards her and met her gaze directly. She seemed almost surprised that I wasn’t pushing for drugs more, but after my last debacle with them, I wasn’t to keen on using them either.

“I think we have everything here. Hannah, would you bring everything to Lucinda´s room?” Mary asked.

“Uhm … why me?” Hannah replied. She probably was very reluctant do gather everything, not because she was lazy, but rather because it could very well take a few years if she would do it alone.

“Because you are my maid … remember?” I said, wondering when she would start ordering the other maids to do her job. Well, it would be hard for her because of her race, but going purely by ranking, she was higher than the others because she was my personal maid.

“Okay …” She said and slowly walked out of the room. I waited a few more seconds until I stood up and stared at Mary for a few seconds, trying to etch the sight into my memory.

“I´ll hole up in my room for a week. I need food though … blood, not the food you eat … except cookies, they are always welcome.”

“I see a pattern there.” I smirked involuntarily, saluted and left the room. “Goodnight!” I said, before closing the door behind me and leaning against the wall right next to me. Once again, I closed my eyes and tried to relax a little.

I didn´t like how things developed. There was little to none I could do myself which meant owing Aska for something that was out of my hands. There was only one solution. The king had to fall. It was definitely impossible right at this moment or even within the next few months, but with a little pressure, it wasn’t impossible to make him submit. That was in the far future though, and so I reluctantly pushed myself off the wall and strolled into my room.

Surprisingly, Hannah was already working on changing the curtains to thick, black ones which would block out most of the light. I waited a few more minutes until she finished and started changing the bed linen.

“… the guard. Ask him to train you. He can teach you the basics as good as I can.” I said the moment she finished with her task.

“I understand. Is there anything else you need for … whatever you try to do?” She asked swiftly.

“Yes, wait a second …” I immediately went towards my desk and wrote a little message for Tom hastily. “We need to deliver at least a few tents to the slums. I believe we should have money for that? And deliver this to Tom. Oh, when you give me the blood, do it quietly and don’t interrupt me.” I said with a hint of hostility in my voice. Not much, but enough to make her realize how important this was to me. Hannah nodded immediately and excused herself out of the room. She was beginning to get better as a maid, an improvement I certainly liked to see.

A few moments after she closed the door behind her, I threw myself onto the bed and enjoyed the soft textile. Finally, I had a blanket in a great colour, and not this cancerous white. But my pleasure wasn’t the reason I was there. I turned around, faced the ceiling and closed my eyes. It was time for a little bit of sleep.