Darkness' Touch

Chapter 7: Different

It was already dark when Avy arrived at the Estate, maybe around nine in the evening and most of the lights were already turned off, everyone must be on their bed after an exhausting day. Since the world she was currently in had magic as a substitute for electricity, she didn't have a hard time going home, aside from when she needed to walk out of the dark forest with only a small illumination stone that she brought with her.

"I hope no one notices my presence or I'm dead," she muttered, clutching the bag of materials she got and she crawled into the hole she also used to get out.

For a huge Duchy, the Arkwright estate seems to only have more than a dozen knights guarding the estate and only more than forty to fifty servants managing the place so Avy was able to sneak in easily.

"I'm hungry." She said and went straight to the kitchen, she hadn't eaten anything after eating breakfast which was like thirteen hours ago.

As expected, the servants already retired for the night and only the guard knights were awake. Since she was so careful not to get caught, she turned the illumination stone off before she stepped foot inside the kitchen, only the moonlight coming from the window guided her toward the pantry. The night is silent except for the footsteps she made.

*STAB*

Her heart stopped beating and she lost her voice to even scream when a knife suddenly came flying towards her, stabbing the wall next to her and barely missing her nose an inch.

"Speak your name."

~

Raux, a former assassin and the Arkwright Family's trusted Cook was on his way to his room when he heard light footsteps from the estate's hall. He wasn't supposed to be alarmed since it could belong to anyone living in the mansion, but the odd thing was, he wasn't able to feel any presence anywhere. If it was a servant, he would recognize it right away, but it is someone foreign and suspicious.

It was impossible for the knight to let someone in without receiving them at the front door, the Duchy's security is not a joke since only the highest and the strongest Knights handpicked by the Former Duke were assigned to guard the estate. The second Prince's guards were also added since it was more likely for someone opposing the imperial family to come and assassinate him.

He moved fast but quietly as ever, in able to not cause any panic, he should quickly eliminate the intruder and dispose of him as soon as possible. The lady of the House is quite sensitive and given her attitude, she might wake everyone up to search the surroundings and that would not be a good thing for the tired servants who worked all day.

He entered the kitchen and saw nothing but he was quick to move when he heard steps from the other side. He pulled a knife and threw it in the direction of the noise.

"Speak your name." He said coldly. Raux is a man of few words and he doesn't like talking, if this person turns out to be an assassin, he will take him out without any hesitation.

"Dang it."

A familiar voice was heard, Raux looked from left to right and went back to where he threw the knife. And there she was, the Miss came to light wearing commoner clothes.

"My lady?" he said.

"Who're you?"

"It is Raux, my lady." Raux went to switch on the illumination stone, giving light to everything inside the kitchen. He looked at Avy, she was pale. Of course, she would be. He threw a knife towards her, it's a good thing he purposely missed.

Avy sighed. "I'm not a thief or anything. I was just looking for something to eat." She stated, ignoring the fact that she went on another trip outside the walls.