(Discrimination alert: Some contents might be upsetting to viewers.)
"You have to run!" The servant tried to pull her friend towards the deep woods. "I have heard them! They are literally coming for you to execute you tonight! You need to flee this land! You need to get away without anyone noticing!" Her breathing fell in a heavy rhythm as she pulled against the fired maid's weak arm, which could snap with a little bit more force.
Pulling her hand away from the servant's grip, she craddled her own arm and gave the friend a nasty look. "What is up with you?! Do you want the next Countess to fire you the day she takes office? Because I am heading over to complain about your sneaking out the very next morning."
"You need to take this seriously! You really do need to know the severity of the situation! Why are you not understanding this simple fact for once?!" The servant spoke while grabbing onto the friend's shoulders with extreme eagerness at her face. "If we both don't run away tonight, they both are going to come after us and silently take out our lives with them!"
"Who are you talking about you absolute idiot?!" She shouted while yanking the frantic maid off her. "You better have the most persuasive reason otherwise I am going to do what I had warned you against. I am not hesitating if you waste my time... My work place needs my attendence immediately and I can't delay a second or I am jobless again!"
"You are about to die and all you care about is your job! Jobs can wait but your life can't! I am trying to be a sincere friend to you and you push me away like I was never a childhood friend who studied with you at the same school and helped you with your homeworks!"
"What homeworks?! You moron! You were my school bully!" The servant shouted while slamming her palm onto the maid's face. "I don't even know who you are talking about and what that has to do with my death... Because you definitely don't make sense when you don't have a reason or proper excuse then to lure me into a trap! You forgot that you have this done so many times, I have memorized it!"
She spoke while pushing past the stunned maid who held the soaring area of her face. It was exactly where the girl had slapped her earlier and that had caused her cheek to bleed from the inside. "The Count's second born daughter and the Imperial family's adopted daughter have come together. They have an alliance which causes them to exchange secrets between themselves and they have a deal to meet the Count's cell tonight."
Hearing this, the friend turned around abruptly, stopping her movements all at once. "You mean... Then the two must have a much bigger plan in their hand?!" Her memory of when she was fired immediately jolted awake inside her mind as she hammered her fist against her forehead. "You absolute menace! Why didn't say this earlier?!" She shouted while grabbing onto the maid's wrist. "What did you say?! Did you tell her I told you all those things?!"
"I didn't have a choice. The girl has a very powerful authority which I can't surpress and once they both got together in an alliance, they both seem to have gotten more powerful." The friend answered while looking back and forth in the woods, then grabbing the maid along with her to run towards the west, which led them to a different area.
"Look... We need to escape this Empire through the corners of the borders. There is a small kingdom within this empire that the family won't access." She continued while they both tried to navigate through the military traps, where they had about a whole twenty kilometers to run before reaching the kingdom.
But within the first few minutes of trying to run, they were already exhausted. "Come on! We need to... Get there... Before the sun rise!" The friend spoke while bending forward to breathe in the lost air. "I can't... We need to go somewhere else near by!" The maid spoke while wiping her forehead with her sleeves.
Then, the sudden change in atmosphere caused chill to return to their skins as they glanced up towards the shadows with the sound of rustling leaves and light steps.
"Are you headed for the small kingdom?" A female voice spoke as the cloak from above her face dropped with the light breeze. "I am sorry... It's already midnight and you won't be able to make it in time. Military activities are peak during this hours." Lady Elanor spoke while flashing a calm smile on her face. "My servants... How would you like to come over to the Count's estate to rest for a while?"
"You wanted to kill us." The friend spoke while looking at the Count's second born daughter and her fluttering, lose blonde hair, that glowed a golden hue due to the moonlight reflecting it at an angle. "How can I kill such valuable lives? Surely you don't think I would side with that young Princess... Did you? My trusted maid?" The woman spoke with a tone of voice that seemed to calm their nerves.
"Plus... You both seem too tired to be running the rest of the way." She stepped up to the maid and placed a hand at her shoulder. "You know you can't reject my offer when I give it to lowly people like you. So stop for a break... And I will ensure your safety the next morning." She spoke while her bright orange eyes that shone with a deceiving light.
"I am sorry. But we will have to drop your offer for this time."
"Then... I will let her have you both." Lady Elanor spoke while grabbing onto the friend's wrist and yanking her forward. Her green gown from earlier was replaced for a more brighter colour and simpler design, which was light-weight enough to flutter against the breeze.
"Who...?" The maid turned traumatized as she watched the lady stick a dagger into the friend's heart and let her flop to the grass-laid ground with a dull thud, staining it deep red along as she departed. Elanor stood still while wiping her face, which was splattered with the friend's blood. Her hand hid the dagger inside her pocket as a faint ghostly reflection in her eyes showed that there was a shadowed someone standing right behind the maid.
Just as she was about to turn around, her shoulders were locked into place and her chin held high to clear a way for the cold blade to touch the skin of her throat.
"Please don't act like you don't know... I am someone you both despised once in a lifetime."
Aefia spoke as her dark hair worked to shadow her features perfectly. Her pale face was stuck side or side with the maid as she pressed the knife's edge deeper into her flesh.
"You murderer! You killed Lady Stephany and now you are here to kill me!" The maid spoke while trying to grab onto her tight grasp, which didn't let go. "You are not deserving enough to be called Princess Aefia Seraphina Smod! You should be called a traitor!"
"Bullies... I have faced many before. But she went out of her way to do it in the worse way possible." Aefia replied without a flinch. "I never killed her... Although I wanted to. Because she stuck a dagger into me... Trying to kill me... A month and half ago. I had every reasons to execute her... Until Lady Elanor did it for me."
Her voice fell to a chilling tone as the maid looked up at the lady in front of her, who just wielded a dagger against her friend. "Now... You did say I was not deserving enough to be called Princess Aefia Seraphina..." She spoke while pushing the edge deeper into the bleeding wound. "But that is also why I am known as the Master of Crimson by my loyal servants... I love getting into trouble and bloody chaos." She smiled against her ears... Which was soundless but still loud enough, echoing back and forth inside the maid's mind.
Before long, the knife went through the poor servant's throat with a swift movement and pressure as the maid fell to the ground, pressing onto the wound and trying to avoid from dying. The black blade of her kitchen knife turned sleek with blood, as she crouched down to see the screaming woman... Who couldn't say anything anymore. Aefia let out a sigh... And her smile widened as her eyes glowed red.
"Poor lamb... Looks like she should have known better then to have messed with me." She spoke while watching the life flee from the servant's eyes. As the last vocal sound died down, she stood up and looked towards Lady Elanor. "Well... Don't we have a second part of the deal yet to be fulfilled?" She asked while glancing at the blood stains on the woman's hands.
"Isn't that pinafore a very customary choice to your personality and age, Princess Seraphina?" The woman walked over while pulling out a handkerchief and wiping off the blood stains at her hands. "Your white sleeves are lucky they are still white... And those constellations make you look more elegant. And have I told you? You have worn the same fabric colour as my dress?"
"Can I say anything? Looks like partner in crimes match. But why do you have such sharp eyes for fashion?" She spoke while flinging the knife into the air, and watching the excess blood wipe off the surface. "We need to return to the palace before the Count permanantly falls asleep tomorrow." With her fingers catching the shape edge, she walked towards the open fields while using her space shifting skill to appear in front of the castle gates.
"Welcome back... Young master." The guards bowed while swinging open the gates as she walked in with Lady Elanor trailing behind her. "Make sure you are spotless. You know what I might mean." She spoke with a slight turn of her head.
"Don't worry... I am as you have wished me to look before formally meeting my father for the last time." The woman spoke while seeming a little frowned. The guards leading them were observant enough, and this acting method of hers was absolutely required if they didn't want to seem suspicious. "Although... I wonder why you would bring forth an innocent man's death by an entire ten days. You are an arrogant member of the family it seems."
As if enraged, Aefia abruptly turned around and held Elanor hostage on the ground. The guards didn't get the time to stop her, but they let her attack the woman without hesitation anyways. "It seems after your father, you will be the one to get executed." Aefia spoke while gripping her knife tightly at her fist. "Aren't you a little glad your father isn't trying to take his own life? His favourite daughter just died due to a bear attack. And he isn't innocent... If he tried to assassinate the Imperial family."
"A bear attack?! Wasn't my younger sister your rival?!" The woman struggled for breathe as she stayed against the ground. "She was your bully... And you were mad about it... I can't still confirm who did what until the forensics sends it to the police department to investigate this matter." Her breathe came out in huffs.
"And I will be patient for the results too." The young girl got up with a smile at her face. "You seem to not be grateful in the meantime... That I am letting you out of the two remaining daughters of the Count, to visit your father. If I must say something regarding your situation now... You will be forced to leave for your estate again... And immediately."
Hearing this, the woman stood to her knees and bowed down with her forehead touching the ground. "Spare me! It was an honest mistake from my side! I shouldn't have judged you... Please let me see my father!" She acted like begging, as the guards tried to drag her away. "I won't take my father's side tomorrow! I will stand for the Imperial family!" She spoke while secretly flashing a smile.
"Let her go..." Aefia spoke while snapping her fingers as the guards walked to her side. "But do remember that I will be at the cell with you, a witness to your conversation. And know the fact that... Only the Imperial family is toleratable to you... Not me." She flashed a smile to finish it off. The rest of the way was absurdly silent with two successful allies and a few smiling guards who were amazed by their Master's way of dealing with enemies. With them entering the cell alone, they stood near the doorway, discussing how they had just seen the Princess use her authority finally.
"To think the duchess made a very good choice. Despite being adopted, she exerts the more powerful energy among the other siblings. Even the eldest can't outshine her physical abilities and psychology, or the way she deals with her own problems. She literally slammed the Count's daughter down to the ground, taking her reputation along." One spoke while clapping his hands silently.
"Well I guess you can say that some female rulers are better then most male rulers. And given that the duchess has survived multiple problems with the democrats... And now she has a very powerful child of her own who follows her same legacy... It's just amazing to witness. How is that even possible when they aren't blood-related?" The other continued.
"Does everything need to be blood and flesh? The duchess knew the very day that she took the girl in, that she had made the best choice in a long time. Well she is retiring soon, so she probably got the more intelligent out of the few in the crowd or she simply found this girl, rather different in mentality."
***
"Well... Doesn't it look like our actings summed up to give us a good outcome?" Aefia spoke from inside, leaning against the door while listening to the guards. "They seem to be dragged away in other things..." Her voice came in a soft volume as she walked up to the front of where the count was sitting.
"Hurry up father... If you don't speak fast enough, I am leaving now... And you will die tomorrow." Lady Elanor used her cruel smile while lookinng down at her own birth father.