Time stopped.

Everything went red.

Kaida's fist connected with his face before she even realized she'd moved. The impact made a sick, wet crunch. The old man's eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped like a puppet with cut strings, hitting the ground in a heap.

Unconscious. Maybe dead. She didn't care.

"You old shit," she breathed, staring down at him. Her hand throbbed. "Did you just sell off my sister?"

The neighbors gasped and rushed to the old man, checking if he was still breathing. One of them looked up at Kaida with wide, frightened eyes.

"He's alive! But Kaida, you can't just—"

She was already running.

Rust lifted his head as she approached, clearly hoping they were done for the day. Tough luck.

"One more sprint, boy. Then you can rest. I promise."

She mounted up and urged him forward. The horse obeyed, though she could feel his reluctance. Poor bastard. She'd make it up to him later.

The manor. The old abandoned manor on the outskirts of the village. That's where she always stayed when she visited—there was no way in hell she'd sleep under the same roof as that old fuck. The place had been empty for years, fallen into disrepair after the noble family who'd built it moved to the capital decades ago.

But it had a roof and walls, which made it paradise compared to the rest of Millbrook.

Kaida knew every shortcut, every hidden path. She guided Rust through the rocky terrain, cutting the distance in half. They emerged from behind a cluster of dead trees, and there it was.

The manor.

And it looked... different.

The wild grass that usually grew chest-high had been cut back. Not completely—it was still a mess. But someone had clearly done some maintenance. Recently.

Kaida's blood went cold.

She dismounted and approached on foot, moving quietly now. Her hands went to the daggers at her hips, fingers wrapping around familiar hilts.

The front entrance would be too obvious. She circled around back, where a servant's door hung half off its hinges. She'd used it a hundred times before.

It opened silently. Someone had oiled the hinges.

'Who the fuck—'

She slipped inside, every sense on high alert. The interior was dim, dust motes floating in the beams of morning light that filtered through gaps in the shutters.

But it was cleaner than it should be. Someone had been sweeping. Moving furniture.

Then she heard it.

A small voice. Young. Humming a tune.

Kaida moved toward the sound, keeping to the shadows. She peered around a doorframe into what used to be the main hall.

A child sat at a makeshift table, eating something from a wooden bowl. Brown hair, thin frame, probably seven or eight years old.

Her heart stopped.

"Toby?"

The boy's head snapped up. His eyes—those familiar brown eyes—went wide with recognition, then confusion.

"K-Kaida?" His voice was small, uncertain.

Before she could move, another figure appeared from the kitchen area. A woman, maybe early thirties, wearing a brown dress with an apron tied over it. The kind of outfit you'd see on maids in the capital—decent quality, clean, professional.

The woman froze when she saw Kaida.

"Who—"

Kaida's mind raced. Toby was here. Toby, Mira's son.

And this woman, dressed like a maid, was here too. In the abandoned manor. Taking care of him.

Which meant—

Mira. Where the fuck was Mira?

Kaida forced herself to stay calm. Toby looked confused enough already.

The kid had always been fragile—some kind of illness that made him forget things, lose track of where he was. His mind would drift like fog, and he'd ask the same questions over and over. Mira had told her it was a curse, something dark that clung to him. Kaida didn't know what else to call it.

"It's okay, Toby," she said softly, keeping her voice gentle. "I'm not here to hurt you."

The boy nodded slowly, but his eyes had already started to wander, losing focus.

"Where's my mother?" Toby asked suddenly, his voice plaintive.

The maid straightened, her expression shifting into something practiced, almost soothing. "She's with the young lord, helping him... Ahem."

As those words left her mouth, a flush spread across the woman's face—unmistakable, creeping up her neck and into her cheeks.

Kaida's blood went cold, then hot.

She'd seen that look before. Too many times. Noble bastards who treated women like property, like tools for their pleasure. The flush of shame mixed with something else. The way servants tried to hide what was being done to them.

Her hands clenched into fists.

The maid started backing toward the kitchen, avoiding Kaida's gaze. "I should... I need to fetch more water," she mumbled, turning toward the back door.

As the woman passed through the doorway, Kaida heard her muttering under her breath, "My body is so sore... how did Mira take him all night—"

Something inside Kaida snapped.

She moved fast, crossing the distance in three long strides. Her hand shot out and grabbed the woman's shoulder, spinning her around before she could react. The maid's eyes went wide with terror as Kaida shoved her against the stone wall of the overgrown garden behind the manor.

"Don't. Move." Kaida pulled out one of her daggers, pressing the flat of the blade against the woman's throat. Not cutting. Not yet. Just a promise.

She kept the dagger pressed to the maid's throat with one hand while pulling out rope from her belt pouch with the other.

"Hands behind your back. Now."

The maid complied, shaking. Kaida tied her wrists quickly, then her ankles. Professional knots—the kind that got tighter if you struggled. She stuffed a piece of cloth in the woman's mouth as a gag.

Only then did she step back.

The maid's eyes were wide with terror, tears streaming down her face. Good. Fear made people cooperative.

Kaida straightened, pulling her hood back so the woman could see her face clearly. The scar that ran across her cheek caught the morning light—a souvenir from her first real mission with the Royal Guard.

Then she opened her mouth and screamed.

"WHERE ARE YOU, YOU PERVERTED BASTARD?!"

Her voice echoed across the empty grounds, bouncing off the manor walls.

"COME OUT, OR I WILL KILL YOUR MAID!"

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