░23░ The Night Where It all Started ~ Her Revenge ~

"So all in all, you’ve already found out about the man who was anonymous for a long time, huh?" Derius, the duke of the Maxwell duchy, said to one of his shadow knights that reported behind him as he is facing the large window in his built property on the underground market

He was actually inside the underground market pretending to be on a business-related meeting outside the empire on his family. Because it's the easy way to stay on the underground property he bought while doing such things behind his family's back - as well as building training ground on its basement

"Yes my lord, it was on the commoner's village and it was the one with a brown roof among the small houses there. He had lived there for about 10 years or more now. As far as I've conducted from my inquiry on the villagers there, he had also built a family when he first moved in there," the shadow knight said respectfully kneeling behind the duke as Derius only smirked while imagining the things he'll do to such a man that was not anonymous to him anymore

"Great, go back and investigate more. Report all of them to me afterward," with that finality of his voice the shadow knight nodded with respect as he immediately disappeared from the shadows inside the room of the duke

A few seconds later, the duke laughed his evil laughter as he went to his seat on the table. While sitting, he took his glass of wine and made a round movement as he smirked from the plans he'll do tomorrow to shut the man immediately

'Should I let them kill him and his family? Well if that's the case then after killing them, I should burn their house afterward so no one will suspect furthermore'

With that, he laughed again as he took a sip on his wine and now was looking at the sun that was already setting down

'Tomorrow midnight will be the end of that family'

He thought while making a cheerful sound being excited about the event that will happen tomorrow.

***

It's already dawn but Grey recommended that he and Lucius go to the market and so Lucius hesitated for a bit but still went on his demand when he assured that he's alright if Lucius is on his side

"Besides we could go where my sister was having her part-time and Ellie was probably asleep in my sister's room," Grey said arranging the things and hiding his notebook under the table of their living room. He was pertaining to the bird that Iris saved

"Yeah, sure just be by my side and hold my hand all the time,"

"Yeah, brother Lucius I'm not a baby to be babysat anymore but I'll always hold your hands from now on - oh well from the time you needed to recover your injury - but when you go back to the way you were living before I hope you never forget about us,"

"Yeah I'll always remember you and your family,"

With that, he sadly smile and patted Grey's head

"So shall we go now?" Lucius asked

"Wait for a minute, I still need to pick my savings from my room,"

Immediately running towards his room as Lucius was sitting calmly in his previous position looking around the insides of the small house. There, he breathed the sweet homey aroma that it brings upon seeing the brown color together with the rays of the sun entering the room inside

For a moment, he felt that the place he was in - even for a short while - was home for him, especially thinking about the way Grey called him elder brother or brother. It gives him a sense of belonging and that was what he was searching for in his whole life 'to find a home where he'll belong'

Upon looking around, he saw where Grey hid his notebook that was under the table that made him smile for a while

"Now I'm ready!" the little child said while showing his beam and a small wallet to Lucius

"Alright, let's go,"

***

Upon arriving at the market, Grey was still holding Lucius hand while he was dressed like a child with a scarf in his neck. While Lucius was covered in a coat that he found near the living room which he probably assumed that it was Victor's coat

Shrugging the thought, Grey suddenly tugged him towards a bakeshop as he turned to see Lucius behind him

"See that? That was where my sister was having her part-time job and this is another secret brother Lucius, she wanted to be baker someday!"

Lucius was surprised at first, how Grey pointed at the bakeshop and remembered the day where he saved Damon from the assassins that were following him - as well as the shadow knights of the duke that was spying on him. He killed them all for his sake

He saw Damon there together with Iris laughing hard enough as he delivers the food to the customers inside while she was on the counter.

He was confused at first why her hair was clothed but because he saw her earlier he knew that she was hiding her beauty from the people. That was when he respected her more for taking a certain stranger to their home and aiding the person without even being scared at who they might be

He felt good at the sight of the two people he respected being nice to each other and he was never surprised in the first place that they have known each other because he saw how he saved the girl from the bad guys

'Seems like they're a good friend now, I'm happy for them'

"Brother Lucius, let's go here,"

"Alright,"

Grey tugged him along after showing him where his sister was working and led him to a shop that was selling cute kinds of stuff

"I wanted my sister to always smile and I know that if she saw it she'll think of us whenever we're not around her for her job"

"..."

They entered the shop while Grey was still holding Lucius and upon entering he saw the thing that he'll eventually give to his sister and Lucius as well

"Here is for my sister and here is for my brother Lucius. Of course here is also for mom and dad,"

Lucius was surprised but at the same time sadly smiled at Grey

'He's still young but he valued his family so much and a stranger like me’

With that, they again tour inside as Grey paid for the gives he bought with his small savings but still manage to pull them off until they were headed to the other shops just to look around because he knew that he had already run out of money

Until then nevertheless, Lucius enjoyed his time with the little brother that he had for a short time but little did they know what will happen next

***

Night came and Iris was already walking home when she and Damon bid their farewells to each other. But that wasn't the case because Selby pretended to be the first one to go home when he and Damon planned to surprise her tomorrow in the bakeshop

The two went ahead and prepared the bakeshop with birthday greetings and all with the materials that Selby brought from his house to the bakeshop. There, they did the surprising thing while it's alright for Damon to go home at night

On the other hand, Iris went ahead of the path to her home. But after going to the path she saw some faint light of the fire that was almost close to her house with the smoke above being seen so she hurriedly went to where it was until she was shocked enough to know that it was their house

No one was yelling but she needed to make sure that her family was alright and so without a second thought she ran as fast as she could inside the fiery pits of fire that was engulfing their tiny house

She didn't mind the hotness it brings or the scars and burnt she'll get. Because in her mind, she was worried about her family. Until she saw them lying on the floor bloodied together with the man that she aids back last night

'What in the world had happened!'

"Mom! Dad! Grey! Wake up it's not funny, you're all just playing pranks on me because you knew it was my birthday tomorrow! It's not funny it's hot in here! We got to get out of here please wake up all of you! It's not funny!"

Iris sobbed while seeing all of her family laid on the ground bloodied trying to process everything that had gone through their house. Until she heard her brother cough up blood and there she hurriedly went to where he is and gently held her hand

"Grey, wake up please wake up,"

"S-sister, I-I'm glad t-that you're o-okay,"

"Shhhhh, don't talk much let's get out of here I know I can carry you all just please don't leave me like this!"

She cried hard enough while looking at her little brother who was sadly smiling while shaking his head and pointing somewhere. There, she saw Lucius who was still moving but all of his body was bloodied and injured

She saw her parents also bloodied with a knife pushed in deep on her father's stomach same with her mother. Upon seeing such scenario, she still wanted to deny the reality that they were all dead from the sudden attack from her family and she can't deny that the man that Grey was pointing had saved them from all that he could

"H-he s-saved u-us all in h-here s-sister but h-he was t-the one who was b-badly hurt,"

"Shhhhhh,"

Iris tightly held his hand but with the little strength that he had he removed them while sadly smiling at his sister

"N-never f-forget h-how m-m-much w-we l-love y-you and g-goodbye I-I guess I-I'll never be able to s-see my niece anymore from y-you s-sister,"

With that, his hands fell to the ground making Iris's world shatter upon from millions of pieces as she grabbed tightly his hands but it keeps falling down

There she shout and cried and thought that she needed to die too for them to be in the afterlife but someone who was breathing badly still managed to stop her from committing suicide. He was looking at her seriously while covering the wounds that were flowing to his body as he saw her eyes turned red from the crying

"N-no t-they d-don't w-want you to be h-hurt and d-die like this. Let's get out of here,"

"No! if I die then I die this is my life and I have the right to decide what I want besides I don't have any more to call my home then what's the point?"

"Do you think they die for nothing? They died trying to protect you! They died not because they wanted to leave you it was unexpected and live that's what they wanted me to say to you"

There, she breaks down crying again as she loosened her hands from the knife that she was about to cut herself into and there smoke in the room had built up inside as she fainted for a while

Even though bloodied, injured, and wounded he never thought of those pain but thought about the book that Victor pointed out to him earlier as he carried Iris while breathing hard and coughing from the smoke and fire inside

After arriving in the room, he gets a torn up bag and put them all inside. Until he remembered the notebook that Grey told him earlier. It was in the living room, so he place Iris where there was not yet first and went back to grabbed it under the table it was slightly burnt but still he managed to pick it up and went back to where Iris was. He carried her and the bag as he breaks the back of the house on fire

There, he went ahead of the forest and when he knew he hadn't had any energy he stumbled back but before losing balance he gently place Iris still asleep from fainting leaning her back on the tree. While he did the same breathing hard and holding his wounds as he tightly grabbed the bag from beside him

'That was the worst of all. He's not only a monster his beyond being one, but he also can't be a human being from doing these kinds of things'

He thought as he was still breathing hard until he saw how the cloth fell from her hair only then did the golden hair color made him remember someone in the past came to his mind

'The Killford Family, I know that the duke and duchess were assassinated that night and so their features were never different from this young woman. Well, I still have time'