Early sun rays peeked through the window making Blythe groan in her sleep. She was not a morning riser at all. She was pampered to do as she wishes by her father and that habit of hers can be overweighed when she was in the Knight castle.

The morning at the knight castle was buzzing with activity that needs to be completed before being pointed by their master. Cooks were already making breakfast to please their master like usual. Lyndon, the butler, was going through the morning logs of accounts of tenants and the land. Lucy was preparing toiletries for Blythe and went into the guest room to wake her up.

Lucy, for one, knows how her master was pressed on punctuality and discipline was the God he worships. So, it was a common knowledge for the castle help that Lord Knight can be a ruthless when it comes to time. He likes everything in order and he maintains that rule for himself too. Lucy was particularly busy that morning because she was to escort Miss Blythe to the breakfast table in time before Lord Knight arrives and it was already too late.

"Miss. Miss Garrick, please wake up. You have a breakfast meeting with the Lord." Lucy shook Blythe's shoulder slowly in a try to wake her up. Blythe groaned and slapped the hand away which was shaking her.

Lucy stiffened and looked at the sun the was already rising from behind the mountains far away. She has a very little time to get Miss Garrick to the breakfast.

"Miss Garrick, please wake up. Lord Knight would be down for breakfast soon. Please." Lucy was getting anxious when Blythe nothing but brushed her waking call and used profanities unlike a lady.

"You scanty beggar! Move away." Blythe pushed away Lucy harshly and Lucy stumbled back on the table with a force. Blythe was furious to be woken up early in the morning when all she wanted to do was pleasure her body with the soft lush bed and satin smooth covers which she could not experience till now.

The greed to trap the Lord was becoming stronger every moment she spent there in the castle. "Go and prepare hot bath for me and scented herbs. Now" Blythe ordered with triumph, enjoying the feel of ordering people like a queen.

Blythe got up from the bed with a forged grace and draped the robe over her nightgown. Lucy escorted her to the restroom and gave her herbal powder and a stem brush to clean her teeth. In the meantime she prepared hot bath with oils and herbs.

Lucy felt thwarted by the way she was treated by Blythe. She was never treated with such disrespected in the castle ever. It was the Lord rule to respect everyone to gain respect in return so the castle always ran in a peaceful manner. Master was always particular about providing the needed freedom of thoughts and never treated people as low rank because he always considered hard work over any societal ranks.

The staffs who were working for the Lord, no doubt feared him, but also appreciated him for his moral towards them. Their respect towards him was genuine and natural. It was not because he was a master that they are working for and they are obliged to but they valued him because he earned it.

Assisting Blythe with getting bathing and dressing, she styled her hair pinning up fresh from at the side of her hair. Lucy immediately ushered downstairs to the dining room.

Blythe touched her styled hair with flower in contentment at the feel of being coddled by the Lord. Lord Knight was already sitting in the dining hall and was talking to Lyndon about the pest that was creating trouble in the locality.

"My Lord, I am so honored to tell you that you look so fine-looking this morning." Blythe curtsied with a flirty smile playing over her lips. The Lord just nodded his head and gestured her to take the opposite chair.

"Miss Garrick, as much as I want to praise your beauty, I do not like it when people under my roof do not follow the orders I have set. Everyone must and should follow the system I have designed. Since it is your first day here, I will let it go but do make it a point to follow the rules." Lord Knight affirmed sternly and gestured the kitchen maid to plate the breakfast.

"Yes, My Lord. I apologized for what happened." Blythe bowed her head with a small frown marring on her face. She was not expecting the strict Lord that morning. She was fantasizing a tender and passionate Lord who would get mesmerized by her.

But Blythe understood that way to win Lord Knight was yielding to his will.

The breakfast ended shortly and the Lord led her through the castle giving her a tour. He showed her the all the sixteen room in that wing and led her towards the cellar promptly.

"Aren't you going to show me the wing you reside in, My Lord?" Blythe asked walking a step behind him. She was enamored by the huge palace and it's exquisite beauty.

"That building was solely for me and I do not appreciate anyone other than I and few servants there." The Lord replied curtly and walked her towards the dungeons briskly.

"And here is my amusement division of the castle." He hollered with a sinister joy that would creep out people into hiding.

"Amusement? The dungeons?" Her voice was betraying the cool façade she was trying to maintain. The Lord suddenly seemed to be demonic for her and she did not like how his eyes were glittering, when he was looking at the cells.

"Ah, Yes. I lock people here and punish them for their wrong doings. Good heavens it is the best feeling I would acquire when I find my wicked ways through their bruised bodies. Purely heaven, I say." He smiled towards her in a way devilish suggestions of pain and agony. Blythe felt her skin prickle with Goosebumps and a cold shiver ran through her spine.

Her stomach clenched in fear at the evil look the Lord harbored while looking at a man in one of the cells having sliced and pierced bloody marks all over his body.

She was being delusional. The idea of the polite and accommodating was a pure misconception. She heard many stories of the Lord from the people in and around the village but she was all attentive only for his looks, power and wealth. She forgot how dangerous the Lord can be. She thought she can easily get the Lord for herself but she neglected the demon in him that people feared.

"This man over here was my former employee; now look at him rotting in the hell I made for him." The Lord's voice held dark humor in it. He was get amused at the look of agonizing employee.

"W-why – why is he here?" She tried to make her query a polite one coming to know the Lord personally; she can be the next person in the cell for questioning him.

"I trusted him and he gave something important of mine to my foe. I did kill the foe painfully but to me betrayal is bigger sin than that of my enemy did." Blythe gulped and wetted her dry lips with her tongue.

What has she gotten herself into?

She thought to become a queen to the complete region but the Lord proved to be even dangerous than her and her father. She only knew one man who was so malicious and that was her father but the mysterious diabolic aura of Lord Knight was complete in another height. He was not just a rotten person like her and her father, he was the devil himself.

Lord Knight snapped his fingers and a guard opened the cell gate. The Lord strode into the cell leisurely and sat on the chair that was meant for him. Blythe did not dare to go inside the stinking cell but she stood just outside the gate watching everything.

"Whenever I am annoyed, I come by here and take it out on these prisoners. Believe me dear Miss Garrick, cutting through one's skin just a little, not enough to kill him but enough to hurt them is a good pass time and stress reliever." The Lord winded the sparks of dread she was feeling.

He took a pair of small clippers and pinched the man's skin nonchalantly here and there and drew painful amount of blood from the body. The man hissed and screamed in pain when he felt the stinging pinch on his bruised skin.

Blythe paled at how casually the Lord was torturing the man with an utter delight clearly visible on his face.

She was wrong to underestimate him. She was truly wrong, for what she needed the most right then was to flee far away from him and hide in the shadows he could not see her.

"Watch everything clearly, Miss Garrick. After all the future is expecting much more response from you." Blythe stood puzzled at the riddle of words that the Lord threw at her with a crafty smile.

What does he mean by that?