ROWAN LOOKED up to the sky. The darkened clouds showed an impending storm in the capital. He did not know why, but something eerie was surrounding the estate since Tori arrived. He did not see her wandering around the knights' training ground like usually did every time she came home from Trifecta Academy. Rowan felt the uneasiness within him. He called it an instinct as a knight serving Tori.

"This will be one hell of a rain." Setting aside his sword to its sheath, drenched in sweat, Rowan made way to the knight's shed to rest since the rain would come soon.

Woah! I almost got drenched by the rain!

The moment he stepped into the shed, the rain came pouring in. since he was the only knight who trained very early, he was the only one on the training grounds.

The harsh downfall of every raindrop muted everything around him. The rain's heavy fall made the surroundings vague and foggy. But the vague area was not enough for Rowan to not recognize the running silhouette of Lillian, Tori's trusted handmaiden.

"Lillian, what happened?" Rowan's worried voice snapped the frantic Lillian from being hysterical. "Lillian, answer me! Did something happen to Lady Tori?" He grasped her shaking and wet shoulders.

Her tears overridden the rain, and her worried eyes were unfocused. Lillian was out of her element, and that worried Rowan.

"It's Lady Sabina. She was poisoned and—and they found the evidence in Lady Tori's room. I can't- we can't let them take her—please, we can't let them take her!" Lillian slumped to the ground before him as he momentarily lost his grip on her shoulders.

"Let's go!"

Lillian stopped his arm. "W-Wait! The Duke—Duke of Castaña is interrogating her inside the Duke's office. I feel something is off. After yesterday w-when Lady Tori stormed out of the Duke's office. I heard from Lady Sabina's handmaiden, Shena, that Lady Sabina alone would inherit the Duchy and Lady Tori would act as her support. They said—they said that she poisoned Lady Sabina because of what happened yesterday. But I know her, I know her Rowan!"

Calming Lillian, Rowan patted her drenched hair. "I know. She would not do something as obvious as that. If anything, her sister or worse, the Duke might corner her."

Running under the heavy rain, Tori's two of the most loyal aides marched like men on a mission to the Rozenreff main house where their beloved master was being interrogated. Rowan knew that there was barely anything they could do against the nobles, but he would gladly lay down his life to save Tori, the very first person who encouraged him to live in this unfair world.

Clad in their soaked clothes, Rowan and Lillian entered the main house through the servants' door. Not wasting any second, the two of them run like being chased by the devil, but the Duke came prepared. Knights were being stationed in every nook and cranny of the Rozenreff mansion.

"Now, I am a hundred percent sure that something is going on." Sharp eyes and steeled eyes, Rowan was seething from imagining what Tori was enduring right now.

Stifling her sob, Lillian covered her mouth from sobbing out. "They are treating her like a criminal."

Two knights immediately spotted them. Their eyes met, and they were about to take the other longer route when Teresa and Johanes came.

Fuck

Teresa and Johanes had blank faces that made the two of them. "You can't stop us." Lillian walked in their direction, which astounded Rowan. He did not expect that the shivering Lillian would be so determined.

But I agree with Lillian. Only death can stop us now.

Marching just behind Lillian, they went straight to Teresa and Johanes. They steeled themselves for the incoming onslaught, but it did not come. Instead, Johanes and Teresa made their way and faced the incoming knights who were following them.

Stopping on his track, Rowan turned to the two. "Why? You're supposed to be loyal to your master."

Teresa glanced at him to answer his question. "We are and we're proving our loyalty now."

Rowan realized the weight of what Teresa was saying. They just chose the master they would serve until the end. For the four of them, it would be Lady Victoria Rozenreff. If it is not you, then I rather not serve any master anymore.

Nodding at her answer, Rowan tugged Lillian to continue where they left. They needed to go to the Duke's office before they were too late. The two ran and ran, not minding the cold engulfing their body. For them, time's their enemy.

Dashing to every corner and stairs, the two came face to face with Sabina's handmaidens led by Shena. Stopping in their tracks for the nth time, an angry Lillian faced the smirking Shena.

"Move, Shena. Or so help me, Gaia, I will whack that smug face of yours." Lillian practically growled at Shena but was stopped when she realized that over ten handmaidens were surrounding them.

I can kill them with a single swish of my sword, but that will make me more powerless. How can I help Tori when I become a criminal myself?

"Are you really in the position to threaten us, Lillian? Now that your oh-so-beloved master faces the guillotine." Her mocking voice and the snickers of the other handmaidens snapped something inside Lillian that she clawed towards Shena. The latter was balder dashed by the sudden outburst that made her stumbled backward.

"Lillian, leave them to us. We will block the way for the two of you. Just be there for our Lady Tori," A servant from the kitchen staff, Nana, appeared together with the other kitchen staff. They were bringing ladles and other kitchen tools as if those were their weapons. The worry and anger in their eyes reflected the same ones as Rowan's and Lillian's.

Shena stopped them with her shrieking voice. "You can't do that!" She reached out for the two of them, but Chef Elmond and Nana stepped between them.

"Go," Nana turned to them, which earned her a nod from Lillian. Rowan, on the other, dashed immediately towards the Duke's office.

His strides were fast, and his agility was tested.

Just one more corner. Please hold on Tori!

But the image that welcomed him stopped him in his tracks. Unconsciously, his voice slipped as he watched the woman who saved him from being bounded and guided by Duke Castaña's knights. "Stop!"

The party who just stepped out of the office stopped as they heard the desperate plea of a drenched knight as Lillian was in tow with him. Lillian covered her mouth in shock after assessing the situation of her mistress. Lady Tori was being taken to the prison cells of the capital.

"You can't take her! You have to get through me first." The result of the declaration was clear. A lone knight could do nothing against the cavalry of knights from the two Duchies.

I will protect you, Tori. His determined cobalt eyes met emotionless red eyes.

The harsh glare from the sunken eyes of Duke Luwen Rozenreff met with his cobalt ones, but Rowan stopped caring. "Take him away to the dungeon!"

The knights from the Rozenreff Duchy advanced to capture Rowan and Lillian. But the silent Duke of Castaña Duchy spoke for the first time after he stepped out of his friend's office. "Halt!"

Every knight stopped and turned to the Duke, as did everybody except Tori, who was just watching Lillian and Rowan carefully.

"What is the matter, Duke Castaña?" Lady Sabina anxiously asked the serious-looking Duke, who was just staring directly at the drenched knight. The Duke was enamored with the fact that he was just like looking at his younger version. Doubts clouded his mind as he remembered a commoner who entranced him at some point in his life.

It couldn't be.

"Come with me. I want to talk with you." The Duke uttered the words that Tori had been waiting for. Her red eyes glinted for a split second, which Rowan saw.

"I am not leaving my master's side. I'd rather die than let you take her to the prison cells."

The Duke of Castaña Duchy knew how far anyone could do with determined eyes like that with Rowan. His eyes held no remorse, even if it would mean a guillotine for him. "Then I will grant you the right to guard Lady Victoria while she was inside the cell. In return, talk to me."

"I will talk to you as I guard of my master then, Duke Castaña."

His stubbornness caused the Duke of Castaña to grin. Everyone around them did not know that the fondness written on the Duke's face would, later on, cause chaos for the noble faction.

Pieces of puzzles were slowly taking their rightful place. He did not want to assume, but the weird way the Duke stared at him made Rowan hope for something. He hoped to find a way to get Tori out of her bounds.

The very sight of her bounded wrists caused turmoil inside him. The cobalt eyes darkened even more. He would not let her suffer inside the cell. He would guard her every second.

"It's settled then. Let's go. Go and escort your master." The Duke of Castaña nodded at his knights to make room for Rowan. Lillian did not let herself watch while not doing anything, so she walked side by side with Rowan and went directly to Tori's side.

The Dukes led the group outside the Rozenreff estate. Sabina then followed the two Dukes with her head held high as if she owned everything around her. Tori was being surrounded by the knights as her wrists were being bound, while Rowan and Lillian surrounded her as protection. But even with the humiliation that Tori was facing, they could trace no tears or fear on her eyes or her face. Tori was like a blank canvas. Her elegance and grace were intact as if she was not coming to a place full of torture.

Rowan, on the other hand, was like a beast ready to pounce any moment.

The moment they reached the carriages, two carriages were prepared. The Duke of Rozenreff Duchy and Sabina would stay in the Rozenreff estate to prepare for their immediate departure to Trifecta Academy. It was the Duke of Castaña Duchy that would escort Tori.

The first carriage was for Lillian and Tori, while the second one was for the Duke and Rowan. But for the first time since her father sentenced her, Tori spoke for the first time.

Her sweet and calm voice never changed as she uttered the words that made Sabina recoil with controlled anger beneath her smiling face. "Lily, go with Sabina. Prepare me tea for my stay in the prison cell. After all, I am your beloved sister, right sister Sabina?" Tori did not wait for Sabina's reply as she went inside her carriage.

But as someone who was the future Duchess of the Rozenreff estate, being dismissed like that was astounding, as if Tori was still treating Sabina below her. "Of course, Sister Victoria."

Rowan followed Tori inside her carriage, which made the Duke of Castaña Duchy follow too. They discarded the other carriage as no one needed it anymore. The heaves of the horses signaled their departure towards the prison cells.

ROWAN WAS uncomfortable with the obvious curiosity of the Duke. He was sitting in front of Rowan while the latter was sitting beside Tori. Silence engulfed the carriage, but Rowan knew that there was turmoil inside Tori's blank eyes.

"Since when did you become a loyal knight of the Rozenreff Duchy?" The Duke finally broke the silence. Rowan snapped his attention to the Duke while Tori was still looking outside the carriage windows.

"I am not a loyal knight in the Rozenreff Duchy. I am a loyal subject of Lady Victoria Rozenreff, Your Grace."

Cackling with the newly found respect of Rowan, the Duke's grin could not be wiped from his old face. His attention turned to Tori. "What did you do Lady Victoria to earn such a loyal knight?"

Looking at him, Tori answered sweetly with a wintry smile that could quench any magma. "I offered him a new life as I picked him up from the slums, Duke Castaña. Isn't he the rawest of gems? Sadly, my father could not see this talent."

Her eyes told the Duke that she knew about Rowan's actual identity before she picked him up. The Duke was about to answer her when Rowan's serious voice interrupted him.

"I will talk to you and will take you seriously if you grant me another request, Your Grace."

"Call for a noble trial. That way, I will forget that you abandoned me as a child."

The sly smile from Tori did not go unnoticed by the Duke.