3 An intriguing invitation.

REMOLDANE EMPIRE.

The atmosphere in the room of the large dining hall was cold despite the fire crackling at the fire place a few feet from them .The lighting was dim .A man was sitted on the large chair at the head of the long dinning table ,his presence dominating the room.There was only the clinking of cutlery on the plates of the woman sitted at his right a few sits away.The woman with arburn red hair stared at the man on the head of the table from her pheriphal vision ,hesitant to start a conversation with him. While she was muddling on a topic to bring up,the man causally brought out his pocket watch,flipped it open, studied the ticking arrow for a moment then returned it back to his pocket.

He wore a crisp white shirt that stretched over his taunt wide shoulders a few button open at the front reveling a silver of his well defined chest and collar bones. There was a few moment of silence that followed his actions.

"What troubles you lady daphne?" His deep calm voice rumbled. Seeing her opportunity she took it. "Nothing much m'lord. But, may i request something? ".

"Go ahead" he hummed picking up his cutleries.

She took a big gulp of her wine before speaking "I would like to visit my parents tomorrow. It has been quite a few weeks since I've seen them and i miss them dearly".

He paused in his tracks of cutting into his steak. "You may go. As a matter of fact lady daphne i would send a gift for them I'm sure they would love".

"Thank you my lord.." she said with a short bow.

The hall once again remained silent and the clinking continued. Lady daphne watched with slightly battered breath as the Lord finally cut into his steak. Taking a generous amount he slowly brought it to his lips and her fingers clenched slightly on her cutlery.

She watched his every move, how he gracefully put the food in his mouth and chewed, his adam apple bobbing as he swallowed causing a pool of heat and nerves to form low on the pit of her stomach.

She resumed eating exhaling a breath she didn't know she's been holding.

"Its rather a shame you'd thought I'll die so easily". The statement made her freeze and the temperature in the room suddenly drop making the air feel still and hard to breath.

"She looked up at him with wide eyes "W-what..d-do you mean my lord" she struggled to keep her voice still as she started to visibly tremble.

Suddenly the cutleries in her hand fell with a clang.

He slowly lifted his eyes to gaze at her direction. His sharp gaze cutting into her, she suddenly felt breathless and reached for her throat. She started heaving the next moment. Her hands dropped heavily to her plate turning it over and sending it crashing at her feet . Couldn't breath, she clawed at her throat. The distinct sound of footsteps could be heard as she wheezed trying to take in air but failing.

The footstep stooped at her side. Shoes crunching on the broken pieces of glass. In a feeble attempt she reached for the glass of water at her side, a hand got there first pulling it away and out of her reach. She coughed up blood and heard him tsk.

"You bit more than you could chew lady daphne" His words sounded pitiful but she could hear the sharp edge and taunting tone. She stared at her hands covered in her blood and turned to stare at him in disbelief only for her chin to be roughly gripped and pulled up to stare at him. He was holding his pocket watch in his other hand now and studying it "Hmm, you lasted longer than the others. What an achievement. ". He cocked his head to the side " but don't worry it'll only take a few more moments for it to be over".

"Well... you earned yourself a secret then. I'll tell you how you die. A harmless substance but quite deadly when taken with red wine". His gaze flickered from her wine glass and back to her. Her eyes widened.

"You know..." he added pressure to her chin and she coughed up more blood on his hand. "You were my favourite. You just never gave up, lasted the longest too. You first tried to drug me; multiple times if I may say. Obviously that didn't work and your small puny brain didn't tell you to stop. Now you made the biggest mistake of all.... you tried to kill me. With poison?" He scoffed.."Surely you could have come up with something better than that?"

He tugged her chin closer and she groaned in pain "I'm sorry to disappoint you but this devil can't be killed so easily. You see, i have a mission. To punish all those for their sins...So have fun in hell , try not to miss me so much". And in the last second before lady daphne heaved her last breath she saw the devil lips tugged up at the side and his eyes glinted in the darkness. At that moment she stared at him with both shock, hatred, confusion, lust and more of all...a bone chilling fear.

A knock sounded on the heavy oak door to the dinning room.

"Come in" Lord Silas said without turning to the door, now at the side of his seat he cleaned up his blood covered hands with a piece of rag.

The person pushed into the room, it was his adviser. "M'lord.." he gave a low bow not paying any mind to the dead woman now slummed on the table.

Lord Silas settle on his chair once again. This was his que to speak "You have letters of invitations once again".

"Do i need to tell you to get rid of them" Although Lord Silas was a man feared by many they would all trample upon each other at his feet, for the honor of him gracing their occasions.

"I understand milord...but, i feel this would quite interest you".

He looked towards his adviser with a raised eye brow then stretched out his hand. The letter was placed in his palm and written on the letter in place of the receiver was a name that made him chuckle in amusement. He peeled open the seal and read the content. His eyebrow remained raised the entire time till the end of the letter. With a smirk of amusement on his lips and his eyes twinkling in mischief he said " Get ready old friend, it seems we are visiting somewhere for a short visit".

"Yes sire" the adviser bowed with a straight face as if the unusualness of the situation wasn't baffling.

"Oh and don't forget to clean up that mess.." he waved to the dead woman "And send her family the gift. It was long awaited"

Frederick nodded and exited the room to attend to the preparations. Lord Silas remained seated, a wicked grin on his face as he contemplated the contents of the letter. His eyes sparkled with intrigue and anticipation.

Like the way he promised Lady daphne, the next morning her family received a gift at their doorstep. Opening the box, the family was gifted the horrific sight of their eldest daughter severed head, along with a note written in red liquid which they knew was her blood from the metallic smell, it said..

"Your daughter was a nice companion. Please don't hesitate to send another next time". Signed with lord initials. This was another warning for a greedy family.

Lady daphne family wallowed in pain and sorrow for days, at the cruelity bestowed on them.

As the carriage carrying Lord Silas and his adviser Frederick rumbled towards their next destination, the enigmatic lord reveled in the thrill of the unknown, his eyes fixed on the horizon and the mysteries that awaited in the Gerdelion Empire.