Cheng Li leaned in closer. Xunian tiptoed and stopped about ten centimeters away from him, quietly whispering something.
Cheng Li’s pupils instantly dilated.
His suspicious gaze landed on Xunian as he scrutinized her up and down, doubting the truthfulness of what she had just said. “Is that for real?”
“Of course it’s real. You can go try it yourself—he’ll answer anything,” Xunian said with a nonchalant shrug.
“Pfft—”
The golden-haired woman nearby couldn’t help but laugh, her beautiful eyebrows arching with amusement.
Cheng Li gave the Duchess a strange look, unsure why she was laughing.
Better not provoke her.
If he angered the Duchess, he might trigger the Rules and lose his life.
He walked toward the Kitchen. Since he had promised Xunian to protect Fu Ruxue, he had to put on a show in front of her.
“Let’s go.”
Xunian helplessly waved her chained slender wrist toward the golden-haired woman.
They had all been shackled—how could she run?
The Duchess said nothing as she hooked the chain and briskly pulled Xunian toward the Basement.
Fu Ruxue watched Xunian being dragged away with worry, unconsciously slicing at the cutting board with a knife in her hand.
Since the Duchess arrived, the Duke had obediently stood by without a trace of paternal demeanor—more like a subordinate to his own daughter.
How strange.
Cheng Li stood beside her. “What are you doing?”
His gaze fell on the severed hand on the cutting board. His face turned pale with disgust.
Covering his mouth, he took a few steps back, looking at Fu Ruxue like she was some kind of monster.
“Can’t you see? I’m chopping off a hand.”
Fu Ruxue smiled, baring white teeth as if trying to scare him.
Cheng Li recoiled in disgust, putting even more distance between them.
Did such a person really need his protection?
What a joke.
Cheng Li vaguely felt something was off. Why did Xunian want him to protect Fu Ruxue, when he was terrified even of snakes…
He didn’t think much of it, assuming Xunian just valued her sisterly bond with Fu Ruxue.
At the Kitchen door, the Duke paced outside, staring coldly and venomously at the man and woman inside.
His butler uniform was spotless without a wrinkle.
Even after becoming the Butler, the Duke’s cleanliness obsession remained serious…
Fu Ruxue silently cursed.
“Hm? Why doesn’t he come in?”
After pondering for a moment, the man suddenly looked enlightened. “Oh, he can’t get into the Kitchen!”
Fu Ruxue kept chopping her hand with disinterest but unconsciously pricked up her ears, listening to the noises behind her.
Hearing that the Duke couldn’t enter the Kitchen, Cheng Li grew eager.
Remembering Xunian’s tip, he waved at the Duke from the door. “Hey.”
The Duke’s snarling face stiffened. He glared fiercely, grinding his sharp teeth but didn’t make a move.
Cheng Li hesitated, then asked, “Are you… the Duke?”
In the next second, something flashed rapidly before his eyes.
Before Cheng Li could react, intense pain surged through his body.
The Duke’s distinct face loomed close as Cheng Li struggled to look down.
He saw an arm piercing through his abdomen, blood seeping out and soaking the Duke’s sleeve.
The Duke clicked his tongue, his eyes filled with extreme disdain and resentment.
Cheng Li’s expression twisted in pain as numbness spread through him.
He opened his mouth, gasping out faintly, “You’re… not… supposed to get in…”
Fu Ruxue was startled by the Butler’s sudden attack.
She gripped the knife harder and easily chopped off the fingers of the hand on the cutting board.
The five severed fingertips squirmed like writhing worms or pupae, crazily healing and morphing into a smooth, blood-red flat surface.
The sight made her nauseous. She looked up at the ceiling, trying to process what she had just witnessed.
The fingertips continued shifting, capturing Fu Ruxue’s attention.
Despite the disgust, she watched the five twisted flesh-colored pieces transform into the shape of chess pieces.
Hmm?
Hadn’t Xunian given her a bunch of chess pieces before?
Comparing them, they really did look similar.
What a bizarre coincidence—she had somehow found the chess pieces in such a strange way.
Fu Ruxue wanted to cry but had no tears.
The metallic scent of blood emanating from Cheng Li mingled with the image of the twitching fingers in her mind, churning her already uneasy stomach again.
“Ugh—”
Her face pale, Fu Ruxue turned her head and vomited onto the floor.
Acid mixed with food residue poured out in a half-digested paste, splattering everywhere.
The sour, disgusting taste lingered in her mouth as she gagged twice more but expelled nothing else—her stomach was now completely empty.
The Duke pulled out his blood-stained arm. The man before him lost all support and collapsed.
The Duke glared at Fu Ruxue, then cast a wary glance at the cutting board in front of her.
His eyes flashed with cruelty before he finally turned away.
Since the Duke was obsessed with cleanliness, he must be going to change clothes.
Fu Ruxue kept chopping her hand weakly, stretching her neck to watch the Duke’s receding figure.
Suddenly, she remembered that her Room was also the Duke’s Room.
She saw the Duke walk to the door of his own Room but just passed by it.
Hey, hey, hey?
If he’s not returning to his own Room, where is he going?
Blocked by the wall, Fu Ruxue put down her knife and quietly moved beside the fallen Cheng Li, watching the Duke enter…
The Duchess’s Room.
An unusual expression flickered in Fu Ruxue’s eyes, mixed with shock.
She hadn’t come out the previous nights, only now realizing the Duke actually spent nights in the Duchess’s Room.
If he went to the Duchess’s Room instead of his own, then the others who didn’t return to their Rooms…
Just as this thought crossed her mind, the figure of a Housekeeper appeared, heading straight upstairs to the Duchess’s Room.
Fu Ruxue cautiously waited a long time, observing the Duchess’s Room, ignoring Cheng Li’s agonized groans on the floor.
“Help me…”
Cheng Li painfully crawled toward her, clutching his bleeding abdomen.
She couldn’t save Cheng Li—she wasn’t trained in medicine.
Instead of helping, Fu Ruxue distanced herself further with a look of disdain, contemplating and analyzing the clues.
She hadn’t seen the Gardener all night.
Maybe the Gardener had already gone in without her noticing.
The Duke and Housekeeper went in and never came out.
Fu Ruxue, exhausted and dizzy after staying up all night, left Cheng Li behind and returned.
Cheng Li fainted from severe blood loss.
……
Next to an unclaimed corpse in the garden, the blood-red letters on a discarded jacket read:
【The Sixth Rule】: Shh! Don’t reveal the Duke’s identity, or else… hee hee hee…
Such a mischievous Rule was hidden in such an inconspicuous place.
……
Xunian was brought to the familiar Basement.
The Duchess lifted her off the ground, set her down, and continued pulling the chained Xunian further inside.
“I really don’t know you,” Xunian said, noticing the Duchess’s sour expression.
Her survival instinct made her change course mid-sentence. “Can you tell me about our past?”
The Duchess stopped walking, seeming to want to say something. Her lips moved a few times but no words came out.
Remembering how Xunian had tried to escape through the Manor gates earlier, her expression turned cold.
She led Xunian to the bed and gently pushed her down.
Xunian’s limp body fell easily onto the soft bed.
She propped herself up on her arms to get up but was pushed down again.
The Duchess leaned over, wrapping around her soft, warm body.
A flicker of anger rose in her eyes. This young Miss wouldn’t answer her questions and only thought about that matter…
Xunian still tried to rise, but a clicking sound rang out—something locking.
Xunian tried to punch but was restrained halfway. Only then did she realize she was chained to the headboard.
The iron chain left faint red marks on her delicate wrist. She tugged, but the chain didn’t budge.
“Why are you trying to run?”
Xunian didn’t answer. She lay back, examining the silver ring on her hand, which glittered as she moved.
Ignoring the Duchess, she focused on finding a way to open the lock.
Who asked the Duchess not to answer her questions?
“You won’t say, huh?” The Duchess laughed bitterly, her cold gaze fixed on her captive. “Then I’ll have to punish you.”
As the woman pressed down, Xunian cried out,
“Wait—”
She regretted it.
But it was too late.
The elegant hand gently pulled off a silk scarf.
————–
“Mm, no more… please…”
The girl’s eyes were red at the corners, two crystal tears trailing down her cheeks as she pleaded with the person before her.
“Still trying to run?”
“…”
The tear-filled gaze remained stubborn.
The woman curled her lips into a captivating smile. “Looks like the punishment isn’t enough yet.”
She licked her lips and leaned down.
“Enough… you… disgusting, hmm~”
The voice, altered by shame, sounded like teasing, prompting the Duchess to increase the severity of the punishment.
……
In the warm red candlelit room, skin intertwined and caressed ceaselessly.
The girl’s soft moans lasted all night before she finally drifted into a deep sleep, unaware of the faint words whispered in her ear in a haze,
“Never leave me, okay…”
……
Day Six.
Morning.
The girl on the bed furrowed her delicate brows tightly and clenched her teeth, as if suffering through a terrible nightmare.
“Sister…”
She called out and woke up with a cold sweat.
“Hiss—”
Xunian frowned again.
Her whole body ached, utterly drained of strength.
The golden figure beside her was already gone.
Xunian sneered.
The Duchess really had endless energy—she tormented her all night but still got up early to “go to work.”
Xunian tried to move but quickly grew exhausted and couldn’t get up for now.
She curled up in the warm quilt, which the Duchess had prepared in advance. It was soft and still fragrant.
Warmth lulled her toward sleep again. Blurry, she wondered how Fu Ruxue was doing.
……
Fu Ruxue rose begrudgingly, dark circles heavy under her eyes.
She hadn’t slept all night, her mind consumed with thoughts about the Rules.
And the new discoveries from last night.
She didn’t know how Xunian was doing.
Probably not well. The Duchess looked extremely angry.
Was Xunian still alive?
Fu Ruxue rubbed her tousled hair, numb as she got up, ready to start a day of searching for clues.