Chapter 61: The Invitation from House Edron

“What a boring thing.”

Beatrice casually tossed the invitation letter onto the floor. Glancing toward Aurora, she asked, “More importantly, is my breakfast ready?”

“It’s already noon, Mistress.”

A faint smile appeared on Beatrice’s lips. She hooked a finger under Aurora’s chin, gazing at her with teasing eyes.

“Then that means you didn’t prepare breakfast?”

“Yes, Mistress. I couldn’t stay too far from you.”

“I don’t care about your excuses. If you failed to fulfill your duties as a maid…” She curved her lips into a grin, leaning close to whisper in her ear, “Then you must be punished.”

“…Yes, Mistress.”

Some boxes, once opened, are impossible to close again.

After the indulgent night before, Beatrice had completely fallen in love with that sensation—that pure, primal thrill of not needing to think about anything, only following her desires as she crushed, destroyed, and consumed the heart of the one she loved.

All the bothersome thoughts in her mind had flown away along with her reason. All that remained was instinct, guiding her next move—stripping Aurora of everything until she collapsed from exhaustion.

It was far more enjoyable than researching magic.

“Oh? So obedient?”

She noticed something different about Aurora.

Even this morning, the moment she opened her eyes, she was greeted by that inexplicable smile—and now, this utterly obedient demeanor… It left Beatrice a little baffled.

Could it be that what happened yesterday affected her? Did doing those things to her last night trigger some kind of change in her heart?

With that thought, Beatrice decided to run a little test.

She crooked her finger at Aurora, signaling her to come closer.

“Is there something you need, Mistress?”

“Stick out your tongue.”

The moment the command was given, Aurora obediently extended her tongue without hesitation—the tongue branded with the familiar contract mark of a familiar.

Beatrice reached out with her slender fingers and placed them on that soft tongue.

But before she could issue any further command, Aurora gently enclosed those delicate fingers in her mouth, pleasuring them with her tongue in quiet submission.

“Pfft—hahaha!”

“I really do like this side of you, Aurora.”

She pulled her fingers from Aurora’s mouth. A sticky, glistening thread of saliva still connected her fingertip to Aurora’s lips.

She didn’t know exactly what had changed inside Aurora—but what she did know was that this version of Aurora was becoming exactly what she desired.

And she liked this change very much.

Aurora’s eyes were vacant, completely hollow. She no longer wanted to think about anything else.

She only wanted to become a puppet—one that moved solely according to Beatrice’s will.

Only through this kind of numbness could she stop the pain in her heart.

Beatrice stretched the chain that linked the two of them again and gave a lazy yawn.
“I’m going back to sleep for a bit. Wake me up once lunch is ready.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

After floating back into the room on her broom, the door closed behind her with a soft click.

Aurora turned around. Just as she was heading toward the kitchen, her high heel suddenly stepped on something.

It was the invitation that Beatrice had thrown onto the floor.

She bent down to pick it up, planning to toss it straight into the trash—but her gaze happened to catch a familiar name: Leonora Edron.

Leonora Edron… That was the young lady’s name!

Which meant…

She read further down the invitation and finally understood. It was sent by the House of Edron, celebrating the occasion of the Edron family’s daughter being accepted into the Knight Academy.

But then—why would Beatrice receive this invitation?

Just as the thought puzzled her, she suddenly remembered: she no longer had anything to do with House Edron.

So why should she even bother thinking about it?

In fact, she shouldn’t be thinking about it at all—because doing so might bring misfortune upon the Edron family.

With that thought, she crumpled the invitation into a ball and threw it into the trash bin.

*****

Afternoon.

Beatrice had no classes today, so the entire day was basically free.

All day long, Beatrice would hole up in her bedroom—either sleeping or sitting at her desk studying magic. Aside from meals, that was all she ever did.

Serving someone like her—if you didn’t count the daily toying around—was probably one of the easiest jobs imaginable. All Aurora had to do was cook her meals and occasionally help her relieve her desires. Beyond that, she really didn’t serve any purpose here.

Take now, for instance: Beatrice was fast asleep in her bedroom, dinner was already cooked, and Aurora had finished tidying every inch of the mansion.

With nothing left to do, Aurora sat idly on a bench in the courtyard, staring blankly at the withered silver crescent flowers.

Letting her mind go blank wasn’t easy. No matter how hard she tried, painful and chaotic images kept surfacing in her head.

‘I have to keep myself busy… That’s the only way not to feel pain.’

With that thought, Aurora stood up, planning to sweep the front gate area again.

Just as she was about to grab the broom, a man’s voice came from the front gate—the same voice as this morning.

“Excuse me, is anyone there?”

Aurora turned and walked over to the gate. Looking at the man, she asked in confusion, “Another letter?”

“Yes,” the man replied. “But this one is addressed to someone named Aurora Eve.”

“To… me?”

The man took an envelope from his bag and passed it through the gate into Aurora’s hand.

“Wishing you a pleasant day.”

With those parting words, he turned and walked away.

“A letter… for me?”

Aurora looked over the envelope carefully before opening it.

Inside was a folded sheet of paper. When she unfolded it, five bold characters stood out on the top—

Duke Edron.

The contents of the letter were largely the same: an invitation to celebrate Leonora Edron’s academic advancement.

Aurora’s grip on the letter tightened. A moment later, she crumpled it into a ball.

Just as she was about to toss it into the trash can, the paper suddenly stopped in midair.

“Whose letter is that? Why are you throwing it away before I even see it?”

Beatrice’s voice came from behind. She was dressed in her usual white nightgown, a round cap perched on her head.

“Master, you’re awake.”

“I was woken up by that damned man yelling.”

The crumpled paper floated into her hand. With a snap of her fingers, the wrinkled sheet straightened and returned to its original form.

“That’s…”

Aurora instinctively reached out to take it back—but when Beatrice shot her a glare, she quickly pulled her hand back.

“Heh. So it’s addressed to you.”

Beatrice glanced seriously at the letter and the name written on it, then suddenly turned to ask Aurora a question.

“You once told me you worked as a maid in someone else’s home…Was it this family’s?”

“…Yes, Master.”

“Heh.”

Beatrice held the letter in her hand, turned, and began walking back into the mansion.

“Pack your things. We’re going tonight.”