"Verena, for the last time, drop it." Dominik Tavanor was sitting at his desk, a look of extreme frustration on his face. He loved his daughter, but for a vampire, she was still barely an adult, and there were some things he didn't think she was ready for. "I promise, it's under control. These deaths are none of your concern."
"But father!" Verena sat across from him, completely lost as to why the Count was so unconcerned with the current events. "Two major nobles in the city have died in less than a week! How is this under control?"
Verena was, reasonably, quite alarmed. In the week since Marianne disappeared, two noble lords(a baroness, and a viscount) who lived in Crimson March had been found dead in their homes. They were, seemingly, completely secure, yet they were killed in a manner that felt almost casual. One was even in a locked room with no windows. Despite that, she was found with her throat slit, with no signs of struggle, forced entry, or even the presence of another person. None of their security measures had done anything. The viscountess who had lost her husband even brought in a diviner, and there wasn't a single trace of any other presence in the room. It was almost like he had been killed by his own shadow.
"You say it's none of my concern, but I find it extremely concerning that you seem to care so little about a potential threat to our power." Verena was very insistent. She had been hounding her father about this for over a day. "There's an assassin at work, in the city, who seems unstoppable, and undetectable. What if they come after us!?"
Dominik let out a soft growl. He shook his head. "They won't. No assassin gets that good by being reckless. They'll know, very well, that the death of a Tavanor would not go unpunished. Even if they killed both of us, Duke Maurice would never let it slide." Duke Edwin Maurice, the lord who ruled over the Eastern Province, and Count Tavanor's immediate superior within the power structure of the kingdom, was one of the most well-loved nobles in all of Agoria. The people adored him because he put his people first. Under his rule the past few decades, the Eastern Province had flourished. This growth, which was thanks, in no small part, to house Tavanor, had made his region of Agoria the second most prosperous province in the kingdom. Only the Central Province, under the direct rule of the royal family, was in better condition than the east.
The Duke relied heavily upon the Tavanors. Verena's dedication at improving the Tavanor domain had placed their family at the top of the pecking order, in the Eastern Province. The family was so critical to the growth of the region that, when he and his wife had started to think they might be barren, Duke Maurice had seriously considered appointing Count Tavanor as his successor. Of course, the Maurice family had since managed to conceive a child, so the Duke now had his own heir.
Regardless, it was for this reason that the Count had never feared assassins. Due to his close contact with their network, he knew that the vast majority of them were fully aware of how bad it would go for them if they targeted his family. Now, this didn't mean that he was careless. Dominik still employed guards and security worthy of his family's status, but he was not concerned about this particular assassin, in the slightest. After all, he knew who it was, and he knew that Marianne would never raise her blade against his daughter.
However, he couldn't exactly tell Verena that. "Verena, please, just trust me." Dominik leaned forward, massaging his temples as he sighed heavily. "If it will help calm you down, I'll tell the guards to be extra alert, but I assure you, this isn't the threat you think it is."
Verena stood, extremely frustrated, "Fine, I'll drop it, but if an assassin comes after us, I expect a proper explanation, from you." She then turned and left the room before her temper got the better of her.
Dominik shook his head, groaning. "Those two will be the death of me... I hope Marianne gets it together, soon. I don't know how much more of this I can take."
*****
That night, Verena was restless. She knew her father wouldn't be so sure about this without reason, but something in the back of her mind kept nagging at her. She was certain that something was coming.
That's why, when a soft pair of footsteps landed on the carpet, by her window, she was immediately alert. She didn't react, not wanting to alert the intruder, but she very carefully opened her eyes, the tiniest bit. A shadowy figure was standing in her room, silhouetted against the night sky, through her window.
Verena gripped the dagger under her pillow, her whole body tense as the figure approached. When she saw the glint of steel in the intruder's hand, she knew she had been right. She waited patiently, letting the assassin get closer. Then, right as they were getting into position, she struck. Instead of going for the kill, Verena targeted the arm that held the blade, trying to disarm the attacker so they could be taken alive. If they could do that, they could likely find out who had hired the assassin, eliminating the threat at it's source.
However, Verena was a classless woman with Dexterity and Agility both below twenty. Her opponent, on the other hand, was a trained, skilled assassin whose growth, and leveling, had been focused entirely on this very career. She never stood a chance.
The attacker easily deflected her attack, growling softly. He spoke in a deep, rough voice. "Fucking bitch! Be a good little noble, and die with some dignity, why don't you?"
Verena rolled off the bed, narrowly avoiding the man's attack as she fell to the floor. She scoffed as she scrambled to her feet. "Dignity? Dying to a worthless bastard like you is the least dignified death I can imagine!" Verena may have been lacking in her physical capacity, but if there was one thing she was a master at, it was pissing people off.
"Why you little..." The assassin lunged for her, leaping across the bed. However, just as she had predicted, his haste led to him misjudging his leap, catching his foot on the edge of the bed and throwing off his attack. Verena was, indeed, a master at angering others, and anger made people reckless, which led to them making mistakes.
Verena scrambled out of the way of the man's poorly executed attack. As he recovered, she tried to run for the door of her room. However, he was faster than she expected. Reaching for the doorknob, she barely pulled her hand out of the way of a thrown knife, receiving a cut on her hand, for her trouble. She leapt away from the advancing assassin, but he didn't give her a chance to regain her balance. She tripped, landing on her back as the man stood over her. "I'm going to enjoy this, you little brat."
Verena knew she was dead. She never had any illusions about being able to overpower this man. She merely hoped she could buy herself enough time for the guards to arrive, but she had failed. The darkness closed in around her as the assassin raised his blade, and Verena found herself strangely calm.
In that moment, she had a lot of regrets, but there were only a few things that really stuck with her. She regretted how much this would hurt her parents. She knew her father would blame himself for not listening to her concerns. Even though he had put the guards on high alert as promised, he would still think of this as his fault.
Her mother would be devastated. Verena was even closer with her mother than she was with her father, and that bond was further compounded by her mother's frequent absence. As an advisor to King Siegfried, Lucile Tavanor spent much of her time in the capital. The rare occasions on which she returned to Crimson March were spent almost entirely with her husband and daughter. Losing Verena would ruin her, and Verena hated that thought. However, she found that, above all else, her biggest regret had nothing to do with her parents.
Marianne... It was then, looking death in the face, that Verena understood that Marianne was more than a friend to her. She didn't know what the things she felt about her lady-in-waiting meant, and she hated that she would never get the chance to find out. She regretted not having a chance to see her again. Most of all, she regretted dying with Marianne still thinking she hated her.
As she stared up at the assassin standing over her, she closed her eyes, shedding a single tear. Then, right when the blade fell, something happened.
Ding!
New system notification.
*****
Marianne was frantic. She was a streak of darkness, racing along the streets of Crimson March. She was furiously berating herself for he idiocy. She had projected her own fears onto Verena, and now her lady was in danger. She knew, in her heart, that someone would come for Verena tonight. She didn't know how, but she was absolutely certain it would happen.
Because she had just escaped the gang hideout where her last target was, her [Umbral Warp] was still on cooldown, so she was speeding towards Tavanor manor as fast as [Shadow Walk] would allow. The dread in her heart got stronger every moment, and she feared she would be too late.
Without a moment of hesitation, she opened her system and selected [Oathsworn Battle Maid]. She had no reason to doubt her decision, and she already knew she would stand by Verena's side for as long as she lived.
Then, with [Umbral Heart] she sent her shadow ahead of her, with a single instruction, protect Verena. Without her direct instruction, her shadow could only follow simple commands. However, with the skill scaling based on her Dexterity of one hundred, its range and strength were truly absurd. The shadow shot off, far faster than Marianne, herself, could move, and she felt the dread in her heart lessen a bit.
As she approached the manor, she saw a notification that sent a wave of relief washing through her.
Alert: Verena Tavanor has accepted your loyalty. [Oathsworn Battle Maid] will now take effect.
Marianne felt a surge of power flow through her, and she knew that everything would be alright.
*****
Alert: Marianne Whispwind wishes to pledge herself to you as an [Oathsworn Battle Maid]. Do you wish to accept?
As Verena was met with the second most shocking thing she had ever seen on her system, the assassin's blade raced towards her heart. However, the darkness that been closing in on Verena suddenly solidified. The steel of the dagger met a solid barrier of shadow, and the attack glanced off harmlessly. For a few tense moments, Verena tried to process everything that had happened, all at once. Then, as soon as she registered what the system notification was saying, she accepted without a second thought.
As the assassin reeled, dumbfounded by what had just happened, Verena got to her feet. The man look at her, furiously. "What the hell!? You're supposed to be classless!"
The young vampire smile coldly. "You see, that's the thing that so many people seem to forget." She took a confident step forward. "Classless doesn't mean helpless."
As the man raised his blade again, a figure leapt from the darkness behind him, and a blade, formed from that very darkness, pierced his throat. The man died almost instantly, dropping to the ground to reveal the woman behind him.
She was a sight to behold. Her long, brown hair was tied back in a way Verena had never seen before. Instead of the maid uniform she usually wore, her body was wrapped in tight-fitting black clothes that revealed every curve of her body. Her wide hips and heavy breasts were outlined, clear as could be, for Verena to see. But the thing that captivated Verena, as always, was her eyes. Those deep blue eyes were exactly as she always remembered. Piercing, aware, full of wisdom and tenderness that she only showed around her mistress. For Verena, there was no sight in the world more beautiful than the one in front of her.
"Marianne!" The young vampire threw herself forward, wrapping her beloved maid in a tight embrace. Marianne happily accepted the hug, recognizing the feeling she thought she had felt when she return to the darkness, a week ago. That feeling was wrong, but this one was undeniable.
The feeling of coming home.