Chapter 13

Knock...knock...knock...

There was a knock on the door, Layla, who had just finished showering and was still wearing a towel, gasped in surprise. Today there were no maids to help her bathe because the three maids who usually helped her were still in the dungeon.

"W-who is that?" She was excited to find out who was knocking on her bedroom door.

"It's me!" Lucien replied. His firm and charismatic voice can be easily recognized.

"I just finished showering and haven't gotten dressed yet, can you wait a moment?"

"Just open the door now, I want to talk!"

"O-okay," she said, opening the front door hesitantly.

Lucien was standing in front of the door, still wearing a black tuxedo. He looked so handsome and sometimes without realizing it, Layla was amazed and praised his figure in her heart.

"You shower alone?" Lucien asked. Layla thinks Lucien should know that she no longer has a maid.

"Didn't you punish them by keeping them locked up in the dungeon? I'm sure you haven't forgotten that!"

"They'll be released if you behave."

"Is it true?"

"Yes, so it all depends on your attitude and actions. Whatever you do will have a direct impact on them. Every small mistake you make intentionally or unintentionally, they will be the ones who will be punished."

"What the hell? Why must they be punished? You can punish me directly, you don't need to make them scapegoats!"

"I hired you and spent quite a lot of money to bring you here. Therefore, I will not give punishment that will have a direct impact on you. Therefore someone must be sacrificed and your three maids are sacrifices."

"Sacrifice? That's so evil, what wrong would I do that you need a sacrifice to replace my punishment?"

"No one knows until you do it! That's why you better think carefully if you want to do something, because I won't hesitate to hurt anyone!"

"What about the punishment I received? I've been in prison all night, is that what you want too?"

"Unfortunately the punishment you just received was not my will, but the will of my brother, Keith. You tried to run away and you attacked him with a rifle. I don't think that small punishment had too bad an impact, right?"

"He was the one who attacked me first! He almost shot me to death and he-"

"Are you sure it was purely his fault?" Lucien asked. His expression became colder every time he wanted to emphasize the mistakes Layla had made.

Layla was silent, she knew that it was difficult for her to dodge, let alone try to defend herself, because in reality she was the one who was at fault.

"It was my fault because I tried to run away. But he didn't need to use a gun to bully me! What if his shot had been on target and hadn't missed the tree, I could have been killed!"

"Keith is a sharpshooter, he never misses a single shot. If it's a tree that gets shot and not you, that means from the start the target was the tree and not you!"

"But still he-"

"I have to warn you to be careful of him, if you cause trouble with him, then in the future he won't let you live a peaceful life!" He said as he started to leave.

"Are you going to let him? Are you going to let him bother me?"

"Unfortunately I won't always be with you to watch over you. If you want to live a peaceful life here, it's best to admit your mistake and apologize to him!"

"But you're his brother, right? Why don't you just tell him not to bother me?" Layla was starting to panic now, she didn't think that there was a big possibility that Keith would bother her more seriously. If she could put a little trust in Lucien, but in Keith, she really felt afraid because of the violent, aggressive and frontal attitude that Keith showed.

"Think for yourself about how you can defend against the attacks he might give. If you whine and act spoiled, he might get even more excited. So, think for yourself!" He said as he walked away.

"Wait...!" Realizing that Lucien was leaving, Lyra quickly grabbed his hand. He felt that Lucien still had to say something about the two of them.

"Do you need anything?"

"I need you!" She answered. She looked at Lucien with confidence, after all the strange and surprising events she experienced during the two days in this mansion, she felt that she could not act rashly. Considering Lucien was the one who brought her here, the only person she could rely on was Lucien. No matter what Luciens' true intentions were, she was sure that Lucas would be the only person who would be responsible if something bad happened to her in this place.

"Hmm?" Lucien looked at her closely, his cold eyes looked calm and charming. Layla felt a strange flutter in her chest every time she looked into this man's eyes.

"I apologize,"

"What are you talking about?"

"I apologize for my bad attitude, therefore I beg you to forgive me!"

"Okay, let's just say I've forgiven you. Are you happy?"

"You can't do that! I want you to forgive me from the bottom of your heart. Because if you don't I-"

"You?"

"I-I won't be able to do my job well."

***