Owen's POV:

I listened to all of my brother's recounting with a heavy heart.

What he was telling me about our lord and his son was something that had been nagging at the back of my mind for a while now, but my loyalty to him forced me to push the suspicions away.

Turns out the situation was worse than I had suspected.

"We need to do something, Blackbourne-san." Luke pleaded.

I agreed with him, something had to be done immediately, but as I glanced out the window and saw that we had spent a long time talking and night had already fallen I felt my heart plummet.

"I believe we are a bit too late, Taylor-kun." I told him, my brain rushing through all the possibilities and fighting to find a solution to our newest dilemma.

If he didn't find a solution quickly they would end up going to war against Sang-chan, and that was something he knew his brothers would not like doing.

......

North's POV:

As night fell I slipped through the hidden passages in the house and positioned myself on the roof, directly above Marie-sama's room.

Settling myself for the wait that was to come I allowed my mind to drift a little, still keeping alert to my surroundings.

Daydreaming wasn't something I did often; being that it was more Luke's thing.

My mind went automatically to the little servant of the Sorenson clan. There was something about her that kept nagging at me, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

I had seen how she was affecting my brothers and I didn't know how to feel about it either.

Victor, Gabriel and Silas had gone out of their way this morning to make her smile, and seemed disappointed every time they failed.

I couldn't understand what was so interesting about her. I mean, sure, she was beautiful and her haunted eyes showed a depth of pain that made the overprotective side of me growl in displeasure, but still, she was just another girl in need of help.

One of many.

There should be nothing special about her.

But there was still something nagging at the back of my mind about her...

The sound of the door to the room below opening and then closing drew my attention and I focused back on my mission.

Waiting quietly I heard as the girl, Marie-sama, prepared to go to sleep.

It sounded like Sang-chan had accompanied her mistress if the long stream of abuse coming from Maries's mouth was anything to go by.

I felt my blood boil and my heart went heavy with pity for the poor girl down there.

But soon she wouldn't be abused anymore, after all, the dead can't speak, I told myself, feeling a glimmer of satisfaction at the thought of killing Marie.

I wasn't like my brothers, I didn't regret spilling blood for our lord, I did what was necessary for our family and nothing less.

After Sang left the room the light showing through the window disappeared, signaling that Marie had gone to sleep.

I waited a few more minutes, listening to the sounds of her moving in her bed until she went completely quiet, falling into a deep sleep.

I slipped through the open window, then, moving silently but surely.

I had looked around the room earlier in the day and knew the location of all the furniture in the place. There was no danger of me bumping into something in the dark even if I couldn't see.

Approaching the bed and the figure lying in it I removed the knife from my kimono's sleeve and prepared to slit her throat. It would be a quick and silent death.

Holding the knife in my right hand I was shocked when I suddenly felt a hand going around my left arm.

I had a split second to think about how small that hand was before I felt my arm being tugged in front of a slim and feminine body, and then I was flying, soundlessly through the air and through the open window of the room to land roughly on the garden outside.

I swore in my head, but stayed otherwise silent, knowing not to attract attention.

I never heard her coming, she didn't as much as stir the air before she was on me, her legs on either side of me, straddling my waist, her tiny hands removing the knife from my hand and laying it against my fucking throat.

I probably should be worried for my life, but damn, the woman was beautiful and the only emotions I could dredge​ up were admiration and lust at her display of strength.

The little servant was lethal.

And damn loyal too, even though her mistress clearly didn't deserve such loyalty.

She leans down until our noses are almost touching and says "You need to abort this mission, North-san. There are things your brothers wish to tell you."

I narrowed my eyes at her.

She might have a knife at my throat but it wouldn't be all that hard to disarm her and go back to my mission.

Then came the sudden feeling of a second knife being pressed right between my legs.

Now that gave me pause and I started to sweat.

What was there to be discussed with my brothers, thought? The order had already been given.

"Sean-san wants to speak with you." She said causing me to freeze momentarily.

Sean was the second in command and thought he couldn't go against Mr. Blackbourne his voice should always be heard.

I stayed quiet for a moment, thinking.

"Okay." I agreed gruffly and took a relieved breath when she removed her knife from my groin area.

I had to admire her courage, the girl knew how to be ruthless when necessary.

We stood and started walking silently through the gardens, heading to the infirmary.

I slid curious glances at her, noticing how smoothly she moved, and how silent she was.

That was what had been nagging at me all this time. She had the ease of movement of someone who practiced martial arts, like me and my brothers.

She wasn't a simple servant.

How the fact had eluded me for so long was vexing, I am sure that at least a few of my brothers has noticed already, which would explain the amount of attention she was receiving.

They arrived at the infirmary to find it empty.

Pausing for a moment I turned around and started walking again, this time heading for Blackbourne-san's office.

Sang-chan hesitated a bit before starting to follow me again.

We arrived at the office and I knocked at the door lightly a few times randomly.

"Come in." Said Blackbourne-san from inside.

I opened the door and stepped inside.

Kota, Luke, Sean-san and Blackbourne-san were all inside, sitting on the floor around the coffee table.

Steel grey eyes met mine, a question in them to which I answered with a shake of my head before stepping aside and presenting Sang to them.

She'd stood behind me, out of sight until I stepped aside, and her sudden appearance caused several different reactions on my brothers.

Blackbourne-san looked at me with apparent relief which made me glad that I choose to follow Sang's request instead of going ahead and complying with my orders.

Kota and Sean stood up and looked at her with concern in their faces.

Luke merely observed everything with great interest, taking in every detail but paying special attention to the girl beside me.

The look of fascination on his face as he stared at her had me on edge, but I didn't understand why.

"Please, come inside and sit with us Taylor-san and Sang-chan. We have a lot to discuss." Said Blackbourne-san, indicating the pillows on the floor for us to sit at.

We did as we were told and he started to tell us about what Luke had found out about our lord and how we needed to form a new plan.

Once Sang was sure we wouldn't try to kill her mistress anymore she stood up and excused herself, declaring it was late and she'd have a long day ahead serving Marie-sama.

I was impressed with the extent of her loyalty, especially after she was gone and my brothers told me about all that had occurred on the market and her punishment.

Her strength and courage were stunning and I was sure I had never met a girl like her before.

I wondered what it would mean for our family in the long run, because I knew that not only I but many of my brothers would want to keep her.

......

Sang's POV:

I felt exhausted, my back still hurting from my latest punishment and my mind churning with thought of betrayal, politics and revolutions.

This was too much for me and I needed to rest. I wanted to help the boys settle the problems in their clan but as tired as I was right then there was no way I would be able to think rationally.

Walking silently through the corridors of the main house I also couldn't dispel the feeling of impending doom that churned in my stomach.

I paused in the middle of the hallway. Something was very wrong, I just didn't know what yet, but my gut was screaming at me.

I let my heart take over and started walking again, this time quicker than before.

Before long I was running silently through the hallways, moving like shadow down the corridors, my gaze seeking that which troubled me so deeply.

Entering the corridor that led to Wil's rooms I notice how silent everything was.

Eerily silent.

I felt my heart contract with pain at the thought of something happening with him and rushed to his bedrooms door, opening and entering without making a single noise or disturbing the air on the space.

Walking through the first room I entered the one where I knew should be his bed, hopping to see my friend sleeping soundly.

Instead, what I saw made my heart freeze in my chest and that side of me that I fought so much against came free.

I moved without thought, the knife firmly in my clasp before I could stop myself and then I felt the blood in my hand, warm and thick as then man fell to the ground, his throat slit in a parody of a smile.

It was only then that I realized who I had just killed.

Despair overtook me. I had killed my own lord, I killed Ronald Sorenson-sama.

......

Nathan's POV:

I was sleeping soundly when Luke came to my room and woke me up saying that Blackbourne-san was calling for a family meeting.

Looking through the window to my room I could see the sky was just barely brightening, the stars still in sight even while the background change from deep blue to a clear grey color that would become a beautiful mixture of pinks, oranges and yellows soon.

I rose from my bed, dressing quickly and walked with my brothers to the office.

What I heard was at once disturbing and not that much surprising.

In a way, they had all been expecting this to happen sooner or later.

Most of their missions constituted of finishing the lives of men who became corrupted by their own power and obviously their lord was not different.

That was why their loyalty was always first and foremost to their family, not their clan.

Once they had all been debriefed about the situation I was sent to Wil-sama's rooms, to invite him to join us in the planning of his ascension as the head of the clan.

Arriving at his room, thought, I was met with an unexpected sight.

Sang-chan was kneeling on the floor, her arms around herself as she rocked back and forth in apparent despair, tiny, whimpering sounds coming from her lips.

What shocked me more, thought was the sight of Sorenson-sama lying dead in the ground, a knife still clasped firmly in his hands and my lord's son, Wil, lying motionless on his bed, the sight of an egg forming on his forehead a possible explanation for his lack of consciousness. He was still breathing so I wasn't worried.

Understanding dawned and I moved over to Sang's side, kneeling beside her.

I slowly laid my hand at her back and felt her flinch at my touch.

Remembering too late what had happened with her I cursed my own stupidity and slipped an arm under her legs, the other clasping over her butt delicately and raised her into my lap.

She let out a gasp and her eyes rose to meet mine.

They looked bloodshot, from hours of crying, no doubt. Her cheeks were unnaturally pale and her lip was bleeding where she must have bitten with too much strength.

I put my arms around her, careful of her back and pulled her into my chest, hoping to give her some measure of comfort.

I hadn't bothered to spend a lot of time with the girl, seeing how much my brothers were interested in her. I had thought it was best to keep my distance. She was too sweet and innocent for the likes of me, a killer who didn't even regret all the blood in my hands most of the time.

But feeling her small and delicate body shacking and convulsing as she sobbed in my chest was more than I could bear to stand and it caused my heart to hurt for her pain.

I let the finger of one hand run up and down her arm, from elbow to shoulder in the hope that my touch might ground her a little bit.

My other hand I laid over her thigh, keeping her in place on my lap.

Once her crying had calmed enough that she managed to stop she raised her head from where it had been hiding in my chest.

Her eyes met mine again, looking dazed and exhausted.

I gave her what I hopped was a reassuring smile before slipping both my arms under her butt from each side of her and standing up.

She gasped at the move and laid her hands on my shoulders to stead herself, her gaze seeking mine with a question in them.

This death was a complication we hadn't expected, but we would find a way to help her.

A groan from the direction of the bed caused the girl in my arms to stiffen and look toward where Wil was now waking up. A bit too late, in my opinion.

The boy in the bed blinked his eyes open and Sang exclaimed, "Wil!"

She started wiggling in my arms, clearly wanting to be put down so she could rush to the boy's side.

I didn't like it one bit, so instead of putting her down I moved to the bed and sat down beside Wil, putting Sang back in my lap, a firm hand around her waist to keep her in place.

She gave me a strange look but didn't move to get up, fixing her attention on the dazed boy.

"Wil, are you okay? How are you feeling?" she spoke with him, her voice soft, the lack of honorific after his name showing clearly how close these two were to each other.

A strange feeling was churning in the pit of my stomach but I choose to ignore it for now, focusing instead in how good her body felt do close to mine.

She smelled like flowers.

I liked that.

"Sang? What?" The boy looked between us confusedly before he started looking around the room and his eyes fell on the figure in the ground.

Understanding dawned on his expression, followed by disbelief and then rage.

I felt Sang stiffen in my arms and let the hand that was resting in her leg begin to move in a circular motion, hoping to distract her and calm her down.

Her body began to relax against mine when Wil turned his attention back to us, his gaze calculating, taking it all in.

I knew he took notice of my protective-possessive stance with Sang in my lap, but I couldn't read what he thought of it, his face a blank mask.

"Blackbourne-san called in a meeting." I said.

The boy nodded his head and stood from the bed, moving in the direction of the door.

I stood too, Sang still in my arms and moved to follow him, the tiny girl relaxing against me, allowing me to take care of her for the time being.

It made my heart beat faster and wish I was worthy of such a sweet little thing.

As it was, I would be happy simply being her protector, making sure she didn't need to kill again.

AN: *Looks around guiltily* Hi guys! *Waves*

I know it's been a while, SORRY!

My excuse is that I just moved back to my parents house, so i didn't have time to write while boxing all of my things. But now I'm back and that means more updates! :D