Lucida’s gambit had ended in a humiliating failure.

Dan was dead.

The remaining four had been captured with pitiful ease. They possessed magical power and physical strength, but they entirely lacked the experience of real combat.

When thrust into a life-or-death situation, their mental fortitude simply shattered. Under the crushing stress of the ambush, they were easily dismantled by Meera and her seasoned crew.

Ulrich returned to the estate from the capital the very next morning.

The moment his carriage rolled through the gates, Fabian was there to receive him, immediately delivering a detailed report of the events that had unfolded in the night.

Ulrich had, of course, briefed Fabian about Meera and her crew beforehand.

Still, the loyal steward was confounded by his master’s recent decisions. He simply could not understand why the Count would hire sea brigands to guard the estate in his absence.

First, the man formally adopted three young witches. Now, he was relying on ruthless ocean hunters as mercenaries?

His lord’s actions were becoming increasingly baffling. Yet, ever the dutiful servant, Fabian had quietly managed the situation, providing Meera and her crew with a temporary place to rest on the outer grounds.

Upon his arrival, Ulrich did not waste any time. He immediately ordered Meera to bring her prisoners inside the estate walls.

He commanded them to meet him at the rear of the property, far past his personal, meticulously kept gardens. It was a secluded area where the gardeners cultivated sprawling grapevines and fresh fruit trees, anchored by a massive wooden building that served as the estate’s wine reserve and main storeroom.

To ensure complete privacy, Ulrich had dismissed all the servants and gardeners from the grounds for the entire morning. The gardens were thus empty.

Accompanied by guards, Ulrich walked toward the storehouse, the steady crunch of his boots ringing calmly in the soft morning breeze.

As he approached, he found Meera waiting lazily beside the wooden structure. Bound and kneeling in the dirt before her were the four surviving intruders: Lucida, Shana, Theos, and the one-handed Creon.

So, a rogue faction of Coven really had attacked his home to steal back the daughters of Anna-Maria.

Ulrich had thought that his absence would provide the perfect window for an assault, and his trap had worked flawlessly. He hadn’t been certain they would strike this week, but he knew the probability was never zero.

These were not ordinary orphans. The blood of Anna-Maria, the legendary Matriarch of the Crimson Garden, flowed through their veins.

In the original plot of the novel, Airam, Hermione, and Esther had suffered a far darker fate. They had been captured by different twisted, corrupt nobles, separated, and hidden away for years.

During that lost time, the three girls had been subjected to despicable, unspeakable cruelties. Because they were kept in the shadows, treated as expendable slaves in secret dungeons, no one had known their whereabouts, and no rescue ever came.

But this time, Ulrich had boldly and formally adopted them.

He had placed them directly in the public eye. Because of that, almost everyone in the underground world knew exactly where the three sisters were, making rescue attempts an inevitability.

By taking them in as legal adoptives rather than chaining them up in a basement, Ulrich knew he was drawing the attention of the Covens. However, this same public legitimacy was likely why the witches had hesitated, acting far less recklessly than they otherwise might have.

The Covens were confused. They were trying to understand his true intentions.

Regardless, Ulrich knew with certainty that this pathetic raid would not be the last.

When the three sisters eventually awakened their true, terrifying potential, the world would stop at nothing to claim them. Covens would never willingly leave such monumental power in the hands of a man universally known for hunting their kind.

"Oh, Count Rubenhart!"

The moment Meera spotted Ulrich approaching, she immediately straightened her posture, tossing him a bright, eager smile as she waved her hand.

"Are you alone?" Ulrich asked.

"Well, of course I am! Your guards wouldn’t let my men past the gates!" She complained, crossing her arms with an exaggerated pout.

"Why would I ever allow third-rate brigands to set foot on my grounds?" He replied.

"And what about me? I am their captain, you know," Meera asked, arching a delicate brow.

Ulrich’s gaze slid over her.

"You are different," he said.

A sudden blush exploded across Meera’s cheeks. Her lips trembled for a split second before she completely abandoned her composure, throwing herself directly at him.

"I love youuu, Ulrich!! Accept my confession and take me right now!!" She squealed, puckering her lips and lunging for a kiss.

Without missing a step, Ulrich raised a gloved hand, palming her face and halting her advance mid-air.

"Was it just these four?" He asked, completely ignoring her outburst.

"Hm?" Meera blinked, reluctantly composing herself as she pulled away from his palm. She turned a bored gaze toward the prisoners shivering in the dirt.

"Oh, right. There was a fifth one. He sacrificed himself rather stupidly. I really had no choice but to kill him to protect my men. Is that alright with you?" She asked, tilting her head and offering him an exaggeratedly innocent, vulnerable look.

"It’s fine," Ulrich said.

He stepped past her, coming to a halt directly in front of the kneeling intruders. For a long moment, he simply stared down at them in silence.

"You trespassed on my lands. You attempted to break into my private property," he finally spoke, his voice dripping with icy contempt. "Though, considering the despicable nature of your kind, I suppose I should not be surprised."

His cold, crimson eyes bore into them, devoid of any mercy.

Gritting her teeth, Lucida snapped her head up, meeting his terrifying gaze with anger.

"Those three girls are witches! Give them back to us! What are you planning to do with them?!" She screamed.

Ulrich’s expression did not change.

"What I choose to do with them is my own business," he said coldly. "Those three are now a recognized part of my House. They bear my family name. They belong to me."

"They will never belong to a monster like—!"

Lucida’s furious retort died in her throat.

Without a word of warning, Ulrich’s hand shot out. He grabbed Creon, who was kneeling beside her, by his hair, jerking his head back to expose his neck.

Creon hadn’t even time to understand what was happening as he faced Ulrich’s ruthless gaze.

In a single motion, Ulrich drew a dagger and cleanly slit the man’s throat.

It was a perfectly executed sweep. A spray of hot crimson splashed across Lucida’s face, painting both her and Shana in Creon’s lifeblood.

"N—No!!!" Shana shrieked. A horrific wail tore from her throat as she completely broke down, sobbing.

Lucida, however, was plunged into a paralyzing silence. Her eyes were blown wide as Creon’s ruined body slumped forward, a pooling puddle of red rapidly expanding over the grass.

"I highly doubt a proper Coven would dispatch such an amateur group on an official mission," Ulrich said calmly, wiping the bloody steel of his dagger on a white handkerchief. "So, I will safely assume this little raid was a rogue, independent decision on your part."

"You bastard—!!!"

Theos, who had remained frozen in shock until now, completely lost his mind. Seeing his friend slaughtered before his eyes, he roared in and lunged upward, trying to tackle Ulrich with his bare hands.

Meera moved before, however.

She simply stepped in with a casual kick directly to his kneecap. A crunch echoed through the garden, and Theos collapsed back into the dirt with a choked grunt, his leg buckling beneath him.

"T—Theos!!" Lucida screamed. Hot tears finally spilled over her bloodstained cheeks, her earlier anger having completely vanished.

She threw herself forward, pressing her forehead against the dirt as she looked up at Ulrich with shattered, pleading desperation.

"P—Please! It was my fault! Let both of them go! I coerced them into doing this! Punish me instead! I beg of you!" She screamed, her voice trembling.

Ulrich stared down at her trembling form in silence. Without shifting his gaze from the weeping witch, he spoke softly to the guard standing behind him.

"Lift him up."

The knight immediately stepped forward, grabbing the groaning Theos by the collar and hauling him brutally to his feet.

"WAIT!!! Please!!" Lucida shrieked, reaching her hands out toward Ulrich. "I will do anything you want!! Anything!!"

Ulrich slowly tilted his head. "Ten years ago, a three-eyed witch bypassed the barriers of the Rubenhart Estate and cursed the Countess. She died, months later. Who was it?"

"I—I don’t know..." Lucida sobbed, shaking her head as tears streamed through the blood on her face. "I—It wasn’t our Coven’s doing! I swear to you! We had nothing to do with it!"

Ulrich stared at her panicked eyes for a long, quiet moment.

"Kill him."

"N-NOOO!!"

Lucida’s vision blurred with fresh tears as she watched the knight draw his blade. Without a moment of hesitation, the guard plunged his broadsword directly through Theos’s back. The bloodied steel erupted from the center of his chest.

Lucida’s eyes widened large. The world seemed to stop as she watched the life drain instantly from Theos’s eyes, his arms slumping powerless at his sides.

Beside her, Shana had completely shut down. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, burying her face into Creon’s chest as she wept uncontrollably.

"Are you simply going to execute all of them? I could have easily done that myself, Ulrich," Meera sighed.

"No," Ulrich replied coldly. He shifted his gaze back down to Lucida. "You will send this one back."

Meera blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Free her?"

Ulrich gave a single, curt nod.

"Oh... how cruel of you," Meera chuckled, a smirk instantly spreading across her lips. She grabbed Lucida by the back of her collar and hauled the broken girl to her feet.

"Look at me," Ulrich said.

It took a moment, but Lucida slowly dragged her trembling, hollowed gaze upward, meeting Ulrich’s merciless crimson eyes. Her spirit was completely shattered.

"Head back to your Coven," he ordered, his voice devoid of any emotion. "Explain your pathetic failure to your superiors. Tell them how it resulted in the slaughter of every single one of your companions. And then, warn them exactly what will happen if they ever dare to step onto my territory again."

Having delivered his message, Ulrich did not spare her another glance. He gave Meera a small nod.

Humming a cheerful tune, Meera tightened her grip on the catatonic Lucida and began dragging her away from the bloody garden.

"My Lord."

The knight stepped forward, his hand resting on the hilt of his bloodied sword as he looked down at Shana.

Hearing the metal scrape against the scabbard, Shana curled into a tight ball. She clutched Creon’s lifeless body, shaking as she braced herself for the killing blow.

But Ulrich raised a single hand, stopping the guard in his tracks.

"Keep her locked," Ulrich said simply, turning on his heel to leave.

"Yes, My Lord," the knight bowed deeply.

As Ulrich walked away, the knight moved to gather the remaining guards to dispose of the corpses and drag the sobbing Shana away.

Just as Ulrich stepped past the long shadow of the storehouse, he paused. He slowly turned his head.

Pressed flat against the rough wooden planks of the exterior wall was Hermione.

Upon meeting his gaze, her body shuddered.

She quickly averted her eyes, her face deathly pale. She was trembling from head to toe.

She had heard everything. Every scream, every slice of the blade, every drop of blood hitting the dirt.

Ulrich did not spare her a second glance. He simply turned forward and resumed his stride toward the main estate.

"W—Why did you kill them?!"

However, Hermione’s shaking voice rang out behind him.

"Because they trespassed," Ulrich replied, not even bothering to slow his pace.

Refusing to be ignored, Hermione grabbed the fabric of her gown to keep from tripping and broke into a run.

"You didn’t have to kill them!" She shouted, chasing after him.

Ulrich finally stopped. He slowly turned to face her, his expression unreadable.

"Do you feel pity for your kind?" He asked.

"W—What...?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Why do you think they tried to break into my estate in the dead of night?" Ulrich asked her.

Hermione swallowed hard. "To take us..."

"To take you," Ulrich confirmed. "And in that attempt, how much blood do you think they were prepared to shed? They would have slaughtered the very servants who bathe you, clothe you, and feed you every single day."

Hermione fell completely silent.

"If you truly wish to join your kind, you are free to leave," Ulrich said sternly. "But only after you have properly paid back every single coin I have invested in providing for you."

He turned his back on her and resumed walking.

Gritting her teeth, Hermione pushed herself into a sprint. She darted past him, spinning around and throwing her arms out to block his path.

She glared up at him, her ruby eyes shining with unshed tears of the previous fear.

"I don’t care about other witches! I don’t care about anyone else!" She yelled, her voice echoing across the empty lawns. "I only care about Airam and Esther!"

"Good," Ulrich replied, attempting to step around her.

But Hermione shifted again, stubbornly blocking his way. She lowered her gaze to his boots, her bravery suddenly failing her.

"O—Other witches will come to take us, won’t they?" She asked, her voice trembling with fear.

There seemed to be some underlying fear to that question that Ulrich noticed, but he didn’t probe it.

"Possibly," Ulrich nodded.

"W—We don’t want to go to a Coven. We don’t want to join them," Hermione added.

Their mother had fled the Covens to protect them. Hermione was smart enough to know exactly what kind of living nightmare awaited them if they were ever dragged back.

In a Coven, their immense latent power would make them nothing more than tools. They would be used, guarded, and stripped of their free will.

It was a bitter, shocking truth for her to swallow, but her life here in Ulrich’s estate was better to anything a Coven could ever offer.

Here, they were receiving a premier education. They had a safe, warm place to sleep. They had an abundance of food, they could stay together, and most importantly, nobody forced them to do anything against their will.

Ulrich stared down at the trembling girl in silence.

He knew exactly how difficult it was for a proud girl like her to admit such a thing. But he clearly understood her underlying message: if a rescue party ever breached the walls, the sisters would not willingly go with them.

"It doesn’t matter," Ulrich finally said.

"W—What?" Hermione snapped her head up, her glare returning.

"I will not let anyone take you from me," he replied.

"...w—what... what are you even saying?!"

Hermione’s face instantly exploded into a burning shade of red. Her heart did a frantic leap at the possessive way he phrased it.

But Ulrich ignored her flustered reaction, casually brushing past her shoulder as he continued his stride.

There was no way he was going to let his trump cards slip through his fingers. He needed the three sisters to stand against the Demons if he was going to secure a ’good ending’ of this world’s twisted plot.

He may have obtained a powerful Core, but that wasn’t a reason to let go of the three future most dangerous witches in the world.

Putting that aside, he feared that even letting go of these sisters away from him, they might turn against him anytime, like in the novel.

"A—And for the record, we don’t belong to you, Ulrich! Remember that!" Hermione screamed after him, clenching her fists as she glared at his receding form.

Ulrich heard her shouting, but he merely kept walking, not bothering to look back.

At the very least, he now knew for certain that the girls had no desire to leave.

Hopefully, it will be the same for the following years until the start of the story.