Claire finally fell asleep early into the morning.

She could hear the faint rustle of movement as her sister bathed and dressed for the day but couldn’t bring herself to open her eyes or get out of bed.

There were inventories to be viewed, staff to be spoken to... many things to be done to ensure that the house was ready to be sold.

And she wanted to go down and see the dungeons - the despicable place where Aurora and the beast that plagued her nightmares had been kept.

Had the beast been released? Or was it still there?

Despite her gruesome list of chores, she remained in bed for an hour or so longer.

When she finally did get up, she was tired and drained. She walked around like a living corpse, looking at things with drooping eyelids and sitting down whenever she had the chance.

After struggling in vain with the numbers of the inventory, she went down to the dungeon with her guard in tow.

Afterwards, she was planning on riding along the perimeter to see how wide the land of Penbrook was.

Then she had to hire an agent to estimate a suitable price for the land... there was so much to be done.

Her guard lit a fire torch on their way down and held it up for her to be able to see her way forward.

As they went lower, it smell more like damp earth.

And blood. And decayed faeces.

She scrunched up her nose and pulled out the key she had found in uncle Jarren’s drawer.

The key scraped in the lock as she turned it. Then the metal door slid open.

Her guard helped her push the heavy door out of the way.

The room was completely dark, save the light her guard held. There were no windows.

Her stomach twisted at the thought that it was in such a place that her sister was kept.

There were claw marks on the walls and floor. Broken shackles cluttered on the floor and there was blood splattered on them.

From the look of the blood, someone had been here not more than a fortnight ago or so.

She shuddered.

Did that mean Aurora’s beast was out there?

Gulping, she turned around and fled up the stairs.

A horse had been saddled for her as she requested.

Since she could not ride, her guard pulled the reins along, guiding the horse into a trot.

It was late into the afternoon and the sun was obscured by heavy clouds. She prayed it wouldn’t rain. The house usually looked like it went into mounting everytime the weather was not fair.

Aurora’s guard had been instructed not to let her out of his sight for whatever reason.

As they were turning away from the gardens, another horse was approaching them at a speed that was considered dangerous.

The driver managed to pull his horse to a halt just in front of the water fountain and dismounted.

"Lady Stenly." The rider bowed.

His face was completely unfamiliar, she thought as she stared down at him from atop her own horse. She took in his shaggy dark brown hair, blue eyes, flat nose and high cheekbones. He was tall, but not as tall as any of her guards... or Yeren. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and his eyes looked stern and serious. His boots were caked with mud at the soles as he stumped them.

He dug into the coat of his brocade and fished out a sealed letter.

"I was asked to deliver this to you."

Her heart began to flutter as her guard took it from the man and handed it to her.

Even atop the horse, he was still almost at eye level with her.

She broke the seal and opened it, hoping to see the familiar beautiful calligraphy she had begun to crave.

Instead, it was a plain and unadorned one, bearing the last thing she wanted to see.

An invitation to a funeral?

As she continued to read, she learned that Lord Malrick, the man in charge of all the coin in the Kingdom was dead. His funeral was to be held the very next day.

The very next day?

And they were extending the invitation today?

She folded it back. "Thank you for the invitation. But please take back to your master that I cannot make the journey on such a short notice. Send my condolences."

The man braced his legs apart and looked her in the eye.

"I was given instructions by the new Lord Malrick to see you escorted there. You are a guest of honour, my Lady."

Guest of honour? She wanted to laugh.

She had only met the old man once or twice during her entire stay at the castle. And they had never interacted... at least not enough for him to make her a guest of honour at his death.

That position was for friends... or people of distinguishable character and position.

Not people like her.

But that meant Yeren would be there, she realized.

They would sit at the same table...

Her face lit up instantly. The fatigue that had been plaguing her all day vanished like magic.

"Wait awhile while I gather my things." She slid down from the horse and ran towards the house.

Even the man appeared stunned by her sudden change of demeanor.

At the entrance, she instructed the footman to have the carriage ready.

Then she bounded up the stairway.

Aurora was in her room, playing checkers by herself with a bored look on her face.

Her eyes brightened when she looked up and saw Claire standing at her doorway.

"I have to leave."

The light left the little girl’s eyes completely.

"It will only be for a day. I won’t be spending the night - I will just attend the funeral and return as soon as it ends."

Aurora sat on her hunches. "Whose funeral?"

"Lord Malrick. But I doubt you would know who he was."

Her sister’s lost expression confirmed her thoughts.

"The funeral is today?"

"It’s tomorrow. But I have to leave today if I want to be there at the start."

"So where will you spend the night?"

"At the Malrick manor... why all the questions?"

Rory shrugged. "Then you could take me along. I won’t attend... and I won’t be any trouble."

She sighed.

"I can’t take you with me, Rory."

Aurora’s brows arched up. "But, why?"

She drew in a deep breath and exhaled. "Because I don’t want you to witness the stupid things your sister is about to do in the name of love."