Chapter 262
Night Rabbit Grimoire
Back in the Silver and Tin Hall, Lily began to pack for her trip the next day.
She hummed a little tune as she lively checked her luggage.
In reality, compared to Eivass, Lily was the one more excited about the travel. She was truly looking forward to this journey.
She had never left Glass Island since her birth—before joining the Moriarty Family, she lived in the Lloyd District; after that, she moved to the White Queen District.
Even before Eivass took her to the Silver and Tin Hall and requested an enrollment spot for her from Isabel… Lily hadn’t left Moriarty Manor for years, let alone the White Queen District and Glass Island.
It wasn’t that Eivass didn’t give her time off.
Rather, it was because Lily used her scarce free time to study and enrich herself.
—However, this wasn’t because Lily disliked going out.
On one hand, she had little free time, and she craved to read; the reason she wanted to read was that she instinctively didn’t want to live her life in ignorance as a maid.
From this perspective, it proved that the insatiable Drost Blood indeed flowed within Lily.
On the other hand… it was because Lily didn’t want to be separated from Eivass for too long.
Because she had read so many books, her knowledge surpassed that of other servants. Therefore, she knew that girls who served as personal maids were generally not as fortunate as she was.
She had regular holidays, a generous salary, was allowed to read her master’s books, and sometimes ate with him when no one else was around. Moreover, her master was young, intelligent, handsome, and gentle…
Lily knew she was lucky.
So she didn’t want to miss out on this luck.
Thus, even during holidays, she was unwilling to leave Moriarty Manor. What if Eivass needed her for something on the very day she was on vacation? What if something happened to Eivass while she was away? If someone else took care of Eivass then, would she no longer be Eivass’s personal maid upon her return?
After all, in Avalon, truly important figures generally did not have personal maids.
Family successors, for example, were almost always assigned male servants from a young age.
They were stronger and more capable, able to help carry heavy objects and protect their masters. Having grown up together, they were even closer than brothers and played together wherever they went. They could serve as drivers, bodyguards, chefs, assistants, or secretaries… This offered more freedom than personal maids who needed to maintain their beauty and decorum.
Back then, Edward had not yet joined the Inspection Department, so he could still inherit the Moriarty Family. Thus, Mr. James assigned a male servant to Edward and a female servant to Eivass.
Afterward, Edward joined the Inspection Department. According to Avalon’s rules, one could not engage in family business after joining the Inspection Department—this was to prevent the abuse of power. After all, inspectors were primarily responsible for monitoring the various Knight families.
In other words.
Lily knew that from that moment on, Eivass was the first successor of the Moriarty Family.
And for a male head of household to keep a personal maid… according to Lily’s books, this would be ridiculed by those of the same social standing in Avalon’s public social events. It was essentially akin to saying, “I haven’t grown up yet and need a maid to take care of me,” or admitting to a lack of romantic prospects, lacking a sufficiently presentable and outstanding lover recognized by one’s elders.
There were nearly a hundred Knight families on Glass Island alone, and fewer than a dozen heads of households were accompanied by maids. These individuals were generally perceived as gentle and weak.
—Ever since she learned this, Lily had been deeply anxious. She was terrified that if she left, she might not be Young Master Eivass’s maid upon her return, or even be expelled from the Moriarty Family because she was no longer useful…
If it had been in the early years after joining the Moriarty Family, she might have been happy. Because it would have meant she was free.
But now she was no longer naive and had gradually come to understand many things—alone in the world, without a family or support, where could she go? Would she, as the books described, marry a man she had never met and didn’t love, becoming the wife of a merchant or a scholar?
She didn’t even have parents.
Without a mom and dad, it meant no home.
Mr. James and Eivass, who were so good to her, were her family. Mr. Edward was always stiff and silent, Miss Yulia was gentle and kind; they were all kind people.
Being separated from family was something she only needed to experience once. Lily was always afraid of being abandoned again.
That’s why Lily never dared to take holidays away from home; that’s why Lily made an effort to maintain her beauty and etiquette, yearning for knowledge, and demonstrating her loyalty. The underlying reason for all these impulses was the hidden fear within her heart, which she herself had not even perceived.
It was like a kitten or puppy that had been abandoned once and then adopted would become very well-behaved.
—As long as we could stay together, that was enough.
When Eivass shared the opportunity to embark on the Path of the Extraordinary with Lily, she was genuinely happy.
This meant she would become more useful. It also signified that Eivass valued her and didn’t see her as a burden hindering his image, someone who could be easily replaced.
And now, Eivass was even taking her on travels…
Did this mean she had become useful? And wouldn’t be abandoned again…
Once she confirmed this, the fear in her heart was diluted. That shadow, like a tea brick dissolved in hot water, transformed into warm, bright water, exuding a floral fragrance.
After finding peace, she subconsciously began to crave more.
As Lily packed her luggage, she felt her desires within her heart gradually amplify.
She wanted to exclusively possess the young master, to love him, to love him with all her might.
She wanted to… devour him. To suck his blood, to chew his flesh and blood…
As she fantasized, her pupils gradually turned scarlet. Her breathing grew heavy, her heart pounded more intensely, the sound of her heartbeat becoming so loud it echoed in her ears.
“…Huh?”
Lily suddenly paused, her eyes widening slightly in surprise.
The power from her Adapted Path suddenly calmed her down.
“Why…”
She was astonished at herself for suddenly overthinking.
At this moment, Lily suddenly felt a subtle anomaly emanating from the room.
Following that vague impulse in her heart, she walked over.
She discovered it was the birdcage the young master had left on his desk during the day.
The birdcage was supposed to contain a book. It was the “Grimoire of the Morning Crow” that the young master had been reading a few days ago; at that time, his clothes had been burned while reading it, and his hair had grown longer afterward.
—But.
Lily’s eyes shot open, and her heart skipped a beat: “The book… is gone?”
The book inside the birdcage had vanished, replaced by a large, snow-white rabbit.
The rabbit’s scarlet eyes gazed at her motionlessly, making Lily feel a bit uneasy.
But what truly worried her was that the young master’s Grimoire was missing.
“Damn it, how could this happen…”
Lily subconsciously moved closer, intending to check if the rabbit had somehow sat on the book.
But as she approached the rabbit, she suddenly experienced a hallucination—
She saw the birdcage suddenly open, and the rabbit leaped out.
The surrounding world instantly transformed into a snowy landscape—she was not in her room but found herself in the deep snow of a winter night.
The rabbit glanced at her from ahead, then ran forward.
“Don’t run!”
Intense frustration and overwhelming anger surged within Lily, her rationality vanishing.
She didn’t realize how abnormal the snowy night was and instinctively chased after it: “Come back quickly!”
