Many reasons

Everyone seemed to be lost in their own world as they ate. Jane, not one for reticence, found the dinner to be rather tedious. Her gaze swept across the table, taking in each person seated there. Robert maintained a stoic countenance as he silently consumed his meal, never once raising his eyes from his plate. Meanwhile, Fransisco would occasionally cast a baleful glare in Lucius's direction before returning his attention to his food.

'This man truly has an issue,' Jane mused to herself, before her gaze alighted on Alexander, whose calm mien mirrored that of Lucius as he elegantly sliced the meat on his plate. Her eyes moved to Priscilla who was constantly glancing at her daughter as she munched her food.

Jane's scanned everyone at the table until her eyes settled on Priscilla's daughter, Zelia who appeared not to be interested in either eating the food or even be seated on the table with the other people. She kept twirling the food on her plate with her fork without taking a bite. Something which even Alexander noticed but choose to ignore since it was non of his business.

Jane decided to make small talks with Priscilla as she seemed really nice when they had spoken before, a while ago before dinner.

As the meal drew to a close, Lucius rose from his seat and gestured for Alexander to follow him.

"If you'll excuse me," he said, "I have some business matters to attend to. Please make yourselves at home."

Robert and Jane looked up from their plates and nodded while Fransisco continued eating like he had not heard anything.

With that, Lucius and Alexander left the room, leaving the others to finish their meal.

Shortly, after the both of them had just left, Zelia whispered something to her mother before also leaving the table.

"She's really quite," Jane commented as she stared at the door where Zelia had just disappeared from before turning to face Priscilla with a warm smile. "She didn't look interested in the food. Is she okay?"

"She's fine." Priscilla replied weaving her hand as she placed her wine glass back on the table.

"She's just not used to strangers. You see, Zelia didn't have a normal childhood. She spent most of her time locked up in this small dark room alone, in one of those black witches facility, where they experiment on little girls before I rescued her. And she's not very open with people, except me. So please don't mind her behavior. I'm sure she'll be fine by tomorrow morning."

Jane nodded in understanding to her explanation.

She knew how awful those facilities were. Many children hardly made it out alive, and the ones who did always ended up traumatized by their previous experiences.

Those facilities were used in conducting sadistic experiments on young supernatural creatures under the ages of four to thirteen since they were considered immaculate and untainted at those ages. Though the council have made some efforts in tackling this issue, it was still very hard to locate these facilities since they were heavy protected with forbidden black magic.

If only the council could put more effort in handling this delicate matter, they would have been able to save more young lives, Jane thought to herself. She let out a small sigh before returning her attention back to her food.

...

"Your going to keep them preoccupied till the others return tomorrow." Lucius said to Alexander, as they walked through the quiet hallway. Their shoes echoed on the polished marble floor as they walked. Non of the workers were insight as non of them moved around that hallway once it was past twilight as it was one of the manor's many rules.

Alexander frowned when he heard Lucius request. He had a feeling he knew what Lucius was thinking.

"Why?" Alexander asked, hoping that his suspicions were wrong.

"I need to leave the manor early, tomorrow morning. And I can't leave if Jane, Robert especially Fransisco are mentoring me." Lucius explained as they got to the end of the hallway.

He snapped his fingers twice and the wall cracked before opening, revealing the basement's door.

"The keys." Lucius stretched his palm to Alexander who immediately brought out the keys from his jacket pocket. Lucius took the keys from Alexander and unlocked the door.

Samara froze in place as the sound of the door unlocking echoed through the room. She had been trying to move her chair towards the table where some objects were kept, hoping to find something sharp that she could use to cut her binds. But now, with Lucius and Alexander standing in front of her, she knew that her chance of escaping were slim.

Alexander closed the door while Lucius stepped forward, his eyes fixed on Samara.

"Hello, there," he said, his eyes cold and calculating. "What have you been up to?" He asked, as his eyes scanned the spot where she had been sitting when he had last seen her before he left the basement, before looking back at her.

"Ummph, ummph...." she tried to reply, but only a muffled mess of sounds came out of her mouth.

The scarf binding her lips and tongue made it impossible for her to speak clearly. Samara felt incredibly frustrated. She had never been in this kind of situation before__being tied up and totally helpless. It was always the other way around and she hated that it was different this time.

"Oh, my apologies. I had momentarily forgotten that your mouth was restrained," Lucius chuckled as he strode over to where she was seated and proceeded to untie the scarf that had been muffling her speech.

She drew in a deep breath as soon as her mouth was freed.

"I have retrieved my dagger," Lucius announced as he crouched down and produced the blade from thin air. He gazed upon the dagger, appreciating its exquisite beauty.

The handle was a deep black, studded with tiny black diamonds that sparkled in the light. The blade itself looked razor-sharp, its polished surface reflecting the world around it. It looked like it could cut through anything, even bone. But what truly set it apart was the palpable sense of dark energy that seemed to radiate from the weapon, a feeling that always made those nearby uneasy.

Lucius had a very strong bound to this particular dagger as it had saved his live countless times. He twirled it around his fingers before focusing on the binds, he held it firmly, using it to sever the ropes that had been binding her hands behind her back.

"Fortunately for both of us, it has remained in good condition. It is still as resplendent as the day I last laid eyes on it. It is still as beautiful as ever." He smirked as he finished cutting the ropes and rose to his feet.

He then moved around her and knelt down in front of her to free the ones that had been constricting her legs.

"Now, let's discuss our business. You mentioned that you could locate the witch, correct?" he inquired, and Samara nodded in affirmation.

"Excellent. You will locate her this night, and we might pay her a visit tomorrow noon or evening, as the case may be." He said, as he threw the ropes to the side before standing up again.

"You must be very hungry. Someone asked the cooks to prepare your favorite. They must have already served it in your room by now." He said to Samara as the dagger in his hand vanished again.

She stared at him with a mix expression on her face; one of confusion and then hesitation. She did not understand his motives of freeing her. Even though he had told her that he wanted her to locate the so called witch as he calls her, she wasn't still expecting him to free her just yet.

Samara stared at him confusingly as she slowly brought down she hands to massage her ankles that had turned red and sour from the ropes that had been tied firmly around them. She had been expecting him to torture her some more when he got back.

But instead he had freed her and was even offering to feed her. She just couldn't help but find his behavior suspicious, because the Lucius she knew would still be torturing her by now, no matter how close they had been before. The things she had done in the past was unforgivable, especially to someone like Lucius who despised betrayal.

Though, she had her reasons in the past, it did not still justify her actions. She had betrayed her coven, Lucius and even Alexander.

Samara's eyes moved in Alexander's direction, who was staring at something else. As if feeling her gaze, Alexander turned to face her, and she immediately looked down, avoiding his eyes.

She regretted betraying Alexander, but she did not regret anything else she had done, because to her, it was all for the greater good.

The only thing she regretted apart from betraying Alexander, was not slitting Priscilla's throat when she had the chance. She had hated that woman for a very long time, and for so many reasons.