THE LETTER.

In the morning, after Yvette had a hearty breakfast in her room, she went to seek out Adam.

She found him deep in the gardens, cleaning up near the fountain.

"I thought no one bothered to clean up this place." She said.

Adam turned around in surprise. "No one does except me. I can only come here when I'm not too busy taking care of the other parts of the garden."

A small but genuine smile blossomed on Yvette's face.

Adam seemed struck, by what Yvette wasn't sure, but she took advantage of his temporary hesitation and grabbed his hand. She then proceeded to drag him all the way over to the other end of the garden, where there was a large tree and a swing hanging underneath.

Yvette knew this was where Sabine went most mornings when she wanted to read peacefully but didn't want to waste a good day by staying inside.

She ended up bringing Adam to the other side of the tree, where neither of them could see them, but they would be close enough to hear each other clearly.

"Thank you, for last night... you know, with the snake." Yvette said.

She heard the sound of the swing on the other side come to an abrupt stop.

Adam looked confused for a moment before replying with a, "You're welcome."

Yvette knew that Sabine would be able to recognise their voices. She wondered what expression Sabine would be making, knowing that not only had Yvette escaped from being bitten by the snake, but also that her long time crush, Adam, had been the one to help Yvette.

Of course, Adam did no such thing, but with the way Yvette had worded her thanks just now she knew that's what Sabine would likely assume.

To make matters worse (for Sabine), Yvette leaned forward and kissed Adam on the cheek. She made sure to smack her lips a bit so that Sabine could hear, and so that she knew exactly what she just did.

Yvette then left before Adam could get another word in, humming to herself as she walked away.

With that issue settled for the time being, Yvette then went to find the butler, Matthias.

She had some ideas on how to make Claude and Adele sweat, and after having thoroughly explored the gardens, and having memories of the old Yvette's traversing of the woods nearby, she knew exactly what she wanted to do.

No one's ordered to lock Yvette in the cellar again, so for the moment she was free to roam about as she pleased.

She discovered Matthias as he was organising the books in the library.

She silently observed him work for a while, thinking about original Yvette's relationship with Matthias. Technically, they didn't have much of a relationship at all, but even so Yvette had considered Matthias somewhat of an ally.

He was just 'the guy that escorts her to the cellar and lets her out' for a while, but there was a time when Yvette was a child where she'd been hurt pretty badly by Danielle and when Matthias had come across her, she had asked for help. Matthias had ended up patching up her wounds, to Yvette's surprise. And when she asked him why he did it, when every other member of the Decaux staff save for Adam mostly just ignored her, he'd said, "I obey the commands of anyone with the surname Decaux."

At that time, since Yvette was young, she didn't fully understand what that meant, but she did understand that he would help if she asked. So the next day she found him again and asked him, "Can you make Sabine go away?" she thought he might really be able to do it. But unfortunately that wasn't a task Matthias could accomplish, and that's what he told her.

So what Yvette thought was that Matthias could only help that one time, but could not help with other things in the future.

Now, of course, Yvette was someone else entirely, and she understood exactly why Matthias had said what he said.

He was under orders to obey all the Decauxs. And Yvette, no matter what her parents and siblings wanted, was definitely a Decaux.

Yvette tapped Matthias on the shoulder.

When Matthias turned around, though he tried to keep his expression in check, it was clear that he was surprised to see her there.

"I want to send a letter." Yvette said.

He seemed too shocked to move, and she wondered whether he was more surprised that she was actually asking him to do something or that could write. Claude and Adele, being the unloving parents that they were, had never bothered with educating Yvette in any way. She wasn't supposed to be able to read and write. That obviously wasn't a problem for her anymore.

"A letter." Matthias repeated.

"Yes. I need you to get me paper and a pen so I can write it. Then I need you to find someone to deliver it for me."

After getting over his initial surprise, Matthias quickly found a piece of paper and a fountain pen for Yvette to use. Yvette took them from him, sat down at the table in the library, wrote a letter, and then folded it into the envelope he also provided before handing it back to him.

"Send this to Duke Olivier, please." Yvette said.

Matthias left the room, probably to get it sent out right away. Getting him to do things that wouldn't contradict orders someone else has given him would definitely be okay, and Yvette was very much planning on exploiting that as much as she could.