Chapter one: Her mother's daughter...

Mrs. Adlerian dusted her family portraits that hang on the wall of her living room. It was a ritual she performed whenever she was nostalgic and wanted an activity that would help her reminisce. One after the other, she brushed off the dust that had gathered over the portraits, when she reached the last image, she halted.

Her auburn eyes softened as a spontaneous smile crept onto her lips. Mrs. Adlerian looked at the young girl in the portrait affectionately. The girl in the picture whose hair was neatly braided was sitting gracefully with a stern expression.

Mrs. Adlerian reached out to touch the portrait with furrowed brows. If her memory served her right, she remembered the child to be twelve when that picture was painted. The child in the portrait was Yuki, her daughter.

It was nearing seven years since her late husband had come back one evening with a distrusting, fair child. He was unapologetic when he confessed that she was actually his daughter and that the child was going to live with them from then on. She was disturbed, very disturbed; the girl was already eleven!

Neither her indifferent husband nor the girl were willing to speak any further about origins. To that very day, Mrs. Adlerian had no idea what Yuki's past was.

Aside her late husband's sickening insouciance towards the whole issue, Mrs. Adlerian was willing to raise the gloomy and doubtful girl. Yuki was an unusual name, and so was her unusually fair complexion and exceptional beauty. Since she only had a child of her own who was also a boy, Mrs. Adlerian had always wanted a daughter, thus, accepting Yuki did not prove as hard as it should.

Now, after six whole years, the portrait of Yuki and the person that represented it in reality seemed so dissimilar. At some point, the gloomy child slowly opened up and soon she became more cheerful. She smiled more. She laughed more. She matured quickly but still maintained a hint of youth in that maturity. She grew into a woman more courteous than most maidens her age. She was endearing as she was modest, though her modesty was almost to a fault. Everyone bore witness to how lovable Yuki had grown to be, and as her mother, Mrs. Adlerian could not be prouder of the daughter she had.

...

Inside a luxurious room in an elite hotel, a woman whose face was concealed behind a mask was sitting with her legs cross on a large bed. At her feet was a kneeling man, a little over forty. The man cautiously lowered himself so that his face would touch the lady's bare foot, when it did, he passed gentle and soft kisses over the pale foot.

The man's string-thin restraint threatened to snap every time the strong floral scent of the lady danced seductively about his nose. He lifted his face to look up at the woman who to his disbelief had chosen to spend the night with him.

Tonight, she seemed more beautiful than ever. He studied the way her long silky black hair swayed gracefully about her every time breeze entered the room from the window. He gawked at her swollen chest which was only covered partially. His eyes shifted to her bare shoulders and neck that was porcelain white; her complexion that was a rarity even among nobles. Then he looked back at her face, specifically her bright blue eyes that seemed to stare at his soul through the mask she wore. She was beautiful; surely, and that mask did little to hide that fact, if not add more allure to this woman whose identity was an unsolved puzzle to all of Echt.

"Have you stared enough?" came the lady's soft voice with a hint of annoyance.

"Never, mistress, I could never have enough of you" the man stated bluntly.

The lady looked away from the man, then she picked up a long wooden pipe that sat on the bedside table beside her and lit it. She puffed on the pipe for a long while before blowing a large amount of smoke into the air. She slowly redrew her leg that was in the man's arms, a process that made her dress slip from her leg down towards her inner thigh. She looked down at the enticed man who could not help but ogle at her fair and attractive thigh.

"I am in no mood for flattery today. Have you any information to give me?" her voice was low, stern and apathetic.

The man swallowed, "Vex not, mistress, I am on it. That courtesan was in the business for thirteen years. She was the best courtesan at her brothel no less. Despite that fact, she was still a commoner and no noble would stake an open relationship with her. I have gained information on some nobles that may have been her clients before her disappearance, but they all had but superficial relations with her. There was nothing deep. None of them knew anything about her past," the man tried to redeem himself.

The lady was silent for a while before saying, "So? Are you saying you cannot collect any critical information on her?" her tone was sharp and scornful.

"No! not at all. I will definitely get her information for you. I just hope you will be patient with me, my love. I will unburden you of that trouble, believe me," the man was anxious and his unsteady voice was proof of that.

"Time is not a luxury I can afford. Also, I am more patient than you give me credit for, if not, I would not be here with you today, considering I have so little to gain out of you. It makes me think I should have spent the night with someone else," the lady did not hide her irritation at the turn of events.

"Mistress, you wound me with your words. Besides, I have another important news to share with you…" the man became pensive as he stood from the ground and sat beside the lady on the bed. He leaned into her, making sure he had her ear closest to him, then he whispered, "The Duke of Echt has returned!"

"He was alive?" the lady replied without interest. She took a smoke and another and blew it out.

"He is. He has returned after seventeen years."

"I see," she drawled.

"I think he is searching for someone…"

"William, I do not care. I don't suppose you invited me tonight for a little gossip, did you?" the lady interrupted the man with a rise in her pitch.

The man cleared his throat in embarrassment, and as if she had reminded him why they had met in the first place, his eyes looked over at her exposed leg and thigh.

He got back on his knees, took the lady's leg and kissed it. He slowly made his way up her leg, leaving a trail of kisses as he moved upwards. The lady stared down at the man quietly while occasionally smoking.

When the man reached her knees, the lady spread her legs. Then she let a leg glide towards the man's arousal and pressed on it with her foot. The man let out a moan that exposed more of his pleasure than pain. He held onto the leg on his loins as if encouraging it to press on harder as he ogled at the lady with an aroused expression.

The lady smirked. "You should see yourself now, love. You look adorable."

"So long as it pleases you, I can look just about anything, mistress" the man assured in earnest.

The lady laughed softly before saying, "That is why you are my favorite. You have no pride and I love that"

"Pride? Before you? Mistress, surely you jest. I am a man and that is all I wish to be when at your feet"

"Do you say that even as a noble?"

"I have no status engrave on this aging skin of mine, mistress. I am a man."

"Do you say that even as the governor, a representative of the duke?"

"I was born with no such title and I will be buried without one in my death. Mistress, I am but a man. A man who is in love."

The lady sniggered. She lowered herself and was leaning in towards the man when a knock from the door stopped her in her tracks. Both the man and lady glanced at the door simultaneously.

"I cautioned them against interruptions," said the governor in anger as he attempted to get on his feet and see to the door.

"Leave it. Let them wait. You will not leave me unattended, will you?" the lady uttered. Subsequently, she brought her pipe to her red-painted lips and took in a large amount of smoke. She then pulled the governor over with her free hand and locked lips with him.

Entangled in a long passionate kiss, the lady only pulled away after biting the governor's lips and exhaling smoke into his mouth.

He tried in vain to play it cool with the sudden intrusion of smoke in his lungs. He coughed profusely and clenched his chest. The lady only sat, legs crossed, as she looked down at the breathless man. She let out consecutive puffs of smoke while looking at the wall clock.

After a while, the man slowly seized struggling and lay motionless on the floor. The lady looked at the clock a last time before heading to the door, opened it and headed back into the room. She was followed by a tall, curly haired man inside.

"What brought about the delay, Yuki?" the man inquired as he picked up the unconscious governor and put him on the bed.

Yuki said nothing, instead, she took her handkerchief from her purse and tied it over her brother's nose. "I tell you time and time again to wear masks in these circumstances, Jacek. Need I remind you the toxins you exposed yourself to?" Yuki muttered.

"Says the one who actually smokes that toxin" Jacek retorted.

Yuki took off her mask and threw a sharp glare towards her brother but did not retaliate knowing who it was that always had the last word.

Jacek handed Yuki a bag he had come along with and found his way towards the nearest sofa and plunge into it, sighing in exhaustion. Yuki on the other hand made her way to the bathroom.

"Were there a lot of customers after I left?" Yuki asked as she changed out of her dress to a much plain and modest attire.

"Not more than I could manage. The customer who ordered the bouquet of white roses picked it up tonight."

"She did. Thank you for tending the shop without me."

"Mm-hmm. Hurry up and let's go home. I swear I am going to let you have it if mother nags at me for keeping you out late. I am already exhausted as is." Jacek expressed with a deep frown.

After putting on the dress, Yuki tied her hair into a bun and wore a bonnet over it. Afterwards, she applied some brown cream over her face and neck which were the only exposed skin aside her hand on which she wore gloves; the application made her appear browner than her actual complexion.

"Did you check if he was breathing?" Yuki enquired when she emerged from the bathroom.

"It took you that long to ask? Some lover he's got himself. Yes, he breathes, can we go now? I am weary and famished." After his utterance, Jacek went outside first and after confirming that the hallway was vacant of both passersby and guards, he alerted his sister and they both left the hotel building.

…

"Should we get something to eat first since you are hungry?" Yuki asked Jacek as they awaited a carriage to pick back home.

"Mother will not have me waste her food, remember? Though, I prefer eating only the food you both make anyway, so I guess the wait should be worth it."

"Picky much. Then, what say you, should I make your favorite meat pie tomorrow to thank you for today's hard work?" Yuki asked coyly.

"Then, I will hold you to th…" before his utterance could conclude, a loud clamor interrupted the siblings. They both looked in the direction of the noise only to find a stray horse, its mane wild and untamed, galloping towards them with unbridled ferocity. Its hooves pounding the earth, sending tremors through the ground beneath its feet.

Having little time to react to the nearing disaster, Jacek embraced his sister in an attempt to shield her from the impending calamity.

However, just as sudden as its appearance, the horse's momentum ceased. It froze in its tracks, its eyes fixed on something unseen. Then, its legs bent, and it collapsed to the ground with a deafening crash, mere yards from Yuki and her brother. The air was heavy with ethereal silence, as if time itself had paused.

As people surrounded the siblings to inquire about their condition, Yuki found herself spontaneously staring into the dark alley at the other side of the road.

Amidst the darkness was a silhouette that resembled a man, his presence seemingly drawn from the shadows themselves. The silhouette stood tall and imposing, his long hair occasionally drifting with the breeze as he returned Yuki's stare.

Yuki's heart raced as she felt the weight of the man's attention. At the same time, she felt an unusual sting at the back of her waist. Her mind raced with questions, but the only response received was the unrelenting gaze of the silhouette with presence both captivating and intense.

"Are you alright, Yuki?" Jacek asked after gaining some self-awareness. Yuki looked at him momentarily then back at the figure only to find the person gone. She sighed and snapped back to reality, "I am fine, brother. You?" she finally responded.

"I am fine too," Jacek assured.

Who was that person? And what was that unusual feeling she had towards him? Yuki found herself thinking.