Part 4 # Evil Plan

"Tell me! What happened last night?" Venn, Leon's concubine, urged the spy in the main house to tell everything. For several days, Leon hadn't been seen visiting her in the West Pavilion. The man was busy with the street mouse he had just picked up, Arren.

"The young lady is ill, Mistress. So... the master is taking care of her," the servant said, trembling. He was afraid of misspeaking.

Venn's jaw hardened. This building felt so empty without the passionate nights with her beloved. "Why give me a house like this if we don't live in it, sir?" Venn mumbled.

Her heart ached hearing that Leon seemed to forget everything about her. Initially, Leon belonged to her alone. Now? Venn had to accept sharing her lover with a strange girl she didn't even know.

"Tomorrow! Tomorrow, invite her to the tea party. You must convey it to the personal servant. Understand?"

"T–Tea party?" The servant was startled. Cold sweat immediately poured from his forehead.

"Yes! You understand, don't you, what I mean?"

"A–All right, Mistress!" The servant nodded, pleading to be excused. He knew very well that an invitation to a tea party meant that one of them would die.

***

The next morning, Venn's plan would indeed be executed.

The spy had conveyed the concubine's message to the master's personal guest servant. Nervously, the servant agreed. The servants had no right to decide anything. They had to submit and obey all the master's orders.

"Good morning, Miss. Come, I'll help you bathe," said Poppy, a personal servant assigned specifically to care for Arren. One good thing about this mansion was... its food and servants.

Perhaps, in her childhood, Arren had a servant, but she didn't remember much. Arren was too young at the time, so all she remembered were events from her adult life, full of struggles after her mother's death.

"All right..."

After getting Arren's approval, Poppy immediately gently led her to the bathroom. Poppy began to bathe her carefully and helped her dress up.

"Poppy, right? What's your name?"

"Yes, Miss."

"Uh... why do I have to dress up?"

"T–uh. Well... You're invited to a tea party by Mistress Vennina, Miss," Poppy said softly.

"Who?" Arren asked awkwardly, feeling unfamiliar with Mistress Vennina and having no connection with her.

"Mistress Vennina, Mr. Leon's concubine. The most powerful woman in this mansion after Mr. Leon," Poppy answered somewhat awkwardly, afraid Arren would be frightened.

"I didn't know that Leon has another woman here," Arren said, a bit surprised, as the man always searched for her. Perhaps, for Leon, Arren was a new toy that caught his attention.

"Calm down, Miss. It's just a suitability test for the woman chosen by the master," Poppy explained, trying to reassure her.

Anxiety began to creep into Arren's mind. She never expected that Vennina, Leon's concubine, would summon her for such an evaluation. Suddenly, she felt worried about what she would face.

"Hmm... Is this mandatory, Poppy?" Arren asked hesitantly.

"Forgive me, Miss, but it's a direct request from Mistress Vennina. I'm afraid there may be unpleasant consequences if you refuse."

"Fine. I'll go," Arren finally said.

With a pounding heart, Arren left her room and walked towards the meeting with Vennina. She didn't know what would happen, but Arren was determined to stay strong and not let anyone degrade her dignity.

***

"Honestly, how does that woman look?" Venn asked the spy.

"Beautiful, Mistress. And, she's a young girl. Her skin is very fair and radiant. If adorned a bit, she would look very charming," the spy enthusiastically recounted, unaware that the question was just a bait.

CTAS!

A whip was wielded on the back of the spy who seemed to like the master's new woman.

"Are you stupid or blind? How dare you praise a filthy woman from the streets like that!"

CTAS!

Another swing tore the servant's clothes, who now staggered unconscious.

"Me--mercy, Mistress!!" pleaded the trembling servant. "I-I misspoke," he said, sobbing. Venn seemed to grip her whip tightly with anger.

'Arren! What kind of girl are you!' Venn thought angrily. "Have you prepared everything I asked?" Venn asked one of her servants.

"Ye–yes, Mistress," she obediently replied.

"Good. Let's go to the greenhouse now!"