The dinner in the Ramirez mansion was filled with an awkward ambiance only filled by the clattering of plates and the cutting of food.

Alejandra could only push around the steak laid in front of her as she waited for her mother's nagging. Her dad however was eating heartily and for some reason couldn't feel the tension between the two women in the house.

Roselia made sure to make every cut she did to her food rang noisily throughout the dining room. She ate her food slowly as she felt her daughter from the other side of the table trying to arouse her pity.

Swallowing the saliva building up in her mouth, Alejandra finally let out a few words. "Mother I–"

"Alejandra." Her words were surprisingly gentle. "Are you perhaps bored in this mansion?"

The lady brightened up, thinking her mother was giving her a chance to explain herself but before she could speak any further, the Duchess continued her words.

"If you are, then shall I send you back to our estate in the south?" Roselia looked to her daughter with a glare, who sunk back to her seat.

"No Mother." She squeaked.

"Fret not, in the time you're grounded here I have made a couple of requests regarding fellow nobility." The Duchess cleared her throat and called over a maid who handed over a few notes. "His Majesty, The Emperor, has sent his beloved son, the Crown Prince, to aid in the investigation regarding this matter." She tapped the letters with her hand and slid them over to her daughter.

"What does this mean, Mom?"

"You shall be the one greeting His Royal Highness at his visit to our estate since I will be tackling other matters." Roselia continued to eat her food as her daughter read the letter in horror. "Be kind and graceful and treat him like a Ramirez would. I've heard he's quite easily agitated so be mindful of your words as well?"

"M-Mom, I can't help but notice but…are you setting me up?" Alejandra gulped. The Duke's ears then perked up at her words and had him stop eating.

The Duchess sighed and called over another maid to fill up her wine glass. "My child, you're already nineteen, ever since your debutante, many suitors have lined up for your hand, but might I say they're all unworthy of you." She sipped and wiped her mouth. "The Crown Prince is a war hero and it would be great to have ties to the Imperial family. Getting to know him would certainly be beneficial to you and to our house."

"B-but—"

"If I may butt in," The Duke joined the conversation, "Roselia, I feel it's far too early for our child to be engaged.

"She's nineteen, Joseph." Roselia glared at him. "I was even younger when we first met and we joined hands right when I turned twenty."

Alejandra tried to look cute in front of her Dad to garner his pity. "D-Dad help…"

"See. Even our daughter is against it." Joseph argued. "Plus the Crown Prince? He's far too violent for my baby girl, he may be a hero but his hands are stained with countless blood?"

"Then what about me Joseph?" The duchess snapped at her husband's words. "I have killed far too many people to count? Am I too unworthy of you because of my bloodstained hands?"

"N-no, Honey. It's just—"

"The Crown Prince has kept the Kingdom from reaching the Empire through his tactics and strength to kill. He is a warrior and so am I." She raised her eyebrow. "I thought you yourself would understand what it's like to marry a war hero."

The Duke fell silent and Alejandra too. 

Reading the atmosphere the Duchess exhaled a breath and called a maid over to hand her another letter again. "Alejandra, it's not like you have to marry the Crown Prince, you are the heiress to this House after all. I just want you to meet him and see if he is to your standards since you've yet to interact with any men of an eligible age." She explained. "My Dear, I would never have you enter into a loveless marriage."

"Mother…" Alejandra looked relieved. Roselia smiled, the Duke also sighed and chuckled a bit.

"It's okay, I'll try– I'll try to talk to him." She pumped herself up. "He may not be as scary as I thought."

"By the way, my daughter." Roselia leaned on her hand as she looked Alejandra in the eye. "I know I've already asked you this but are you sure you didn't see the Adjudicator present in the scene?"

"N-No! I really didn't." Alejandra gulped while shaking her hands. To be honest she didn't know why she was covering for that witch but she was quite intrigued by the deal the woman had offered. "I was unconscious the whole time."

Roselia's eyes clearly knew that her daughter was suspicious but decided to not pry further. "This is a matter regarding the Underworld, they have been keeping the criminal activity in the Empire at a balanced state, so we had always thought they were more or less a good thing to have." The Duchess pondered. "And now they're beginning to make moves against the Empire, this wasn't the first of many incidents in which Underworld Adjudicators caused disruption in the city."

"They helped mitigate crime??"

"You can't fully erase criminals and scum in society, but you can put a leash and control it. The Underworld had that under their command and in exchange we didn't pry into their business." The Duchess explained. "These days, however, they seem to have been far more active in gaining power, I recently heard a change in leadership. Can that be the cause?"

"What happened to their old leader?"

"Hendrickson? That old bastard? His head was placed on a stake and his limbs dismembered and hung on different trees in the Capital's Park." Roselia had an indifferent look on her face while saying the most morbid things. "Whoever their new leader is, they clearly hold a lot of resentment for something. To be able to do such vile things only means that there is much hatred in their heart."

The Duke clapped his hands and surprised the two ladies. "Enough of this grisly conversation. Let's have our dessert and celebrate making a successful transaction with the nobles in the capital. Hurrah!" He delighted and the two ladies only shook their heads and went along with his pace. "All that negative talk is gonna put wrinkles in both your eyes. Now rest and enjoy the night!"

"Fine Dad!" Alejandra laughed and Roselia smirked as she ordered the maids to bring in snacks and more wine.

The dinner ended with everyone, tired and their bodies full. The lady sat on her bed as her maid, Teresa, turned the lamps off one by one. "Have a good night's rest, my lady." The maid giddily grinned.

"Thanks, Teri, sorry for getting you punished." She smiled apologetically.

"It's fine, you simply owe me a snack." 

"I'll get you lots."

"Yay." 

The maid closed the door and the daughter of the Duke was left staring at the dark empty ceiling from her bed. A lot had happened today. She had nearly died and had a conversation with possibly the most dangerous person in the Empire.

"A deal huh?" She thought aloud as she wondered what someone like her can even do for the Red Witch. She could have simply gotten killed and all would be the same for the Underworld.

Well not necessarily, that would put the entire Capital into chaos that the genius heiress of Ramirez was killed by the Underworld within the Capital. 

Still, before Maddison, or more so the Leader of the Underworld, showed herself, she felt like a girl just like Alejandra. A beautiful young girl who just wants to make it by and live a happy life. How wrong she was to even think that.

The Red Witch was terrifying and even making contact with her would've made Alejandra tremble in fear, but the businesswoman inside her urges her to take the risk and see the offer the Witch was prepared to make. 

How dangerous was that young girl in front of her? How many people had turned cold and lifeless before her? How many people is she prepared to kill to fulfill her own ambitions?

Those questions rang inside the young lady's mind. Plus she had the Crown Prince to worry about. He was only sixteen but he hasn't left the battlefield for a few years now. Since he had turned sixteen, he has now entered the eligible age for marriage. 

Alejandra didn't even want to think of marrying him. That would mean becoming the Empress and just the thought of the worm she would have to do shook her to her very core. Add to that that if she did become the Empress, the seat of the Golden Tiger would be unfilled.

There were a lot of rumors about the Crown Prince as well on the battlefield.

She had heard that he was ruthless and cruel in battle and hot-headed too. He was willing to do what it takes just to take the Delha Kingdom and burn it to the ground. Many of her informants have also told her how the prince enjoyed making the enemy soldier squirm and suffer.

Alejandra shuddered at the thought of meeting such a person even more so at the thought of him making advances towards her. He was only just a kid as well, why would he even be fighting in the frontlines?

She felt both anxiety and empathy for the young child. Was it related to the horrible thing that happened to the princess? What was she thinking of course it was.

She had heard that everyone loved the princess and was devastated to learn what the Delhan people had done to her. Imagine more what her family would have felt.

Alejandra realized that she was thinking too much and that it was time to go to sleep. She had training with Asher tomorrow and she had to prepare to meet the prince in a week. Not sleeping is gonna be bad for that.

Her body slowly felt tired as her blinking slowly had longer intervals, before she knew it, she had entered the dreaming world.

The dream she had started off fairly normal. She was walking along the Imperial Palace, taking in the sights and majesty of the beautifully constructed architecture. She felt her hands around the huge stone pillars and the carvings etched on them.

She has visited the Capital many times now but she's rarely been inside the imperial palace. The last time she got to walk around was 3 years ago when a project she had proposed surprised her father and she ended up joining him in its planning with His Majesty, the Emperor.

Her dream self walked around the garden and admired the different colored flowers when she heard grunts and groans from the other side of the flowerbed.

She took a peek and there was the Crown Prince, practicing his swing of the blade. His red hair bounced with sweat at every action he took and his face and bare body were filled with scars, he didn't look to be sixteen, instead he was younger maybe twelve or thirteen in this dream.

His face was determined and serious as he swung the blade down in a single motion over and over again. The lady could only watch as the prince swung and swung until after a single slash the wind around the blade separated and pushed things away violently. He had cut the flow of the wind causing it to spread to each side instead.

The scene shifted to a barracks where Asher stood behind Roselia as she argued with the Royal Guards about the situation regarding the Adjudicator.

"I'm telling you my daughter isn't involved with the Underworld." She slammed her fist down the stone table breaking off a piece, and the rest of the soldiers jumped in shock. "She was a victim of an attack and you dare lay your groundless suspicions on her!?"

"If I may be bold, Your Grace," An older woman smirked at the Duchess's anger. "Your daughter was at the scene of the crime, wasn't she? There was also a pile of flesh and meat next to her, it would not be groundless to assume that she may have awakened and is in cahoots with the treacherous Underworld."

"You." Roselia snapped and glared at the woman. "State your name and house."

The woman panicked for a second but regained her composure. "Countess Veronica Ma'am, from House Leary."

"Well then, Countess Veronica, it would be wise if you didn't run your mouth," The Duchess's gaze was a look of death and violence, "who knows what could happen if you end up saying something you didn't mean, such a well-fed mouth might end up biting its own tongue later."

The countess yelped and bowed her head. "Thank you for your concern, Your Grace."

"That's enough for today, you all are just aging me quicker with all your nonsense." She glared at a man who sat at the center of the table, he looked indifferent and uninterested. "As the former Head of the Royal Guard, I will assume authority on this case involving my daughter and the current Head shall be my liege to avoid any further suspicions from spreading. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" The rest of the soldiers saluted except for the man at the center of the table. Who simply looked indifferent as he and the Duchess glared at each other.

Alejandra felt weary. If her dreams were true, her mother had defended and protected her reputation amongst the other nobles. She felt guilty and sorry for troubling and lying to the Duchess now. She was in fact kind of in cahoots with the Underworld.

Now she doesn't even feel like taking the offer of the Red Witch after seeing how much her own mom stood up for her innocence. Was she really going to lie and ruin the Grand Duchy's reputation for a chance of a good business opportunity?

"Alright, I will no longer find and talk to that witch for the sake of my family." She declared to herself.

Then her eyes found themselves staring at the blank ceiling back at the waking world. She let out one massive breath to release the heavy feeling in her chest. It was still dark out and her room was pitch black. Although, she could hear a faint noise emanating from one side of her room.

She turned around to see a beautiful woman, her red hair flowing down her shoulders, and her green eyes glowing vividly in the night under the moon. 

She had an innocent grin on her face as she tapped on the window. The red flower dress she was wearing, floated in the wind. She waved her hand and Alejandra's heart sank to the bottom of her chest.

Even if she wanted to, she didn't need to find the Red Witch because the Red Witch had found her herself.