"Night Rabbit Grimoire"

After returning to the Silver and Tin Palace, Lily began to check what she needed to bring for her trip the next day.

She hummed a song softly as she cheerfully checked her luggage repeatedly.

Actually, Lily was more excited about the trip than Iver. She was genuinely looking forward to it.

She had never left the Glass Island since birth—she lived in the Lloyd District before joining the Moriarty Family, and then in the White Queen District.

Even before Iver took her to the Silver and Tin Palace to ask Isabel for a place in school for her... Lily hadn't left Moriarty Manor for years, let alone the White Queen District and the Glass Island.

It's not that Iver didn't give her a break.

It's because Lily uses her precious holidays to read and enrich herself.

However, this is not because Lily dislikes going out.

On the one hand, she didn't have much free time, and she longed to read; the reason she wanted to read was because she instinctively didn't want to spend the rest of her life as an ignorant maid, living in a daze.

This also proves that Lily does indeed have the insatiable blood of Drost flowing through her veins.

On the other hand... it's because Lily doesn't want to be away from Iver for too long.

Because she had read many books, she was more knowledgeable than the other servants. Therefore, she knew that girls who served as personal maids were generally not as lucky as she was.

She has regular holidays, a generous salary, is allowed to read her master's books, and sometimes gets to eat with him when no one else is around. Moreover, the master she serves is young, intelligent, handsome, and gentle...

Lily knew she was lucky.

Therefore, she did not want to miss out on this good fortune.

So even on holidays, she was unwilling to leave Moriarty Manor. What if Iver needed her on the very day she was on vacation? What if something happened to Iver while she was away? If someone else took care of Iver then, would she no longer be Iver's personal maid when she returned?

After all, in Avalon, truly important figures are generally not entitled to personal maids.

Those who are heirs to powerful families are almost always accompanied by personal male servants from a young age.

They are stronger and more capable, able to help carry heavy objects and protect their masters. Having grown up together since childhood, they are even closer than blood brothers, always playing together wherever they go. They can serve as drivers, bodyguards, cooks, assistants, secretaries... This gives them more freedom than personal maids who need to maintain their beauty and appearance.

At that time, Edward had not yet joined the Inspectorate, so he was still eligible to inherit the Moriarty Family. Therefore, Mr. James was assigned as Edward's valet and as Iver's maid.

After that, Edward joined the Inspectorate. According to Avalon's rules, joining the Inspectorate meant being forbidden from dealing with family businesses—this was to prevent abuse of power. After all, the Inspectors' primary responsibility was to monitor the various knightly families.

In other words.

Lily knew that from that time onward, the first heir of the Moriarty Family had already been Iver.

As a male head of the household, having a personal maid... according to the books Lily read, this would be ridiculed by his peers in Avalon's public social settings. It's basically like saying, "I haven't grown up yet and need a maid to take care of me," or admitting that he has no luck with the opposite sex and doesn't have a decent enough and outstanding lover who can be approved by his elders.

The knightly families of Avalon number nearly a hundred on Glass Island alone, and the heads of these families, each with their own maids, number only a little over ten. They generally give the impression of being mild-mannered and weak.

—Ever since she learned about this, Lily had been filled with anxiety. She was terrified that if she went out and returned, she would no longer be Young Master Iver's maid, and might even be kicked out of the Moriarty Family because she would be useless...

If it were during the first few years after the Moriarty Family, she might have been happy, because it meant she was free.

But now she is no longer naive and has gradually come to understand many things—she is all alone in a foreign land, without family or support, where can she go? Should she marry someone she has never met and does not love, like in the book, and become the wife of a businessman or scholar? She doesn't even have parents.

Not having parents means not having a home.

And Mr. James and Iver, who were so kind to her, were like family. Mr. Edward was always old-fashioned and silent, and Miss Yulia was gentle and kind; they were both kind and good people.

Separation from family only needs to happen once. Lily was always afraid of being abandoned again.

Therefore, Lily never dared to go on vacation; that's why Lily was careful to maintain her beauty and manners, thirsted for knowledge, and displayed loyalty. The root cause of all these impulses was a deep-seated fear within her that she herself was unaware of.

Just like cats and dogs that have been abandoned once, they become very well-behaved when they are picked up and raised again.

—As long as we can be together, that's enough.

Lily was genuinely happy when Iver shared the opportunity to embark on the path to the extraordinary.

This means she will become more useful. It also shows that Iver values her equally and does not see her as a burden that needs to be replaced or that makes him feel less respectable.

Now, Iver even takes her with him when he travels...

Does this mean she's become useful again? And won't be abandoned again...?

After confirming this, the fear in her heart faded. The shadow was like a tea brick being steeped in hot water, turning into warm, bright water that exuded a floral fragrance.

After feeling at ease, she subconsciously began to crave more.

As Lily packed her luggage, she began to feel her desires gradually amplifying.

She wanted to possess the young master, she wanted to love him, she wanted to love him with all her might.

I want to... eat him. I want to suck his blood, chew his flesh...

As she fantasized, her pupils gradually turned crimson. Her breathing became heavy, and her heartbeat became more intense, so loud it echoed in her ears.

"... Huh?"

Lily suddenly paused, her eyes widening slightly in surprise.

The power she derived from Path of Adaptation suddenly calmed her down.

"Why..."

She was surprised that she had suddenly started having wild thoughts.

At that moment, Lily suddenly sensed a subtle abnormality in the room.

She followed the vague impulse in her heart and walked over.

They discovered that it was the birdcage that the young master had placed on his desk during the day.

There should have been a book in the birdcage. It was the book the young master had been reading a few days ago, "The Morning Crow Grimoire." When the young master was reading this book, his clothes were burned, and his hair grew long afterwards.

--but.

Lily's eyes widened suddenly, and she felt a pang of fear. "The book... is gone?"

The book inside the birdcage had disappeared, replaced by a large, snow-white rabbit.

The rabbit's scarlet eyes were fixed on her, making Lily feel a little uneasy.

But what really worried her was that the young master's Grimoire had gone missing.

"Damn it, how could this be..."

Lily instinctively walked over, wanting to check if the rabbit had sat on the book.

But as she approached the rabbit, she suddenly began to hallucinate—

She saw the birdcage suddenly open, and the rabbit jumped out.

The world around her instantly transformed into a snowy landscape—she was no longer in a room, but appeared in the deep snowy night.

The rabbit glanced at her from ahead, then ran off.

"Don't run!"

A surge of intense agitation and raging anger welled up within Lily, and all reason vanished.

Unaware of how unusual the snowy night was, she instinctively chased after him, calling out, "Come back quickly!"