Ashbourne Castle stands majestically on a hill, where Duke Sebastian Vale, the most powerful man in the region, exercises his power with an iron fist. He was a man who was both feared and respected, but beneath his power and luxury, he harbored a deep wound—an emptiness he could never fill.

One night, Sebastian saw her. Lorraine, a new maid working in the castle kitchen, was kneeling in the garden gathering wildflowers. With her hands full of dirt, her hair loose, and her gaze seemingly fearless, she looked like something that should not exist in Sebastian's cold world.

The echoing soles of the approaching shoes made Lorraine look back, the girl immediately stood up when she saw Sebastian approaching her. The man towered over Lorraine's tiny shadow.

Sebastian stared at her silently for a moment, observing the girl's messy blonde hair, her emerald eyes that stared at him innocently and politely, a little bit of dirt on her cheek.

"It's past your work hours, why are you still here?" Sebastian asked, his tone cold and measured.

Lorraine explained that she was ordered by the butler to pull out the wild flowers in the garden before finishing her work for the day. Sebastian raised his eyebrows, he wanted to chuckle but only the corners of his lips curved up slightly, amused at how easily the girl was taken advantage of by her seniors.

"Then go ahead," Sebastian said as he passed Lorraine without any clear intention.

Whether the man was making small talk or what, Lorraine saw a strange grin on Sebastian's lips before he left, it was more like a mocking grin that she didn't quite understand.