Noble hearts are neither jealous nor afraid because jealousy spells doubt and fear spells pettiness.

– Honoré de Balzac

Rainier rushed towards Erin and stop right in his tracks at the sight of red liquid, "what the hell..."

For some reason, the person standing in front of them... shielding them from the gruesome scene... is not a short slim girl but a tall man with a reliable and strong back. Rainier had to blink twice before his vision changed and he could see Yuri unmoving with clenched fists.

"Jeremy... Ran..."

"Yes ma'am! I mean yes, yes here..."

"I'm here Yuri..."

Yuri slowly half turned – her bangs shielding her eyes, "I may act out of character...but whatever happens, do not ask any questions... at least for now."

"What do you..."

Rainier stopped mid question when Yuri raised his head and her usually purple eyes had visible tint of gold. It was not her eyes that made Rainier stop but her facial expression, it was a mixture of guilt, disgust, determination, and pure hatred...

Yuri closed her eyes and breathed deeply before facing the employees who were peeking from the doorway,

"I am Yuki... Yuri Shinobu... right hand to the master of this castle. Everyone close to the vicinity of this murder is considered a valuable witness. No one is allowed to roam anywhere alone, or you will automatically be tried as a suspect. Did I make that clear?"

"Yes sir... I mean ma'am!"

Jeremy walked next to Yuri, "I will start taking pictures, okay?"

Yuri smiled and Jeremy blushed beet red, "y-you shouldn't smile like that at anyone else you hear?!"

Yuri (Yukinori) chuckled, "still as possessive as ever...but yes, thank you.. and Ran"

Rainier stood straight by instinct, "yes Yuri?"

The girl kneeled beside the dead body and sighed, "bring Eriya... I mean Erin to the young master. She is safer there. Can you help me deliver a message to young master Higuchi?"

Rainier raised an eyebrow but said nothing as asked by his friend, "of course. What do you want me to tell him?"

"Tell him... the Takano clan has started taking revenge against the Higuchi and the minor branch of the family may be the key to understanding the mysteries in this life."

Rainier knows the names are foreign or should be foreign to him but for some reason, he knows... that what Yuri mentioned is very valuable information. He sighed deeply and nodded,

"I don't think I memorized all the names but yes. I'll tell... Daichi... I mean Drake."

Yuri smiled and for some reason Jeremy and Rainier kept seeing Yuri and a tall man – Yuri's spitting image overlaps while she proceeded to look around the area, checking every entrance to and from the door they ran from.

She opened the book from the library and expertly moved to a several pages, stopping and biting the end of her thumb as if contemplating something. Jeremy noticed that and looked worryingly at her, "Yuri, is something wrong?"

*Shakes head* "Nothing specific... I'm just thinking... this painting that blood was smeared on, this is master Daichi's painting when he was declared heir of the Higuchi household."

"This was that old? Yeah.. his first official painting. The head of the household had to go through a lot of pain so he would agree to have himself painted, he wasn't one for memories."

Jeremy raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he saw how serious she was scrutinizing the painting – he took several snaps of the painting when he noticed something...

"Yuri..."

Yuri followed Jeremy's line of sight and gritted her teeth, a small peony was there close to the ripped area.

"Jeremy, lets get to Drake. That peony means he's after Ran and Eri"

Yuri ran towards Drake's office as fast as she can to share the findings she was able to uncover with Jeremy following behind her.

Meanwhile, the shadow stayed unmoving behind a statue several steps away from Jeremy and Yuri, his hand playing with his unique shaped pendant.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rainier knocked on Drake's office and waited for the door to open, he was assisting a still weak Erin, "where's that idiot when you need him?"

"Who's the idiot?"

"DRAKE! Finally! Where the hell have you been?"

Drake who was smiling started to frown when he saw Rainier's serious face and Erin who was barely moving in his arms, "what happened?"

Rainier sighed, "I will tell you but can you please help me get Erin inside? I hauled her from the other end of this place and my arms are tired."

Drake bit the retort he was going to say as he princess carried Erin while maids opened the door to the office, bowing as they went in. He laid Erin down on the couch and Rainier placed a blanket on top of the resting girl just as Motoki burst inside, "I spoke with grandfather, and he said that all your judgement is what everyone will be following as you are the master of this house."

Drake nodded as he moved to lean at the large office table with arms crossed as he looked at both Rainier and Motoki.

"I assume that you both have something important to tell me. Motoki rushed here first and told me that Yuri ran towards a loud sound and a shout before you asked him to let me know, is that right Ran?"

Rainier nodded and sat politely on a chair close to Drake, "yes... at the time Erin, Jeremy and I followed Yuri to the source of the sound. It was best to let you know early on that something was going on."

Drake raked a hand on his unruly hair and breathed deeply as he half sat on the table, "I trust you Ran.. I know you did what you had to do. President, take your seat. Ran, can you tell me what happened next? Did Yuri ask you to relay something to me?"

Rainier gasped and covered his mouth with his left hand, "how did you know?"

"I just had a feeling. The full report and don't skip anything."

Rainier gulped and described everything that happened starting from the time they left the office after having Grandma Tania rest in her room. Both Motoki and Drake's face slowly changed to reflect several emotions they are most likely experiencing at the time.

"The hell is happening here..." Motoki sighed and rubbed his forehead.

Rainier's mouth slightly trembled, "Drake... Yuri's important message... was... that the Takano clan has started taking revenge against the Higuchi and the minor branch of the family may be the key to understanding the mystery... I'm sorry... I don't know if I remember it exactly as she said..."

Drake's eyes widened and his hands are now clenched in fists as he murmured, "not in this lifetime..."

Rainier and Motoki looked at each other in confusion at the hatred reflecting on Drake's expression, "D-Drake? What's wrong...?"

Drake violently shook his head and almost collapsed if Rainier had not caught him, "DRAKE!"

"I-I'm fine... something just... clicked in my head for some reason."

Motoki was in deep thought as he said, "why is it that Yuri's message seem to be familiar... but those names are something I just heard today..."

Rainier helped Drake to his chair and wiped his sweat with a towel, "I have something to explain. It's going to be very weird to hear but it's the only explanation for all of this. Even the way Yuri's expression was different yet familiar earlier."

"Whatever that is I need to know too."

The voice belonged to the older male who just came out of the library, "Shinobu-san..."

Touya nodded and smiled, "I keep telling you guys to call me Touya. There are two Shinobus here and we both look when you call us by last name."

Drake tapped Rainier's arm to let him know he's doing okay, "thanks Ran. I'm fine now. I don't know what came over me earlier. But I get what president was saying...Touya, take your seat too. Ran, continue what you were saying."

Rainier went back to his seat close to Drake and breathed deeply, "please listen to me until the end okay? Even if it sounds unbelievable... "

The three men nodded, and Rainier sighed in relief, "let me start with... all of us here... are reincarnations of people heavily involved in this house and most likely in whatever is happening right now."

"WHAT?"

Touya shouted and Motoki patted his shoulder to calm him down, "we promised to listen Touya san... let Rainier finish."

Rainier's hands trembled and he smiled as he felt Drake's hand on top of his, "thank you Drake... I'll continue..."

Drake's lips are set on a straight line, listening and taking in everything that Rainier is about to say...