Cassiopeia du Couteau hummed lightly to herself as she watered another flower.

It was quite the nice day outside, with a clear blue, cloudless sky over Noxus. The birds were chiming, the butterflies were hovering, and her flowers were blooming.

Yes, it is quite the perfect setting for an outing out in her personal garden.

As such, she found herself enjoying the day in it, relaxing from the hectic atmosphere of the Du Couteau household. Since her father's, Marcus's, departure, things around the Du Couteau Manor have been quite...tense to say the least.

With her sister taking command following Marcus's disappearance, Cassiopeia found herself in conflicts with the fiery assassin more often than not.

Katarina sought their missing father, and searched night and day for him, whenever she got a reprieve from her duties in High Command. Cassiopeia, in contrast, desired to leave their father to his agendas. In her eyes, he had disappeared for a reason, a mission most likely, and that there was no point in searching for him until he finished said mission. As such, her contrasting views found her at odds with her elder sibling, which resulted in several heated confrontations.

So on days like this, with such peaceful atmosphere, she relished the chance to escape her fanatical sister.

She hummed another small tune to herself as she placed the watering can down, and moved over to her hammock. Propping herself onto it took a bit of effort, but she managed and eased into it. Glancing over to a side table, she grabbed a glass of lemonade she had produced earlier, and took a sip from it with refined elegance. And once her thirst was quenched, she placed the glass back down and eased further into her lie, tipping her florist's hat down to shield her eyes.

"Ah, how...rejuvenating," she murmured with a deep sigh, closing her eyes. She decided a mid-day nap would be ideal, and set into it easily.

…

However, unfortunately for her, such would not be the case for her to entertain.

"E-excuse m-me," a nervous sounded nearby, interrupting her delightful nap.

Without batting an eye towards the foreign visitor, she replied to him with her smooth, sultry speech. "Yes? What is ever so important as to interrupt me in my rest?" She allowed a small bit of annoyance to lace her tone, implying to the stranger that she was definitely not please.

"S-sorry, Lady Cassiopeia. A-a l-letter came in."

Ah, so it was their courier that was disrupting her. She should have known that simply from the coward's stuttering. He had always feared her for some unfathomable reason, though not that she much cared. But it was equally amusing as was bothersome that he came to her with the letter.

"And? Why do you bring it to me? Surely you must realize that all letters go to the regent head of the house, correct?" She muttered, still not bothering to grace him with her sight.

"Uh, y-yes. I do. B-but Lady Katarina isn't here right now. And this letter is from her, Lady Cassiopeia," he explained.

"Oh?" She was intrigued now. She did remember her sister speaking to her about a meetings earlier. Perhaps this letter was in regards to said meeting. One way to find out, she supposed. Lazily opening a piercing eye, she found the man a few feet away, shaking in his boots.

"Very well then, hand over the letter," she commanded, outstretching an arm. He feebly and slowly gave it over, as if she would rip his arm off if he moved too fast. But a moment later, she received it, and let him go.

"Thank you. You are dismissed." He nodded and started to leave, but before he got too far, she spoke once more. "Oh, and next time, try to relieve yourself before coming to me. I can smell your soiled pants all the way from here, and I do not quite appreciate it," she muttered, distaste heavy in her voice. The sap of a man feverishly nodded once more, and skittered out, leaving her alone to her devices.

"Now then, let's see to this letter," she murmured as she opened both eyes fully and slid a delicate finger through the top of its envelope to open it. Pulling it out, she saw that it was indeed from her sister, and then proceeded in reading it.

Dear Cass,

I need you to come to my office at High Command. I have to stay here to attend another meeting later so I can't come to you, but I need to speak with you as soon as possible. Something in Shurima has come up. Something big. And I know you hate getting involved in assignments regarding that particular location, but High Command specifically requested your abilities. So I don't care if you are relaxing or whatever, you have to get your scaly ass here immediately. And if you don't, I'll have Talon drag you in. Your choice.

-Kat

Cassiopeia rolled her eyes as she finished the letter. Curt and blunt, most definitely a letter from her sister. But it intrigued her, albeit not in a particularly good way.

Shurima.

Now that's a place she hasn't heard of in some time. Precisely nine weeks and four days of time, not that she was keeping count. No, why would she ever keep track of that accursed place? She was most certainly not…

Or at least that was what she was telling herself.

Author's Notes

Hello there.

So for those of you that follow me and read some of my other works, you know that I have been working on a rework for one of my stories, The Serpent's Curse. However, as time grew, I decided that I might as well start over with a brand new title, as my vision for The Serpent's Curse started to become much more different from the story's origins, to the point where I feel like I need to simply delete it and start anew.

That being said, I have not yet deleted it, as I still find some sentimental value in it, with it being my first story on this site and all, and may find it in myself to continue it in a different way one day. Perhaps I will keep it as an alternative, or an AU version of this story. At any rate, this story will be what I have been looking for in The Serpent's Curse, and I will be developing this with all intent on finishing it, don't worry. In addition, I will be back to regularly writing and updating shortly.

As for those who haven't been following me, and reading this story as a fresh reader, I hope that you enjoy it, as well as stay tuned for further updates.