(Part 10)

The butler walks through the corridor with pupose in his stride. Maids and lowly servants bow as he passes them, but he gives them no second look. They are –like him –insignificant in this horribly cruel world. Once, he had grown up with dreamy, fantastic ideas of his future.

Now, he had grown up into someone he never imagined he would have become. Yet, it was also now the only thing he could do –the only worth he had in this world anymore.

His comfortable and practical dress shoes making soft, dignified clicks on the marbled floor as he walked, he paused before a set of double doors, and knocked briefly. It did not take long for the invitation to come through, as he answered to it, quickly opening the doors and closing it tightly behind him.

His master looked up briefly at him, then back down on the papers and files that cluttered the table.

"What is it?"

"You should see this, Master Oscar." Head Butler Maiko walks calmly to his master's table, resting the envelope that he had received only a few minutes before. It was already open –considering that the butler's job was to check if the envelope contained touch-transmitted poison or any other dangerous materials.

"Call the Harolds while I'm at this." Oscar replied in his no-nonsense tone, reaching for the envelope without a second word.

"As you wish," Maiko answered with another polite bow, making for the landline. His focus upon the phone, Maiko took a short moment to remember the phone number for the family of Harolds, dialling them quickly on the rather old-fashioned antique.

The phone had not even rung more than five times before it went silent all of a sudden, startling Maiko as he snapped his eyes to his master, who had now taken a very good look at the contents within the envelope.

"We will discuss this first before we proceed back to business." Oscar announced, and his faithful butler nodded understandingly quickly as he put the phone back on it's cradle, stepping back a polite distance away from the desk.

"Should I submit those to the press, Master Oscar?"

"What?" Oscar spluttered. "Are you insane? Are you trying to ruin the reputation of the Crawfords?"

"Then how will we use these, Master Oscar?" Maiko asked, a little surprised. It was not going to be easy trying to hush this up –considering Louise was the heir of the Crawford conglomerate that the corporate world looked forward to.

Louise Crawford had made her mark as a stellar woman alone with her exceptional butler who had served her as faithful as any Reyes butler, and was a welcome figure even before her entrance into the corporate world. With the tiny part of the family business that Oscar had relented –under outside pressures –to relegate to Louise's command, she had made it bloom with rather spectacular ease that Oscar was almost humiliated. It was simply unheard for his niece to produce results much better than the Master of the Crawfords himself.

"This is evidence enough to bring him in." Oscar threw the photographs down on the table, the first picture enough to disgust him. "We have seen how spectacularly you have failed to take Louise out throughout this past semester. She has one semester left, and I cannot give her anymore reason to continue."

"You want to take away Kyrano?"

"Take her butler away using these as evidence of him betraying the code of being a butler –or whatever rules you guys follow. Taking him away will remove the land from beneath her. I will put you on her case while Kyrano is punished, but do not do anything to her."

"But Master Oscar, didn't you want to-"

"She has that idiot Brandon Greaves and his butler Keyron Reyes on her side now." Oscar interrupted, face twisted with contempt. "You can't get to her without them being involved, and we don't want anyone to know that we are directly involved in this, Maiko. You are the assassin here, don't tell me that you cannot come up with a better solution?"

The look on Oscar's face meant that the master already had his answer ready, and was only waiting for Maiko to come to the same conclusion. It was the cold-heartedness of Oscar that made Maiko distantly fearful. Maiko had been rather celebrated prior to this occupation as a man who was great at plotting people's downfall, and had a rather first-hand experience of destroying famous people, either in public or in private. But this time, it was his employer who was much more scheming than he –and that was a hard thing to do.

"Attack from the inside." Maiko found the answer quickly, relieved when he received a nod of approval. "You plan to use Kyrano to kill Miss Louise?"

"Exactly that. That will put the Reyes name in utter shame, and his twin brother's credibility –along with Brandon Greaves's –will fall through the floor. We will be forced to kill Kyrano, but why would we kill such a precious tool that we have made? No, we will take Kyrano in silently, change him into someone else, and use him as we wish."

Maiko nearly shivered at how cruelly well-thought out this plan was. Who else could do it better than Oscar Crawford, the man who had killed his own brother to get his hands on the title as the Head of the Crawford Household? Not only that, Oscar had wiped out the faithful Head Butler Kyrone during his time of reign, and tried ways and means to kill his own niece. But it was becoming apparent that the efforts put in to remove Louise from the Crawford family was the hardest thanks to the unrelenting dog called Kyrano she had for a butler.

What better way to destroy a lady than to have the man she loved be the one to send her on her way to join her father and mother in the afterworld?

"I will send a letter down to them now." Maiko reported, but Oscar leaned back in his chair with a contemplative look. Maiko wasn't sure if the contemplation involved more assassination, cunning plots.

"Let's wait for awhile. Kyrano is still recovering from the funeral."

"Master Oscar?" Maiko didn't have to elaborate on his question.

"We want to break him but keep him with us, Maiko." Oscar's words held a hint of reproach. "If you take him now, he will just become useless. You apply a pressure too hard on something, it's going to break. It will happen with him. Let him recover a little, and then when they think their's lives are whole again, break it down."

"I see." Maiko answered and stepped forwards to gather the photographs that his master had thrown on the table. "I will monitor for the best time to send the photographs."

"Yes." Oscar answered, shooing his butler away quickly with a dismissive gesture. "And when you do, prepare to break an unbending man. The pest is too much like his father –but way more clingy and resilient that Kyrone was. That one will take long for you to break, so you'd better work at him hard and fast. I want him working for us before Louise graduates."

"Certainly." Maiko promised, escaping the room quickly as he tucked the envelope full of photos in the breastpocket of his coat. He would keep them until a suitable time.

Then Maiko would start taking the tools of his previous profession out of the closet, to give them a good use once more.

Perhaps he should polish them soon.

That thought put Maiko in a good mood.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Kyrano attended to his duties with his usual efficiency, his mind a careful blank as he went through his work in the morning. Things were back to normal –at least as normal he could feel. It was be a long time before Kyrano would feel as before, but at least he was slowly coming to terms with the realities of his life.

Of course he was still a little unhinged on the inside. There were still moments where memories of his cheerful sister would burst out of their cage and hit at him, but Kyrano was slowly beginning to look at those without thinking of doing anything foolish. He was beginning to learn to look at those memories with the bittersweetness that came with his sister's name on his tongue.

Kyrano also acknowledged that his mistress had done her best to keep him sane and sound, and very much appreciated her for it. Easing him back into the school life shortly after the funeral had been one of the most important process that she had made sure was done perfectly. Afterwards, she had kept him moderately busy to help keep his mind occupied so that he would not slip into depression every now and then. During the nights, Louise had talked to him, encouraging him to express his feelings to her without any masks –the same way he had done in front of her at cementry that day.

Both mistress and butler did not talk about that day anymore. For Kyrano, it had been emotional release from his tight control but it had been an embarrassing breach of his butler role. For Louise, it had been a relief at seeing the human inside her butler, but also a very understandable worry that Kyrano might not have released all of his pent-up, accumulated emotions.

Keyron was recovering slowly as well. The first two weeks had been rather terrible for both the young master of the Greaves family as well as the young mistress of the Crawford family, but St. Clair had understood the situation well and passed sympathies to not only the twin butlers, but their wards.

And now, almost a month after Kyra's death, Kyrano was slowly finding himself more and more... for the lack of a better word, normal. It was far from his usual, but it was a step towards the right direction –that was at least something he could recognise. His bearings were all fitting back into place, and it was almost comfortable having them back again.

It was an unsuspecting morning in which Kyrano attended to his duties, then woke his mistress up gently. Waiting for her to be done with the morning showers, Kyrano briefly stepped out to collect the newspaper, but realised with short surprise that his mistress had received a letter from the Main House. It was with surprise, because Master Oscar had never tried to send his niece any sort of letter throughout her few years of study in St. Clair. This was the first letter that his mistress had received –and Kyrano assumed that it had to be somewhat important as he brought it back to the room.

His mistress must have been sleepier than usual, because she took a little longer at the showers, and still looked a little disorientated when she stepped out, letting her butler dress her in her perfect appearance once more. Tying her perfect bow in front of her, and straightening it, Kyrano made sure that the badge of the Rose was pinned proudly upon her breast, before he took a polite step backwards, gesturing to the breakfast set out for his mistress.

"You took a little longer in the showers today, Miss Louise." Kyrano reported. "It would be for the best if you made a little haste through breakfast."

"I would hate to waste the effort you put into prepare my breakfast by inhaling it down, Kyrano." Louise answered, but all the same, she ate a little faster than usual as Kyrano watched. Handing over the newspaper for his mistress's peruse, he had almost forgotten about the letter from Main House until Louise had unfolded the bundle, and found it safely tucked in the middle.

"What is this?" She asked, raising it up for her butler.

"A letter from the Main House, Miss Louise." Kyrano reached forwards and flipped the envelope around to show the insignia of the Crawford House printed on the dried blob of wax seal.

"What can Uncle possibly want from me?" Louise frowned a little with the same confusion, clearly intending to open the envelope on the spot. Still, Kyrano checked his watch, and decided that it was for the best that he spoke up.

"Miss Louise," He said, stopping the woman before she could venture to open the contents. "It would be recommended that you finish your breakfast and read the letter either while we make our way to lessons, or before the lunch break. You might run late if you decide the read it now."

Louise checked her own watch, contemplated the situation temporarily, and then nodded, passing the envelope over to her trustworthy butler. "Keep it for me then."

The rush through breakfast was completely rather quickly, and Kyrano rushed to clean the tables, then grabbed his mistress's bag. And, since winter was sweeping in at a rather alarming pace, Kyrano took his mistress's coat, making sure that she was warmly bundled up in the presentable outer wear before he put on his own.

What surprised the both of them was, instead, the fact that the door opened before they reached it.

"Do not –I repeat, Do not –go out." Keyron's eyes widened at the sight of the two of them, ready to leave the room. "Brandon is currently applying for your leave now, Miss Louise."

"Pardon me?" Kyrano asked in disbelief at the sudden movement. "What is going on here?"

"The two of you might want to sit down." Keyron suggested, looking between both of their horrified expressions even as he put his back against the door. "News isn't good."

"What news?" Kyrano barked seriously. How bad could news be? Considering all that the two of them had gone through the past month, what else could be bad news for Kyrano?

"I'll tell the two of you when you promise that you won't try to go outside." Keyron negotiated, but Kyrano was not ready for this kind of twisted fun.

"Keyron..."

"It might be worth listening to him." Louise announced, interrupting Kyrano's buildup at a lecture about inappropriateness. "Brandon and Keyron might be playful and mischievous at times, but I know that they won't do anything to disturb my duties. It has to be something rather serious if Brandon has already gone to apply for my leave before even consulting me."

"Yes, yes." Keyron agreed impatiently. "Please take off your coats."

With a frown at the indirect order that his brother had made upon his mistress, Kyrano removed his coat, helping his mistress with hers as she obeyed as well.

"What is this about?" Louise was the one to demand this time, but was interrupted one more time with knocks on the door. Keyron immediately looked through the peephole, sighed in relief that it was the expected person, and then pulled the door open for his master to rush in quickly.

"Can either of you tell me what this is all about?" Louise repeated again, this time a little more impatient, her hands on her hips.

"You haven't told them?" Brandon spun around accusingly on his butler, in which Keyron rushed to his own defence.

"I only just got here minutes ago! I was busy trying to make sure they don't go running out or something."

"If you told them, they wouldn't be dumb enough to go running out." Brandon scolded with a light hit on his butler's head, before he looked over to the confused and awaiting lady and her butler. Pulling an envelope out of the breastpocket of his uniform, Brandon handed it over quickly to his fiancé, explaining: "This came delivered with the newspaper today. I wouldn't have given it a second look if I didn't see the seal of Crawfords."

There wasn't much of explanations needed as Louise removed the contents, and then stared at the photograph for a long moment.

It was clear as day. There was no mistaking who the main characters of the photograph were, but Kyrano himself was in disbelief that he hadn't been aware of anyone lurking around. Then again, he had not been in his top form that day, and mistakes made were natural.

Still, it was a horrible mistake to make now, for the photo clearly depicted the two of them kissing in the rainstorm, Louise hugging a heart-broken Kyrano on the day of his sister's funeral.

Removing the letter that came along with the photograph, Louise took a quick read, the paper angled nicely so that Kyrano could get a look at it as well.

Dear Mr Brandon Greaves, it started out, I greatly apologise for the emotional turmoil you must receive from this photograph. I also greatly apologise for the unacceptable behaviour of my niece as well as her wayward butler. Rest assured we will take action on them for their actions, and we will draw out from the arranged marriage, as I am sure your family does not desire to be humiliated by our Louise. Once again, I apologise sincerely and wish you well. Oscar D. Crawford.

It was short, sweet and simple, but it meant only one very painful fact.

Oscar knew.

"You need to explain to your uncle." Brandon explained as the butler and his lady exchanged worried looks. Still, the fiancé's words of concern was ignored as Kyrano acted immediately on the silent order, removing the envelope he had only recently kept in his breaspocket. This time, Louise spent no niceties tearing the seal off the second envelope and, juggling the two envelopes within her hands, opened the second one –the one meant for her.

In it held the exact same photograph, and another letter.

Skipping quickly to the letter, once more the both of them read it.

I am utterly humiliated by you, Louise Crawford. You should understand exactly where you stand in the school that I have taken pains to place you in, and in this world. This immature love with your butler can never come to light, and I have sent a similar letter to your fiancé to express my utmost apology. Since you are entering your last semester of study, I shall not take action on your behaviour, but you have better conduct yourself befittingly while you are still a woman of St. Clair. I am recalling Butler Kyrano Reyes from your service as of now, and Maiko will serve you for as long as Kyrano requires punishment. Only if he repents will we allow him back to your side. A car will be here for Kyrano tonight. Be prepared. Oscar.

Louise felt the warm presence behind her disappear, and immediately spun around, dropping the envelopes from her hand as she reached out to grab Kyrano's retreating arm.

"NO."

"Miss Louise..." Kyrano answered weakly, his insides already twisting. "Master Oscar has given an order. I cannot possibly go against it."

"No." Louise insisted, digging her nails in even though she knew such small pain would not stop Kyrano at all. "I order you to stay. I am your mistress, and my words are your command."

"I am sorry, Miss Louise." Kyrano's defeated expression spoke for how resigned to his fate he already was. Shaking her hand away with the force of a man, he kept his head bowed. "Your words are my command, Miss Louise, but I am, in base, a servant of the Crawford Household. As Butlers, the hierarchy of powers stem from the Head of the Household, and it is currently Master Oscar..."

"And I am the heir apparent to that title!" Louise grasped at the straws desperately, the fear clear in her eyes. "You must obey me, Kyrano. Never leave me."

"I am so sorry, Miss Louise..." Kyrano answered, his head bowed to hide his expression, as he turned away to his own room to pack his things. "I honestly and sincerely apologise for this mess. But Master Oscar has found out about the underlying nature of our relationship, and it is nothing that I can deny. I have to be punished according to the rules and laws that govern me as a butler to the Crawford family."

"I won't let you."

"I'm afraid this time it is not in your power anymore, Miss Louise." Kyrano paused in front of his door, a hand resting limply on the doorknob. "But I do promise you that I will be back. I, Kyrano Reyes, am Miss Louise's butler and her butler only."

"Wait-"

"Please leave me some time to pack my things up and list down any points that Butler Maiko should note while he serves you." Kyrano interrupted, bowed once and escaped through the door.

Standing on the other side now, Kyrano pressed his back against the door and let out the breath the he had been holding on since he decided to leave. The reason Kyrano wanted to leave was simple.

He needed to be away from his mistress to see things clearly. This was one of the best opportunity, though it was at a pretty bad time.

Kyrano closed his eyes and breathed in deep once. He still hurt over his sister's death, but he could not have helped with curing his sister's cancer. All he had been able to do was to watch as Kyra faded away from life.

But this time, he could do something.

And Kyrano was ready to fight like hell.