(Part 4)

"Thank goodness that this place isn't closed." Louis expressed as they neared the front gates that were wide open, a crowd teeming on the other side.

"Yes, Miss Louise," Kyrano reported as he held on tight to his little sister's hand despite Kyra's bubbling excitement that everyone in attendance could feel. "It was rather fortunate that you had some last-minute work to do, or we might have ended up in a difficult situation."

"Who would have thought that some knife-wielding psycho would go to an aquarium to wreck revenge? Of all places; an aquarium?" Keyron followed up easily, frowning in confusion. It certainly didn't sit well with Kyrano, because according to the news report that he had checked while they were on the car from the school to the update destination of the amusement park, the mentally-addled man who had gone crazy in the aquarium that Louise had been planning to go to had been trying to wreak revenge on the Crawford Household.

Had Louise not ben luckily delayed by some last-minute Student Council duties, she would definitely have been caught in the mess in the aquarium. Kyrano was not sure if it was a simple coincidence, or if someone had been planning something. After all, his little sister had been so happy when Louise and Brandon had promised to bring her to the aquarium with her brothers that Kyra had gone around telling everyone she saw –which meant that the outing towards the aquarium had been a school-wide news.

Was someone trying to take the chance to get rid of Louise or Brandon?

"Crazy people don't generally choose when and where they go crazy, Keyron." Brandon answered his butler's rhetorical question, keeping pace easily with his fiancée. Kyrano did his best to ignore how the man had very casually –very normally –come up and taken Louise's hand in his. The fact that his mistress had not tried to shake her fiancé's hand away spoke for how much the woman was warming up to him.

"If I could, I would choose the most public place I can find. And I'll do it when you're around so that you will be so embarrassed that you will never want to see anyone ever again." Keyron teased as Kyrano suppressed a hint of irritation.

"Keyron." He said sternly. "Watch what you say to your master, no matter how close you are to him."

"Yeah, Second Brother!" Kyra piped up, and it somehow managed to lift Kyrano's darkening spirit to see his sister with a mock face of severity. Kyra was not brought up like him to be a butler, but the young girl definitely understood her family's position in society and reality. She knew that she came from a family that boasted world-class butlers like her father and brother, and she knew that she had to keep that up. "You must respect your master and be polite at all times. Your master's words are your orders, and you must not think to go crazy in public, because it will ruin your master's reputation! Your face is Mr Brandon's face, and so you must be in your perfect behaviour in front of others, Second Brother."

Kyrano suppressed a proud smile at his sister's strong words –the very same words that had been taught an inculcated into him by his parents, his teachers in the Imperial Butler Academy, and everywhere else. Kyra was in the making to be a fine young lady, but she knew her place –that she would never rise to the league of her brother's mistress. Kyra was subservient to the higher-ranks, and Kyrano was glad that her sister was not too ambitious.

"Won't you look at that?" Brandon grinned at the chagrined expression that hung now on his butler's face. "Are you very sure that in your blood runs the same family lineage as these two, Keyron? Perhaps you were mistakenly taken from the dumpster and grew up to look coincidentally like Kyrano."

"Perhaps." Keyron answered. "But will you imagine me ever chanting the rules of butler hood to you? I fear you will be the one to go crazy if I did."

"We have Kyrano." Brandon reminded, turning to look at the man in topic. "And speaking of which, I think this is the first time I have seen Kyrano in casual clothes."

"I usually do not prefer to be in casual clothes, Mr Brandon." Kyrano offered in his reply, struggling not to fidget. His mistress had told him in the morning that he was strictly banned from wearing his black uniform out if they planned to bring Kyra around the aquarium, and he had tried to protest that he needed to keep to his position in his dressing as well. Still, Louise had not accepted a word of protest, and Kyrano had been forced to go to his brother to look for a set of good casual clothes that would be fitting of him to wear, and still stand beside his mistress in his position as a butler.

"He looks quite good in casual clothes, doesn't he, Louise?" Brandon turned to ask his fiancé, who smiled gently in reply, nodding.

"Yes, Kyrano does cut a suave figure with the set of clothes that he sports now." Louise answered honestly, and Kyrano did his best to not flush too red. It was one thing to be complimented by Brandon, but it was completely another to be complimented by his own mistress, whom had watched him grow up since they were 5. While the excuse could be made that he was almost always in this uniform when he appeared before her, it still remained a point that it was hard to appear suave just because of a change of clothes from the usual butler's uniform.

"Miss Louise, perhaps I should have gone with my uniform." Kyrano spoke up. "My scars are showing, and it will reflect badly on you to the public."

At the mention of his scars, eyes swivelled uncontrollably to the faint lines that were evenly spaced out upon pale white arms. Knowing that eyes were on his scars, Kyrano self-consciously turned his arm in to hide his shameful mistakes. Yet, despite all his strength as a butler and a man, he could not resist allowing his mistress to do all that she wanted when she grabbed at the arm closest to her, pulling it up and forcing the scars back under the sunlight.

"These are scars, Kyrano, that I don't ever want you to be embarrassed about. Nothing about your physical scars are shameful, because they are all there because you had them trying to protect your mistress. If anyone is to be ashamed, then it should be me, for I have allowed you to gain them as your mistress. If a butler's skills are a show of his mistress's power, then his perfection is also a show of how his mistress has fared taking care of him."

"But Miss Louise, if I wear these proudly, then it is a show to the public that you are not as yet competent, and that is completely untrue."

"It is a reminder to me, that I still have a long way to go to achieve the perfection suitable for yours." Louise answered in a no-nonsense manner, then dropped her butler's arm before she could lose her composure much more. Picking up the pace again, because the group had unconsciously come to a stop when she had been talking to her butler, Louise purposefully kept a pace that made clear that she did not desire a continuation of the matter. Kyrano watched the stiffness of his mistress's back as she walked on ahead, and he followed behind the group carefully.

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Ever since stepping into the amusement park –which appeared to be quite like another world entirely –Louise had lost trace of her previous irritation. It did help that Kyra was embracing her child-like nature, and getting excited over every small thing. Kyra's smile was, after all, infectious, and Kyrano eventually found his spirits lifted as well as he watched Louise and Brandon entertain to his sister's every whim and demand, reassuring Kyra over and over again that they were fine with following her, and that it wasn't rude of the young girl to want to go for the many rides.

For the sake of his sister's happiness, as well as the added effect that it seemed to have on his mistress, Kyrano remained silent about how his sister was treating his mistress and her fiancé rather informally. He knew it would be an atmosphere-killer, and since they were in an amusement park after all, it was only fair that he allowed his sister to run free.

After all, he was very sure that Kyra never had much chance to unwind so freely prior to coming over for a visit. His little sister had stated that missing him was the biggest reason why she had packed her bag and come looking for him, but Kyrano knew that there was something beneath it. Still, he did not have the heart to ask Kyra, because much as he tried not to admit it in front of his mistress –in his capacity as a butler –he did not want Kyra to leave so fast as well. Instead of going home to recharge, his battery had come straight to school for his sake, and Kyrano enjoyed it very much.

It was the first time since coming to St. Clair that Kyrano felt light-hearted, and it was only because Kyra was here to smile at everyone, to greet everything and everyone with the childish enthusiasm of a ten year old who still had yet to enter the painful realities of life. Yes, Kyra knew her place and position in society, but she was still idealistic.

"I'm tired." Kyra announced as they stepped off another roller coaster ride, and Kyrano checked his mistress to make sure that Louise's appearance was still perfect. Her beautiful sandy-brown hair was still perfectly hanging at her sides, the pin holding her fringe up just above her ear still in position. There appeared to be a lack of creases on her frilly baby blue dress, and in all, Kyrano was glad that he had not need to help his mistress right her appearance slyly.

"How would you like an ice-cream?" Louise asked, still holding on to Kyra's small hands. Ever since coming into the amusement park, Kyra had given up trying to hold her brother's hand and was now hand-in-hand with Louise instead, finding it much more interesting to talk to her brother's mistress and learn more about the woman through the way Louise interacted with her.

"I'd like one!" She declared, then turned back to give her brother a puppy-eyed look that she knew Kyrano would never be able to resist. Even though he did not go home often at all, Kyra always knew that her brother would let her have her way to the best of his abilities –particularly when she gave her puppy-eyes. "May I have an ice-cream, Big Brother?"

"Only if you remember not to have another one tonight." Kyrano replied with an honest smile, knowing his sister's –like most young girls –tendency to crave for the rather unhealthy and fattening dessert.

"Okay! I promise!" Kyra's answer was so fast that Kyrano was rather sure that his sister hadn't really processed his words in her mind at all, but all the same –she began to tug at Louise's hand gently. "I think I remember seeing an ice-cream stall nearby just now!"

Kyrano gave a soft sigh at his little sister's manners, but could not erase the smile that hung stupidly on his face. Only Kyra could make him feel so conflicted with his own job, and though Kyrano knew that he would have some troubles fitting back into his role as a butler while she was around –him having to juggle between being a loving brother and an efficient butler –Kyrano didn't regret a thing.

Watching his little sister sit on the bench beside him, swinging her legs freely back and forth even though she was already ten and honestly past the age of acting so childishly, Kyrano wondered briefly how this stroke of luck seemed to have just landed on his lap. Never would he have imagined that his wonderful little sister would come to find him herself, and never would he have imagined that he would ever have to balance between caring for his sister and his mistress simultaneously. His family and his job of serving his mistress had always been separated and he had never thought it possible for the two to come together; to collide and give him such a strange sense of warmth. This was Kyrano's chance of fulfilling his role as a brother, and he wasn't going to let up on that, as he gently wiped his sister's nose with a napkin that he had lifted from the stall, removing the dot of white cream there.

"Thank you, Big Brother." Kyra beamed at him temporarily before her attention was once more taken back to licking her ice-cream in fervour. "I'll miss this next time."

"Miss this?" Kyrano asked. "You have always asked for me to bring you to get some ice-cream whenever I came back, Kyra."

"Yes, Big Brother, but today is different! I'm really going to miss eating ice-cream with you. And it's great that I can have one with Second Brother this time! At least before I go, I get to share something with Second Brother, right?" Kyra replied, turning to find Keyron licking his own cone as well. "Second Brother's got ice-cream on his nose as well!"

At that exclamation, eyes turned to the frozen butler, who crossed his eyes trying to squint on the ice cream that had unceremoniously dotted on the tip of his nose. As Kyra broke down laughing, even Louise and Kyrano had to smile when Brandon incited another round of argument about how Keyron was not even comparable to his own sister who was 9 years younger than he.

The short ice cream break was spent in amusement as Kyrano watched his siblings as well as his mistress and her fiancé share jokes over their respective ice cream. Kyrano had turned down getting a cone himself, because he had ended up finishing his sister's share, knowing that the young girl –no matter how much she had grown up –still could not finish the whole thing by herself. Once everyone was rather cleaned up –with the exception of Keyron who had stupidly neglected to pick up a few napkins from the stall –the set out once more to complete the rest of the day, to make Kyra's day before she returned home.

Kyrano was rather surprised that he had not caught a single subtle clue flying between his siblings as well as his mistress's fiancé, because he suddenly found himself standing alone, feeling rather helpless all of a sudden with the hastily-excused departure of the three of their companions. Kyra had started the ball rolling by saying that she wanted to make something for Louise while she was here in the amusement park, and even before Kyrano could reply, Brandon had jumped in with agreement to that idea, and the suggestion that he should follow her to offer opinions on what his fiancée liked best. Keyron had immediately jumped to his role as a butler to follow his master around, as well as to take care of his little sister, and with this arrangement done in less than half a minute, the three of them had quite literally taken off on their feet, almost leaving a trail of dust behind them.

"Just exactly what are they planning?" Louise definitely hadn't missed the obvious intention of a plan enacted upon them as she watched the running back of Keyron as he scooped Kyra up in his arms, and disappeared within the crowd beside his master.

"To be honest, Miss Louise, I have not a single clue." Kyrano answered, running through all possible reasons in his head, but arriving on none except for the fact that Kyra might have wanted to spend some time with her unfamiliar Second Brother without him being around. Still, they could have just said so, and Kyrano would have understood. He was rather sure that his mistress would also understand the need for a deepening of sibling relationship as well. The rather hasty excuse at a departure had been unneeded, but still it had been done, and Louise and he were left relatively alone in the busy amusement park.

"Do you plan to go anywhere, Miss Louise, or do you want to wait for Mr Brandon, Kyra and Keyron around here?" Kyrano asked, slipping quickly back to his butler role now that the primary role of taking care of little Kyra was passed on to Keyron. No matter how much Keyron tried to subvert his role as a butler, Kyrano found that he still trusted his twin brother very much when it came to taking care of their little sister.

His mistress took a cursory look around, then seemed to take her time to decide.

"I don't believe I have been to an amusement park prior to today, Kyrano. Since we are here, we might as well make the most out of this experience." Louise expressed, and Kyrano nodded. Like his mistress, Kyrano neither had the time nor interest to engage in such a simple leisure activity. It had not helped as well that neither of them had grown up with an appropriate parent figure to bring them to the amusement park, and thus while both of them knew of the existence of the place, knew of its function, and the emotions that it was supposed to bring about, they had yet to experience it for themselves.

After all, which dignified lady of the higher society would find it proud to say that she had gone on a roller coaster ride? It was simply something that completely evaded the higher society –something that would completely evade Louise if it had not been for Kyrano's little sister. Kyrano simply could not decide if it was a good thing to let his mistress experience –even for a little bit –the entertainment of a lower-class youth.

Still, Kyrano supposed that only his mistress would have the grace and ability to venture to the unknown, to try out something that the higher classed societies would never think to try –or perhaps even step foot in. In fact, as Kyrano walked beside his mistress, he realized that the woman was behaving rather naturally –almost as if she belonged in the way her eyes swivelled to take in the cute ornaments, souvenirs and stalls that lined the roads.

Kyrano could not help but step closer to protect his mistress as they entered the crowd once more, doing his best to protect his mistress from coming into contact with any unfavourable strangers by using his body instead. Walking on the outside to make sure that anyone who walked too close would bump into him instead, Kyrano accidentally found himself shoved from the side by an unsuspecting stranger who seemed to have tipped in balance by another force that Kyrano could not see as well.

"I apologise, Miss Louise." Kyrano offered sheepishly at once when he realised that he had almost bumped into his lady, reeling from the sudden weight put in him from the side. "Someone bumped into me."

"It is rather crowded, is it not?" Louis simply nodded her acknowledgement at his apology. "I wonder if it is usually this busy."

"I expect so, Miss Louise. This is a rather famous amusement park in the region." Kyrano offered his answer politely, but could not help but walk closer when he realized that the path in front of them had somehow narrowed thanks to an increasing density. He briefly considered having the two of them walking in a straight file, but it would leave his mistress rather vulnerable from the front and the sides if he walked behind her. He definitely could not leave her behind him as well.

"Where would you like to go first, Miss Louise? We took the roller coasters with Kyra, so I would advise against queuing up for the same rides once more." Kyrano offered in hopes of distracting his mistress from the fact that he was now sidling closer and closer to her side, until their arms were almost touching. Kyrano tried his best to not flinch at the thought of his scarred arms touching the pristinely pure ones of his mistress's.

"I would like to get a look at what the stalls are offering. Perhaps I could win a prize or two for Kyra as keepsake." Louise answered, looking around in earnest, craning her head in hopes of seeing over the crowd at the bamboo headboards naming each stall.

"Then perhaps we should head over to the prize redemption booth to see what we might want to win for her?" Kyrano's suggestion was well received by his mistress, and he was now urged to lead her there. Thus they continued their arduous journey that was rather rowdy and involved lots of jostling. There were a few hard shoves that Kyrano received that almost made him tumble onto his mistress, but thankfully he always was able to regain his balance before he bumped into her.

Kyrano was half-relieved when they arrived at their destination which boasted a hierarchy of prizes to be earned. The lowest rank needed only a few tickets to redeem, but were simple disposables like a cute kitty-shaped eraser. It was completely understandable that the value of the prizes climbed according to the number of tickets require for redemption, and at the top sat a rather large body-sized plush bear.

"Look at that." Louise's cue was unneeded, because Kyrano's eyes had found the plush bear sitting at the top as well. "Do you think Kyra would like that?"

"She would love it, Miss Louise." Kyrano answered honestly, but the number of tickets that was required of them was completely out of their depth. It was by his intuition, but Kyrano was rather sure that to garner that amount of tickets for redemption meant that they might have to visit the amusement park many more times, and the time was something that neither his mistress nor he could afford. "But I doubt that we may be able to redeem it by today, even if we finish playing at all the stalls here."

"Yes, it seems highly unlikely for that to happen." Louis agreed, but Kyrano did not miss a single thing. As his mistress's faithful butler, he did not miss the disappointed tone in her voice, and neither did he miss the sight of a delighted glitter in her eyes fading away to nothingness.

Kyrano stepped forwards to the middle-aged man awaiting at the booth, giving a soft bow out of sheer instincts and politeness.

"Good afternoon, sir. May I know if there is any way possible that I might get that prize," Kyrano asked, pointing to the plush bear at the top, "by today? You see, I have no more opportunity to return here after today, and someone important to me desires it very much."

"Good afternoon, young one." The kindly man replied, the smile wrinkling the corners of his eyes. "Yes, there is a way to get the bear by today. You have to collect ten Golden Tickets from the stalls around here. Every stall owner owns a Golden Ticket, which they will only give to the individual that they feel have done exceptionally well on in their stall. However, as the Golden Ticket is very rare, stall owners choose rather carefully who they will give it to, and of course they will give it to someone who impresses them. If you are able to collect ten of these Golden Tickets, then you are able to collect the bear."

"Ten Golden Tickets?" Kyrano asked with surprise. It was an innovative system that the amusement park had put together to increase sales, and he was rather glad at its presence. "From any stall?"

"From any stall." The man repeated patiently. "None of them have yet to part with their Golden Ticket."

"I see. Thank you very much for the information." Kyrano once more bowed his farewell though instincts, and returned to his mistress's side, who had been waiting anxiously.

Kyrano found that he was rather surprised when his mistress's face lit up like a lightbulb when he explained to her the system of the Golden Tickets, expressing that there was possibility for them to gain the bear. He had a secret suspicion that Louise herself was rather fond of the bear, and was simply using giving to Kyra as an excuse of getting her hands on the plush toy. His mistress, after all, was still a teenage girl, and Kyrano completely understood girl's weaknesses for all things cute.

Kyrano planned to tell his mistress of his sister's allergy to the faux fur of the bear only after Louise had gotten her hands on the bear.

With the new motivation in mind, Louise and Kyrano immediately set forth to the stalls. Golden Ticket or no, Kyrano was determined to see that his mistress enjoyed the day as much as he did –even if they were alone together.

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"Kyrano, come on." Louise urged with an easy-going smile when he lagged behind a little, checking over at the stalls to make sure that they had swept their way through most of them.

"Miss Louise, which one do you plan to go to now?" Kyrano asked, mentally ticking off a few that he saw. They had gone according to his mistress's wishes, and though Louise had been flitting all around without much of a system, she had played every single stall with the enthusiasm of a ten year-old child. Kyrano had been so surprised when his mistress let up on a child-like squeal of joy when she managed to throw a tiny hoop over the beer bottle that had the biggest opening. While he had little doubts in his mistress's abilities of aiming –considering that she was rather trained at Archery since young as a lady's sport –but it appeared that Louise had had Lady Luck on her side as well.

Kyrano took a long time to realise that his mistress was beginning to act rather unlady-like, but more like a young impressionable girl all over again as she urged him from one stall to another with her blissful smile. The fact that he had been enjoying this version of his lady –the human side of her –had surprised him more than the fact that he hadn't noticed it at all prior to his sudden realization.

"That one." Louise turned around and pointed her way eagerly. "Come, we'll never be done collecting the Golden Tickets at this rate."

Kyrano's surprised words were drowned out by the crowd when his mistress grabbed at his hand and began to drag him moving faster towards the way she had pointed towards. This was completely a role reversal –the first time that Kyrano found himself being led around by his mistress, with her pulling him along.

Yet, Kyrano did not shake her hand away. The butler that was Kyrano hated to admit it, but Kyrano rather enjoyed the physical contact that he always been trying to avoid. The crowd had gotten thinner as time passed, but it was strange that Kyrano still found himself bumped into, almost always forcing him into his mistress's direction.

"We're almost done with the Golden Tickets, Miss Louise." Kyrano offered when they made past the worst of the crowd, able to walk beside his mistress once more comfortably. He tried not to let his heart soar to high knowing that Louise was still holding on to his hand despite the fact that he had stayed with her during their trek through the crowd. "There is little need to hurry."

Kyrano didn't want to tell his mistress that he had actually already bought a tiny teddy bear keychain for his little sister when his mistress had been off using the restroom, and didn't actually need the large plush toy at all. It appeared that Louise was enjoying herself very thoroughly for the first time, forgetting her status and name for the first time of her life –and Kyrano did not have the heart to bring his mistress back to reality.

The signs were so obvious; the fact that Louise now held an almost permanent brilliant smile on her face, her walk more relaxed, her eyes much brighter, her gait eager. She spoke less consciously of her status now, her conversations simple and short as she enjoyed the games offered by each stalls. Even the small sounds of surprise, shock or joy that she made came unfettered even though any rightful lady should be keeping those on the inside and silent. The biggest change, though, was the fact that Louise had completely forgotten the fact that Kyrano was supposed to be her butler. He found now that he was considered her companion rather than her servant and butler, and that meant that she initiated physical contact –like her holding his hand –easily.

Kyrano found it hard to admit aloud -but it was still something that he would force himself to accept –that he thoroughly enjoyed the change of his mistress. In fact, he enjoyed the ability to hold her hand like a companion, and thus did not complain nor speak up when she still refused to let her hand go even though they were through the worst of the crowd.

"Let's go to this stall." Louise declared again, pointing to the small one laid out simply. "I've got a feeling we can get the Golden Ticket for this one."

"Miss Louise, we have almost enough Golden Tickets." Kyrano reminded another time, though a helpless smile spread across his face. It was rather obvious that Louise was taking the excuse of earning Golden Tickets to enjoy herself at each booth, and Kyrano could not help his amusement. This was the first time that he had seen his mistress been so happy for such an extended period of time.

Truly, a butler's happiness was his mistress's happiness, as Kyrano felt his heart light, his spirit heady and almost unbelievably free.

"Hello." Louise approached the stall owner, pulling Kyrano along till they were right in front of the machine. This was a change as well –because dignified ladies were not supposed to approach strangers. Their butlers were supposed to be the one interacting with the locals, passing the knowledge over to the dignified members of society. But Louise didn't seem to care about that much at all now as she smiled brightly at the kindly old man. "We're looking to get a Golden Ticket. Have you given yours out yet?"

"I have not, Miss." The old man smiled back at Kyrano's friendly lady. "But are you sure that you can impress me enough to earn a Golden Ticket? I have been here for fifteen years, and I haven't given out my Golden Ticket yet. It will take me a lot to impress me."

"Don't worry." Louise answered, patting the old man on the shoulder. Another thing that was change –dignified ladies were not supposed to initiate physical contact with members of the lower society unless there was a dire need to. "I'm sure we can impress you today."

"Then go ahead, Miss." The old man gestured politely to the machine, as well as the hammer that rested on the target. Kyrano paid up for his mistress's first try at the strength machine, standing beside the old man a safe distance away and watching as Louise carefully closed her hand around the hammer, lift it up, then frowned a little at its weight.

"Please don't hurt yourself, Miss. For your first try, I will keep the tension setting lower." The elderly man fiddled with a few buttons behind the machine. "This might help with your score."

"Thank you kindly, Old Man." Louise said, made sure that all sets were done, then swung the hammer forth with all her might.

Kyrano watched as the indicator shot upwards with surprising speed, hitting the bell at the top loudly in an almost deafening ring. Louise once more regained her victorious grin, and Kyrano wished in that instant that he could have captured her expression on a camera.

"It seems like I have misjudged you by your frame, Miss." The old man once more went back to the machine. "I will increase the tension with each successful hit, until you no longer can hit the bell. We will see how far you can go, and we will decide if you deserve the Golden Ticket by your results."

"Alright." Louise nodded firmly. It was a rather fair way to go about distributing the all-important Golden Ticket.

Once more, Kyrano watched as his mistress swung the hammer down, and the bell rang loudly. This happened several times, until the tension must have been set too high for his mistress's strength, because this time the indicator only shot up halfway.

"Miss, you are really special. I don't see many women being able to reach Level 7, and you have such a small frame! I am ashamed to admit that I might have underestimated you on first sight." The old man smiled widely at his mistress as she finally left the hammer resting once more on the target, walking over to join them at the side. Kyrano wordlessly used a spare napkin to dab lightly at the beads of sweat that had worked their way on his mistress's forehead, making sure that she still looked completely prim and proper despite the workout.

"Is it enough to gain a Golden Ticket?" Louis asked eagerly, almost bouncing on her heel in eagerness. Kyrano suppressed a smile at the childish movement, turning to look at the man in anticipation as well.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but I have to say that even though you were rather special, I have seen a few other women who managed to reach higher levels than you did. Thus, it is not enough to impress me greatly to give you my prized Golden Ticket. But you honestly made a good try." The man expressed with sincere apology, and Kyrano watched as his mistress's face fell into disappointment. It was clear that even though she had put in her all for the hits, it simply hadn't been enough.

"Okay... I understand."

"Miss Louise," Kyrano spoke up before she could turn away in disappointment at having been rejected from gaining the Golden Ticket. Watching the light of excitement fade away and be replaced by disappointment had been something that was too hard for him to watch. "If you would spare me some time, I would like to give the Golden Ticket a try at this stall."

"You want to try?" Louise's eyes brightened up once again, and Kyrano almost went weak with relief to know that he was the one to put it back there. "But you said you didn't want to try at any stalls! You said you were just here to watch after me."

"Yes, but I do wish to get my sister something nice as well." He lied straight through his teeth, but it was not as if his mistress would know. "Would you leave me some time?"

"Of course! I'm sure you can gain the Golden Ticket." Louise answered confidently, then turned back to face the old man with the excitement re-written on her face again. "Old Man, my Kyrano would like to try at your Golden Ticket again."

Kyrano remained silently happy at the fact that his mistress had called him hers –had placed his name after a possessive noun. If he was deluded, he might convince himself that she was speaking about her boyfriend, that 'her' Kyrano was her lover.

"Certainly. However, I must warn you that a fair amount of strong young men have come here and impressed me greatly, and yet they have gone home disappointed. It will be hard for your young man to impress me into giving the ticket." The old man answered his mistress as Kyrano paid once more for his try, then walked calmly over to the machine. "But for the first try, I will set the tension at something rather normal for men."

"Certainly." Kyrano nodded politely to show that he was ready, wrapped his fingers around the hammer in his right hand and lifted it. It was actually lighter than his mistress had made it look, and simply, as a test run, he gave the target a simple hit.

The bell rang loudly.

Kyrano continued to hit the target easily with one hand for a few successive hits, eventually changing over to his dominant hand when the tension increased. Kyrano was not aware of the attention that he had received until a round of applause rose at another ringing of the bell that was now becoming rather dull in his ears given at its relative frequency. The poor old man no longer bothered removing his hands off the tension setter anymore, simply steadily increasing the tension with each successive hit.

Eventually, the tension was too high for his one-handed hits, and thus Kyrano used both hands on the hammer, making sure that he put in a little bit more effort with each increasing in the notch of tension that the Old Man put on the machine. Still, the bell continued to ring, and Kyrano began to flex a little more muscles with each hit, feeling as if he were slowly warming up to a hard workout.

And then, the most amazing thing happened after one more hit –the indicator did not come down from the bell. Kyrano was rather surprised at the disappointed rousing of the crowd that had gathered around them as the Old Man ducked out from behind the machine, looking apologetic.

"I'm sorry, sir," He said, "The machine can't hold anymore tension. If I try to increase it, it might break. I apologise greatly."

Kyrano smiled to show that he understood, and that no harm was done as he rested the hammer back on target. "It was a good run, sir. Thank you for giving me a chance."

"No, no." The old man shook his head with a wide smile as he rejoined his mistress who stood at the side, surprised as well. Louise had known that her butler was rather exceptional, but she had not completely understood how special he was until that very moment, in which the man had completely easily cleared through the stages that she had tried so hard to accomplish. "Thank you for showing me that there is actually someone who can finish all the stages of this machine. You are not working as a weight-lifter, are you? You are too thin to be one."

"No, sir." Kyrano answered with another polite bow on instincts, blinking a little in surprise when the old man took his hand into an enthusiastic handshake. "I work as a simple butler."

"A butler, are you?" The old man expressed in surprise. "I did not know butlers were trained to be so strong."

"We are expected to uphold a certain level of strength to be able to serve our master and mistresses." Kyrano answered informally, then realized that something had been pressed into his hand. Looking down, he found with surprise that a semi-crumpled piece of paper shone up at him. "Sir, this is..."

"The Golden Ticket." The old man expressed with a twinkle in his eyes. "You deserve it completely, young butler. Now, be off to collect the fine plush toy we have up for redemption for your lovely girlfriend."

"Sir, you have it wrong." Kyrano rushed to correct the misunderstanding quickly. "This lady here is not my-"

"Kyrano, let's go!" Louise did not seem to care about the issue at hand for she put her hand over his once more and pulled him away from the old man with the eagerness of a beautiful bunny.

"Miss Louise, why didn't you let me-"

"You were great, Kyrano!" Louise interrupted with a wide grin as they pushed through the awed crowd to leave the stall. It seemed as if no one was intending to approach them for any reasons whatsoever after Kyrano's performance, and he found that he was rather glad to be off walking hand in hand with his mistress without having to worry about being pushed or shoved.

Kyrano was rather glad that it had happened –that he had offered to win the Golden Ticket for his lady's sake –because it was one of the last time that he ever saw his mistress looking so happy.