The Lady's Butler

(Prologue)

"Is this where you work, Papa? It's amazing!" 5-year-old Kyrano Reyes asked as he held on tightly to his father's hand, wide eyes of amazement looking around at the mansion. This was the same place that the Master Oscar Crawford lived in?

Kyrano Reyes knew that he came from the family of Reyes that had served the family of Crawford for many generations. It was tradition that the men of Reyes would be butlers of the Masters of Crawford. It was a job that Kyrano grew up knowing that he would have to fulfil someday, but at the moment, in his young five year old self, he had never been introduced to this job that was expected of him.

Kyrone Reyes wore his stately ironed, clean-cut butler's coat with the usual ease –an attire that Kyrano was used to seeing his father in. Never had Kyrone ever brought his son to his workplace, because he knew that once he brought Kyrano in, then his son's life would forever be sold into the Crawford's household. And though it was a fact that could not be disputed, Kyrone had hoped that his son would be given more time to enjoy his childhood. But the Crawfords didn't let it go –just like how Kyrone wasn't let go years ago either. When Kyrone himself was five, he remembered being as innocent and wide-eyed as his son was now, his father luring him in.

"Kyrano," Kyrone paused by the gate, "remember that once you are a butler, you will be a butler forever. Don't try to fight it, because it will only bring heartbreaks."

"Okay, Papa!" Kyrano, ever so innocent, agreed easily, not even pausing to ask why heartbreaks would be caused if a butler fought his position. "I will be the best butler in the world like Papa!"

"What does the best butler in the world always say?" Kyrone asked his son as they continued their journey into the mansion –where they would meet Master Oscar Crawford, and Kyrano would, for the first time, meet his young mistress.

"The happiness of the master or mistress is the happiness of the butler!" Kyrano replied enthusiastically, and even though Kyrone regretted that his son's life of being a butler had officially begun, he was still proud of the young prodigy. He had no doubts that his son would fare well at the Butler training academy –given Kyrano's agility and wits. His son was, in actual fact, was equipped the best set of potential for the best butler, and Kyrone could only pray that his son would do well.

"Alright, from now onwards, I need to you keep quiet. Master Oscar does not like children making too much noise." Kyrone warned his son –the advice taken into heed immediately as the young boy sobered up. With the ability to interchange between conflicting emotions so quickly, Kyrone knew that his son would be able to survive well in the heartless world that he was about to plunge Kyrano into.

The utter obedience of Kyrano was born in the Reyes's family blood, and Kyrone only sighed at the resemblance of himself in his young son. In a few moments more, Kyrano would no longer be his son, but the newest butler-in-training. As heartless as how his own father Kiran had thrown him into the family of Crawford to learn to survive being a butler, Kyrone regretted that he would have to do the same thing to his son.

"Remember to greet your master and mistress anytime you meet them and don't look them in the eye." Kyrone reminded, and his son nodded clearly.

"Never speak out of line, and obey the wishes of your master and mistress, both spoken and unspoken." Kyrano continued to chant quickly, the young mind already understanding things so complex. Kyrone remembered struggling hard in his first few years as a butler-in-training, never understanding the words of the chant until much later.

Finally, they reached the double-doors that would open up to Oscar Crawford's office, the room in which Kyrone was utterly familiar with. Kyrone knew the secret latch that led the office to the dining hall downstairs, the button that was hidden in the wood of a shelf segment that opened up a portion of the wall to Crawford's monetary vault.

"My son," Kyrone –for the last time –submitted himself to his father's role as he knelt on one leg to be on the same eye level as his enthusiastic son, "from now onwards, I will not be your father. From now, I am Head Butler Kyrone Reyes, and all that will matter to you, all that you must submit and obey to will be your master and mistress. The Crawfords are your new parents, and you must obey them."

Kyrano sobered up a little –the young mind somehow understanding the sombre atmosphere. He tip-toed and pushed his lips to his father's cheek, taking the Head Butler by surprise.

"Bye bye, Papa. I love you." Kyrano said, set his face straight, and turned to face the double doors.

Once more, the ability to change emotions running forefront in the young boy's mind –it was something that Kyrone knew would serve his son very well. Kyrone straightened back to his feet, having received his son's last farewell, and took a deep breath. From that moment onwards, Kyrone would cease to be Kyrano's father and take on the new role of being the young butler-in-training's mentor. There would no longer be a heart for his lovely son, just the cold, cruel heart of a mentor.

"Be ready, Young One." He warned, and –withdrawing the air of the role of the Head Butler that he had taken over twenty years ago –he opened the door.

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"Master Oscar," Kyrone Reyes offered humbly, bowing down low and watching as Kyrano bowed in equal fashion as well, "This is Kyrano Reyes, my son. As you have requested, Kyrano will start his trainings tonight to be suited as your niece's butler, to follow and serve her for as long as she lives."

Oscar Crawford, Duke of Ferdinand and owner of the Crawford Conglomerate, looked up from the contract of takeover of yet another media house, to watch over the young child who had his head humbly bowed.

"Another generation of Reyes, huh?" Oscar asked absently; the first words that Kyrano ever heard from his new master. "He reminds me of you when you were young and learning to serve my brother."

"As expected, Sir. He is my son." Kyrone replied lowly. "Do you wish for Miss Louise to be introduced to her new butler?"

"There is little need." Oscar dismissed quickly, looking back down to his contracts and paper. "Bring the boy to identify his mistress and start him up with simple household chores. Bring me my tea on time afterwards, Kyrone."

"Shall I have Mr. Matsushida over to discuss about your takeover of his company?" Kyrone offered, but was dismissed quickly with a wave of a hand.

"You know what to do; I'm busy." The absent reply came, and Kyrone knew that his master would entertain no more suggestions as he bowed once more and walked straight-spined back out of the door, knowing that his obedient young son had followed. Good little Kyrano had not spoken a single word in the exchange.

"You heard the Master, Kyrano. You must identify your young mistress, and Maid Maria will brief you with all that you are to do." Kyrone told his son severely as he began to lead the way to the garden, guessing that the young mistress must be there enjoying the sunshine. Good-natured like her father, Kyrone found the young mistress a bright little flower. But the cold hand of the ruthless corporate world already crept into the hearts of the brightest flowers, and the Young Mistress did not have it differently.

"What about you, Sir?" Kyrano's reply almost gave cause for his father to pause, but Kyrone was now a Reyes butler, no longer a father. He took the addressing as one given by yet another butler-in-training, and offered no further comments.

"Do not question the work of the Head Butler, Kyrano. It is my job to care of the domesticity of the family and home while the Master works. From now on, you shall not address me directly, but only reach me through Maid Maria."

"Understood." The subservient reply came, and silence once more filled between the man and child. It would be hard to believe that minutes ago, they were father and son. Now, they were strangers working in the same household.

Kyrano repeated the chants of a butler in his mind as silent footsteps brought them towards his newest young mistress. He had heard and watched how his father had changed almost immediately to become a charming, humble and totally efficient butler in the presence of their Master. Kyrano knew it would take him years to achieve his father's level, but he also knew that to do that, he needed to forget that he was Kyrone's son. The man was now the Head Butler Kyrone, not his father.

Soon, the hallway opened up to a large-sized garden with well-trimmed bushes and trees that decorated the edge of the compound. Beautiful flowers grew on both sides of the walkway leading to a white cement pavilion with beautiful sculpting. Kyrano immediately caught his eyes on the back of a petite young lady, her back straight and pose elegant. Beautiful silky brown hair tumbled in amazing curls down the middle of her back, and from her back, Kyrano could see that she was dressed in a frilly white-and-green dress.

"Miss Louise, I beg your pardon." Kyrone intruded softly so as not to shock the young lady. Kyrone did not have to walk close to know that the young lady was reading once more –ever her father's daughter.

Even though the young lady had not yet turned around to face him, the Head Butler bowed as well, as Kyrano scrambled to follow after his father. The Young Mistress of the Crawford household was always reading at this time of the day in her silent, serene little pavilion; ever being the young scholar who already knew her direction in life at her age.

"What is it, Kyrone?" The lyrical voice of a young girl who already knew what authority she held over everyone in the household rang, and Kyrano struggled to tame his wildly beating heart. He still did not dare to look up, to cast his eyes on the magnificent beauty that would be his mistress, the woman he would pledge his entire life in servitude to. He did not dare to raise eyes, because butlers could never be able to meet his master's and mistress's eyes unless they were recognised.

"I bring you your new butler-in-training. Your uncle has requested for you to start getting used to having someone wholly attend to your personal needs rather than relying on the maids." Kyrone informed formally, and this definitely piqued the lady's interest as she left a single stalk of daisy as bookmark, closed her book softly, and looked up at the Head Butler bowed respectfully beside her.

"Uncle wants me to have a butler?" She confirmed.

"That is correct, Miss Louise." Kyrone affirmed, unsure of what reaction that young girl would come up with.

Kyrone remembered the time when he had been introduced as the new butler-in-training to young Louise's father Luca. Luca, also five years old, had adamantly refused to accept Kyrone as a butler. It was through countless days of convincing from Luca's father –Louise's grandfather –that Luca finally accepted Kyrone as a playmate. Accepting Kyrone finally as a butler came much much later for Luca when Kyrone first appeared before his young master in his butler coat, glove and Crawford's coat of arms.

"If that is what Uncle thinks is the best for me, then I shall accept his kindly concern. Who have you brought along that you think worthy of serving me, Kyrone?" The speech came from someone who did not sound as if she were five years old, and Kyrone briefly wondered if he was surrounded by genius children, or if it was just the younger generation that was getting smarter and more intelligent at a younger age.

"Miss Louise, I have brought along my son, Kyrano, to serve you. As the next male descendent of Reyes, I only think it appropriate that he begins learning how to serve you at a young age and to stay with you through your life's journey." Kyrone offered, and Kyrano, still bowing respectfully so that he was facing the floor, felt eyes land on him.

"You wish the same thing on your son as you have done with my father, Kyrone?" Miss Louise asked intelligently, and Kyrano tried his best to not fidget. His father had taught him how to bow properly when he was younger. As soon as Kyrano could stand, his father had taught him how to stand like a gentleman, how to bow respectfully.

"It is tradition of the men of the Reyes family, Miss Louise." Kyrone offered in explanation.

"Lift your head up, Kyrano." Louise called, and the first order his mistress ever addressed him was instantly obeyed as the young boy shot straight upwards, eyes tagging quickly on the breath-taking beauty that was his mistress. He did his best to evade his mistress's eyes, but he could not help but be taken aback by the pure beauty that had been printed on pristine pale skin that now looked at him.

"He has your looks, Kyrone." Louis commented, giving him a careful look over. Kyrano tried not to freak out about how he had felt a strand of his neatly combed hair tousle in the wind during the short walk to the mansion from the car. Was he dressed neatly enough? Did he accumulate any dirt or dust on his clothes when he walked in? Kyrano began to feel as if he were sorely underdressed in his shirt and jeans.

"He is my son, Miss Louise."

"He looks well." Kyrano felt his mistress's eyes tag on him once more, but he could not be sure because he didn't dare to look into her eyes.

"Now that you have introduced me to the young one," Louise abruptly turned her back once more, and Kyrano felt as if his world had been taken away from beneath him. Was she dismissing him? Did she not want him as a butler? "Take him to his duties. Do not disturb me until dinnertime."

"Miss Louise, I implore you to wear your coat." Kyrano stood frozen as he watched his father fluidly collected a teal-coloured cardigan resting neatly on the table by the young lady, opening the sleeves out so that the mistress could slip her hands in easily. "You will catch a cold if you intend to stay until dinnertime."

"You worry too much." Miss Louise sounded slightly annoyed, but Kyrano watched as she obediently threaded her arms through the sleeves, his father helping the young lady with her cardigan gently. For the quickest moment, Kyrano prayed that he would be allowed to do the same thing to the beautiful lady in the near future. "Now that I am well-covered, go. I do not wish to be disturbed any longer."

"As you wish, Miss Louise." Kyrone once more bowed his departure, and Kyrano followed his father's footsteps quickly.

The rest of the day blasted through quickly: Kyrano was deposited quickly with Maid Maria who he quickly found out was a woman who demanded efficiency, but gave good rewards for the efficiency achieved. The young boy was quickly put to work of cleaning the floors and smaller rooms around the mansion. Kyrano did not complain, and neither did he see his father, new master or mistress again for the rest of the day.

Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, young five-year-old Kyrano laid on the bed that marked the young butler-in-training. He was exhausted, but still he could not sleep. Laying on his back with his hands tucked behind his head, he looked up at the ceiling of the small room he had been given, and thought back of his young mistress.

He recalled every bit of her that he could remember, and the more he recalled, the more he desired to protect and care for that pristine beauty. He could not wait for the day he became an official butler –Miss Louise's official butler.

Kyrano fell asleep peacefully during the first night as a butler-in-training, dreaming happy dreams of serving his beautiful and elegant young mistress.

It was the last peaceful sleep that Kyrano had in a long time.

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It was the moment that Kyrano had dreamt of since he arrived in the Crawford Mansion. Through the days, the young boy had been made to go through various tests that no young boy should ever be put through. After Kyrano turned seven, he had been made to survive through 4 years of training at the Imperial Butler Academy amongst other grown up men in the bid to graduate with the coat of arms –a badge that would only be given to the cohort's top ten butlers in terms of poise, composure, servitude and attitude.

It had been a tough fight against grownups who were initially annoyed that they shared an academy with a young boy, then insulted that the boy was faring better than them. Kyrano suffered more torture and suffering than any rightful butler, but he never wavered from his goal. He merely memorised all that his father had taught him when he was younger, and put them to use through his days.

Four years had passed, and it was the day of Kyrano's graduation. Kyrano's test had been the hardest, for he had been asked to serve a meal to the academy's principal –the strictest assessor of the lot. Kyrano remembered almost passing out with the jitters after the test, but composure had to be kept. His hands resisted shaking from adrenaline, and Kyrano only stood outside the room in utter still silence, almost like a standing corpse, awaiting his results.

The young boy of eleven had gotten full marks.

Kyrano sat amongst the other accomplished butler-in-trainings, awaiting the start of the graduation ceremony. He had been waiting for so long –to officially be a butler in the Crawford household. He might not be the Head Butler like his father, but Kyrano did not desire to be one either. All he wanted was to serve Miss Louise. Ever since the first time she talked to him, they had never had any other form of interaction –save his bowing to her whenever she walked by.

Six years had treated the girl well, and Kyrano had charted the growth of the beauty. If Kyrano had thought the girl was beautiful when she was five, then she had grown absolutely stunning at the age of eleven. Louise was home-schooled and thus kept as a cloistered jewel that even Kyrano could not touch.

But it would not be for much longer, because Kyrone had told him to start serving Miss Louise immediately after his graduation into becoming a full-fledged butler.

The graduation ceremony saw the attendance of many dignified families –many of whom took the performance of their butlers as a reflection of their family's standing in the real world. Like trophies to brag about, the masters and mistresses of the butler-in-trainings that sat around Kyrano had come to watch their butler's graduation, to evaluate each other's level of performance.

Kyrano didn't care about all of that, because he saw Miss Louise appear. Master Oscar was not around, but Kyrone accompanied the young mistress in representative of the head of the house. He felt his father's proud eyes land on him, but Kyrano was only interested in the figure of an angel taking her seat passively on a special seat set out for the Crawfords.

Whispers came around at the sight of the young Crawford mistress, and Kyrano could not help but catch snippets of the gossip flying.

"Why is she here?"

"Wasn't her father chased away by her uncle?"

"Why didn't she go along with her father?"

"I heard her uncle killed her mother, and the father abandoned her to run. What a pity!"

With effort, Kyrano ignored the whispers making around. The outside knew only gossip, but he knew the truth –at least according to Kyrone.

Years ago, Miss Louise's mother had passed on after giving birth. Miss Louise's father Luca, the original head of the family, had been assassinated by a desperate businessman who wanted to stop a hostile takeover by the Crawford family. Since Miss Louise was still young, Oscar Crawford, Luca's younger brother, had stepped up as the head of family until Louise came of age. However, this had not stopped tongues from wagging, and rumours from flying saying that Oscar had ordered for his brother to be killed in order to gain the seat as the head of the family.

Kyrano watched as his young mistress sweep her eyes passively over the crowd of graduating butlers and fancied himself a quick imagination of her looking for him. But it was impossible, for they were dressed in the same attire, prim and proper for presentation. Kyrano hadn't been surprised at all when his coat had taken much longer to come, for it had to be tailored to suit his minute size.

Briefly, Louise leaned towards Kyrone and whispered something soft which Kyrano found his father replying in the same deferential, humble expression that always appeared on the Head Butler. Louise briefly replied something quickly, then opened up her book in her lap, turning her attention quickly away.

The graduation ceremony commenced quickly, but Kyrano felt it fly past as he stood straight-spined with his fellow graduating butlers, watching as his uninterested young mistress read in silence and focus, eyes unwavering from the content of the book. Then, it was the time of the presentation of awards.

In neat rows, Kyrano watched as the small cohort of butlers moved one by one towards the stage, the respective owners of these butlers moving to their place at the other side of the stage. It was the moment that all butlers had been awaiting since their enlistment into the Academy –the presentation of their family's coat of arms along with their badge of honour for having graduated as official butlers.

Smaller families found the master and mistresses themselves lining up along the side, but the larger, more authoritative ones only found the family's Head Butler representing the head of the family. Kyrano watched in anxiety as Kyrone leaned forward, exchanging words once more with the young mistress who had been taken away from her book. Could he dare to hope that in the absence of the master, the young mistress would take her uncle's place to bestow him with the coat of arms of Crawford?

His hoping came to naught as Kyrone nodded to show that he understood, then moved with the aura of a Head Butler towards the line at the other side of the stage. Disappointment was an emotion that Kyrano did his best to bury deep in his heart as he set his eyes straight. He should have expected it; there was little chance that a family as important as Crawford's would ever find the young mistress in the queue to present a badge to their new butler.

The anticipation that Kyrano had built up for years fought to crash down, but he forced his spirits to remain calm, for the aura of the best butler to shine through. Miss Louise might not be presenting his badge, but he still represented all that the Crawford family stood for, and that meant holding up the Crawford family's reputation as well. He could not afford to act like any other young ruffian who had found his way into the Academy and floundered his way through the training.

He ascended the steps to the stage at the call of his name, listening to the mundane words of an announcer as his list of achievement was read aloud. The list of his achievements seemed to drag on, and from his vantage point on the stage, he saw the other families exchanging more gossips –presumably about him. He knew that words would be said about how the Crawfords had once more entered a young butler of the Reyes family, and how this Reyes butler would always graduate as the best of the cohort. It was simply just something that the aristocratic society had learnt to accept.

On cue, Kyrano turned to face the Head Butler of his family as Kyrone walked up the stairs with the posture of grace and elegance. Bowing on instincts now, Kyrano kept himself humbled as he stood before the man that was his father, now the representative of his master.

"The Representative of the House of Crawford will now pin the golden badge of honour on Kyrano Reyes's coat. This signifies that Kyrano Reyes has graduated as the top butler of the cohort." The words sank into his heart as he watched gloved fingers of his father accept the golden badge from a lowly manservant, then reach forwards.

Never had a simple badge felt like such a weight that hung on his chest. It was a weight, however, that Kyrano was willing to wear proudly.

"To signify that Kyrano Reyes has now graduated to become an official butler of the House of Crawford, the Representative will now bestow him with the coat of arms the Crawford family."

This time, Kyrano raised his head ever so slightly to look up at the crowd, and more importantly at his mistress who seemed to be presiding over the whole ceremony with disinterested eyes. Her expression was blank, and even after close to seven years of servitude in the Crawford family, Kyrano still could not read his young mistress's empty expression.

Kyrano felt more than saw as his father pinned another badge on the lapels of his black butler coat. The audience broke out in polite applause, but Kyrano's eyes remained on his mistress. She met his eyes –for the first time –but did not maintain eye contact. There was no gesture of acknowledgement that he was there, that he had done something commendable.

Kyrano felt his heart fall a little, but as a butler, he had been taught and trained to not let his own assumed emotions dictate his actions. He had, after all, assumed that his young mistress would care about the graduating butler who would serve her daily needs from that evening onwards. But perhaps to Miss Louise, a butler did not mean much to her at all. Perhaps to Miss Louise, Kyrano was just another manservant –albeit one attached to attend to her personal needs.

As Kyrano walked to the edge of the stage, following humbly behind his father, he could not help but spare another look upwards. This time, his young mistress had already stood up, making her silent departure as quickly as she came. Kyrone saw this as well, and Kyrano watched his father slide fluidly through the crowd with added speed to reach his departing mistress.

Off-stage, and with the attention of the crowd off him, Kyrano found himself a corner where he sat alone in reflection. There had been no one else in the ceremony who was relatively of the Crawford household. It was him alone in the ceremony, awaiting it's end where he, with his fellow graduated butlers, would go back to their tiny dormitories to collect their bags and return back to their own serving households.

Kyrano wasn't sure if he wanted to go back to the Crawford Mansion at all. Surely his mistress hated his presence? While Miss Louise had never shown intense distaste to his presence, neither had she shown any form of recognition to him. Was she trying to pretend like he never existed? Was it her form of driving him away and sending a message to her uncle that she didn't need help?

Now that Kyrano was officially a butler of the Crawford household, he could not help but wonder: What would his future serving Miss Louise be like?