(Part 12)

Kyrano completed his nightly butler duties for the last time in relative, comfortable and peaceful silence. Brushing down his mistress's uniform and hanging it up in preparation for the next day, Kyrano kept his mind a careful blank in a form of mental meditation. It was too early to harbour thoughts, too early to bring up the emotions that would fuel him down for the last few minutes of his life.

Attending to the room one last time with special care, Kyrano stood at the corner of his mistress's room, taking in the neatness that he had achieved. The light was dim enough that Louise was able to sleep peacefully, and yet Kyrano could still see a soft glow illuminating her peaceful sleeping face.

He took a mental picture of the scene of utter peace and comfort set out before him, knowing that it would not be long that he would need this picture to push on. The idea of his mistress sleeping with a soft smile on her face like what she was doing now would be the motivation for him in the next few hours.

Checking his watch, Kyrano deemed that it was time.

He returned to his room and changed into his formal set of butler clothes –the one meant for formal occasions or duels. He silently righted his appearance, making sure that nothing was out of place as he pulled on his father's gloves, not surprised that it fit him perfectly. Though he was still younger than the age at which his father had passed on, Kyrano had properly grown up to fit into Kyrone's shoes and gloves. On instincts, Kyrano reached to transfer the badges from his previous uniform to his new one, then hesitated.

Kyrano picked them out of his coat, but instead of pinning it proudly on his chest, he left them on his bedside table. Arranging them nicely and folding up his old uniform neatly, Kyrano left them both on the table and stepped back. The Crawford coat of arms shone at him, sitting comfortably beside the golden coat of arms that he had always been carrying with pride.

He prayed that somewhere along the road down the future, his brother would be wearing these two badges well.

The Butler in Black kept his weapons well beneath the folds of his clothes, but before he left his own room, stepped to the chest at the corner of the room that he rarely ever touched. There was no hesitation at all when he knelt before the rectangular chest, pulled at the buckles and threw the lid open.

The metal caught the light that had suddenly been bathed on it, shining beautifully. Kyrano spared no time as he reached forwards with both hand, one reaching for the sheath while the other grabbed at the blade. Guiding the blade into the sheath and then holding it nicely in one hand, Kyrano pulled the lid down once more, not bothering to buckle it anymore before he turned and left the room.

There was no last look backward at all even as he walked through his mistress's room and out of the door. Kyrano left the room so normally that it didn't feel like he would never come back ever again. It was for the best, as he hurried through the corridors, not wanting to waste too much time dwelling on realities.

Kyrano supposed that he wasn't surprised at all to find his mistress's ex-fiance and his twin brother waiting for him at the entrance of the school worriedly. Equal parts of worry and sadness hung in both their eyes when Kyrano hurried to meet them, offering a bow in greeting.

"Thank you humbly for all the help that you have extended to us, Mr Brandon." Kyrano began.

"There is absolutely no chance for me to talk you out of this, is there?" Brandon asked, the mixture of resignation and reluctance in his voice and his eyes when Kyrano met them fearlessly.

"There is no way." Kyrano agreed, rather glad that the man completely understood. "It is much better that things happen this way."

"But Louise will..." Brandon could not even begin to come up with the appropriate words that could describe what he imagined would happen to the woman that he loved. He supposed that he should feel a little victorious –that his rival in love was finally going to retreat from the battlefield. But Brandon felt none of it; only complete longing to have the man stay as a rival for the rest of their lives.

"As my sister had once emplored of Miss Lousie to take care of me, I will shame myself to do it once more with you. I emplore you, Mr Brandon, to watch over Miss Louise. Love only her, protect her and support her. Miss Louise has been lonely since her birth, and I have done my best to be by her side, love her and support her in my years with her. This time, however, I cannot. No longer can I walk the road beside her, so I emplore for you to do it in my stead, Mr Brandon." Kyrano offered with one of the humblest bow that he would ever make in his entire life, his heart completely poured out in his one request.

The seriousness of the situation made Brandon –despite how much he hated it –nod in acceptance of the request.

"Keyron." The Butler in Black turned to his twin brother, who looked completely lost for worlds, the tears brimming in his eyes. Kyrano stepped forth, and shamelessly embraced his younger brother tightly. It was the first time the butler had ever initiated such strong and close contact with his little brother, and Keyron's heart broke even more at how he would never feel this contact ever again.

"Big Brother..." Keyron could not help but cry the affectionate term that their little sister Kyra had always left for Kyrano.

"Little Keyron..." Kyrano whispered beside his ear even though the both of them were the same age. Yet, at this very moment, it felt almost as if Keyron were ten years younger, and that his big brother Kyrano was going to leave him alone forever. "Keyron, grow up to be a good butler to Mr Brandon and Miss Louise, won't you? Love the both of them, cherish them, protect them and support them. I wish I could have done it by your side, but one of us has to go."

"Let it be me... I can take your place..." Keyron begged, hugging his brother as if he would never let go.

"No, Keyron. You deserve to live. You deserve to serve Mr Brandon and Miss Louise. You are a Reyes, Keyron. You must serve the last remaining Crawford after today. Watch over her like the Reyes man that you are, and watch over their children in the future. Make your son protect the next young hier of the Crawfords, and let them grow up together, in love, in companionship, and in support the same way you and I have done with Miss Louise and Mr Brandon."

"B-But..." Keyron could not help but stumble in his words, too distraught to think of anything else.

"I love you, Keyron, the same way I loved Kyra. I am sorry that I never loved you for the past years, but ever since getting to know you, you have been nothing but my joy. Despite all the warnings I have given you as a butler, you are still the best butler that I have seen." Kyrano pat his brother's back reassuringly. "And you are the only butler besides me that is worthy of serving Miss Louise."

"She wouldn't want me... she would want you, Big Brother."

"But she cannot." Kyrano's answer was simple, as if there was promise held there. "So she will love you the same way she has loved me; the same way that she will love Mr Brandon. Never betray their trust, never betray your loyalty, and never betray your own blood as Reyes."

"Kyrano..."

"I have to go now." The Butler in Black expressed strongly as equally strong hands pulled his brother back out from the desperate hug, pulling Keyron at safe arm's length away. "Be safe, and know that your father, sister and I will be watching over you."

"I promise you, Kyrano." Keyron sobbed even as he tried in futile attempts to wipe the tears leaking from his eyes. "I promise you that I will serve Miss Louise and Mr Brandon as the best butler. I promise you that I will be the best son to Karima."

"Very good." Kyrano offered his best smile against his brother's crying face, and wished that this moment be remembered forever –the day that Keyron cried and Kyrano smiled.

"Take care of yourselves well." Kyrano took another step away from both men, watching as Brandon worriedly offer his butler a crying shoulder. "I honestly wish you well."

"Go, Kyrano." Brandon said bade, his voice cracking with the emotions overcome. "Go and do us proud. Make me proud to have known you, to have made you my rival, to have been your friend and aid."

Kyrano stopped by the side of the awaiting car, looking at the two men who had come to send him off.

Keyron was still being a hopeless crybaby, but for the first time he felt not irritation at the butler's outwardly show of weakness.

The Butler in Black bowed one last time, turned and did not look back anymore as he stepped into the car.

There was no point in looking back anymore. There was nothing more to look back upon anymore.

All the butler had to do right now was to look forward, as the car set into drive. His sword rested across his thigh, a hard, faithful tool.

Exactly the same thing that Kyrano was.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Louise stirred from a pleasant dream in which her butler became a dignified member of society instead of simply her butler. The Kyrano of her dreams hade smiled beautifully at her, met her at a business party and had flirted with her in his humble way. Louise had even gone so far as to dream about her first date with the dignified but humble Kyrano, and how he would smile at her ever so often, and tell her that he loved her.

In her dream, he simply called her by name. There was no honorifics that were attached to her name in her dream, only Louise.

Thus, it was understandable that the woman was rather blur when she stirred, opening her eyes slowly to find the dark room. Was she in another dream created by her mind, or was this reality? Her mind was rather slow on the uptake as she blinked slowly, staring up at the dimly lit ceiling. The seconds dragged out to minutes and Louise was suddenly more and more aware that she felt more awake, which meant that this wasn't a dream.

It was rather rare –the fact that she had woken up before her butler had come to act as her alarm. Perhaps it was because of the beautiful sleep and dream that she had had that made her wake up? She could immediately remember the source of the beautiful dream –the fact that her Kyrano had in real life, told her that he loved her right before she slept the night before.

A heady sense of happiness stuck with Louise as she waited, unsure whether it was too early to wake up or not. She didn't mind waking up a few minutes earlier if that meant that she could spend them with Kyrano now that he had come back to serve her since yesterday night. But as she laid on the bed, Louise was rather aware that the room was silent completely silent.

Perhaps it was really too early, and Kyrano had yet to wake up?

Finally deciding that waiting like this was too uncertain for her, Louise sat up slowly and searched for the bedside clock. Bringing it up and angling it against the soft light, Louise gasped as the information registered in her mind.

She swung her legs off the bed from underneath the covers, frowning a little. Why hadn't Kyrano woken her up yet? She was about to be rather late for school, and given how often she had been taking leaves from school recently, it would reflect rather badly on her if she were to appear late once more.

"Kyrano." She called as she slipped her feet into her bedroom slippers, flipping the lights on. A quick visual search of the lighted room showed that her butler was absent, and her frowned deepened as she moved to the door leading to his bedroom.

Where was the man?

The butler's room was neat as always, but the man wasn't there. Telling herself not to be too overly worried now, Louise looked around desperately in her room for any signs of her butler leaving a note for her. There was no way that Kyrano would miss his duty without leaving her a note. She knew the efficiency that was her butler, and Kyrano would definitely not leave her alone without giving a single heads-up.

There.

Louise gave a soft sigh of relief when she spied the breakfast set out on usual dining table, and a card propped up against the teacup. Rushing over, she was doubly relieved to find Kyrano's handwriting there.

Out on an errand.

It was rather simple and informative, and though it felt a little weird for her –because this was the first time her butler had gone on an errand so suddenly –she was at least glad to know that he was coming back. Still, now that her butler had given her an idea of where he had gone, Louise rushed into her bathroom for the morning wash-up. Kyrano had prepared everything ready for her, and she was in her uniform quickly.

Her frown deepened when she came out of her bathroom, and Kyrano had still yet to show his face. Her surprise was further deepened when she sat herself at the breakfast table, and tried at the morning tea, finding it stunningly cold.

Kyrano had prepared this meal very long ago.

As if the cold was a sudden wake up call from the warm, comfortable ease of the dream that she had enjoyed, Louise blinked, the naturally suspicious part of her mind finally awoken and working. She froze with her lips pursed, stalling in her second sip of the cold tea as her eyes scanned around the room once more.

Nothing was out of place. Nothing was suspiciously out of place.

Jumping to her feet, Louise rested her teacup back on its plate, rushing to her butler's bedroom in accordance to the part of her that was suspicious and backed up by instincts. It was as it had looked the first time she had opened the door, but her eyes knew where to look now. The first time in the morning she had looked into the room, she had been looking for a man.

This time, Louise was looking for clues, and when she opened her eyes to them, she found them glaringly obvious in front of her.

Running to the bedside table, Louise stared in horror at the badges that were arranged nicely there beside a set of folded butler uniform.

Kyrano never presented himself without his coat of arms. Part of a butler's appearance was the coat of arms that held the symbol of his family. Part of Kyrano's appearance was the Crawford coat of arms, along with the golden coat of arms that he had received during his study in the Imperial Academy.

Grabbing at the set of neatly folded uniform, Louise searched through it for any signs of where her butler might be going, what he might be doing. It was suddenly becoming very obvious in her guts that things was wrong. She found no clue in the set of uniform, but as she looked up, she spied something that would normall have evaded her gaze.

The buckles to the chest that had always been in the corner of Kyrano's room was open. The chest –Louise knew –held Kyrano's duelling sword.

Running over, Louise's heart fell as she pushed the lid open and found it predictably empty.

Her butler had gone somewhere without his badges of honor and a sword.

Louise refused to let her mind go into a blank as she forced the thoughts running, connecting everything at a hectic pace. There had to be someone who knew something, someone who had spent enough time with him to know what he had been planning to know. Someone definitely had to have a clue...

And Kyrano had spent the past few days nursing a fever in her ex-fiance's room.

The course of action had barely formed in her mind before Louise found herself grabbing her coat off the shelf, running out of the door. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so flustered, but she didn't care at all about her status and position in the school this time as she dashed through the school corridors for the first time in her life. The students of the Rose Academy that had been ready for a new day paused at the sound of slapping footsteps, turing just in time to see the Rose of the Academy dashing through in nothing but her uniform and coat.

She was even barefooted.

Brandon knew it in his guts when he heard the slaps of footsteps outside his door, followed by rushed knocks. His butler looked up at him, spiritless in the eyes but resigned in expression. Brandon knew exactly what Keyron felt in the inside, which was exactly the reason why he sat at his breakfast table now, barely touching anything because he felt as if he would throw everything up eventually.

"Showtime." He said simply to his butler, who nodded grimly, then stood up to answer the door. Brandon breathed in deep once –in unison to his butler –before the door opened.

Both of them had their masks thrown on when Louise burst through the door.

"Miss Louise, why are you barefooted?" Keyron's voice of surprise was strong, and Brandon bristled inside with unvoiced pride. His butler, regardless of how destroyed he was at the departure of Kyrano, was still working well putting up an act under the pressure. Still, outwardly, Brandon had the same mask of surprise put on his face, feeling a little uncomrtable doing so.

Brandon had, after all, grown up without a mask on his face. This was the first time a circumstance was forcing him to lie through his teeth for the sake of someone else, the first time he was forced to act. It was going to be the first time in many times to come –Brandon learned –because it was the first time Brandon stepped into the painful adult world of lies, deceit, and business-making.

"Where is Kyrano?" Louise demanded without fear, without shame and without care of her standing as she marched into the room, pushing Keyron aside. Angry blue eyes was convicted that Brandon knew something –which he actually did –but the man had to act like he didn't.

"Kyrano?" Brandon repeated in a confused voice, both glad and disgusted at himself that he could sound so convincing. "Didn't Kyrano go back to serve you yesterday night?"

"He came back to my room yesterday night, but he's gone." Louise explained in an equally demanding tone. "He's been spending the past days with you. You must know something."

"Miss Louise," Keyron had closed the door behind her by now, rushing to her side in what sounded like something imploring. "Perhaps you should take a seat first. I will get you your shoes."

"I don't need my shoes." The woman had completely no need for manners now that she was demanding something. "I need to know where Kyrano is."

"I don't know." Brandon answered with a shrug. "The whole time he was here, he was either sick, or serving me like a normal butler. There was nothing different."

"You lie." Louise accused with such strength that Brandon was genuinely surprised even as she advanced upon him, hard accusative eyes pinned on him. "Kyrano might have fallen sick, but he changed when he was with you. When he came back yesterday night, he was back to normal. Something happened while he was here with you."

"Nothing happened." Brandon insisted, putting on his indignant mask on now. Kyrano had given him and Keyron one job –and it was up to the both of them to do it as well as they could. "Kyrano was just a normal butler. I tried to get him to talk to me about what happened at the Crawford Main House, but he wouldn't say."

"Then where can he be right now?" Louise seemed reluctant to let him off the hook. It was understandable, because the woman probably thought of him as the only person with the answer to her precious butler's whereabouts. She wasn't wrong –but it didn't mean that she had to know more about it. At least not now. Not so early in the morning.

"Calm down, Louise." He forced himself to appear to the reliable detective as he stood up from his seat, guiding the woman carefully to take the seat that he had just abandoned. "Tell me what happened since he went back to your room."

"It was very normal yesterday..." The lady seemed defeated as she looked at the floor helplessly, recounting. This Louise sitting in his seat was completely not the same Louise that was the Rose of the Academy –the fact that she had come running from her room without shoes on spoke for as much. And the worst thing was that the lady only thought that her butler had gone missing.

Brandon did not even want to imagine what he would see the woman he loved go through when the news would come.

"Normal? Normal as in the kind of normal since he came back from the Main House, or what?" Keyron pursued, comfortable enough to suit Brandon into the detective mood as well. They were acting as natural as they could, doing their utmost best to do what was expected of them. It was, after all, the last job that Kyrano had left for them. Even though their role was a small one, it was still a crucial one in support of the Butler in Black.

"Normal as in before everything happened. Before you and Brandon came. That kind of nostalgic normal." Louise answered, equal parts of worry and frustration in her voice. "I should have known that he was planning something. I should have been more suspicious that he was suddenly acting all normal again. I should have asked when he told me that he would give me all the answers today. He relegated everything today..."

Brandon almost jolted with shock when Louise suddenly jumped to her feet, eyes wide with horror.

"Is he doing something that might cost his life? He relegated everything to today, because he know that he will not have to give me the answer?"

It was cutting too close to the truth. Keyron passed him a worried look, but Brandon did his best to warn his butler through gaze alone, hoping that Louise would not catch their visual conversation.

"Miss Louise, you shouldn't jump to conclusions. Kyrano will give hints if he were planning to do things like that. You know how my brother is; he is deathly loyal to you. He will leave a million notes for someone to take care of you if he ever planned to die. He hasn't, has he? He probably left to do something, and will come back some time later." Keyron's reasoning was so reasonable –and so completely untruthful that Brandon could not even bear to look at the expression of the woman he loved as she listened, internalized and accepted the offered explanation.

"But where can he be? He didn't wake me up today, but he had everything set out for me for the day. There was breakfast, but it was cold. I checked his room, and he left his coat of arms. He took his duelling sword. Kyrano doesn't go anywhere without his coat of arms. And where can he be going with his sword?" The lady had obviously lost all form of her composure as she grabbed at Keyron's hands in with both of hers, as if imploring for the man to join her in her desperate search for her butler.

"Perhaps he is training up his strength again?" Brandon suggested, mind flying at fast speed in hopes to come up with a convincing-enough lie that would settle well with Louise. "He must have felt as if he were getting weaker while he was sick."

"But why would he have to nurse his fever in your room?" Louise turned around to look at her ex-fiance now, still holding on to Keyron's hands. "He could have gone to the infirmary."

"I don't know about that as well." Brandon answered with another shrug. "He insisted that he could not be in the infirmary. I don't know why, but he looked too sick for me to push the point. I couldn't possibly let him stay at your place. At least I could strip him and tuck him nicely in bed. It was a better choice for me to keep watch over him than you."

"Then where can he be right now?" Louise asked once more, the tears of desperation making her eyes glitter as they caught the light. "Where is Kyrano?"

"Calm down, Miss Louise." Keyron advised again, guiding her back to the seat. "Let me clear everything, I'll go get you your shoes while Brandon applies for leave for the both you. Then we'll go out searching for Kyrano. Who knows; maybe he is currently looking for you after having gone back to the room to find you missing."

"Yes, deep breaths, Louise." Brandon advised as well. "Try not to think too much. Kyrano's going to be fine. He survived a few months at the Main House, didn't he? He will survive here in school. Nothing's going to happen to him. Besides, your butler is so capable. He is well equipped in taking care of himself."

It appeared to both of the men that their words were working in calming the woman down –at least visibly. They waited in worried silence for a short while as Louise breathed in and out deep a few times, seeming a little more composed now. Finally, she dredged up an uncertain smile at the both of them, apology written in her blue eyes as she looked back up at them waiting for her worriedly.

"Thank you, Brandon, Keyron. You're right. I'm calm. Kyrano is going to be fine. I'm just freaking out. He probably has a good reason behind all this." The woman seemed to be convincing herself more than the both of them, but at least they were glad that she was visibly calm.

It was the least that they could do.

"Stay here and try not to think too much, Miss Louise. We'll come back and start to search for Kyrano." Keyron offered, receiving a nod from the woman before he grabbed a hold of his master, dragging Brandon out of the room quickly –foregoing the chore of clearing up breakfast.

Once the door was safely closed behind them, Keyron leaned in to whisper into his master's ears.

"I've already submitted the withdrawal form for both you and Miss Louise yesterday night, so there's no need for you to apply for leave." Keyron informed, earning a small sound of surprise from his master.

"Why have you..."

"Keep you voice down, Brandon." Keyron warned his master, still whispering. "You and I both know what is going to happen to my brother –or maybe what has already happened. Miss Louise will be in no shape to face anyone in the near future. It is our job to look after her, support and care for her. You cannot expect to appear in this school while we take care of Louise, can you? It is good to take a year or so's break from school. It gives Miss Louise time to recollect herself as well."

Brandon thought over his butler's words briefly as well, grim realization setting in.

"It is going to be very hard for all of us from now on, isn't it?" Brandon sighed, leaning against his own door in defeat.

"Yes, but this is the only way to go. Kyrano has given us his blessings and given his life to make things right. No matter how hard it is, we need to make the most of what he has given to us."

"Alright." Brandon breathed in deep once more to calm himself down on the inside. He needed to be that strong pillar for Louise from now onwards. It had used to be Kyrano, and Brandon needed to fill the shoes of the Butler in Black starting from now. "Let's do this."

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