(Part 9)

Waking up, Kyrano was very quickly aware that he was top-naked. The quilt covering his shoulders kept a comfortable warmth on his body, but it was simply disconcerting when he couldn't remember removing his clothes himself. Kyrano had little reasons to sleep half-naked, and actually had more reasons to keep his back hidden unless terribly necessary.

The accessory burnt into his back by his master and the Head Butler of the family was something that Kyrano would never be proud of.

Blinking eyes alertly, he was aware that he still felt weak and fuzzy. Removing a hand from the warm refuge of the covers, he pressed the back of his hand against his forehead, not very surprised to find it still rather hot against the chilly cold air.

Kyrano looked around, not terribly surprised as well, to find that he was in an unfamiliar room. Still, the atmosphere still told him that he was safely in St Clair Academy –just perhaps a rather different room that was not part of the Rose Dormitory. It was quiet, and Kyrano could only guess that he had been woken up by his biological clock that dictated he wake up before his mistress.

He knew that he must have worried his mistress so very much so, because the last conscious memory he had was when he had passed out blurrily after being picked up by someone in the toilet. Try as he might, he could not remember exactly who it was that had picked him up, or what he might have said in his dizziness. He guessed it was safe to assume that it was a butler that had picked him up –for it had been in the male's toilet, and the only males in the academy were either Brandon, butlers or a very select few of the staff. That meant that he must be sleeping in a room shared by another butler.

Sitting up slowly, making sure that he didn't trigger any rising nausea, Kyrano held his head gingerly against his hand as the covers slid off him, exposing his chest to the cold air. He gave a short shiver as he looked around the room, trying his best to see against the light.

Soft moonlight filtered through rather large windows, and Kyrano could distantly see that the room was rather large –very unlike a normal butler's room that would be connected to his mistress's room. He gave a short gasp of surprise when he spotted the frame of a simple four-poster bed at the far end of the room, as well as the shadow of someone sleeping peacefully on it. Kyrano was not in a butler's room. He was in a lady's room, lying on a lady's couch.

Which senseless butler had picked him up? Did this butler never know that a butler should never sleep in the same room as the lady? Even if Kyrano were not the butler for this lady that had kindly taken the sickly him in, he should not be sleeping here. Swinging his legs quickly over the side of the couch, he was glad that at least his pants were kept on. God forbid the senseless butler that picked him up had stripped him completely and left him sleeping naked in the same room as a dignified lady.

It was still rather dark all around and Kyrano was still rather dizzy and weak. Still, he forced himself to move through the darkness, feeling his way slowly in hopes of finding either his shirt or an adjacent door that must lead to the butler's room. This room that he found himself in was of a rather different architecture than what he was normally used to, and he wasn't really sure where the butler's room should be.

Thus, Kyrano was rather glad that a door opened shortly after he started floundering about, and he straightened towards the sudden source of light that came from the corridor. The light burst through the doorway and almost blinded him, and Kyrano raised an arm up to partially shield his sight from the onslaught of visual assault.

The silhouette of a figure –tall enough to be assumed to be a man –was walking in with a short whistle. It did not take long for the silhouette to stop, obviously catching sight of Kyrano standing coincidentally right in the beam of light that the doorway provided.

"Kyrano? You're awake?" The soft voice questioned, and he guessed that it was the butler that had picked him up, because the voice was soft –as if not wanting to wake his sleeping mistress up.

"Yes, thank you for your help." Kyrano answered. "May I know your name?"

"Sit down." The voice replied in a no-nonsense manner instead, and Kyrano watched as the dark figure –face and details all obscured by shadow –stepped forwards and urged him back towards the couch where he had found himself waking up from. Knowing that he was actually rather weak on his feet, he allowed himself to be sat down back on the couch, but refused to lie down again like a patient.

"May I know your kind name?"

"Are you well?" The question was accompanied with a cold hand pressed on his forehead, feeling for his temperature. Kyrano pursed his lips, sure that his question would not be given an answer even if he tried his hand at asking for the third time. "You still have a fever. Wait here, I'll get you another pill."

"You left the door open." Kyrano stopped the retreating figure, grabbing hold of what was most probably a hand. "You should close it before you wake your mistress up."

"It's fine." The butler replied, shaking his weak grasp away, then his silhouette blended with the darkness of the room. "It's time for the master to wake up."

"I am." A sleepy voice from the other side of the room came in the direction of the bed, and Kyrano turned towards it though he still could not see anyone clearly. "Close the damned door, Keyron. It's blinding me."

The name sank in.

"Keyron? Brandon?" Kyrano gasped.

"Here, take it." The silhouette that had just left came back quickly, and he found a hand extended at him. A little more trusting now that he knew the butler in question was his brother, a few puzzles pieces set in his mind while he threw the pill back, swallowing it down generously with a gulp of water from the offered cup.

"Thank you for your help, Keyron." Kyrano expressed once more sincerely, his gratitude even more meaningful now that he knew it was his brother that had helped him –despite his cold attitude for the past weeks.

"Lie down, and rest while I draw a bath for Brandon." Keyron's reply was instructional, but Kyrano shook his head.

"I have to tend to Miss Louise..." He explained as he stood up, but he found himself being forced back down with a strong hand on his shoulder. Falling back onto the couch, he looked up with surprise, though he still could not see the face of his brother.

"I have seen that Miss Louise is already tended. She understands that you are currently feeling under the weather and thinks that you are in the infirmary to rest. She will be fine for the day." Keyron's answer was informative, and Kyrano had the strangest sense that they might have exchanged personalities for the shortest period of time. "Rest."

Still, there was no way that he could argue, because Kyrano was actually feeling rather weak down to his bones. A little more settled now that he knew that his mistress was well cared after, he sighed and nodded to show his agreement, then pulled the covers over himself as if to show his brother that he would obediently stay where he was.

Sleepily, Kyrano nodded back off to sleep while Keyron prepared his master for the day as well. The next thing Kyrano woke up to was his brother gently calling him awake, inviting him for breakfast at their table. Keyron had prepared a light meal for his brother while Brandon enjoyed pancakes and omelette, along with a healthy does of revitalising coffee and generous amount of sugar.

Kyrano was sleepy and Brandon was sullen with morning low-blood pressure at the breakfast table. Keyron watched the nodding head of a master and a brother –both struggling to fall back to sleep.

"Brandon." Keyron sighed, coming to a decision quickly. "Do you want me to call for your absence again...?"

The man in question perked up almost immediately, a light filling previously-dead eyes.

"You know, you have skipped school for so many times, I really wonder why you even bother staying here." Keyron answered the silent reply with a sigh, but pushed his seat out, stopping by the rack to grab and put on his butler's coat before stepping out of the room.

Brandon was eager in wait as the door closed, before he exploded out of his seat that he had been nodding off on, dragging the chair that his butler had just evacuated from, and sat right next to Kyrano, who seemed to be coming back slowly to reality.

"Are you okay?" Brandon asked hurriedly, because it would be rather rude if they started the conversation by him demanding answers out of the poor fevered butler.

Kyrano blinked blurrily a few times, then smiled tiredly and nodded. It was the first time that Brandon had ever seen Kyrano so sluggish. Even when Kyrano had been in the hospital, Kyrano had either been completely unconsciously sleeping, or already alert upon waking up. This was a lazier form of the normall duteous and uprightly alert butler that Brandon was just beginning to see –and knew was not going to last much longer.

"Keyron is out now. If you have to tell me anything without his hearing, this is the only time you can do it." Brandon urged, leaning forth in anticipation.

Kyrano wasn't even surprised that Brandon had suggested that he spilled his secrets while Keyron was around. In fact, Kyrano had distantly been worrying that he might not have the chance to meet with Brandon alone without his brother's presence. He did not want Keyron to be suspicious, but at the same time needed to talk to Brandon privately. This was –as Brandon had coined it –the only time, and also the perfect time.

Thus, still struggling to become fully awake –fighting the effects of the medicine –Kyrano dragged his eyes over to look at the man who was the master of his brother. Weak fingers felt around for his pockets, then realized that he had been stripped.

"My coat..." He said, looking over to the coat rack. "I have something that you must past to Miss Louise and Keyron when the time is right."

Kyrano's attempt at standing up was a spectacular failure, and thus Brandon sat the man firmly back on his chair before jumping over to retrieve the coat that had been hung out to dry. Kyrano dug through the breast pocket of his coat till he retrieved two envelopes, both already prepared beforehand with the respective names atop each. With a serious look in his eyes –more alert now –Kyrano passed both envelopes to Brandon.

"When do I pass it to them?" Brandon nodded, feeling as if he was placed with a strangely heavy burden that had been betowed to him by the Butler in Black. Brandon was careful to keep it amongst his valuables, making sure to hide it nicely in his drawers where he knew Keyron would never think to look through while cleaning up the room.

"When the time is right." Kyrano took another careful drink of the coffee from his brother's half-eaten meal though coffee was technically bad for his frail body at the moment. "You will understand when the time comes."

"But-"

"Mr Brandon," Kyrano looked up and met the man's eyes unflinchingly. It was like the man was finally shaking off his weakness, regaining the seriousness that Brandon often knew Kyrano for. "I will explain more things in detail once Keyron is back –because there are things that the both of you should understand about the Crawfords before you attempt to help either Miss Louise or me."

Branon swallowed his surprised words, doing his best to not give a slight frown.

"But to you, without Keyron's presence here, I implore of you one thing. This will be said as man to man, not as butler to a young master." Kyrano continued seriously, but bowed his head at the last part of his speech.

"You must take care of Miss Louise and Keyron. Of the men and women in this world that I have seen thus far, you are the only young master destined for great things. You –and your family –are the only ones who will succeed in the long run. While my father was still alive, he never failed to commend the Greaves family, stating that only through them can he ever see what Master Luca –Louise's father possessed. Kyrone always said that Luca and the Greaves are the only ones with heart –and I need someone with a warm heart to take care of Louise."

"Why not you?"

"My heart..." Kyrano's words faltered for a short hesitation. "Is not warm enough for her. I've grown up in an environment, constantly in fear and on guard. Even when I seem to trust, I am taught never to. I am conditioned to distrust everyone except myself –but your heart and Keyron's... both of you forced me to trust when I didn't believe in it. Besides, I cannot stay much longer by Miss Louise's side –not while we are pitting ourselves against the Crawfords."

"But why? If you want to fight for Louise, won't you be fighting to stay by her side?"

"Sometimes, leaving her side is the best thing I can do." Kyrano sighed. "This is a lesson that I learnt the hard way back in the Main House."

"What do you mean?"

"Yes, what do you mean?" A voice from the far end of the room surprises both conversing men, because neither had heard the door open and closer, but still there Keyron was, already back from his errand. Kyrano did not even want to know what excuse the butler had used for his master's sake this time around –for it was becoming obvious that Brandon was not taking his studies here at St. Clair's Academy very seriously. In fact, did Brandon not come to the Academy only to be closer to his fiancée?

"You're back." Kyrano greeted, but the interruption was not well-accepted when his brother took Brandon's chair, dragging it to sit beside his master who sat on his chair. Both of them had long decided to forgo breakfast in favour of hearing Kyrano's story, and the man in question knew now that there was no escaping the inevitable. Still, it was good to know that both men were ready and eager to help.

Kyrano needed all the help he could get this time. The Butler in Black could no longer do it alone.

To protect his mistress, Kyrano was ready to give his life, but it was not going to be enough anymore.

________________________________________________________________________________

If we must start be completely detailed for both of you to understand exactly what happened, then let me start from when I left St. Clair.

It was quite the expected ride back to the Main House, and even meeting Oscar was expected. The photos were thrown at me, and he made a good show of being completely angered that I had dared to overstep my boundaries. It was a complete show –one that I was not very sure why he felt the need to put on. Perhaps he does not understand my standing. Perhaps he does not view me as enough a threat.

At this point you must be confused. Why Oscar felt the need to put up an act, why I believed none of it, and why I am no longer calling him as Master –I will explain.

I am unsure of how much you have researched on Maiko and Oscar thus far. Do not appear so shocked –I know clearly that someone has been asking around, and who else will be in a better position to do it than the two of you? But regardless. I am not accusing anyone of anything.

But if you have researched on either of them –or even simply opened up your ears to rumours and news, you must understand that Oscar is ruthless. He is the type of businessmen that will survive hated in the industry. He forces people to obey, and controls power by fear. There is no compassion in his bones, and no love. There is only rational, basic power-seeking that I infer must come from being slighted in the Crawford family tradition that only the eldest child of a generation can inherit the title as Head.

Most people think that the only crime he commits is being too hard-handed. Yet, it goes deeper than that.

Think Master Luca's death. My father told me that he received an errand from Oscar and Maiko during the time assasins stormed the Main House. He was completely away from the building, and that was the reason he was not around to save his master. My father searched for the truth, and though most of them came from shady individuals, their stories pieced. Oscar arranged for his brother to be murdered, knew about Kyrone's protectiveness and broke his own leg to give himself an excuse to bring Kyrone away from Master Luca. It was purely on Master Luca's softness towards his little brother that he allowed Kyrone to leave to pass Oscar a document, and that mistake came at the cost of his life.

My father was never sure, but he knew that Oscar was not simple. He knew that Maiko was not a butler –something and someone more than a simple servant. Thus, my father made himself out to rival Maiko's abilities in spying, espionage and information gathering. According to my father, he protected Miss Louise a few times. There had been a few times that Miss Louise and I had almost been taken unknowingly by Oscar's hired men, but my father always came through –either rearranging the time, route or perhaps buying Oscar's hired men out of the job.

The day my father passed, he told me to secure Miss Louise. He himself was there to secure Miss Louise, even though the job of the Head Butler was to secure the Head of the family first before all else. He knew that Oscar was acting against Miss Louise once more, and that he had to protect the lady at all cost.

My father gave his life, and soon it will be me. Oscar has removed Master Luca and my father. I am the last man standing between him and Miss Louise. Oscar has proved himself ruthless in wanting to get rid of Miss Louise, and have tried time and again. When my father passed on, it fell on my shoulders to protect her. And protect her; I tried my best to do. After every narrow miss at Miss Louise's life, I checked if the attempts were enacted under Oscar's orders. Nine out of ten of them were.

On the surface, Oscar appeared to care when he sent Miss Louise to St. Clair to be educated. It was not so easy. When Miss Louise first entered, she attracted enemies –enemies that Oscar had initially bribed to do harm to the lady. She was supposed to be bullied, and it was planned that she would be emotionally scarred enough to head to suicide.

I did not let that happen, and Miss Louise herself is strong. You understand the situation she is in now –she is revered and respected in the school as the Rose, and this is thanks to her excellence in everything that she does.

Thus, when Oscar made a show of being terribly angry at me for having led my mistress astray, I knew it to be a complete sham. He would be the happiest man in the world if Miss Louise were to be humiliated. But perhaps he did not think that I know the truth. Regardless, it was soon that I was thrown into punishment.

I will not burden the two of you with the process of my torture, for it would be both humiliating and embarrassing to us all. Simply understand that I had a hard time keeping my mind focused through the process, and it was by pure dumb determination that I am in the state I am now.

However, being closer to the enemy has its advantages.

With Maiko and Oscar becoming increasing confident of me being broken to their will, they began to relax a little around me. In the days that I feigned complete absence of awareness, they felt comfortable enough to discuss their plans in front of me, allowing me to glean on more than what they must have intended to let up on. To encourage their egos and more mistakes, I pretended to be increasingly broken with the torture.

It was extremely hard to pretend being broken while stopping yourself from being broken during the process. Right now, I can admit that I feel a little unhinged inside. Maiko and Oscar have more than simply branded me. What they set out to do; they accomplished halfway –that I am half broken and not very sane.

Regardless of what happened to me, the most important thing of the journey was that I acted increasingly broken, and managed to force myself to internalise their propaganda without buying too much into it. I forced myself to develop ticks and reflexive reactions towards Miss Louise to lend aid to my authenticity, and forced myself to believe in them.

They were glad of their results, and thus imposed upon me the most important mission of all to prove my newfound loyalties –kill Miss Louise. Of course I agreed heartily, and thus they gave me my weapon.

Then you have not been doing your job?

Please be patient, Master Brandon, and hear me out.

I, in fact, have been doing my job. You see, Oscar and Maiko are deathly afraid of losing the reputation and power of the Crawfords. However, if news of a newly-returned butler from the Main House killing the rising young mistress of the Crawford family spreads, the Crawfords would be casted in an extremely bad light. It is bad enough that both Master Luca and my father were both assassinated. If Miss Louise is murdered as well, the Crawford's name would be associated with curses or murder –none of them good for business.

Thus, the weapon in which they impart upon me was devious. They bade me to put poison into Miss Louise's food, but never in big enough amounts so that it can be detected. The plan was to make Miss Louise gradually sick –so that the public could see her waning self. Then Oscar would step upon the pretense of being a caring, worried uncle and bring her back to the Main House. There, behind closed doors, they would end Miss Louise, and announce to the world that she had passed on peacefully by her disease. The Crawford name would not be sullied, and Miss Louise would be dead. I would be absorbed back into the Crawford Main House, destined to serve Oscar for the rest of my life.

Do not look at me with such disgust, Keyron. I will never put any illness on my mistress, no matter how much I was acting to be siding with Oscar. I am aware that there will always be spies in St. Clair working for Oscar. I had to put the poison into Miss Louise's food.

You poisoned your own mistress?!?

I poisoned her food, not her. If you have not noticed it yourself, Keyron, and then it means that Oscar's spies have not as well, because you are observant. I switched Miss Louise's food before every meal, and take them for my own to remove of any evidence of food wastage. To cast a more convining light to the sham, I made Miss Louise put on some light make-up that-

That makes her look pale and sallow. I know.

To stop the more observant ones from detecting anything, I advised for Miss Louise to drop a few projects on the excuse of me needing to rest. I know that Miss Louise is worried about me, and yet I cannot ask her to drop her projects for her own sake.

And you made it look like she was being sick. You genius little bastard!

Wait, then doesn't that mean you were eating the poisoned...

Yes, which is the reason why I am currently here in this state. I went on borrowed time for as long as I could, pretending that things were being normal. I had to put an act for Oscar's spies while I prepared for the end behind the scenes.

The end?

Yes, the end. And for the end, I need your help. We need to work together on this –because I am no longer able to carry the fight against the Crawford myself. To protect Miss Louise, we need to work together. Are you willing to join me in the fight, Mr Brandon?

Of course. I've decided long ago, and I'm not going to change my mindset now. Louise is the one that I want and love.

Even if you have to put your own reputation at risk? Even if this might put your family at risk?

Why? I am completely fine with myself, but you must understand that to implicate my family...

I understand, but this war is no longer going to hide behind the scenes. We need something on the surface. Everything going on inside the Crawford House has been casted in darkness and shadows. We need to charge at him in the light, and turn his head the other way.

Turn his head the other way? For?

For me. I will deal with him.

How?

Leave him to me and trust me. But first: we need to discuss on how to turn his head the other way.

And how do you plan to do it?

War. We are going to start a war between the Crawfords and Greaves.