"Wooh! Sa wakas 'di na manunuyot lalamunan ko!"

Arxis shouted in relief, he then assumed a relaxed position habang nakaupo. Although, hindi ko napansing gawin niya yun dahil sa mga iniisip ko.

Welt's actions made me question so many things, hanggang sa sumakit yung ulo ko.

I had so many things in mind na hindi ko napansing gutom na pala ako, my stomach growled. Syempre narinig iyon ni Arxis at hindi niya mapigilang tumawa. Once again, I humiliated myself in front of him, sa kadami-daming tao sa mundo, siya pa.

"Want me to call the butler?"

"I appreciate the offer, pero mas gugustuhin kong umuwi na. Would that be okay?"

Mas gugustuhin kong umuwi na kaysa sa magtagal pa sa bahay na 'to.

I stood up at agad na naglakad papunta sa hallways nila, I asked a random maid to escort me outside of the estate. 

Nung nakarating na kami nung maid sa entrance ng estate, nandun na si Welt at yung karwahe, naghihintay. 

It's as if alam na ni Welt na hindi ko siya hihintayin dun para ma-escort ako, it didn't bother me though. It's more convenient this way. 

"Thank you for letting me stay, I appreciate what you've done for me. I'll make sure to repay this debt."

I thanked Welt, then proceeded to go in front of the carriage, seryoso rin ako sa sinabi kong babayaran ko sila pabalik para sa mga ginawa nila sa akin. I'm beyond grateful, kahit hindi halata sa mukha ko. 

When I was finally in front of the carriage, Welt offered his hand. 

I felt uncomfortable dahil naka simangot pa rin siya. Napaka-gentlemanly ng demeanor niya pero his mood doesn't really suit his actions, nevertheless, inabot ko pa rin yung kamay niya to show that I accepted his offer, because it is bad manners not to do so, at tuluyan nang pumasok sa carriage.

Nung nakapasok na ako...

"Ahh! Sa wakas makakahinga na akong malalim!" sinabi ko at halos humiga na sa upuan ng carriage na ito, mukha akong tanga at siguradong pagtatawanan ako sa high society 'pag may nakakita sa akin sa lagay na ito pero wala naman akong kasama dito so it should be okay.

Dito na ako napaisip, "Bakit nila ako tinulungan? What are their ulterior motives?" I truthfully think that they don't mean any harm sa akin as of now pero bakit nga ba nila ako tinulungan?

I can't help but wonder, "Do they want me to owe them a favor or something?" Kung totoo nga yan, anong klaseng pabor ang gusto nilang hingin sa akin? Although, it's true that the Lumiere family and De Lune family are of equal status, mas angat sa kapangyarihan at kayamanan ang De Lune family. Wala akong maisip na gugustuhin nilang makuha sa duchy na ito.

While thinking about this matter, I suddenly thought of a something else, "Tsaka, paano nila nalamang may vampires na gustong maghunt sa akin?"

I then grunted, "Bakit hindi ko naisipang itanong ito kanina kay Duke Welt?! Dios mio, Lunaria!" napareklamo na lang ako dahil sa sarili kong katangahan.

Habang nagb-brainstorm tungkol sa topic na yan, hindi ko namalayan na nakatulog na pala ako even though I've just been awake for a few hours, maybe it's because my energy drained dealing with Arxis and this whole situation.

I was woken up by the butler nung nakarating na ako sa estate ko, laking tuwa ko nang makita kong maayos ang lagay niya at siguro dahil dito I ended up pouncing on him. Nahulog ako sa carriage at napahiga naman siya ng malakas, the impact on his back was strong but I was too absorbed by happiness to notice that.

"Razor! Ang saya ko na you're in good health!" hindi ko maiwasang itago ang kasiyahan ko, may luha pa nang sinabi ko iyan, I saw people from my manor die last night and he wasn't included so paano ko itatago ang tuwa ko?

Especially since he's a bit special to me, hindi ko siya gusto romantically pero we've known each other for most of our lives.

He's the butler Razor Estella, galing siya sa lineage of Barons that have been serving the house of Lumiere by providing the second born son or daughter as either butlers or head maids for ages, so obviously, the previous butler was his father at nung ipinanganak siya, he was destined to serve this family. Dito siya lumaki and he was also trained here, so we basically grew up together. Hindi kami naging ganun ka-close because he's so uptight and he only speaks in 3 words or less pero hindi ibigsabihin nun wala na kaming bond, I actually liked his company since it made me feel tranquil at kapag may nangyari sa kanya...

"Duchess Lumiere, I don't think it's appropriate for you to—" nagaalala niyang pinatanda sa akin, it was so unnatural for him to say so many words at once pero it's probably because he's flustered, it's true that what I'm doing is bad manners at maaari lang magsiklab ng mainit na tsismis ang ginawa ko, but I don't really want to tie myself by those right now, besides...

"Don't worry, I'm just happy to see you well." I immediately stopped embracing him at tumayo, pinagpagan ko ang damit ko and fixed my posture. He did the same as well.

"If ever unsavoury rumors rise because of that, I'll deal with them, and if you're wondering tungkol sa rason kung bakit bigla kong ginawa yun, I'll explain them inside." I slightly reminded him na may kapangyarihan akong itigil ang mga tsismis tungkol sa mga ganyan at naglakad na patingin sa loob ng estate ko, sinundan naman ako ng butler ko. I headed for my office to do some work.

"..." the amount of work I had made me speechless, ilang oras lang ako nawalan at tambak na agad ang gagawin ko, I'm not complaining though since responsibilidad ko ito.

TO BE CONTINUED