ஜ۞ஜ

ஜ۞ஜ

*𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯*

The ticking of the grandfather clock that stood on the far side corner of the spacious office provided seldom entertainment for General Luke as he attentively scribbled away on a piece of parchment paper before planting it expertly on top of the stacked papers that were located beside his right hand of which are finished documents that were approved by him or were reports of the prevailing conditions that were befalling in his army. More and more did these papers appear in packages as numerous houses from diverse duchies scurried to establish a firm influence on either royal faction that is presently battling for the throne—and this has placed him in much more stress as he regularly received reports of hearsay being whispered about either party; of which, they diverged in various distinct ways with one of the least radical being of Prince Jasur surrendering his purity in the most recent ball to a prominent mistress, to Prince Aysima being the one who provoked the early death of the late empress—Empress Robinia.

However, what had most showed to intrigue him out of this entire ordeal was that the commoners and peasants were favoring the side of Prince Jasur; whilst most nobles were advocating the side of Prince Aysima to secure authority over the royal crown. In Luke's mind, he regarded that this would be an interesting battle for the throne, whether or not he was entangled with it—but that is where he was caught cornered. His precious diamond's fiancee was Prince Aysima, so it is only sensible if he would join his side. Yet, he didn't fully revel in Prince Aysima winning over the throne and not Prince Jasur. In his mind, he much rather preferred Prince Jasur rule rather than the other.

Snapping out of his thoughts once he heard polite knocking coming from the other side of the double doors, Luke sighed and shifted his eyes back down to his papers as he began writing once more. "Come in." Hearing the doors open, Luke raised his head to see who had wished to see him, only to frown in dislike as he saw it was none other than a male butler.

"Greetings to General Luke; a message from Lady (Y/n)." Without a moment to spare, Luke hastily rose from his seat, shoving the chair away as he handled his magic for a flurry of hail to come and whisk the paper away from the butler's hands, carrying it over to him soon after. Not even preferring to open it with a letter opener, he instead skillfully opened it from peeling the seal away from the paper, and soon after plucking the letter out of the envelope as he read it with the most loving face that Abdul had ever seen.

"Oh, my..." Calmly strolling back to his chair as he earnestly reviewed the letter, Luke sat down on his chair, a fond smile stretching across his cheeks as a twinkle flared once more in his once dim blue eyes. "It appears my little diamond wishes for some father-daughter—and apparently mother as well—time. How considerate and loving is she! But how much has she grown... you!" Striking his hands on top of his desk as he once more rose from his seat, Luke fiercely scowled down at the dispassionate figure that was known as Abdul as he solely stood there, head bowed and hands folded behind his back as he just waited until the hurricane—that was his lady's father—arrived.

"What ties do you have to my precious daughter that she authorized you to deliver such a precious message to me? You are no maid—not a lady, but a man! A man who is a butler! And a butler who serves under my daughter's watch! What barbarities have you done to corrupt her pure, virtuous mind?!" Drawing out his sword, Luke prepared to strike the immobile Abdul only for an unexpected blow in the face by none other than Duchess Aimi to halt him in his tracks. Spiraling down to the ground, Luke lay stagnant as he verged his head to the right, gazing at his wife in anguish as she merely stared down at him with cold eyes. "You dare attempt to cripple the personal butler of our daughter? The only man that has dared to ever get close to her ever since that blasted Prince Aysima stole her hand? Allow her just a tad bit of space to breathe, you nitwit!" Shooting her husband a final glare, Duchess Aimi turned to look at the hunched butler, dubious of how he could remain impassive throughout that near-death experience.

"What is your name?"

"My name is Abdul Omri, my duchess."

"Ah... a man of Koios' origin. Prim and proper, aren't you? My, you must be the nobleman that I keep hearing my ladies whispering of. The fellow who was able to win the heart of my daughter and woo her to allow him to be by her side. Now, I am uncertain if I should permit such an affair to proceed-"

"An affair?! Are you such a bastard of your mother that you dare have an affair with my virtuous diamond-!"

"Silence." Kicking him down on the ground once more, Aimi stared back towards the quiet Abdul's figure, scrutinizing his character. "You two shall act as you wish behind closed doors—but after the promised marriage is concluded, neither of you are authorized to see one another. The both of you shall only act like a shy couple and no more, understood? Convey these words to your lover, butler Omri—or I will have your dorsum. Now go; tell (Y/n) that we will meet for supper in the evening in the dining room nearest to the garden." Shooing him away as she continued to hold Luke down, Abdul did as he was instructed to as he bowed in reverence once more before backing away, the double doors opening and closing before the sound of outraged yells could be last heard.

˜"*°•.˜"*°• ---- •°*"˜.•°*"˜

"Lady (Y/n)?"

Knocking once more upon the wooden doors, Abdul raised a brow in suspicion as silence remained to be the only thing that came from the other side of the door. Reasoning that his lady was no longer in there, Abdul gently opened the door, peeking his head inside as he scanned the room diligently only for air to be the only thing inhabiting the room except for the few pieces of furniture that occupied the bedroom.

Stepping inside, Abdul silently closed the doors behind him as he tested to see if he could hear anyone's heartbeat—only for silence to become his answer once more.

My lady...

Stepping out of the bedroom with silent steps, Abdul sauntered down the hallways as he sought to distinguish the unique heartbeat that his lady possessed only for the unrhythmic heartbeats of others to reach his ears instead of his lady's. Eventually spotting a maid wandering down the same hall as him Abdul didn't squander a second as he popped up in front of the startled maid, his icy grey eyes glaring down into her amber ones as he inquired: "Where is Lady (Y/n)?" Hearing such a question, the maid could only forget her scorn for the butler as she shakingly shook her head, her eyes downcast as she didn't dare to stare at such cat-like eyes.

"L-Lady (Y/n) is nowhere to be seen. This w-would usually be the time when Lady (Y/n) would elude from everyone's radar and disappear. B-But Lady (Y/n) will be back in an hour or two!... depending on the day-Eck!" Stopping herself from falling as she was brutally shoved aside, the maid watched as Abdul hurriedly raced away from her and down the hall, influence in every step as her shaking breaths were the only thing comforting her.

Sinking to the ground the maid clenched the cloth near where her heart beat so rapidly as she sought to steady herself only for her to feel warm tears tumbling down her cheeks and onto her spotless uniform, her eyes shrunken as the cold feeling of fear continued to clutch onto her body; never letting go.

From a suitable distance away, a silhouette could be seen masking themselves from behind a corner, listening to their conversation with a malevolent gleam reflecting from their eyes.

˜"*°•.˜"*°• ---- •°*"˜.•°*"˜

"Four-hundred! Four hundred and one! Four hundred and two!"

The whispered sound of counting could be discovered deep within the modest forest that wrapped around the wing with a bountiful supply of light flooding through the leaves of the trees and onto the forest floor, lighting the landscape for (Y/n) as she proceeded to do the extra exercise practices that her teacher gave to her in the day that he couldn't attend because of critical family matters. Her father ordered her to take a week off for then she could unwind and concentrate more on academics, but she couldn't tolerate such negligence to dominate her ambition—if she wished to become the next General of Oden and the next head of the Lionheart family she couldn't take breaks. Regulating the water around her once more (Y/n) modified the liquid to become ice, firing the ice spikes towards the target as she only puffed in disappointment.

(Y/n) was never really gifted with designing attacks—and she also didn't wish to eradicate the forest that took so many years to come alive in one full swoop, just because she yearned to train her magic more. So now, she would just have to hold back. Constructing a sword out of black ice (Y/n) prepared to thwart the speedily flying rocks that rotated around her at breakneck speeds, only for the voice of Abdul to force her to cancel her magic soon after.

Turning around to confront the nearing man (Y/n) tipped her head as she swung the sword over her shoulder, her left eyebrow raised as she put a hand on her hip. "Sir Omri? You found me? Congratulations, very few have been able to do so—and when I mean few, I mean none." Facing back to where the target used to be (Y/n) once again twisted the ground before her as she modified its structure, forging it into a senseless beast as she raised her sword high only for the gloved hand of Abdul to turn up in her peripheral vision.

"My lady, if I may do something?"

Putting down her sword (Y/n) nodded; "Go on."

"You are not holding the sword properly. Even though it is in a position where it is achievable to warding off an enemy—in the long run, this will deplete your energy quickly as you would have to make more actions with your sword and arms, tiring you quicker and providing you a disadvantage against your opponent. May I?" Reasoning about what he said for a few seconds (Y/n) calmly nodded her head and made room for Abdul to comfortably stand beside her. Curling his hands around hers, the both of them gawked straight at the sword as Abdul amended her fingers, gingerly arranging them in the correct position before moving to her shoulders.

"Don't be so stiff, my lady—there is nothing to be afraid of."

"I am afraid of nothing."

"Please, ease your shoulders. Think of something that puts you at ease." Passing a puzzled glance his way, (Y/n) just shrugged her shoulders and stared forward, breathing profoundly in-and-out as she concentrated more on the target in front of her. What was something that calmed her down? Oh, it has been so long since she had last seen Akabine... she missed her deeply, even though she had already gotten used to her not being beside her. She recalls the times when they would be able to get off work early and head over to the park before dawn and would play around in the swing set, reminiscing about their happily shared childhood and without concerns about taxes and rent.

Her smile...

Acknowledging that his lady had completely loosened her shoulders, Abdul peeked over at her face, only to see the happiest he had ever seen (Y/n) ever since they had first met—which was a few days ago. Eyes soft and tender with a hint of longing, Abdul couldn't help but stare into such eyes for a second longer before turning away.

"Alright, now position your arm this way and..." Just as he was nearing her neck Abdul picked up the subtle whiff of baked goods that was emitting from her body, in which fascinated him as he never thought someone would have such an odor ingrained in their body. It was as if his lady stayed long hours in some sort of cafe. Shaking his head faintly, Abdul went back to position her arms as he stayed right behind her only for the smell of vanilla to emit from her hair, making him lean closer to the refreshing scent. Such an odor was placating for him as he unwound his posture just a tad.

"... shoot."

Beautifully majestic was one of the words to illustrate his lady's next move once she jumped away from his hold and forward, firing her attacks towards the enemy as the ice crystal seemed to move in slow-motion as they zoomed across her figure, glinting underneath the morning sun as the light mirrored off of the pure ice, blinding her figure to appear as if she was flying—like an angel ready for battle. How her hair flowed elegantly along with the onslaught of twinkling spikes as her eyes stayed concentrated in battle; never wavering. Her figure, poise and perfect like a perfect knight.

Stabilizing herself once her feet reached the ground, (Y/n) beamed with pride as she saw the mangled corpse of her enemy, no longer able to even move a muscle as it lay lifeless on the luscious green ground. Whirling around to face Abdul, (Y/n) was about to praise him for his guidance only for the brunch bell to ring, making her run as quick as she could, her stomach empty as she couldn't wait to replenish her energy; but as she ran away, she left behind a somewhat dazed and disoriented Abdul behind, as she was too fixated on food to notice.

Now with his lady nowhere in sight, Abdul chuckled in amusement, a small grin spreading across his face in result of this. "My lady... truly is something else."

(ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴅᴀʏ/ɴɪɢʜᴛ ᴍʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇꜱ!)