Underneath His Cloak

Part 10 - Looking For Me, Your Grace?

Hours passed...

"Isn't this Eris's spy?" I squint to carefully look over this tiny green ball bouncing in front of me.

"You're right, Lady." One of the servants moves closer to check it.

"Maybe she's looking for you, Lady." Another servant says, while scrubbing the web-laden ceiling.

"She'll understand, let's finish this quick." I'm about to grab my broom when footsteps are coming louder towards where we are.

The servants also stop, readying themselves to greet Eris, because like me they expected her to, after seeing her spy.

Shadow is slowly appearing from the hallway's floor. And then we all gasp in surprise to see Aamon, his grace himself stops by the opening of the compartment where we are.

"Yo-your grace," The servant leans over.

"Come on bring him away he is not supposed to be here." The close one nudges me while whispering.

I then nod, run towards his direction before he comes over.

"Your grace, it's too dusty and dirty in here." I stop him by waving my hand.

He immediately obliges, who stops almost halfway in the compartment. I continue to walk forward to meet him.

"I'm sorry, your grace. We are cleaning this part of the cellar. Did we disturb you?" My immediate analysis is that he was going to get some wine and heard us being loud.

When I get closer, I finally see his face clearly that's impassive as always. "I'm sorry, we're about to finish, give us a minute." His silence forced me to speak again.

He looks at me up and down, like it was his first time to see...

I'm a mess!

Abruptly I bow, hiding my dirt-covered dress, only to realize that I'm still holding a broom. "I'm sorry-"

A hand that holds my arm forces me to end my apology and straighten up to look at Aamon, trying to find a hint of anger or something on his face.

His hand then moves from my arms to my hand shortly after I meet his eyes. Without a word, he turns and pulls me out the compartment.

I don't know if this is cute or if he's about to berate me.

At the lobby...

I tried to stay behind him as much as possible because the big lights in the house show how awfully dirty I am, and I don't want to pass this mess to him. Which I think he already got by holding my dust-covered hand.

His sudden halt almost makes me stumble forward, then he turns to face me causing my heart to rattle out. Should I make myself ready for scolding or something?

"Y/N..."

When he releases my hand I immediately hide it behind me.

"You're not a servant." He continues.

I stare at him a bit surprise. I thought there was a deeper reason for dragging me out of the cellar.

"I know, but there's nothing wrong with helping them right? Also, I can disguise as one, so that when the elders sudden visit they'll not recognize me." I'm flashing positive eyes, which he counters with his sharp one.

"No, you can't."

My shoulder slumps. It's actually the best of all the ideas that came to me.

He sighs, almost like releasing tension from his body. He then steps forward and I quickly step back but he still able to reach my face with his clean hand. I freeze, feeling his thumb rise to my lips. It then moves like he's wiping something out of it.