Kidnapped Lout

8/Fresh Wounds

"Sniff... sniff. Hah... haha. Mom..."

An eight year old Cale Henituse is found standing in a flower garden. He had finally gotten away from all of the criticizing and pitying gazes that were constantly thrown his way. Today had been the day. The final goodbye. His final chance to bid farewell to his mother, yet he had left the funeral early.

On his way towards this garden, which was his mom's favorite, he felt those dumb gazes from the 'loyal' servants and other workers yet again. He had heard one of them muttering about how he was cold hearted for not crying even once. Another commented about how he had left before everyone else, and how rude it was to the late countess.

Cale had steeled his resolve for what felt like the hundredth time that day, and let the murmurs in one ear and out the other. Sadly, he was still only a child, and one who just had his heart broken at that. Those little comments that he thought were kept fully away were bound to crawl into the rather large crack in his heart at some point. It's worth noting that he won't have to think about that yet, for a little while at least.

Today was the first day in Cale's life where he had to look so strong. He felt that he absolutely could not appear weak, since that would become a weakness to the greedy onlookers who aimed for something of his that was worth their glance. Whether it be his position, support, money, or something else, Cale wanted to have nothing they could use against him.

So, here he was. Slowly letting out some of the suppressed emotions he had before they blew up in his face at an inconvenient time. All alone in his mother's favorite rose garden. All alone with the sunset that reminded him of his mother's striking red hair, something he had inherited. All alone with the birds and the insects who chittered dimly as their own sort of goodbye.

All alone with a single red rose in his shaking hand, as he cried silently to the faint stars that peeked out of the clouds. All alone as he unconsciously gripped the stem a little too tight, causing crimson streams to drip onto the white roses below him, dying them an all too familiar shade of red. All alone. He's truly all alone now.

Alone, alone, alone.

Until he wasn't.

A soft snap of a twig being stepped on made Cale flinch and quickly wipe his tears before looking around. It would be rather embarrassing if someone like Ron found him out here, openly displaying his newfound weakness to the world. Although the garden he was in was mostly hidden, and separated from the mansion, it was still a place easily accessible to any of the staff that worked there.

"W-who's there? Show yourself." Ah, his voice was gravelly from crying and not intimidating in the slightest. He really hoped it wasn't Ron.

Eyes darting around his surroundings, anxious for the culprit to not be his trusty butler, he finally spotted a cloaked figure pressed up against the grassy slope. At the same time, another person grabbed him from behind and shoved a piece of odd smelling cloth over his face, muffling his yelps and screams. This person was definitely not Ron,

but oh, how Cale now wished they were.

____________

He woke up very sluggishly. Not opening his eyes or moving a muscle, Cale attempted to calmly perceive his surroundings. He wasn't an idiot, he knew he had been kidnapped.

It wasn't uncommon for noble children to get kidnapped, as it was a great way to get a lot of cash if done right. The Henituse County was the perfect target in that regard. Practically unlimited riches and caring parents, well parent now. If the only successor to that gold mine of a family was snatched, it was impossible to guess how much money Count Deruth would cough up to save his only child.