Columbine

[I] - Begonia's Checkmate

His unexpected question with an angry tone, my heart started beating faster as the shadow of this man was casted upon me. His frightening glare... I felt threatened with only it. I... Can't leave a bad impression on my master.

"I... Just thought they were so beautiful... And wanted to get them... For you."

I lied, looking straight into his frightening eyes. If I didn't try to flatter him, who knows what could have come out of this. Servants must be devoted to their master, if not getting something his for him, how else could I resolve this embarrassing situation?

But, this sounded so foolish... I never talked to him before... Why have I done this?

With my shaking hands, I was holding a bouquet of tall, purple flowers. But before I could give it to them, a sudden feeling of sickness surrounded my whole body.

Dropping the flowers on the grass, my hands became itchy and swollen. The world became heated as the pain growing inside of my head started pulsing in a rhythm.

These are...

"Aconite...?"

A sudden vision of the purple sky, the same color as these flowers, came to my mind. With the wind whistling through my hair, a lone man was lying before my knees. They were all wet from the tears and the blood that have dropped.

Right now, I was staring scarcely at the duke, with every second feeling only worse. Why... Why didn't I realize? Why didn't I remember that...

These flowers are poisonous.

"You... Wanted to give me a bouquet made of lethal flowers?" — His voice asked me in a raised up tone.

But I was confused myself.

"I... didn't know... Didn't remember..." — Tears have started to fall of my face.

"Who... Have planted such flowers just right next to my mansion?!"

My eyes slowly filled with crystal tears, they fell down on the abandoned bouquet.  Watching me tremble from dizziness, his eyes started to fill with an unknown yet emotion. Before I could react in any way, he grabbed me forcefully by my arm, and started dragging me out of this poisonous field.

As the last rays of the Sun hid behind the palace, I was dragged forcefully by my master through the corridors of his abode. Only the candle lighting servant saw us both together, with his face expression a sign of astonishment. I didn't have the strength to get out of his violent grip, nor the courage to speak for myself. Does he think I tried to... Poison him? But... I almost did poison... Myself...

Pushing me into a red armchair inside of a room I have never been in, he proceeded to open the cabinet by the wall, and search for something eagerly.

The room was grand, with a crystal chandelier throwing a prism like lights on the surroundings. Red walls were matching with the pattern of the furniture, the floor covered with a large and soft carpet. Beautiful paintings were hanged on left and right, with mesmerizing landscapes showing me the world behind the palace. Yet all of these riches only made my head hurt more.

"Take this." — The man, without asking me for approval, shoved up a pill upon my mouth, forcing me to swallow it. Without any liquid to help it go though my throat, I grimaced in pain as I felt it pierce through me.

Still staring at me with a questioning gaze full of awe, my master was standing before me, with his brown hair falling onto his forehead. It was so long, that it almost got into his eyes. The purses lips of his seemed to be sealed, holding in a painful mystery. The paleness of his skin, his cheekbones sticking out of his face, making it very dimensional in the lights of the candles in his room. Firm body was blocking all of the sight before me, with a crossed expression to make me feel worse. Why is it that a lowly peasant like me is alone with the master in his office?
Why is he always following me with his gaze like that, full of mystery and confusion? My eyes full of tears went up to his, sending them a questioning stare.