An Aide /Kamisato Ayato/

10~ Encounter

The night before...

"Excuse me, Milord."

Hearing a familiar voice of his friend, Ayato put down the brush and welcomed whoever came with a smile. "Oh, Thoma. You may come in, is there anything you'd like to speak with?"

The blonde man walked into the office, sliding the door behind him closed. A piece of letter and a document placed between his thumb and his point finger initiated Ayato to come and take a look. "Pardon me for disturbing you so late at night, Milord," Thoma chuckled nervously, walking towards him and placed the two papers down on Ayato's desk. "You're not a disturbance to me, Thoma. In fact, I quite like your company here—at times, I miss your daily assistance. Though, Miss (Name) has been nothing but a great help for the two of us, no? With her presence, both of our workloads have been lifted."

Hearing those comments, Thoma sighed. He couldn't find a word to protest Ayato's words, they were right. However, much to his contrary, Thoma quite liked the newfound job he acquired as a head of retainer and did his errand job—without having to do twice the work for his lord. Even if in truth, he somewhat wished he could assist his lord closely again.

"What's the letter on your hand, Thoma?" Ayato questioned, staring at the letter that laid on the table. His eyebrows creased at the sight of the carve of a familiar family clan sealing the envelope. He took the letter into his hand, ripping the envelope opened.

"This letter comes from Lady Shu of the (Last Name)'s clan. I was returning the letter as you requested, but she insisted on you to think back about her offer. She also informed me she'll be coming to our estate in terms of negotiations. We can't turn her down, due to it being the late master's wish to not reject anything from the (Last Name)'s clan."

"...I see. Father still had some regrets and believed it was his fault for the death of Miss (Name)'s parents," he ended with a sigh, taking one read of the letter before he inserted back the letter once more.

Thoma stood there quietly, observing his eyes' movements as the lilac pairs scanned the missive letters—his lips pursed into a thin line. The blonde man knew the letter had only been a bigger threat.

"Thoma, tell Miss (Name) it's time for her to stop her treatment for her injury. The poison will kill her instantly if she takes another drop of it," Ayato demanded, his fingers intertwined together and caressing the knuckles, trying to find a way to ease the knots in his mind.

"My apologies, Milord. If we're about to stop the treatment now, Miss (Name) will go through unbearable pain. I've done some investigation on the poison Lady Shu commanded her man to use, and the poison ends up with the wielder to rely on it continuously. If we stop it, it might be a painful experience."

"..."

Ayato still kept his lips pursed, his eyes glanced to the other side as if thinking of a way—the way his stare only bore through the desk caused the blonde to fiddle with his thumbs.

"Milord, how about we think about another matter?"

"What might be that matter you're about to bring up, Thoma?"

Thoma gestured towards the document under Ayato's hold. "As I was returning the letter to Lady Shu, one of our men you've stationed there, came and gave me this. It's the actual chronology of the murder happened to Miss (Name)'s parents and it has been hidden in one of Lady Shu's drawer," Thoma informed while Ayato took out the paper, giving the document a read—his eyebrows creased as he dwelled into his deduction.