(ENG) The Case Study of Vanijeanne

5. To Feel Your Hands Upon My Face (Part 6 of 7)

What It Takes To Be With You
* Contains explicit sex *

When Dominique arrived at Carbunculus Castle for her night shift, she knew something was up the moment she spotted Lucius flying down the stairs.

"Dominique!" he puffed, barely able to voice his words, "Did you see Jeanne on your way here? She seemed very concerned about something... said she wouldn't be long, but I have yet to hear back from her!"

Dominique's eyebrows furrowed. The young Master had probably been scrambling around the place since, waiting for her to return. But why wasn't Jeanne by his side...?

In an instant, she was struck with a sudden realization. If Vanitas was gone, and Jeanne also wasn't here...

She could only be in one place right now. And with one person.

Oh, no. Not that idiot!

Burning fury erupted as images of them together surfaced to the forefront of her mind. It wasn't only jealousy. It was much, much more. The childlike innocence Jeanne had, just as adorable as Noé's, was being tampered with by that evil weasel.

Somewhere shady... this very moment.

Before Dominique realized, she was already biting her fingernails in agonizing distress.

I can't believe he has my Jeanne. This can't be happening...

They were taking a perilous step. A path that could cost Jeanne everything. The Senate had been hell-bent to find something to blame on the former Bourreau, absolutely any excuse to get rid of her.

A bodyguard from the house of Oriflamme and the Blue Moon's human kin conspiring to save Chloé d'Apchier had been unforgivable enough. Couple that with the knowledge that they had gone as far as to meet in secret in Altus, right under the Senate's influence. If she didn't think fast enough to avert this crisis, this could end badly, and with both of them dead.

Dominique didn't particularly care about Vanitas' safety, per se. Yet, somehow, two of the most well-intentioned people she'd ever known seemed to have a strong attachment to that creepy quack. Seriously, what had he done to Jeanne that made her so careless, to the point of putting her own life on the line because of that moron? Had he used the Book of Vanitas to brainwash her or something...?

"... Hey, Dominique??? Are you listening to me? Hello?" Lucius called, attempting to grab her attention, trying to understand why she seemed to be on a completely different plane of existence.

"Oh...?! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Dominique answered apologetically as her racing thoughts were slowly brought back to Earth. "Well, hahaha... Now that the Master is mentioning it, I actually just bumped into her... like, half an hour ago." her cheek was twitching frantically, because she wasn't used to lying. "And she... err... she asked me to pass on a message to the young Duke."

A message? From Jeanne to him?! Luca's eyes shone with joy the moment he heard those words of encouragement, "Oh... I feel so much better now! And what did she tell you, Mademoiselle Dominique?!"

Sadly for her, coming up with a convincing excuse on the spot was much harder than she'd imagined. "S-s-she had to, hmm... f-follow some clues on a suspect. A-a-and..." she tried her best not to stammer over her words and be jeopardized by her lies, but was failing miserably at it. "...she told me to come check on you. F-f-for your safety, I mean."

"Ah, I get it now..." To add to Lucius's woes, she was not only gone, but on a mission he knew nothing about. His fists clenched before he spoke, "I don't know why Uncle keeps asking her to do this kind of work, even though she shouldn't... Don't you agree?"