Après Midi a Paris (An Afternoon in Paris) - A Malice Mizer Fanfiction

🪶 Chapter 2 ~ Kami Blanchet 🗡

"I am Claire Merveilles, the second daughter of the Merveilles household."

This is what I repeat to myself over and over again as I descend the stairway to my castle's downstairs portion. I'm, (thankfully,) fully dressed this time.

I'm not feeling much like myself. I'm not feeling like I belong in this reality of luxury, riches, and silk. All of my strength, both mental and physical dropped cold after I saw Kami earlier, and left me feeling like a faux version of Claire Merveilles, also known as me. In addition, Father hasn't been home in almost a year, leaving no trace of information for me to contact him with. Either way, he never seemed to bother much for anything, leaving Kami the full responsibility of taking care of me and protecting the Merveilles castle. I didn't completely mind this, as the middle son of the Blanchets was the only person who ever showed me any form of affection or care, from what I can remember.

As soon as I reach the bottom of what always seems like hundreds of sets of steps, Kami awaits me at the vast dining table across the hall at the bottom of the stairway. I walk towards the table and see a complete breakfast meal, with multiple wholesome foods, both hot and cold, prepared just for me.

"Es-tu sûr que tout ça est pour moi!?" I ask Kami, in shock. (Translation: "Are you sure that this is all for me!?")

"Oui, Mademoiselle Claire. J'espère que vous allez savourer votre repas, je l'ai préparé spécialement pour vous." he replies with a warm smile and a polite bow, after finishing his heartfelt sentence. (Translation: Yes, Miss Claire. I hope that you will savour your meal, I've prepared it especially for you.")

Even though I appreciate Kami with all honesty, including his kind gestures toward me, I wish daily that he would treat me with less formality. We've known each other since I was born, and he was only 4 years old at the time. Naturally, we grew up together with a slight age gap, even though it never changed anything about our close relationship as family friends, (notwithstanding the Blanchet's rank, the Merveilles always kept a healthy business relationship with them, leading to spending a lot of time together as individual families.) 

Kami calling me by my first name on his 24/7 shift is a rare occurrence, even when we are having a full-on conversation, which is rare on its own. When Kami was 14, he started to train for his two jobs at the Merveilles castle and ever since then, he has treated me with nothing but politeness and respect, so much so that he has become almost robotic. Sure, a little smile or giggle sneaks its way out now and then, but his personality towards me is nowhere near the same as it was almost 10 years ago when everything was perfect.