Chapter 3: Difficulties (3)

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"Here is your tea, Miss Miller. I'm sorry for the long wait." The maid slowly and carefully brings the cup down to the table. "The lord of the house will arrive shortly." The maid explains with a polite smile.

Miss Hermina crosses her legs, her elegant body posture never cracks. "Very well. Until then we shall wait." She lifts the teacup and brings it to her lips.

A silent click can be heard and the door opens, a man with light blue hair and black eyes steps in, the two butlers behind him close the doors.

"Thank you for your patience Miss Hermina, and please excuse my delay." The man sits down right in front of her. He waves to the staff members to not disturb them and to leave. His glare is like cold ice. After they excused themself, he continued and his sudden strange behaviour disappeared like nothing happened.

He clears his throat. "About my oldest son, Misaki..." he starts. "He is quite a troublesome child, neither manners nor any talent. He shouldn't have been in the garden in the first place, cause he had lessons at the time.... "

Lord Shirizawa frowns and then sighs. He is clearly not happy about the accident. " He probably skipped again..., what a headache. If only I had paid more attention to him.." The lord of the house looked rather pitiful in Lady Hermina's eyes. Was this really the same man she met with in the garden?

"It's rather fine, Lord Shirizawa, it was thanks to my poor behavior that the situation escalated this far. I should be the one to apologize." Lady Hermina puts the cup down.

"I'm sure we can agree that we both are highly regarded individuals who do not cause such a ruckus over some mere child's play." Miss Hermnia grabs his fan and unfolds it, she gently moves it to cool herself down.

"If we lose our head over the smallest matters we wouldn't be any better than those rats from the slums." Miss Hermina didn't mention anything else, however, just from a glance at her face you could tell how gruesome and unequal she found the lower society.

Lord Shirizawa lets out a relieved sigh. "It puts my mind at ease to hear that the lady is indeed as considerate and sensible as the rumors say." He gives her a charming smile...., if Miss Hermina didn't know any better she would think that this man is trying to seduce her right now.

Hermina coughs awkwardly. "Ah, you flatter me Lord Shirizawa." She acts shyly as the good actress she is, cause two can play this game. " You are quite the gentleman too. Your wife is infinitely lucky to have a man such as yourself at her side."

The other laughs lightly at her comment with a bright expression. "So it seems that a face that suits the lady's taste can win over her cold heart." That leaves her dumbfounded, the ongoing gossip, that this man never smiles seriously..., were they false?

A light laugh escapes from the younger.

"Please, my lady don't take anything to heart. I was merely trying to lighten the mood."

Hermina is bewildered... which mask of this man should she trust? The one she first saw in the garden, the hesitant and cowardly one, or his cheerful young man appearance?

A knock on the door disturbs the two. " Ah, our last quest arrived." Said the lord of the house.

********

Misaki is walking down the corridor with two butlers behind him. He is heading towards the living room as his father ordered. His clothes are now spotless and much more elegant than they were, the only piece of accessory that remained was his red ribbon decorating his neck.

"Ugh, these clothes are so stuffy...." He mumbles unsatisfied as he tries to adjust his collar.

"Master Misaki, please hurry, we must not keep Lord Shirizawa waiting any longer." The butler ahead of him has been fidgeting, panicking, and leaving him behind several times, just to realize that Misaki would not rush to see his father at all. Not an unusual view, the staff are terrified of his father.

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