Trails of Intertwined Stars: Chapter 74 {Part 1}

~Chapter 46: Hetty and Jiu~

Jiu and Leora were sat in the kitchen, though it seemed as if Leora was much more upset about the whole ordeal than Jiu was.
"It's unbelievable!" Leora groaned, tapping her foot against the stool she was sat on; angrily stuffing her mouth," I mean, who does she think she is!? The queen of bloody England!?"
"Language," Soren chided from the corner of the kitchen.
Both he and Edward were preparing meals for Henry's wedding; currently, an assortment of pastries. Jiu noticed that Soren jumped at any opportunity possible to be with Edward, and that mainly consisted of tending to butler duties. But Soren didn't seem to mind this, and whenever questioned, would always go on about how he admired butlers and trained. Considering his status, Jiu found that hard to believe, but didn't persist.
"Trust me; I could say much worse about her," Leora grumbled; earning an exasperated eye roll from Soren.
"You'll only be letting her win if she gets under your skin like this, Leora," Jiu sighed, feeling like getting mad over something like this was trivial and would only someone worked up, rather than resolve the problem at hand.

Leora raised an eyebrow," You should be angrier about this, you know."
"No, Jiu is right," Edward frowned, dusting off his hands on his apron," You're showing her she has control over your emotions, Leora. You need to calm down."
Leora pouted at the butler, who'd basically been her parent since she was young. She let out a resigned hum, begrudgingly.
"Fine, fine; I'll stop talking about her..."
Soren smiled," Good."
"But I won't stop talking about my pathetic excuse of a grandfather!" Leora slammed her fist on the counter.
Edward ran his hands over his face," Here we go again. I'm too tired for this."
"Sorry, the tiredness is my fault," Soren hummed.
Edward blushed. Jiu blinked in shock, What did Soren mean by that!? Leora couldn't care and was too busy ranting about how pathetic the old man was for doing nothing and just giving into her grandmother's whims.
"Well," Edward raised his hand to cut Leora off," Think of it this way. You have the wedding to look forward to."
"Right, the ball," Leora nodded, her eyes shining eagerly.
"Precisely," Soren smirked," We've practised waltz enough for you to know not to tread on your partner's feet. I'm sure Lord Bramston will adore it."

Jiu felt himself unconsciously shudder at the name of Lord Bramston. He'd completely forgotten about him attending the wedding, and had prayed to some unknown god that perhaps he wouldn't. But fate was cruel and merciless, and this was its way of going south practically immediately. Perhaps it was foolish of him, to have even hoped for a chance to dance with Leora. Would her grandmother even allow that? It was all so infuriating. Leora gave a strained smile at the idea of dancing with Lord Bramston, her eyebrows knitting together in an awkward attempt to not gag at the mere thought of it. His hands would undoubtedly find their way to ungodly parts of her body.
"Come now," Soren laughed, immediately noticing her expression," What's with that face?"
"I assume Lord Bramston will be far too drunk to dance," Leora wrinkled her nose.
"I thought you were looking forward to it?"
"I am. I just doubt he is..." Leora mumbled.
"Bah, so pessimistic," Edward brushed her hair back," You're starting to sound like Henry."
Soren laughed as Leora puffed her cheeks. Now Jiu watched them together, he'd noticed something. Whilst Leora had no parents, it seemed to him that Edward and Soren had filled the gaps where they should have been. It was probably one of the few good things Leora had in the manor, and her happiness was like an infectious disease to him.

Jiu was cut off from his thought track as a maid tapped him lightly on the shoulder. He turned to face her; met with a young woman a couple years older than Leora, but still younger than him. She had straw like hair shoved into an odd, slopped bun; with leafy coloured eyes. Leora glanced over, listening. For she knew exactly who the maid was, and it made her tighten her grip on her dress as she remembered.
"Did you see the new guest they had?"
"From China, wasn't he?"
"I don't think I've ever seen someone like that before, have you, Hetty?"
"No, but he's kind of handsome, though. Don't you think?"
"Definitely. I hear that marrying foreign men is really fashionable now. And they're always rich."
"Ooh! Maybe I should look my best in front of him. Maybe then he'll ask me to marry him!"
Hetty. The girl remembered how the blade she'd held slipped upon hearing that, and she'd accidentally cut her finger. She went to feel where the cut had been, but found it had healed completely since then.
"Kong Hun Jiu, right?" The maid asked, butchering his name ever so slightly.
Jiu bit down a wince at her attempt, forcing a smile and giving her a short nod," Yes."

"I'm off duty on the wedding day, you see..." Hetty giggled, bashfully, playing with a strand of her hair," Dreadfully boring day to be off duty, I've got nothing better to do, sir. You wouldn't happen to have a partner for the wedding, would you?"
Jiu could see where this was going, but he didn't stop her.
"No, I do not," He stated.
It wasn't exactly a lie, was it?
"Would sir like to take me to the ball?" Hetty asked, eagerly.
The question caught him by surprise, even though he'd been expecting the maid to say that. He could see Leora staring at them, her hands clenching her dress tighter. He pushed thoughts of her aside for a moment. If he had no distraction at the wedding, it would be a particularly miserable day for him. To have to watch Leora sway with that vulgar excuse for a man, it left a bad taste in his mouth just thinking about it. Besides, perhaps Hetty was fun and kind, maybe he'd like her more than Leora. After all, wasn't he supposed to resent Leora for summoning her and not getting him back as soon as possible? The idea of hating her was something that made him disgusted with his own mind, and he immediately pushed it away.
Jiu gave Hetty a weak smile," Sure, if you'll have me."

Leora clenched her dress tighter, staring at the counter distantly.
"Afraid I don't have a dress, sir," Hetty muttered.
"You can take one of mine for the night," Leora spoke up, her voice unnaturally colder than usual," I have plenty, and I already know which one I'm wearing on the night. You can pick your choosing."
Hetty's eyes shone," So kind of you, mistress!"
"Leave Mistress Leora be, now, silly girl," Edward called over to the maid, as head of the servants," Go sort the guest rooms."
"Yes, sir Edward sir!" Hetty scurried off.
Jiu sighed, rubbing his temples. Dancing with the maid.