𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐔𝐒

23

Armin left out a small scoff, picking leftover skin from his lips. "I'm here for business." Armin clarified, answering your question. He swept up from his chair and stood in front of you, about to speak. He leaned in close to your face as the closeness between the two faces were almost an inch away from your lips to his. "If you tell anyone about this, I mean anyone. I promise you that you'll never get a chance to speak."

Gulping your spit as it slithered down your throat as you gazed into Armin's piercing blue eyes that shook you like thunder. You never saw this side of Armin before, but you made sure to never see it again. Nodding your head in agreement, Armin grinned widely, yelling out bye as if nothing just happened between the two of you. Catching your breath, you stood up and walked to the kitchen craving a bowl of cereal since your appetite ran away. Replaying the scenario back in your head, you couldn't resist to start shaking a little bit. Everything felt like it wasn't real. The suited up men, the body guards on every corner of the house, something clearly was going on, and you needed to investigate it.

Snooping around the kitchen, you spotted the chef who was chopping up a head of lettuce and other varieties of vegetables that seemed exotic, or something out of this country. He seemed to be preparing a sort of soup that smelt amazing. The aroma of the fumes of the soup luminously shined through your nostrils, but you were quickly taken back by your plan. Investigating and researching what Eren does. Stepping into the kitchen with anticipation, and the craving for cereal, you opened up the fridge to see variety of ingredients of food, snacks, and drinks that looked amazing. Eren really had a good taste in good taste on cuisines. Grabbing the milk out of the vast selections of food that were presented in front of you, searching a clean bowl that fits the cereal in.

"Looking for a cup? Fork? Spoon?" The chef called out as he walked over to you with a cup, fork, spoon, plates, and a bowl laid out on a wooden board. Your reflection glared onto the clean, fresh dishes laid in front of you, shooting the chef with a smile. "I'll take the bowl and spoon, thanks." You replied, walking over to the cereal bar that was near the fridge. Pouring the milk into the bowl, you took occasional glances towards the chef's body language and took in everything that was surrounding you. One thing that stood out in particular, though, was the red wine that stood behind a glass door, leading to a wine cellar. The assortments of wines that Eren had laid out on his cellars were extraordinary.

The wine seemed to be dated back years and years ago, cobwebs were surrounding the elderly wines that lay on the cellar wall. Wondering what the wine was, you decided to take a deeper look by walking towards the glass cellar. The elegant crisp sight of wine glistened over to your eyes as you gazed intently into the cellar walls. "Do you want a glass?" The chef asked you, interrupting your mission on the wine's truth. You whipped your head around in a startled manner as you heard the chef speak. Knowing that wine wasn't your best bet, you must try it in order to get the knowledge of the lies Eren had kept sealed up, or perhaps covering up something. You slightly nodded in approval for a tasting of the wine, and the chef grabbed a wine glass that was light and delicate. Seeming like it could break in one hold on it. The chef carefully opened the wine bottle that was on the far right, but not the ones that were on the left.

"May I have the one on the left?" You softly questioned the chef, pointing to the bottle that was old and rusty with a blanket of cobwebs around it. The chef laid his eyes on you, appearing like he had just seen a ghost. "That is not for tasting, I'm afraid." The chef whispered ever so slightly as if he was forbidden to ever lay his eyes or hands onto the wine that was one the left side of the cellar. Raising an eyebrow up, you placed your hand onto your waist. "May I ask why?" You called out, waiting for a response on the unusual situation that the chef seemed to be in. "No, you may not. Now if you would excuse me, my pasta is sticking to the pot." The chef replied as he made haste to the stove that the pasta was bubbling in.

Confused and frustrated, you kept glancing over to the wine that was 'forbidden' and studied the name of the particular wine.

"Maison du Cheval Blanc."

You studied the name of the wine in your head, mouthing it multiple times to install a memory of the wine's name so you could search it up later on your computer. Glancing over to the chef, you took your bowl of cereal and sat down on the island that was adjacent from the grand dining hall. Armin and his 'crew' took occasional glances at you, making sure you didn't hear anything or did anything to prevent their secret meeting. Suddenly, you thought of the best idea. Eavesdropping into whatever they were talking about to gather more information about what the hell was going on.

Before you could stick your ear into their conversation, Armin pressed a button that led to a sliding door hidden inside the walls of the dining hall. You groaned sightly, rolling your eyes to the sight of Armin's move. The door held noise cancelation which made it even harder to gather useful information for you to use. Eating your cereal from your bowl, all the information you had for today was the wine bottle to see how many years did that wine date back in, which gave you an idea of what happened or any significant events that occurred on the decade that the wine was produced, or being consumed.