The Lady's Butler

Love Affair Arc {Part 4}

(Part 4)

"Miss Louise." Kyrano had had enough of remaining silent. "Please do not attend classes today. You look too pale."

"I will survive." His mistress answered softly, but he could see easily that her movements were sluggish. Kyrano wished very much that he could step forth to help his mistress with getting ready, to do his job of aiding her in getting her clothes right and neat, her appearance presentable. But he could not do it, for his mistress had given him a strict order two days ago for him to stay by her, but not carrying out his daily butler duties.

He had protested badly, but his lady had given the excuse that it was personal training for a day where Kyrano would not be around by any situation. It was to ensure that Louise would be able to survive alone without relying too much on her butler. But much as it troubled Louise to learn how to arrange her own belongings, press her clothes straight, arrange them so that they wouldn't be crumpled, arrange her own meals and clean after herself –it troubled Kyrano doubly that he could not help her, that he could not fulfil what he had been doing for the past fourteen years of his life.

"You haven't been eating or sleeping well the past days, Miss Louise. Aside from the pressures of the duel, studies and student council duties, you have also been trying to be independent. You are overworking." Kyrano resisted the urge to simply step forth to his mistress, to help her button up her blouse since her fingers were obviously trembling and slipping.

"I can still go on." Louise answered irritably. "Can't you just let me do what I want for once?"

Kyrano knew it was the lack of sleep talking, and was doubly concerned at how his mistress would present herself in classes. Being overly tired and malnourished from the meagre meals that his mistress had tried to whip up on her own, Louise was easily irritable and annoyed and though Kyrano understood the cause of it, it did not mean that the other ladies did. The perceived character shift of the Rose of the Academy would not be well-received.

"I speak for your well-being, Miss Louise. You truly look pale, and you have not been sleeping or eating well."

"I can't just suddenly drop my responsibilities, can I? I have a meeting today, and I still have to go down and make a show of failing terribly at archery for that darned Amelia." Louise, having finally buttoned herself down, now moved on to tying her ribbon, her fingers fumbling once more.

"If you may, I can attend in representation of you. You have the agenda of the meeting left on the student council table yesterday." Kyrano offered, but the woman paused in her tying of the ribbon.

"I did?" She asked, sounding surprised at his observance. "I thought I brought it back."

"You left it under the file containing receipts of the Council before you left yesterday night." Kyrano answered easily. While he had been denied of doing his student council duties, it didn't mean that Kyrano could not be still observant of the movements of his mistress.

"Right." She acknowledged with a tired nod, then checked her watch. "We're going to be late. Let's go."

Kyrano suppressed the instincts to inform his lady that he had been fidgeting ever since they had passed the optimum time for departure. It got on Kyrano's instincts as a butler, but it was by pure effort that he stopped himself from stepping forth, not wanting to irritate his already tired mistress anymore. His lady would fall to sickness very soon, and Kyrano was already prepared for such a situation. He had already planned everything that he would do should the situation arise.

With his mistress carrying her own books, Kyrano rushed beside her at comfortable pace through the hallways, watching carefully as his mistress lost her breath easily from the small workout. She was definitely getting sick. In fact, Kyrano had already seen beads of sweat dotting his mistress's forehead even before the run.