The Lady's Butler

The Proposal Arc {Part 1}

(The Proposal)

(Part 1)

It was once more the beginning of the new term, and Kyrano stood beside his mistress dressed in his best alongside his mistress who appeared stunning in a blue dress. The opening ceremony for the term had dictated that the students dress their best, and the Rose of the Academy had to live up to expectations of being the most beautiful. After all, she was supposed to be the "Rose", the sharpest, most resistant and prettiest of the lot.

Occasionally bowing to the students and their butlers who were rushing through the gates –already late for the new day –Kyrano and Louise remained by the gates, waiting. As the one representing the student body, Louise had been tasked by the Director to welcome a new transfer student who had transferred in under special circumstances.

The special circumstance: That this new exchange student was male, in the middle of an academy meant for ladies.

"Miss Louise, it's almost time for the ceremony to start." Kyrano offered deferentially after checking his watch discretely, but his mistress remained standing by the gates, looking towards the drop-off point for a car bringing in the new student. "The Rose shouldn't miss the opening ceremony."

"Brandon Greaves is late." Louise simply sighed. It was a terrible way to create a first impression –much less that the student was about to be the academy's first male student. It appeared that the Greaves family had extended their power over the academy and forced them to accept his request to attend the school. His enrolment  the school had been on the basis that he was selecting his fiancé amongst the dignified ladies of the academy, which Louise could easily predict chaos in the days to come.

It was only understandable, because the Greaves family was as powerful –if not more powerful than –as the Crawford family. The only difference in the two families was that the Greaves family had more participating members making their names in different sectors while the Crawford family currently only had Louise's uncle Oscar and her left. Thus, it would be totally understandable if the ladies of the academy tried their best to hook in the young heir of the Greaves family –to solidify their social standing.

"Perhaps you could go attend the ceremony, and I will wait for Master Greaves? I will lead him to meet you when he arrives." Kyrano offered, knowing that it was impossible for his mistress to appear in two places at the same time, attending to two different duties expected of her as the Rose of the Academy.

"Alright. Be sure to greet him politely. We do not want to create a bad first impression on him, despite the fact that this place is for ladies only." Louise sighed at the bad timing of the new student and turned around to walk back to the auditorium alone. She hadn't taken a half-step forward before the sound of screeching tyres came.

Surprised, both Kyrano and Louise turned to investigate the source of the sound, finding the door to a sleek limousine thrown open, and a young man stumbling out with dishevelled clothes. It was undoubtedly the new student, for the ladies' uniform had been adapted well to fit the young man, creating the first ever male uniform for the St. Clair Academy.

In the midst of adjusting his tie and stuffing the ends of his dress shirt into his trousers, the new student Brandon Greaves took the stairs leading to the front gates of the Academy two at a time. A friendly smile took his face at the sight of them waiting for him, and a hand self-consciously raked fingers through ruffled light brown hair.

The whole arrival took a total of ten seconds, and Louise found the new transfer student standing before her with an easy, charming grin.

"Welcome to St. Clair's Academy for Ladies, Brandon Greaves. My name is Louise Crawford, and I am the 42nd Rose of the Academy, the President of the Student Council here. Here with me is my butler, Kyrano Reyes. Given your untimely arrival, we will be late for the opening ceremony, so please allow me to invite you to our auditorium. I will introduce more about the school along the way." Louise bowed politely, sticking faithfully to her role as the Rose.