His Dark Heart (Dark Link x Reader)

Journey to Their Home

"How can I be of service, master?" He bowed and made his way to us, closely inspecting the numerous objects we put on the table.

"Claude, do you know who this person is? He seems to be a friend of yours in this photo." I pointed to the man in standing with Claude and watched as Claude seemed taken back by seeing the man.

"That was an old friend of mine from when we served the twins. He was dismissed early, sadly, but he still lives nearby."

I looked at Claude, my eyes technically begging him to bring this man here to join us. Dark let out a sigh and put a book down he was skimming through. "I do suppose we could use another butler around here. What do you think of having your own butler, my dear?"

I jumped up and down in the purest excitement only children were thought to have possessed, eventually stopping to hug Dark a little tight for his own comfort, but he did not protest.

"I will take that as a yes."

---------------------------------------------------------

Dark sent me to my room to get ready for the trip to the twins' home. Claude stood at my door, waiting to help me take what I needed to the horses.

"Master Dark is readying the horses as we speak, milady. I'll help you carry your belongings down to him." Claude takes the extra clothes I had and carried them down while I glanced around for anything else. I had my bow and other weapons secured to my person, so there shouldn't be much else left to take with me.

"Milady." Claude returned to the door with a small instrument case in hand. "I know this is last minute, but since you fancied lady Angelica's flute, I had it repaired and freshly polished for you." He handed the case to me, bowing before escorting me down to the horses where Dark was waiting.

Walking up to my horse, I put the case in the saddle bag before mounting the steed and looking to Claude and thanking him for the instrument. Dark sends me a questioning glance, so I put my hands up like I'm playing the flute and he smiles, mounting his own horse and riding to my side.

"Their home isn't very far from here. It's still about a days ride, though." Dark explains as we start our ride, leaving the care of the manor in Claude's care.

---------------------------------------------------------

As we passed through the village Dark took me shopping in, I waved to the lady that gave me the cloak as I passed. She was conversing with a tall man with dark hair, his back facing us so we couldn't see his face. She caught sight of my wave, smiling as she returned it and pointed us out to the man. He turned his head a bit to watch us pass, his scarlet eyes locking with mine and giving me a smile. I waved to him then urged my horse to catch up with Dark, who was ahead of me by a few yards.

"Try and keep up, love. I don't want to lose you out here." Dark looked back at me as I caught up, a hint of concern in his eyes that vanished as fast as it appeared.

As we continued on, we were greeted by passing villagers, travelers, and a few merchants, but overall the way to the twins' home was bare. I had suspicions about this, but Dark assured me that no one usually goes down this road to get anywhere.

"This road wasn't here until my family had it made so they could take me to be taken care of while my parents were away. No one would set foot on this road then because it led just to their house, but now merchants use it sometimes to stay off the main road."

Dark continued to tell me about the ladies as we continued down the road. Sometimes he would stop and we'd rest the horses a while and have some snacks I packed before we left.

"I noticed you were lagging behind when we were in town." Dark looked up at me from his previous gaze at the ground. "Did something catch your eye?"

I shook my head. "I saw the lady that gave me my cloak. She was visiting with a man before I caught her attention. He looked familiar to me."

Dark shrugged his shoulders, picking up a stick and scribbling on the ground with it. "We'll rest here for a bit longer, then head back out. If we keep the pace we were going at, we should reach them somewhere around nightfall."

Dark got up after a few minutes and went off into the woods. "I'll be back. Checking something out."

With that, I'm left with the horses and the multiple snacks I have.

"Hm. . . I wonder what's got Dark all tense. . ." I turned to look in the direction Dark went off in, curiosity compelling me to follow him.

My curiosity was fed anyway, for as soon as I stood, Dark had returned with a brightly colored flower in his hand.

"This is called a silent princess. They are not very common around here, but when night falls they are a beautiful sight to behold. These flowers glow in the dark." He handed the flower to me, returning to his horse to fix his saddle.

"Thank you, Dark. I love it."

Dark smiled, hiding his blush with his arm after climbing into the saddle. I mounted my own horse, knowing he wanted to get going.

---------------------------------------------------------

Dark's p.o.v

We barely made it to the twins' home by dark. The only light that guided us the last bit was from a lantern in front of the house.
As we neared the lantern, I saw that the light wasn't hung on the porch like usual; it was being held by a tall man, probably the twins' butler. I dismounted, helping (y/n) down as the man made his way to us.

"Good evening, young lord and lady. The twins are expecting you." The butler bowed, leading us inside as two more servants took our horses and led them to a nearby stable.

"May I ask your name, sir? I believe we met in the market." (Y/n) caught up to the butler, getting a better look at him.
The butler smiled at her. "Milady, you may call me Sebastian."