Noblesse of the Dead [A Noblesse Fan Fiction]

VIII Part 1.

Third person's POV

A young girl sat in a field of roses, her long black hair ran down to the ground like a cape, covering her beautiful white dress. Her eyes closed and a smile adorning her small lips.

"Big sister!" A voice called, making her eyes open, ruby red orbs staring at the small figure of a boy running in her direction.

Wearing a pair of black trousers and a white loose shirt, the boy, no older than five, hugged the girl as he collided with her back.

"Is there something wrong, Caecilius?" She asked, turning to face the said boy, who sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Nothing is the matter, Annalise! I just missed you!" He chirped, smiling brightly at his older sister - Annalise.

Sighing at her brother's antics, she ruffled his head and brought him into a bone crushing hug.

"Big sis! I-I can't breathe!" His attempt to free himself only made Annalise tighten her arms around Caecilius.

Letting him breathe, The young girl began rearranging his appearance. "You look like you just left the battlefield, why is that?"

With shame laced in his words, Caecilius confessed "I accidentally scared Mary while she was cleaning the fireplace."

"You 'accidentally' scared her?" She inquired with a perfect eyebrow raised as she formed the air quotation marks. "Scaring Mary while she works is your favorite hobby." She pointed out, resuming cleaning the ash off of her brother.

After a few moments of her brushing in exasperation, Annalise sighed in defeat and sat up, grabbing her brother's hand, dragging him trough the roses, in the direction of a beautiful castle.

While walking down one of the walkways, Caecilius suddenly asked "Why are we going back home?"

"To clean you." Annalise flatly answered.

"But I don't wanna take a bath!" He whined.

"You will and you'll like it!" She retorted, adding after a short while "That if Mary will forgive you."

"What do ya' mean?" He asked, uncertain of what he said.

"Well," Annalise said as she entered a long corridor "you did scare her and I don't know if she will help you clean off the ash."

"Then we'll ask Diane! She can help." He offered, thinking that he got his sister where he wanted.

"But I thought you didn't like Diane's bath essences. Odd of you to say such a thing." She smirked, watching her brother's face turn from realisation to anger then finally landing on fear.

"N-No! Everything but that!" He began panicking, frantically trying to remove himself from his older sister.

"Then," Annalise stopped walking, making Caecilius bump in her back "you will go apologize to Mary for what you did and ask her nicely to draw you a bath." She negotiated. "Deal?"

It took Caecilius a moment to ponder on the offer he was given to fully agree.

"Go." She ordered. In an instant, the boy was running down the castle's hallways in his quest to find the maid named Mary.

"That situation was well handled, my dear." A deep, yet kind voice echoed, making Annalise's head snap in the direction of the wooden stairs. There stood a tall man in royal attire, brown hair reaching his shoulders shielding his face and a pair of identical red eyes watching her.

Before Annalise could say anything in her defense, the man began scolding her "I believe that I made myself very clear regarding you leaving the castle's walls without your guard." Taking this pause to explain herself, Annalise opened her mouth to retort at her father's accusation, but instantly clamped it shut as he continued rambling. "And to topple it, your brother ran out after you, right after he made a mess out of himself and Mary. There are some times I loose all hope for him. Is it too much to-" But he didn't get to finish his sentence that the sound of heels entered the scene, making the king pause all his movement.

A beautiful lady, with hair a few shades lighter than Annalise's, with eyes as bright as the sky, whose body was adorned by a majestic red dress, carefully, yet slowly, walked in the man's direction. Then, she came to a halt.

"Dear Mercurio." The woman said all of a sudden, offering a kind smile that send a few shivers down the man's spine.

Swoosh

In a swift move, she took a hold of Mercurio's ear and, still smiling, asked him a simple enough question. "What did I tell you about leaving the study in the middle of your work just to check on your daughter?"

"Not to do it, my dear Annabelle. *Aw. Aw. Aw.*" He responded with an innocent smile.

"Exactly." She smiled back. "Run along Annalise. Go find Lyra and your cousin." Annabelle shooed her away.

"Yes mother. Good luck dad." And with that, Annalise walked away, heading for the gardens, while silently praying for her father.

Stepping through the multitude of white flowers, Annalise made her way to a lone red flower, standing straight as the wind blew in its petals.

Plopping herself down, Annalise carefully caressed the small red petals. "You're perfect, yet at the same time you don't belong in this world." She whispered, bringing her hand to pluck out the defenseless flower, yet stopped herself midway. "I cannot take your loneliness away. That would mean to remove you from your home...and that is just too sad of a thing to do."

Sighing, Annalise closes her eyes and inhaled the sweet fragrances around her. "I'll be your friend in this world, my dear Red Spider Lilly."

"My lady." A male's gruff yet kind voice called from behind her.

"Yes, Charles?" She responded, her eyes still closed.

"I have come to inform you that Lord Izuru is looking for you."

"I see. If you meet him, tell him I'm in the gardens. The same goes for Lyra." She ordered.

"Understood, My Lady." He bowed.

"And Charles?" She called him as the butler was about to leave.

"Yes, My Lady?"

Turning to face him fully, she offered the old butler a childish smile and politely asked "If it isn't too much trouble, please ask Markus to bring a plate of cookies and refreshments to the gazebo." She looked at him with puppy eyes. "Will you pretty please do it?"

Chucking to himself, Charles smiled to his princess and responded "It will be my pleasure, My Lady." And with that, he bowed and left to fulfill his 'tasks'.

"Thank you!" She called, watching his retiring form enter the palace.

Still on the ground, Annalise looked to her side and acknowledged the white haired male standing near her. "Say what is on your mind Saber."

With an unemotional face, Saber diverted his eyes from the princess to the palace and said "I apologize if I'm being disrespectful, but it was reckless of Your Majesty to leave for the forest without myself to protect you."

"Nope. You're not being disrespectful, I'm just reckless from nature." She sheepishly smiled at her guard.

Letting his emotionless mask fall, Saber sighed in defeat and smiled at the young girl. "One day, your reckless actions will lead to Your Majesty getting hurt."

"No need to point it out, Saber." Annalise looked back to the still sky, cotton clouds as decorations and a few birds flying about their day.

"I already know that."