The Flowing Domain

Astonished butler

Silence seeped over, the only thing that could be heard was the slight breeze that was flowing through the garden, making the tip of their hair flow in the air lightly. Princess continued locking her gaze within his, then she just subtly shook her head. "It's nothing to worry about, Kanno." The princess took a dry approach, looking down at her gloves as she started to fix the tips of her tingers, pulling the cloth up as she stared at the bush of flowers in front of her, her lips parted once again as her faint smile never left her face. "I am fine." Kanno felt how his chest started to get lighter, but doubt started filling out his heart. Those statements never reflect the truth, they are always covered with lies and excuses and so  it seemed like Kanno wasn't satisfied with his answer. He kneeled down to get the tray in front of her, he wanted to say something, though his mouth was dry, he wasn't able to let anything out of his mouth and say it to his majesty in front of her. He stepped back, gripping on the handles once again, like his habit as he did a slight bow with his head. For a second as he looked back, he looked down on the ground and felt the protectiviness rushing through his veins. He jerked his head back, turning around as he started to pace back towards the indoors of the castle, contemplating on what Princess Aquila has said to him. How did his majesty know his name? He should be worried about Princess' well-being, since that's his job, right? At least that was the excuse to wash it off the fact that the small talk him and the princess had genuinely hit him.

The maids that were crowded in the hallways would instantly look back at Kanno that was getting out of the garden, though he seemed to be in his thoughts. The maids circled him around, making him place his foot firmly on the ground, looking at the maids around him in a circular motion. All of them started spurting out many questions, some fangirling, some being too shy to ask questions which overwhelmed Kanno, making him snap out of his thinking process. "It's was fine, it was fine. What should I expect? I just greeted our majesty and gave her the goods that were prepared for her. There is nothing unusual about this situation." Kanno blurted out, then distancing himself away from the crowd in order to get his thoughts straight. Her soft voice still left some kind of echoing sensation in his head, making him feel uneasy. He went back to the kitchen, pushing the huge doors open, then taking a big breath as he let it out once the doors were closed shut. 

"It was such a mess."

"What kind of mess?"

"A very untidy, hideous, jumbled mess."

Kanno raised his head up, looking at the same white haired woman standing alone in the room, just looking at him in slight concern, her eyebrows arched. "Apologies, I-I snapped out of my thoughts, I'm usually not like this," The woman cut the butler off, walking towards him as she took the tray from his hands, in a way of 'tell me everything that happened'.  She pushed the plate on the counter, pouring the tea in a bucket to empty it out later. She started washing the dishes, glancing at him every now and then as he leaned on the doors, crossing his hands, losing the train of his thought. After a long silence, the woman spoke up once again. "So?" She said plainly, putting the teacup to it's tea set, then arranging the upper shelves. Kanno shook his head, tapping his fingers on his elbow as he proceeded to speak up afterwards. "I asked something from the princess, and then princess seemed to brush it off. She is so nice to even brush that kind of question off."

The old maid sighed, clearly not satisfied with what he said. "Don't be so cryptic," The maid set as she continued setting the dishes gently, then continued with her sentence. "I'm sure what you asked isn't that bad." The woman stopped doing whatever she was doing, then walking over next to the new butler that has disappeared for a long time. She chuckled, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I still remember you when you were a little child, and I was a young woman at my times. Don't lie to the woman that used to sneak in some tarts to you!"

"Don't-don't remind me that." Kanno felt his cheeks getting red, looking at the side as he raised his hands up in defense. "Fine, fine. I just asked if the queen was treating her correctly. In a way, I still thought it was ignorant of me. I probably ruined my first impression."

The woman's teasing smile faded a little, turning into a more soft and worried smile, squeezing his shoulder a little bit once he explained what he did. "Don't let it get to you much, you're just a butler after all. First impression doesn't matter... just do what you have to do for a living, Kanno. Life is too short to worry about such things." The woman slowly slithered her hand away from his shoulder, going back to her work. She pulled the kettle up, popping the opener of the kettle as she poured some hot tea to different tea cups, more cheaper than the other teacups since it was specially for the workers. Smell of herbal tea filled the room, making Kanno's nostrils twitch slightly. "Right..." He snapped out of it, walking towards the table as he stared down at the marble table, taking the teacup and looking down at the tea. "Just a butler." He said to himself, before sitting down and brushing his thoughts off of his mind, trying his best so that it won't get out of hand.

"Enough about royal things, tell me, how have you been dear? How is your pretty sister? I haven't seen her much, seems like she wasn't allowed in the castle anyway." The woman sipped the tea, holding the cup with both of her hands, looking at him with her brown eyes. Kanno shifted on his seat, cupping his hands together as he chewed his lip and thought about it. "I am not so sure, mother Alula. I haven't seen Noriko in a long time, it's been some time, heh." Kanno smiled at the thought of her adopted sister, she was one of the things that washed his worries and troubling thoughts away, making him feel at ease. He stared down at his cup, then he would lift his head up to look at mother Alula. A lot of things seemed to change as he was trained with his father, he was long gone just to become the personal knight for the princess, as well as the butler. Alula finished her tea, setting it down as she remembered something. "How is Nico by the way?"

Kanno's eyes widened slightly as the cup started shaking in his hands as it was cupped. He gulped, rising from his seat all of a sudden. "We don't talk about him." He said bluntly, his cold masked face back on. He  turned around, looking at the front door as he pushed them open, but not before throwing a statement. "I'll fulfil my duties." He said, before fleeing. Alula just sat there, perplexed, though she let out a sigh and looked down at her empty tea cup.

"That boy is going to make a mess, a real, untidy, hideous, jumbled mess."