"Young Master", after a long period of silently watching, Mr Arnold finally opened his mouth to speak, breaking his silence. "Young Master, you should control your angry. Don't throw out potential candidates in a fit of anger", Arnold shot a serious look at Kai's direction. He knew this was bound to happen.
"Miss Susan, don't worry. The medical team will be here soon, hang in 'til then", Arnold assured Susan.
Kai was irked by the tone of his old house butler.
If there was someone who dared to command Kai and stop him, it was Arnold. Arnold knew what was going on in Kai's head. He particularly vouched for Susan the most as she was a great cook, came from a 'sophisticated' background and thus, she was a valuable contestant. Arnold wanted to keep Susan, despite the wishes of young master Kai.
Kai knew what this meant.
"I don't think you should butt into this matter, Arnold. Your interference is unnecessary. After all, the selection is being held for me, isn't it? I have full rights to do what I think is suitable for me"
Arnold developed cold sweat on his neck. He knew he couldn't argue with him on this one. Kai indeed had the right to choose.
Arnold cleared his throat. "The end result remains uncertain, young master. I believe Miss Walton is a good candidate, thus I can only suggest for you to reconsider your decision."
Kai gave a glance over Susan to analyse what was so special about her for his old butler to take her side. Kai knew Arnold was no simple man. If he chose to take a side of someone there always was a personal motive involved behind it. He decided to let Arnold do what he wanted for the time being.
"Alright, since you're so keen at keeping her, I'm allowing it", Kai sighed and held back the cringe he felt when Susan reacted to his statement with shining eyes and jumped in excitement and pumped up her fist in joy as if she had won a lottery. He was disgusted but it wasn't such a big deal. As long as he could still kick the candidates out.
"Thank you, young master", the butler had a cold face, but it was evident that he was a little happy if one could notice the glimmer in his eyes.
The medical team showed up and gave Susan the first aid treatment and bandaged her bleeding finger. She continued to cook her dishes. It took her a long time to finish cooking her dishes, she was side by side preparing the lullaby she would sing for the baby. The time limit was too constrained for her to prepare properly.
In the meanwhile, it was time for the next candidate to start.
"The next candidate, please step forward", announced Mr Russell in his rough voice.
A slightly shy Hikaru stepped forward. The boy's hands were balled into fists on sides. "Good afternoon, I am Hikaru. My duties are to horseback ride, cook Lasagna and play a soft melody on guitar for the baby", Hikaru's hands shook and he dropped the piece of paper. He was overwhelmed.
"Are you alright?", asked Maria with concern.
"Y-Yeah… I'm okay", he barely managed to speak up. Hikaru's heart was beating fast. He was too terrified and nervous after he saw the leopard in the room and he couldn't forget how the previous candidates ended up. He feared for the same to happen to him.
"If everything's alright, why don't you start already?", Mr Russell said, his eyes boring deep into Hikaru. Hikaru felt as if Mr Russell could pierce right through him. The nervousness and anxiety had Hikaru squirming in his position. He was perspiring like crazy.
After a few moments of pause and silence, Hikaru ran out of the room. This indicated that he had decided to quit. The guards were gestured to not stop him. With this, only Alena was the only one left to start with the 'duties'.
"Looks like another candidate has given up their spot", remarked Mr Russell. Mrs Maria shook her head disapprovingly.
Susan was happy to see that most of her competition had been wiped out. It was just her and Alena left, but with an injured finger she couldn't cook anymore.
"Looks like you can't use your finger anymore", Kai commented. His head was still resting on this fist.
"Y-yeah… but I can still do other things!", Susan didn't want this opportunity to get wasted. Lucky enough for her she got to talk to her idol!
"How can you perform other duties; your finger is bruised. This means you can't play the piano", remarked Mr Russell.
"I… I can still sing a lullaby! I will sing the lullaby for the baby. I can still cook—"
"You cannot cook, your finger is injured, Miss Walton", said Mrs Maria, cutting off Susan in the middle of her sentence.
"Then it's decided, isn't it?", said Kai, his ice-cold blue eyes emitting his boredom.
"Who said it's decided? She can still perform a task out of the list, right Miss Walton?", said the wise old Mr Arnold. No matter what, he wasn't willing to give Miss Susan up. Although, everyone was right. Indeed, Miss Walton could only perform one task and that meant she wasn't a very suitable candidate.
Susan quickly walked close to the baby. She knew this was her only shot. She felt thankful to Mr Arnold for taking her side. She cast him a glance and smiled at him to show her gratitude. Mr Arnold nodded.
As soon as she went close to the baby laying on the floor, the baby started wailing loudly. The clicking sound of Susan's heels was harsh and it disturbed the baby.
Susan quickly picked up the baby and tried to swing it in her arms. The baby kept wailing, the sound encapsulated the room and it was disturbing. She thought of a song to sing and picked a song that was currently in trend.
As soon as she started to sing, everyone in the room felt their ears bleeding. Susan was tone-deaf which resulted in a harsh hoarse voice. Everyone's eyes popped out in shock.
"Stop it!", shouted Kai in anger.
*******
To be Continued...
*****
Stay tuned for more, dear readers!! :D
Drop down in comments what you think will happen next! ;)
- Your Lovely Author-san <3