"Young master, it's time to wake up."
A young butler nonchalantly made an effort to wake a certain boy from his deep slumber.
"Young master."
The boy didn't move a single finger.
Sigh...
Flow could only sigh lightly at the display of the supposedly next heir for the empire. Noticing that he wouldn't be able to wake him up, he shifted his focus to the curtains of the room instead. He opened the curtains to let the bright sunlight enter the room.
"Hngk...!"
"Oh, finally awake?"
The boy, yawning, opened only one of his teary eye. After some time, he finally realized the person in front of him. Speaking in a half-asleep tone, Sly asked:
"Ng...? Oh, it's Flow... Hey, what time is it?"
"8.46."
"Ha? Why'd you wake me up this early?"
Sly's tone was not on the best of tact. Flow, seemingly used to this, ignored the boy he was supposed to take care of and started pouring tea from a kettle he had prepared prior to entering Sly's room.
Despite the boy's retort, waking up at 8.46 was not Flow's error whatsoever. In truth, Sly was supposed to be awake by 8 everyday to train his discipline. As a butler, not to mention the top one in the entire castle, Flow wouldn't dare breaking such a rule. That was how it was supposed to be normally. However, Sly and Flow weren't always master and servant.
Flow was Sly's childhood friend. He came from a family that had served Sly's family for generations, and since they were the same age and were practically best friends, Flow was assigned personally by Sly's father, the King, to serve his son by the age of 7. For the same reason the King removed heavy restrictions for him alone since he believed Flow knew Sly better than anyone, even than the King himself. Although, the King specifically ordered Flow not to mention the details to Sly. When asked about what the reason was, Flow immediately understood and complied with it without fail even after 11 years.
Completely unfazed with Sly's tone, Flow asked him:
"You were supposed to wake up at 8. Did you stay up late again?"
"Are you my mom? So what if I did?"
"Exactly what did you do?"
"That's none of your business."
"You didn't do anything illegal, did yo-"
"Shut it. What I do isn't something you need to know. Don't make me take this to my old man, Flow."
"...my apologies."
Even though it was still morning, Sly was already at his limit. Someone prying into what he did wasn't really something that Sly favored, especially if that someone was Flow.
Of course, knowing Sly, the butler stopped asking questions and instead decided to inform something more important.
"Speaking of which. His majesty, your father, had ordered me to fetch you once you wake up. I've prepared your clothes over there and your food right here. I'll clean up the room while you're taking the bath."
"Tch! Is it about that again? Dammit."
The boy clicked his tongue in irritation.
"Also..."
Flow stopped Sly just before he moved to get the towel. Taking out what appeared to be a neatly wrapped gift, matching his professional appearance.
"Happy birthday."
Sly looked at Flow with a slightly widened eye, surprised.
"...keep that away, I don't need it. What's inside is probably useless to me anyway."
The blatant rejection was something Flow was expecting, so it didn't affect him at all. Despite the implication of the order to throw it away, the butler instead put the gift inside one of the drawers on Sly's desk.
"Now then..."
After taking the prepared clothes and towel, Sly opened his bedroom door only to find a figure already standing there. A young girl likely the same age as Flow and Sly in a relatively frilly black and white outfit; a maid.
"Hm...? Oh, it's Crystal."
In front of the heir, the young maid put her hands in front of her guts and bow respectfully to Sly.
"Good morning, young master. The bath is already warmed. Please check the temperature first to make sure it's not too hot."
"Ah, yeah, thanks."
Without much interaction, Sly walked past the maid towards the bathroom.
After confirming the boy was out of sight, Crystal's maid demeanor and attitude was changed to one more fitting of a girl her age. With a somewhat irritated expression, Crystal opened Sly's room to see the top butler in the middle of cleaning.
"What the hell was his deal!? You were already kind enough to give him a present yet he still has the audacity to told you to throw it away!?"
"Morning, Crystal."
Flow's non-chalant greet to Crystal kept her from exploding further and instead made her realized her loud voice could reach Sly's ears. After sorting her emotions, she finally responded to Flow.
"Mornin'..."
"Still as lively as ever I see."
"And you're still as unemotional as ever. Seriously, Flow, how did you manage to keep your cool even after his blatant rudeness?"
Sly didn't seem to notice, but Crystal appearing in front of the door when he opened it was by no means a chance. Crystal overheard the whole thing from just after Flow said the boy was supposed to wake up at 8. Her professionalism, paired with her years of experiences working as a maid on the castle, made her capable of controlling her emotions. Akin to Flow, she was also the top maid in the castle. The King found it amusing how the two top butler and maid respectively were only 18, as if mocking the older servants working their hardest.
Although the fact that the top servants were not even 20 wasn't an anomaly either. Almost all of the servants over 30 were ordered by the King to stop serving under his reign. This was because the King wanted to honor his late wife's request: to let their servants be free and choose what they wanted to do.
Only in front of the ones she considered to be close with was she able to let go of the control and be the teenager she really was. This included several other butlers and maids around her age, especially a particular "newbie" maid that started working 2 years ago whom she quickly befriended, and particularly, Flow and Sly.
"Years of experiences. I'm his personal butler, this is nothing."
"I know that! But, still. That was way too harsh, even for him. I swear he wasn't like this before..."
Crystal was 9 when she enrolled as a maid, approximately 2 years after Flow was assigned to serve Sly. Being the only maid the same age as the two boys, coupled with her tomboyish nature, Crystal became fond of the master and servant, being as close to Sly as Flow was. Despite the same age, Sly was generally the youngest one amongst the three. Due to this, she often acted as a big sister figure to him.
The maid was supposed to be able to drop the formalities in front of the heir, but just then she didn't. That was both due to Sly's absolute position as the heir of the king, and his increasing ego with said position. Unlike Flow, Crystal wasn't given the same privileges and leniency as the butler was when it came to serving Sly. She was not the one assigned as Sly's personal servant.
Seeing Crystal sulking, Flow decided to end the ever-worsening atmosphere in the room.
"It's fine. Whatever he does is in my responsibility. I'm confident I can deal with him for as long as the King wants, he's my best friend after all."
"That's too harsh on you. Even you have to take breaks sometimes from dealing with him."
"I'm fine. I would've quit long ago if I wasn't able to handle that, not that I could."
"Pfft."
Both chuckled, knowing full well the King wouldn't let him to quit, and would probably scold his son instead.
"Hey, let me help."
"Huh? No need, I can-"
"I'll sweep the floor, you can deal with his bed. Okay, start!"
"...you really are stubborn."
Despite his statement, Flow was thankful.
The top servants made quick work of each task. After finishing swiping the floor, Crystal moved to cleaning the dust on the desk and shelves. What was placed on the shelves were things that made not just Crystal, but even Flow found unusual. Numerous planks of wood canvas with strings attached to it shaped to objects. The so-called 'string art' Sly was so fond of.
"I still can't believe a person that abrasive was this delicate in his arts... even if I don't get it though..."
That statement came out of Crystal's mouth, and one that Flow agreed to. Even to the servants who didn't understand what part of those was supposed to be art, they still could feel the delicacy and care Sly put when making those thing. They didn't know how such thing was happening, and didn't know why either.
Not getting too absorbed in thoughts, Crystal and Flow started moving their arms again, this time managing to clean everything.
"See? It'll be easier and faster if you rely on me more!"
With a big grin she spoke to Flow. In contrast, the butler responded stoically, albeit with a soft smile on his face.
"Really, it's okay. Thanks for worrying about me... and for getting mad for me."
Crystal couldn't say anything in response to the sudden gratitude from the ever-stoic butler. In the end, she could only comply.
"Sigh... Sometimes I wonder who the stubborn one is. Be more lenient with yourself sometimes, alright?"
"Hmhmm."
"Move."
The crude voice coming from behind Crystal that seemingly broke all the warm atmosphere came from the same person the servant was praising not too long ago. The voice, short and rude, was naturally met with a negative response from the maid. Sly did not take it well.
"...what's with that look? You got a problem?"
"Alright, that's enough. Young master, please eat your breakfast before it gets cold. We still have to go to the throne room."
Before being able to say anything, Crystal was interrupted by Flow to avoid unnecessary conflict.
"Just give me the sandwich. I'll eat it on the way. I'm going first."
"Sly-!"
That was the limit of patience Crystal had for Sly's ungratefulness. Had Flow not stopped her, Crystal would've had to deal with the King.
"Calm down. I'll handle him from here, you can take a rest."
Knowing Flow's position, she couldn't retort any further. All she could do was to hope Flow didn't get to trouble.