"I guess we're already here, Lady Charlotte and..."
Leon said with a beaming smile he had, sure he was sincere, coupled with a soft and pleased tone of voice. However, the moment Leon ruled out Louis' name, Charlotte's eyebrows began to rise and she was about to say something when Louis said his name
"It's Louis Crest, Sir Leon Vanderbilt, right?"
With a deep but gentle tone in Louis' voice, Leon smiled at Louis. He looked at the young man as he had looked at Charlotte before. It was there that Charlotte's eyebrows started to pucker as she sensed some tension between the two
However, for Louis, he just smiles at the young man in front of them, knowing that he was assigned to teach the lady the lessons he had taken to teach her. At that moment, Leon spoke, causing Charlotte's eyes to suddenly widen
"All right, since you've been here, Sir Louis - why don't you lead the lady ahead and I'll search the other pages for the book. I guess you already knew about the lady's current lessons, right? Also, you were her former substitute teacher, so I'm guessing --"
But once again - this time - Leon couldn't finish when Charlotte interrupted her
Leon was already shutting his mouth, narrowing his eyes, knowing that Charlotte might be angry at some point
"Alright, let's just do this, we'll all be looking for it, alright?!"
Then the lady walked straight past the bookstore like a confident woman without any notice. The two stayed behind, wide-eyed. But her gaze never left the lady's back and how she entered the bookstore. For the most part - it was already being opened by Leon, however his hand got stuck on the large door as Charlotte walked on
He felt as if his body went numb as his mouth opened slightly. The bookstore they entered was a huge building and when the lady entered they already knew that if they got stuck in her place they would not be able to find her
Then, without wasting a second, Louis immediately went off and wanted to leave Leon - knowing that he might move on his own - but when Louis looked at him, he felt like Leon was paralyzed. So, with the best expression Louis had, the same expression he always showed the lady - he smiled at Leon
The kind of smile that can make someone tremble. However, for Leon - he wasn't even aware of it - because of the complete shock Charlotte was giving him. Not only can they not find the lady if anything happens to her - but the place had many floors - circular staircases with bookshelves in the cent there connected to others in various places like a maze
At that moment - Leon was about to scold himself when he heard a very familiar voice - soft but deep, yet soothing to everyone's ears. At that moment – Leon glanced at the source of the voice only to see the one that had previously introduced himself
"Let us continue. If you stay in here, Sir Leon, we shall surely lose sight of the lady."
After saying those words, Louis didn't waste a second to hear what Leon was supposed to say and immediately grabbed the young man's hand, which was still clinging to the door handle. There they immediately roam around looking for a very well-known lady - with cream hair. But even if they let their eyes wander, they just seem to see different people inside
"I guess we'll have to find separate ways to find ------"
But this time it was Louis' turn to be interrupted when Leon looked at him seriously. For a moment the butler felt he had done something wrong with the young man. Looks like he's watching something at Louis.
However, after a few seconds had passed, Leon only let out a sigh as he shook his head and looked in front of her
'I guess he's unaware of Charlotte's feelings. When I tested him earlier - He was genuine in his actions. He doesn't pretend at all. Besides, for him - what would it be great to pretend when he's just a humble butler in the household, right? For Charlotte, however, he is not only a butler, but also a person who was important to her. She also once said that he taught her many things. As they say, never judge a book by its cover. He may be a servant, but his appearance was like a prince from another realm. Magnificent enough to captivate every look'
At the deep thoughts Leon had, he let out another sigh - but this one can be considered long. Then, as if he had finally made up his mind, this time he smiled at Louis
"The lady said to me earlier that if I wanted to be her friend - you must first become my friend, so I guess I have no choice but to make you my friend from now on. What are you saying, Louis?"
There he said those words - although separated was a lie, he never meant to lie when he said he wanted Louis to be his boyfriend. Because the way the butler used to behave towards Leon was pure reality, he wanted to know more about the butler.
The very moment Charlotte met him in the garden and Leon saw everything aroused his interest not only in the lady but also in the butler.
"Oh! And one more thing before you answer Louis, I don't take no for an answer."
At that moment, Leon smiled at Louis. On the other hand, Louis' eyes widened at the sudden change in the young man in front of him. At first he thought that Leon was a respectable guy, judging by the badge he wore he came from a noble clan. It contained the symbol of his family. But for a humble butler to be friends with a young nobleman was sheer disrespect to noble society, and Louis knew it all
The wrinkling of his eyebrow was obvious to Leon, which only made him chuckle at Louis' response
'Okay, I know that a noble person should not be friends with a servant. But wouldn't it be unfair on my part that you should become Lady Charlotte's friend while I am not?'
That's why Louis had been more careful about what he wanted to say. The moment he heard those words, he felt like closing his eyes for a moment and let out a long sigh
"I think for now - I have to accept it"
Besides, what he promised my lady was part of his plans to change her for the better, and he knew that since he was just around the house no one would know. But he wasn't even aware that anything would deviate from his plans and that was because of Leon
"But I have to remind him"
"I know what you wanted, Sir Leon, and you have no obligation to make me your friend. We can speak to Lady Charlo about it..."
"It's okay, I know the code of nobles. Servants and nobles will never be able to be friends and I know you and Lady Charlotte are one - because she wanted you to be, didn't she?"
Without hesitation, Louis answered with a smiling face
"Yes, but I only did that because I wanted to make her happy"
"Well, since no one knew – then why not? From now on, if you're Charlotte's friend, then you're my friend, okay? Oh! what is best for the lady"
Then Leon returned the butler's smile with another smile as Leon patted one of Louis' shoulders
However, when Leon said those words, Louis felt like something had hit him. All his life he could not do what he wanted to do as a child because of his family. All he could do was follow their traditions and how to become one, when his grandfather found out he has a servant for a friend - he didn't even want to forbid him, but his parents can't tolerate him
Thinking about his past, Louis shook his head, a small smile forming at the corners of his lips
"Why not? All right, Sir Leon. I guess I really don't have a choice, do I?"
A still soft and delicate voice echoed in Leon's ears and made him laugh
"You know what? It's the first time I've met someone like you. You remind me of someone - even though you both have the polar opposite of attitude."
Then, as Leon was about to tap Louis' shoulders again, his eyes fell on something and that was Lady Charlotte, who was smiling at her
"I guess I linked those two together, didn't I?"
Leon and Louis looked at her with their Victorian smiles and then smiled after widening their eyes
'Maybe I'm in a different empire than where I grew up. But the people I meet are good enough to become my family rather than my own'