Kilian had been reading long into the night, and was woken up at dawn by an already energetic Stella, who brought in the clothing Mr. Kilga had sent him.
Kilian lazily got up, his legs were only slightly sore, but he could tell he had used them too much the previous day, walking all over the mansion, because of that annoying father of his.
Whatever had helped him feel vitalized and painless, seemed to have gone away, and the legs were stiff, but not hurting too much.
He had to conserve his strength, the Yule Ball would start that same evening, and he had to spend time getting ready.
Stella fussed around him, having gotten used to the young man always being dressed lazily with barely anything on, when she came in during the mornings.
At first, she had been bashful, and sneaked peeks at the slender body, that with more nutrients and training had filled out quite nicely, or so she thought at least.
Now she simply came in admiring the youth openly, while helping him get dressed, and even though she had noticed Kilian did not seem to like it when people stared at him, he had let Stella gawk as much as she wanted without saying anything.
'What delight,' she thought, getting a bath ready for Kilian, it was as if this was his way of repaying her, the only way he could, as he had no money, and she didn't mind.
She did however question her own sanity as she knew she held no intimate feelings for him, but instead simply admired beauty when it stood in front of her.
She looked up at her Master who let the rest of his clothes fall to the floor, and stepped into the warm bath she had prepared, hearing him let out a grateful content sigh.
At least he wasn't like other masters she had heard about, who would freely take maids as they pleased. It didn't seem like he had grown to those urges yet.
Kilian didn't say much in the mornings, it took him a while to wake up fully, and they went about with their own things in silence.
She had seen the scars on his legs, and would now regularly massage ointment into the skin, to give it some elasticity, keeping the scars from itching when stretched.
Kilian got up from the bath with a tired groan, stepping on the wooden floor, leaving behind wet footprints.
He got a towel and started drying himself. This was a part he did not let Stella do for him, that was too much, even if she had been eager to do so at first.
He put on some light clothes and sat down in his wheelchair.
Why were his legs hurting again?
The day before he had felt free moving around with no pain, but today it was as if they were slowly starting to hurt again, after just moving around a bit.
Whatever force or magic that had helped him, seemed to have worn off.
There was a knock on the door, and Kilian realized it was, that time.
"Come in".
Dante walked in wearing his uniform, which was in a beautiful dark blue color scheme.
He had tried to get some order to his messy hair, but seemed to have given up, as it was looking as unruly as always.
Kilian looked up from the book he had started reading, nodding at Dante, who seemed to be looking over at the outfit that was hanging from the dresser in the room.
"Gold…" Dante spoke the word and looked from the outfit to Kilian.
"How fitting," he cleared his throat, trying not to picture Kilian in it. But failed.
'He will look like a star, even the crown prince cant claim the title as the Bright Star of the Country next to Kilian if he wear this.'
The title, Bright Star of the Country, was given to all heirs of the kingdom, but now he thought it fitted Kilian more, noticing Kilian's wet golden hair reflect the rays from the sun.
"What now?" Kilian said with an annoyed tone, as a new knock on the door broke the silence.
The head maid walked in, and Kilian noticed Dante stiffen, while placing his hand on the hilt of the sword he had received, when appointed as a personal knight.
The tone of the maids had changed after Kilian had met his father, even if it had not been a pleasant meeting, just the fact he had been in contact with the Count, had frightened the maids at the residence.
Kilian wondered if the Count had at least looked into the matter, after having insinuated the allowances that had been sent, had not reached him personally.
"What is it?".
There was no reason to be polite to this woman, he still had no evidence, but was sure she was the one who had had him kidnapped.
Possibly to get some final payout, before he debuted into society, where he would need to look more "presentable" with the money they had taken from him.
Miss Olive scoffed at him...
"It seems the other young Masters will be attending tonight, they are requesting for you not to show your face".
She brought on her wicked smile, throwing an already opened letter on the desk in front of Kilian.
'Did she actually dare to read my letter?'
Dante stepped forward un-sheathing his sword part way, staring her down, and she hurried to leave the room.
"Why have you not turned her in," he asked Kilian annoyed, who was gesturing at him to stand down.
"Insects have a way to get away if not crushed completely," Kilian replied with a bored expression, thinking of a cockroach.
The letter contained some simple wording, about how he shouldn't dare show himself at the event, and a few threats about how his brothers would make him suffer if he did dare to show up in front of them.
Kilian thought it was amusing since he had received this kind of letter, it must mean that his brothers were aware of him now.
New rumors had started to float around town. Some were of how the third young master could walk and was not a cripple, some even said that he had a secret benefactor.
But the best rumor that Stella had shared, was that of the invincible son, who was blessed by the Lord of the Land, the deity of nature, allowing him to survive a fall that could have otherwise killed him.
Kilian tore the letter and threw it in a small basket next to the desk.
"Stella, make me stand out".
He gave Stella a resolute look, got up from his chair, and walked over to the dresser.
Dante heard this as a cue to leave, trying not to look, as Kilian started to undress again.
Dante took some long strides and left the room, standing outside, guarding the door so there would be no more interruptions.
After a while, Stella stuck her head out of the door, whispering to Dante with a knowing smile.
"You want to see, don't you?"
She was behind him, seeing his figure standing tall, and she knew this guy probably hadn't moved an inch during the time she had spent getting Kilian dressed.
"Yes…," he replied in a low voice, not turning around to say it to her directly, but waited until she had closed the door before turning to open the door himself.
Kilian stood in the light from the window, adjusting a star-like brooch with a yellow stone on his left chest. The brooch was holding the jacket closed and in place in a diagonal line.
The clothes were golden in color, with a faint intricate thread design, fluctuating when the light hit them.
There were no frills or elaborate items, but the clothes radiated luxury, with a clean design, and Kilian was pleased with them.
It had scared him off at first, feeling that wearing something like this, would give him too much attention, but when thinking about it differently, this outfit was exactly what he needed to stand out as he had wanted anyways.
"How do I look?".
Kilian tilted his head and asked Dante for his opinion, seeing how the man covered his face with a hand, noticing a faint blush behind the fingers.
Sometimes Dante was just too easy to read, he thought, accepting the gesture as a reply, without asking further.
Kilian spent the remaining time before the ball, reading up on more info regarding the different nobles who might be attending.
The information had pictures and descriptions of the people from the different families, and he silently thanked the author of these books, for having been detailed with their work.
Sometimes he would feel a gaze on him and would look up to meet Dante's gaze, seeing him turn his eyes away to some other part of the room.
'Can't he be less obvious?'.
Kilian thought Dante would not be into guys, but since they had slept together in the bed, it seemed as if Dante was unable to keep his expressions from spilling his thoughts.
Even now Dante had trouble keeping his stare away, and Dante seemed to take extra care not to touch Kilian in any way when they interacted daily.
'Is he that afraid to like a man?' Kilian sighed but fully understood, as it was frowned upon in this world, not that it was much better in his old one, he thought.
Kilian looked up from his book, it was time.
Kilian got up from his chair and grabbed the cane next to him, walking out of the room, with Dante in tow.
The Yule ball was starting, in fact, it had been going on for some time, but the most important guest should always arrive fashionably late, he thought while grinning, as he leisurely walked down the hallway.
The "thuds" from his cane stepping on the carpet on the floor, told the staff ahead that he was on his way.