Violet slammed the door. She returned to the kitchen baffled. Her first betrayal happened to be by the person she thought was the most mild-tempered and kind. But turned out he might be more shrew than anyone else.
Cassiel waited patiently for her. In the meantime, when she was chasing the duke's carriage, he even cleaned the dishes and got her another cup of warm tea. He was such an angel that she couldn't be angry with him.
But what was she supposed to do now?
Nathaniel used his influence and invited the restaurant's owner and kitchen staff to the castle under the disguise of developing new dishes. The proprietress was so happy for the given opportunity that she closed the eating house without hesitation. The serving will be done by the maids in the mansion, so Violet gets a free day.
"Uhm, what do you want to do? I will accompany you until your brother returns…"
"Anything is fine," Cassiel shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm Violet, by the way."
"I know," his answers were short, but it only made it difficult for her. How can she communicate with him, if he just leaves everything to her?
"How should I call you?"
The boy looked at her like he was surprised that she asked.
Violet gulped nervously. Of course, she knew his name, she even called him several times when he was in puppy form. But he shouldn't be remembering this, so this was technically their first meeting.
Nathaniel only introduced him as his younger brother and left before he could introduce them properly.
"Cassiel."
"Okay, do you want to play with some game?" Violet took out the box with various wooden toys. She prepared some from her old world and wanted to introduce them to Ophelia. After some thinking, she took out the kendama.
"This is a variation of the ball-and-cup game from my… hometown. You need to toss the ball into the air, and then catch it on the stick point. It might be tricky at first, but…" She explained the basic rules to him but as soon as the boy took the toy into his hand, he performed various difficult moves flawlessly.
Violet:…
The male lead is skilled at everything, even the children's games.
"How about trying this? It's called spinning top," she pointed at the object with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom.
Cassiel took the top and spun it easily. Once the toy was set in motion, it kept its balance without wobbling to the side. It seemed like he created a perfect move that wouldn't ever tip over and roll on its side.
"Uhm, I still have some laundry to do…" Violet quickly looked for a way to retreat. That boy was just good at everything, she couldn't treat him like Ophelia who was basically still a child.
"Okay," Cassiel responded and followed her immediately.
Violet soon realized that she didn't need to do anything to entertain him as the boy looked the most peaceful when she focused on her task, and he just sat close to her. Sometimes, he hadn't moved for a long time and was no different from a masterpiece statue.
As she was moving around the kitchen wondering about their lunch, Cassiel played with the kendama. After witnessing that he was a master and catching a ball, she tossed the toy away saying that it was just a childish game. However, to boy picked it up again like it was a precious item and played with it without even looking, proving that he was indeed too skilful.
"Who are you?!"
The surprised voice resonated through the backyard.
Cassiel who had his eyes glued in the direction of the kitchen slowly turned to the voice, only to find the pink-haired girl about his age climbing over the fence.
Ophelia came as soon as she sneaked out from the viscount's townhouse. Violet has told her many times to knock on the door and wait for it to be opened, but it became a habit for the little girl to challenge herself and get into the backyard with different means.
In the end, Violet has to arrange to boxes in a way to helps Ophelia climb without any difficulties.
Ophelia usually came to visit much later, but as she passed the street, she realized that the restaurant was closed for a day. Curious if Violet was at home, she decided to get in through the backyard, only to find the boy she never met before playing with the toy that seemed to be created by her friend.
"Doesn't this toy belong to sister? Give it back!" She demanded. Seeing him touch the things around the backyard irked her greatly.
"It's mine now," the boy answered and then turned away from her. The kitchen seemed to interest him more than some stray child from the street.
But he probably misjudged Ophelia's territorial obsession as she hated to even think about the possibility that some other child might replace her by Violet's side.
"Give it back! It's sister's toy!" she screamed out and jumped at him. Cassiel avoided her without any difficulty and the girl ended up on the ground with scrapped elbows.
"You thief!" She cried out.
"What… What is happening?!" Violet heard the commotion and quickly ran to the backyard. Ophelia was crying on the ground, while Cassiel stood above her with an extremely cold expression.
"You two… Are you fighting?" She asked in disbelief. They were just children, but their relationship was already so bad.
"I don't fight with little kids," he responded and looked away as to prove that he didn't want to be involved in children's brawl.
"He took the toy that sister prepared for me but now he doesn't want to return it!" Ophelia quickly wiped her eyes and complained.
"It's mine now," the boy responded with a cold gaze.
"You two, don't fight… Cassiel is the same age as you, how about you become friends?"
"No," he answered without thinking.
"Cassiel?" Ophelia smirked. "Sounds like a name for some snotty little prince!"
"Say it again?!" He looked at her furiously, ready for a fight.
"I have enough of this!" Violet quickly intervened. "We are friends, the three of us! Friends share toys, friends don't fight!"
"She asked for it!"
"Return my toy!"
"If you can beat me, I will give it back!"
"Bring it on!"
"STOP!" Violet couldn't hold back anymore and yelled at them.
"Rock-scissor-paper! If you can't settle with the words, just play a game to decide who will keep kendama today, and who tomorrow!"
'Young duke, please come back quickly,' Violet begged in her mind. Otherwise, those children will be the cause of her death.