"So now you are saying he is not here?" Aefia spoke while placing her hand below her chin and her face showing her thoughts. If the watchman had disguised to come before the chain, then this might just be a huge factor that plays along with why the watch might be a suspicious item indeed. Not to think, this idea had long been inside her mind but the case had just been delayed.
"I swear they all said he left the palace because his shift was over." Cedric replied with a questioned look. "Why is it a worrying matter? He will come back tomorrow." He answered, trying to calm the situation down, but there was no place for just words to fit in.
"No, it is a worrying issue. Because no butler are actually allowed to leave the palace, even when their shift is over." Her voice felt stressed as she looked at the place where the watch had broken earlier. Crouching down, she noticed a piece of fabric, which was entangled in glass. "Then this..." She spoke while using her glove to store the piece of fabric. "Must be enough evidence for now." While standing up, a shimmer of hope was felt at the way she looked at the ground.
"How is it useful? It's just a piece of fabric." He asked out of a sudden, as her gaze turned annoyed and shook her head. "You really don't understand this sort of things then. Maybe you just need to be trained perfectly...seems like the only thing you have ever learnt was just beating people."
"Isn't that what Mafia organizations do?" He scratched the back of his head. Suddenly turning alert, she walked out of the place and the glove seemed to levitate for a few seconds above her palm while pixelating and dissolving into the air. By the time he managed to catch up, she had her eyes on the ticking surface. "So what are you planning on doing with this watch then? You can't expect to chase behind the butler who stole a part of it, that watch is broken, so isn't it better to just buy a new one?"
"It is easy to say that." Aefia finally spoke as the shorter hand struck four. "Like I said before, the chain is a key. Now I don't know what it unlocks, but if someone comes back for it, specifically the person who sold it, doesn't it seem to have a mystery behind it? I am genuinely curious, what is up with this watch that makes it so...useful even after sold?"
With a short pause, she continued speaking with words that seemed to just float out of her mouth. "But what really angers me, is how it feels like separating me from the others. As if leaving my previous school had been the bare minimum, now my entire life is being rewritten." Her fingers wrapped around the residue of the watch. "And how it also helped me finally pursue something I had been longing to do for a long while now. It was my fault to lend you the watch, so I guess you are not to blame in any cause."
Then, as if remembering something, her head turned sideways. "Although...why did you bring it out? If you hadn't, it would still be intact." Seeing how she was calm, he decided that the truth was going to be revealed any time sooner. "I don't know, I just thought of inspecting it since you seemed to treasure it a lot. I noticed you would almost always look at it, and I found it a little mysterious that you were obsessed over it."
Aefia's eyes turned away, "that doesn't make sense. Why do you have to inspect a thing that I lend to you for a few hours? It was an excuse I wanted to use if someone asked what I was discussing with you in case there was suspense." Her gaze settled at the guard who was in front of her room. Noticing her approaching, he bowed and stood with the door still halfway opened as the maid servant too came out and bent her head downwards.
She took Cedric's hand and placed the two singular pieces of the watch and walked away. "Just keep it for now. There is no use for it anymore. And this time, don't inspect it." She didn't look back, but tiny amounts of her blood stayed at the sharp edges of the glass that popped out from the surface. The time still moved on, as if it had endured all the damage just to let the others that the day is rolling by.
Was she clenching it that hard? Cedric stayed staring at the blood stains. Looking more carefully, her hands seemed to be bleeding slightly, which looked like she had been scratched by a cat just a second ago. He brought out a piece of handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it up, while storing it in his hands since he was going to head to his room soon. Just before leaving, he recalled that he hadn't told her about the prisoners and had completely forgotten about that. She was free just seconds ago, and now it seemed she was about to head out again.
With her half top hat at her hand, she was immediately pulled in by her maid servant as her footsteps slowly moved away. Maybe the next time. She might be heading towards the duchess's room, for the guests briefing. He turned halfway around with the back of his feet and walked away. But then, the guard from in front of her room rushed up beside him as he got jumpscared due to the sudden appearance, he almost dropped the remaining of the watch again.
"Hey kid!" The guard spoke as he finally caught up after running for a short while. He seemed like an elderly who should be in his retirements, and like a father who was struggling to keep his family going. "I was told by our young master to train you, do you lack knowledge in being a proper butler?" He finally regained his breathe as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
Cedric thought for a while, and eventually spoke. "I am still new, just started working the week she had fallen into coma." He nodded with a slight smile. "You have gotten the wrong idea, she wants me to train you out of your clumsy spying tricks that don't work." The guard replied back while glancing at the handkerchief and the item wrapped inside it.
"Firstly, I won't be able to accompany her around to the guest hall, you will have to be the one accompanying her there. So in the short amount of time that we can afford, you will have to learn manners. She is already pretty mad at your performances, in that pace, don't be surprised when she fires you. A job at the palace is much safer then the outside world." The guard lifted his hand and walked towards the end of the hall and to rooms that the servants would stay in.
"The most important thing that you need to keep in mind, is to always not interrupt anything she is doing and wait patiently. If it is urgent, then only you will be able to use your mouth and voice. And everytime she faces you, always bow before talking, that is the rule you use to every single one of the royal members." He explained while walking.
"I understand that part." He nodded while following behind. But the guard didn't nod in approval, rather, he held up a finger and said, "you severely lack patience. Don't say something that will cut them off entirely. You don't know what they are about to say next."
Then that's hard. Cedric thought as he prepared for the next instruction. "Now, the next thing you need to remember, is to not fight in the crowd in case one ever erupted, otherwise you will leave a bad image of the person you represent. The only thing you would do at most, is...Hold on, am I teaching you how to be a guard?" He rubbed his head as he slowly realized that he was only preparing him for the most recent task first. "Nevermind it for now, just follow her until the entrance. That should be enough with what you know for now."
Then, abruptly turning around, the guard dusted his coat's shoulder and checked the fabric quality. "Go change, you can't go in front of the guest with that. You look like you went into a chimney from the top and fell all the way to the bottom." He pointed at a torn place and immediately made a dissapproved face.
"I ran around thorns and bushes, so I may have been a mess because of that. I did accidentally burn it, but luckily I was still alive." He came to the realization too, soon enough, but only after a short moment of silence did he rush back to his room and the guard slowly followed after him.
***
"There wasn't a necessity for all this. I am an introvert so at one point, I might just suddenly dissapear from there and you will all find me in my room, doing nothing. But most probably I will be sleeping." Aefia spoke annoyed as she stood still like a mannequin and her maid servant fixed every tiny detail on her clothes. "And just so you know, I don't care much about that small line alignment error."
"You don't seem to care young master, but your mother does. Imagine you get scolded in front of the guests." The servant replied as she stood up and fixed the bow tie around her neck and tucked it under her shirt collar. It didn't need to be tied, as it had a bow tie brooch with loops in either sides. It was almost impossible to believe human could invent anything for their convenience.
"I think, that's enough. Now I don't know if you want a walking stick-"
"What am I? A grandma? No thanks, I got my fist and that is enough. If I need more, I got my element to use for escape." She cut off the servant and walked towards her sofa while slumping down. "Also, do you happen to know the time? I want to check if I could sneak in a sleep." She closed her eyes as soon as she had floped down. Her coat was still a purple, but only with the front side a little lifted compared to the behind. Her black shirt-like dress was still visible with slight creases that urged the maid to fix them.
"I am not sure, but you had given away your broke watch to that new butler guy." The servant tried her best to reach out and straighten it with her own hands if she could. "But someone will come over to escort you-"
"Why? I can walk, and still know the way around the castle. I am not a little kid anymore." She rudely replied as she stared at the ceiling and its intricately carved patterns like flowers and leaves, while also sometimes featuring animals like reindeers. "I don't know when I will get used to my fancy life. I was perfectly fine with the small room I had, no complains about that honestly."
"Why? Did you not have a big house back there?" The servant spoke while sitting next to her, who lazily spoke as she looked at the details of the room a little by little. "No, because we were going to move into a new house sooner. I guess life will not give me the time to sleep anymore, like it's saying 'you slept for a week already'. Can't I just skip this event? There isn't a reason for my presence afterall."
"But you are the heir, so your presence is most definitely needed. Honestly, if you want to sleep, just do so already. Then when the bells ring, I will wake you up." The maid smiled as she slowly lifted her hand to fix the visible parts of the sleeve. Noticing this, Aefia moved her arm away and placed her stitched hand on top of it. "If you were really going to fix it, you could have at least told me." She spoke while rubbing a finger over the area.
As soon as her hand lifted, the crease looked straighted and warm, as if newly ironed. "I have magic, so it is easy for me to 'fix' my attire. Don't worry about splotches and stains too, I will be able to manage it." She spoke with a reassuring smile while staying at her previous position. "Now the fact about sleep, any second now, someone will burst in and say I need to get going. So what will be the point of that single second nano sleep with the most shortest dream?"
As soon as she said that, a knock echoed through the room and it opened. "Its time to get going, young master." Cedric spoke while struggling to keep his manners that he had just learned. "Like I said...did I prove my point?" While standing up, she smiled at her maid servant and walked out the room with a backward glance to see her concerned face.
***
"Hold on Henry!" Lewis chased behind his younger brother as he dissapeared into the crowd and came to a halt. When he straighted his back, he noticed small red flower buds beside him as he glanced up to face Aefia with a terrified expression.
"Are you busy?" She asked as her face stayed expressionless and then settled into a smile. "I am a still new so I will have a hard time navigating though the crowd. I thought you could be of some help. I will go back if you are not willing to help, it's not a huge and important matter for now."
Relieved that she wasn't mad, he spoke while looking around the crowd. "I am free, don't worry about that." In the distance, Henry spotted Aefia as he rushed over to her at intense speed that almost scared her for a second.
In that opportunity, Lewis grabbed her wrist and set off in a run towards the direction of the foods arranged in the order of a buffet. "Before that, you need to stay full in order to stay alive." While yanking her, Henry started to trail them as the crowd slowly split in a havoc to make way for passing.
I am not a kid anymore, but I guess this is alright. She held onto her hat and ran along.