Following the Head Butler’s advice, my day should’ve begun at 6 am. However, things are slightly different now. 

“Oh good morning Kai!” Came the familiar voice of a young girl. 

“Oh! Good morning Charlotte.” 

The two of us headed down to the cafeteria. 

Yes, this was the difference. 

My day begins slightly earlier than everyone else’s, at 5 am. After a couple of days of waking up at 5 in the morning, Charlotte joined me in my schedule, also waking up at the same time. Her work schedule is slightly different and doesn’t begin until half six, but she said she enjoyed having breakfast together and didn’t want to change that. And so, here we are.

Surprisingly, that nasty butler who’s secretly a softie didn’t have any complaints about my request. In fact, he didn’t care one bit. When I refused the dorm upgrade, he simply replied with, “Do as you wish. However, if you’re not here on time, there will be consequences.” He said it with such a chilling glare. I don’t dare ever be late. 

After having breakfast, I have around forty minutes to head down to the main house. 

Since today is my first day, I decided to head out early. 

Although the walk down is a straight path and the butler’s map is very detailed, I couldn’t help feeling anxious. My entire life, I practically lived in the hospital, I have zero experience in walking around places by myself. Starting Kai’s chores, I had to follow Charlotte around  for two whole weeks. Even then, I still got confused. This massive estate hidden in trees with no signs or directions indicated, along with magical gardens that are actually mazes! 

I can’t find my way in dreams much less in this sophisticated place. 

Either way, I had to show up on time and worrying about the path wasn’t going to help. 

Let’s begin this journey! 

……..

Ash! You really gotta stop being this useless. It’s a straight path! 

So why am I surrounded by trees and am walking on grass instead of stone pavement!? Do I have to ask the butler for a map to the building as well? No! Absolutely no! He’ll just get me kicked out for being incapable of this job. 

It hasn’t been that long, I still have enough time, but I really need to get out of this place. Except I’m in the middle of a forest with literally no one around, who am I asking for help? 

Felix is out as well… Ah! Nero! I suddenly miss you. 

Swoosh. The trees ruffled in the wind.

“Pffft.” 

From behind me, hidden in the wind, came the sound of a little laugh. It was a voice I had definitely heard before but I wasn’t too familiar with either. I turned around at this mysterious appearance when a sudden light flashed my eyes. 

The sun was shining so brightly that I couldn’t see him too well. All I could make out were his jewel green eyes and a tall figure. 

“If you’re looking for the main house, turn right at the pink flower you see ahead. From there you just have to walk straight.” 

“Umm…Thank you…but… have we met before?” My question was met with silence until the green-eyed boy lowered his eyelids into a disappointed gaze. 

“I see you’re not that creative when it comes to pick-up lines.” He shrugged and responded with sincere disappointment in his voice.

“Wha! No! That’s not!” What a snarky brat! I thought he was nice for giving me directions but now, I take that back. However, for some reason, I didn’t hate him all that much. 

“It’s fine, I won’t say anything.” 

“...”  We both stared at each other in silence. 

“Pffftt!” 

“Pfft- HAHAHHAHHA!” I couldn’t help it! 

And so, we broke that silence with laughs instead! 

“You’re a nice guy!” Even though I still don’t know who this person is, I found myself looking forward to seeing him again. “Thanks for the help!” 

As I walked away, I glanced back to find him standing in the same spot. His green eyes wore a soft gaze. The similar green-eyed gaze reminded me of Nero. That little cat surprises me with the weirdest expressions sometimes! 

A glimmer of golden flashed through the light and his figure eventually disappeared. 

……..

5:59 and I am standing in front of the door of the Advisor’s office. I’m out of breath, my clothes look like a military rescue uniform after a week of surviving natural disasters. My hair was all over the place and my life had flashed just enough years out of me to leave me standing, but the most important point of all of this was that I made it! 

Yes! I made it to his office on time! (Initiate victory dance)

After catching my breath and fixing up my unfixable uniform, I softly knocked on the door. 

Knock. Knock. 

“Excuse me Sir Ferris, it’s Kai.” 

THUD! CRASH! Clatter! 

What kind of a battlefield is he trying to cross!? 

“C…come in!” He groaned. 

Creak….. 

Thwack! 

The door wasn’t even a footstep open yet it sounded like it hit something. 

“AH!” Sir Ferris yelped. 

Hearing that small cry of pain made me want to instantly close the door and walk away from it, but life thinks otherwise. 

After some careful attempts at opening the door, I had finally made my way into the room. 

Yes, into the room! I’m sorry let me choose a better word for the wreck of a printing factory I had stepped into. ‘Battlefield’ sounded appropriate for this place. 

I tried to find some space to walk into the room but that didn’t seem possible. To make it a little bit easier, I bent down and started picking up some of the papers when out of nowhere, a shrill “NO!” stopped me in my act. 

The wreck of a man glared at me with bloodlust, guiding my hands to put back the papers that I had picked. “Don’t touch anything!” He exclaimed to ‘The Document Organiser’. And so, I was standing on my toes in the space between the laid out sheets of paper on the floor, barely hanging in there, all because they were too important to pick up and put away. 

After plenty of shrill “NO!”s and acrobatics, I had made my way to the small sitting area in the right corner of the room. There was a thin square drawn around the area. There were two small couches facing each other with an expensive coffee table in the middle. Atop the table sat a vase filled with a beautiful and freshly picked bouquet of flowers. Everything was shining clean and looked perfect. The only difference between the square and the rest of the room was that one was covered in paper and the other looked like it was part of a different room. 

“Sorry about all this.” A man with a bit more life in his voice walked up to the sitting area and took a seat across from me. 

“Hello Kai, my name is Ferris. Now then, let’s discuss your contract shall we.” 

TBC