Ashes of Cinder

30

The clear liquid concoction bubbled in its glass vial, glistening against the flickering candle in the office room. Green eyes peered at it discreetly, analyzing it for a full minute. Holding it by the tips of his fingers, he slightly swirled it around, before giving a nod to the other person in the room. "Good, Veria. You made it perfectly. It shall go quite smooth then," Blaise said, pocketing it into his dark coat. He went up to her and gently petted her golden locks, black gloves bouncing off of the soft curls. The little girl blushed at his compliment, cheeks growing a soft shade of pink as she daintily stood there in obedience.

"Thank you," she murmured. Her tiny fists scrunching the skirts of her pink dress, she glanced at him, her red hues stirring in torn temptation. "Good luck on your venture tonight."

As he went to take his tophat off to reveal his hair, he looked over his shoulder to send her a charming smile. Hooking the hat against the pole in the corner, he then ruffled his all black outfit that would help to blend himself into the night. "Seriously, I appreciate you a lot. I know you don't agree with my decisions sometimes, but you trust me enough to follow through. Please take care of [Y/N] for me while I'm gone."

The girl nodded robotically, looking disappointed at the sound of her name. With that said and done, the young male nodded in farewell and left the room, returning back to the main section of the shop. Moon shown through the window at the front, illuminating the toys laying strayed on the ground. He turned his head to the door on the other side, knowing that you were sleeping peacefully in one of those rooms down that hallway. Oh how he wished to just give a small kiss on your forehead before he left... but alas, time was ticking that he couldn't bear to waste. He made sure you gone to bed a little earlier tonight, to guarantee a smooth mission.

Exiting the store from the back once more, he silently walked through the meadows, listening to the grasshoppers chirping in the distance. Someone would think his heart would be racing at this point, but it was not. It calmly rested in his chest while he hummed a tune to himself, like a gentleman going out for a little stroll on this ordinary night.

Entering the marketplace where half of the stalls were still opened, advertisers persuaded their customers in buying their products. Not as busy as during the daytime, he didn't need to swerve around people, and easily walked through the pavement until the marketplace was behind him. Ahead of him was now the neighborhood -- the neighborhood he sometimes found himself wandering in before he was finally able to rescue his damsel in distress. Passing through houses and houses, he waited for the one he was looking for.

Ahh there it is, he thought happily to himself. The familiar wooden gates of the property blocked out the full view of the building, but just the mere sight of it boiled a feeling within him. Squeezing the vial tightly on his right hand, he went in and got up to the front door. A polite smile adorned his flawless face when he gently knocked the hard surface with his knuckles. Then he waited. Patience was the key to everything in life. He applied it to everything, so he certainly would apply it to this. It was vital that he should succeed.

The door to the house opened to reveal a girl about his age, her auburn hair tied up in a bun and he dark eyes looking haughty in annoyance. She had a sneer on her lips and looked as if she was going to shoo this stranger off, but froze when she took notice of him. Like a light switch, her scowl was replaced by a smile and she widened the door further. "Hello! What business do you have here?" she asked, sending him a quick wink that half repulsed him and half amused him. But this was great news for him, because it meant they didn't remember of him a few days ago. It had worked.

"Hello. I have an offer I'd like to make in regards to the royal family. Is your guardian home?" he inquired professionally. Her eyes widened at the sound of this and she nodded. Hurrying off into the depths of the home, she soon returned to the front door with a middle aged woman beside her. Here she was in all her glory. Just like her daughter, she couldn't remember him either. His teeth grind against one another while he smiled and his face began to hurt.

"So you have an offer? Why, come on in and make yourself at home. I'd like to serve some tea for you as we speak," she said warmly, her red lips curving upward.

He accepted the invitation and stepped into the house, following the two of them down a hallway. Entering a kitchen, they gestured for him to sit down as the bustled to the kitchen to quickly make tea. While doing so, the woman called her other daughter down to the kitchen, a girl already in her nightgown and her ebony hair dripping water from a recent bath. The lady seemed agitated at the sight of her, but remained quiet for the sake of their guest, which was him.

The teapot was set down on the table first and they went back to the kitchen to make a quick snack and find teacups. That was a mistake on their part, for it gave Blaise the opportunity that he came here for. Damn, they were so oblivious and easy to win over. Plunging his hand into his pocket to uncap the vial with one hand, he quickly took it out and opened the top of the pot to tip the substance into the tea. By the time the family was back, he was sitting there innocently, so no suspicion arose.

He began his memorized explanation the second they were all seated around the table. He kept a smile from growing to see that Delphine was pouring the steaming tea in all of the teacups. "I'm Mr. Wellington, an adviser to the royal family. I've seen you at the ball during the 23rd, so I assume you all know the Prince is looking for a bride, yes?" They mutely nodded in response. His murky hues flickered over to the stepmother. "Ms—"

"Buche. You can call me Ms. Buche. And these are my two daughters, Rosa and Delphine," she interrupted, looking prideful for a second. She lifted the porcelain glass to her mouth and he relished the moment she took her first sip.

"Thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you three. So... as I was saying, Ms. Buche, I was wondering if you'd like the chance to have your daughters go on a date with the Prince. Perhaps, if he went out on a few of these, he could find someone and stop dwelling on these pieces of glass found at the stairway entrance. I don't know what that boy is thinking," he said, shaking his head to himself. The woman beamed in delight and so did one of her daughters, but the girl in the nightgown frowned in dismay. He wondered why that was. He rolled his eyes to himself; there was no point in getting distracted. This entire family was rotten and should not be left unscathed.

"We... we would love to," Ms. Buche mumbled, her face twisting up in pain. Excitement filled him to the core as he thought about what's soon to happen. Within a few minutes, they would be lying dead on the kitchen floor. It was that potent. Her daughters only took a few sips too, but the effects were already working.

Chuckling emerged from his lips and they glanced over at him with droopy eyes, their bodies shaking in pain. "What's so funny?" It was the first time tonight he heard Rosa speak. Pushing her arms against the table, she kept herself from falling off the chair. "Y-You did something, didn't you?"

He blinked for a few seconds while her mother and sister furrowed their foreheads in confusion. This girl was smarter than she looked.

"I did," he replied lightly, tilting his head to the side. "I poisoned your drinks. Don't worry too much... you'll all be dead in a few minutes, so the pain will go away."

Tears streamed down her cheeks when she crashed to the table, the plate clattering beneath her. Meanwhile, Ms. Buche and Delphine fell to the floor, laying still as the poison worked their way through their blood streams. Rosa's eyes never peeled away from him though, the depths of them filled with utter sadness and regret. "You were the friend who brought her to the ball," she stated, her voice raspy. He raised his brows at this. How did she know? "You rescued [Y/N] from mother. I appreciate that. But please... don't ever hurt her like you're hurting me now. Don't ruin her life."

Ruining her life? How could he ever hurt or ruin her life? He loved and cared for her more than anyone in this world. Pushing himself off of his chair, he went over to the dying girl. Lowering himself to the side of the girl's face, he roughly pulled at her ear lobe. "It's you and your damn mother who ruined her life," he hissed into her ear. Shoving her off of the table, he slammed her to the ground and stalked over to your stepmother. His midnight, polished shoe stomped into her distasteful face, mashing her skin and bones together. She tried to scream, but it stopped short when the substance finished its job.

His two feet planted on the floor once more, he walked away from the corpses. His face emotionless as if he had just completed a normal task, he thought of how it was such a wonderful night tonight.

He couldn't wait to return to the shop, to see his sweet love again — you.