You Only Live Twice

XX

"Yes, it was. I didn't like seeing the way you were being treated and how you lived, I believe you are destined for much more! And, plus, we're friends now! Friends help each other." She said with as much enthusiasm needed to be convincing, it was half the truth, she really didn't like the way this small child was being neglected but she already knew how his life was to play out so, she kind of cheated.

"Right, friends." Ezekiel glanced toward her and fiddled with his fingers, slowly and quietly he murmured out, "...thank you."

Olivia smiled, "No problem!"

As they slowly neared closer to Ezekiel's new room Olivia pointed out small rooms they passed around the house and gave him a sort of mental tour of the lay out, "This is my room! It's only a few doors away from yours so if you ever need anything feel free to come and knock!"

She really hoped he didn't hold her to that.

True to her word Estelle stopped only two rooms down of the door Olivia pointed out as her own living space.

The room itself wasn't anything special, only a bit smaller then Olivia's herself lacking the walk in closet she had, but it had its own bathroom, and was clean and spacious enough. White walls and sheer curtains covering large two windows on the wall opposite to them, a king sized poster bed with a red velvet couch pushed against the front of it was to the right of them, facing the wall with the a large wooden dresser in the corner. Other then the empty desk in between the two windows and a light blue, round rug in front of the bed, the room was empty.

Estelle walked further into the bedroom and placed Ezekiel's luggage on the bed before turning around with a friendly smile, "Welcome to the family Master Ezekiel!" He gave a shy smile in return to that comment, his cheeks flushing slightly pink, "I'm sure Lady Olivia will be thrilled to give you a tour around the manor before dinner! Isn't that right Miss?" She turned her soft smile Olivia's way.

Truthfully, Olivia planned to retreat into the library before being forced into an uncomfortable dinner with her family but she was never able to deny the sweet pink haired woman, and now wasn't any different.

"O-of course! I was just about to Estelle!" Olivia chuckled nervously, "Here, follow me, I'll show you everything you need to see." Olivia turned and Ezekiel trailed after her, leaving Estelle to unpack and put away the prince's things.

Olivia first showed him the rest of the west wing, she pointed out the guest rooms, drawing and living rooms, the small dining area, and library on that side of the house, she pointed to the backyard and gardens that could be seen through the windows. Then she moved toward the other side of the manor, again pointing out the guest and entertaining rooms, the duke's, duchess', and Ophelia's personal rooms that were on the way, the duke's office, a meeting room, and another small library.
Moving downstairs Olivia showed him the main dining area, the kitchen, the big library (as she called it) that was opened to all visitors, she explained how the second floor is mainly inhabited by the family's personal quarters and therefore the rest of the rooms are more personal to the family then it was to guests. She's even shown him to the servants quarters and knights training grounds.

Olivia tried to keep the whole encounter fun and happy with sorry excuses for jokes that he laughed at anyway and light conversations, with the way he seemed much more relaxed and comfortable around her, she had succeeded.

They ended the night with a quiet dinner with the rest of the Auclairs and reading a story together in the west wing library until Estelle came to fetch them and send them off to bed.
They said good night to each other and Olivia immediately slumped into the warmth and comfort of her bed.

She was exhausted, sure, but it wasn't the usual soul-draining-head-splitting dread and tiredness, she felt almost light and relaxed if you will. She'd genuinely enjoyed her time with the Prince.

Tomorrow she would introduce him to her teachers and they would access and decide where to start him in his education, then they would probably play together, read a story, and maybe Amos would stop by as he more often started inviting himself over lately. And it didn't sound too bad.

———

Ok so, I'm really bad at consistently writing and posting chapters but! It's not my fault (entirely) I've been stuck in this chapter for weeks now, I wasn't too sure on how to write it and I've lost tons of motivation on writing this story cause my pacing was horrible and now everything has been really slow moving, which is my fault I will admit, and I want to move along with the plot but make it feel rushed, you know? I've kind of been writing this just as I go with not much planning at all and no beta reading but I try (┳◇┳).

Also, I've been reading too much fan fiction lately to focus on anything else in my life, so I'm sorry :p but I'm gonna start moving these chapters along at a faster pace to try and actually get to the important, juicy part of the story, so thank you for putting up with my crap :)

(Also, excuse any grammatical mistakes you might come across, please point them out if you feel the need and I will do my best to fix them! T^T)