The Prince and His Servant

Chapter 4

I would have thought by now, having my violin in hand, that Levi would have noticed and said something. What I would expect out of him is something along the lines of, 'Oh, your highness, I presume you're going to play? I'll take my leave so I don't disturb you any further than I already have.' Honestly, if he were to say that, it would hurt. Only a little, mind you, but he still would have wounded my heart.

But the fact that I hadn't heard him say anything of the like was a tad bit worrying. I didn't want to risk looking at him, as the eye contact would be embarrassing. It's like I'm saying, 'I want to do something for you, so don't run away!' I refuse to be the kind of person that relies on the company of others. I'm the prince of Germany, for crying out loud. I'm an independent person!

Even so, I would like to have Levi still there at all. Silence can mean multiple things, I'm acutely aware. For all I know, since he's not in my line of sight, he could be silently awaiting me to begin playing while I'm standing here stalling like a fool. He could also have left without saying a word, and to be honest, though it's not the most likely of actions, when taking Levi into account, it's the most predictable of the options I have.

I began to softly hum my father's song under my breath as I readied my violin. I wanted to be able to remember what I was playing so that there wasn't a pause or a string of silence when there wasn't supposed to be. I've had that happen before, when I was playing a song to an old friend of mine. I was in the middle of playing, it was the biggest and most energetic part of the song, and then without warning, I simply stopped playing because I hadn't remembered what came next. Needless to say, said old friend wasn't too pleased.

I soon realized that I was still facing away from Levi, or, at worst, where he was sitting a few minutes ago. I thought to myself that it would be rude of me to play a song for someone with my back turned to them. But at the same time, I don't know if I had the courage to face him as I played. It's a song that he used to love, one that I used to love, and he'd hitherto been silent about it.

Soon, I finally managed to muster the courage to turn around and face the one I'd be playing for. It was more of a split-second move than something I put a bit of thought into, which I soon realized I should have done. When I turned to face my servant, he was staring at me. Not with disgust or with a look that screamed, 'Why do I have to even listen to this fool do something' . No, that wasn't it at all. It was something I never thought I'd never see on his face, a look that I thought had left him long ago. A look that I missed, somewhat dearly.

His eyes were widened dramatically, and he seemed stunned into his place on the couch. His back was straightened, his eyes looking at my violin in a sort of expectant way. His lips were slightly parted, as if he was in the middle of saying something and was cut off. In general, he was...

Surprised.

I wanted to cower a little, considering I hadn't really ever seen him like this before. To be honest, I didn't think anyone in the manor had seen hold a look like that, but when I thought about it, if anyone was going to see surprise in him, it was going to be me.

I also wanted to ask him why he was so surprised, because, to be honest, I didn't really know the reason. I understand I had picked up my violin and was about to play it, but why the surprise? It's not uncommon for him to walk in on one of my episodes where I skulk about in my study, contemplating the fact that my songs all turn to sadness. I know it doesn't exactly sound good, but that's what usually happens. He would always comfort me, melancholically but effectively.

And yes, I remember my earlier statement concerning this... I openly admit that I could never achieve happiness after my episodes without Levi's help.