Authors note: I know it's early, but I'm really excited for what's coming in this story!!! Any guesses?
Aether glanced at the objects piled in the room in front of him. He wasn't sure what he was expecting when he was told of the gifts. Perhaps a small section of a room filled with small gifts like it would usually look like on a birthday, but this? This was beyond his expectations.
The gifts varied in both size and shape. From furniture and books to strange objects that looked like they belonged in a museum and priceless jewels. Everything that one could think of seemed to be pushed into this large off the beaten path room.
Though at first glance the gifts looked as if they were thrown in without a second thought, the obvious small paths leading to each section of the room told him that the butlers and maids took great care in making sure they had every opportunity to come in and "investigate" the rare gifts.
'Ah, this makes so much sense now.'
The dragon and Neal were like two peas in a pod. The moment their eyes landed on the many priceless gifts they were pouncing through the piles. Their grimy little hands and paws latching onto anything that sparkled. Aether shook his head at their antics.
Mina on the other hand was more professional in her actions. She stood to the side, absentmindedly grabbing books and antique furniture and placing them to the side. She caught Aether's gaze and smiled, "Young Master, I think these would look good in your room." She gestured to the furniture before holding up a book, "And these would be fine editions to your personal library." She glanced at the title, "I believe this one isn't even allowed in the household, better put it away quickly." She muttered.
Aether shook his head, a smile gracing his lips. Even in the face of such grand objects, she still thought of him before herself. His eyes dulled when he caught sight of the dragon and Neal fighting over a giant green jewel. 'If only those two were the same.'
He turned his attention back to the two butlers, Chance and Ren who stood to the side with their backs straight and their arms behind their backs. Chance hung his head low, sneaking glances at Ren every now and then like a wronged puppy. While Ren stood unmoving with his head held high like a spoiled kitten. He rolled his eyes and went back to the objects in front of him.
'To think they were hiding such things.' Aether walked up to one pile. Grabbing a small book he glanced at the title and threw it to the side. It wasn't hard to see that the book was obviously a priceless edition of something, but the language it was written in was unknown to him.
'Probably a forgotten language or maybe a book from a different Kingdom.' He paused. Learning about another kingdom was one thing that had piqued his interest lately. So he grabbed the book and placed it in a small pile behind him. Perhaps someone in this house knew how to read it.
After putting the book behind him, he didn't think about it anymore and grabbed another gift. This one was wrapped in a delicate dark blue paper with a relatively small bow on it. Not a lot of the gifts in the room were delicately wrapped, so its brightly colored paper stood out amongst the rest of the gifts.
In fact if Aether would have had the chance to talk to Nox he would have found that only ten gifts had been individually wrapped and if he looked into it further he would have found that Nox was the one to dutifully wrap these gifts.
Without thinking much of it Aether tore it open. Inside lay a pair of dark blue cufflinks.
He picked them up, observing how they shimmered in the light. They resembled a flower in shape, more specifically the flower of the Soline Empire. The flower itself was outlined in black with the inside of the flower filled to the brim with dark blue gems. They were beautiful.
"Young Master." Mina called from the doorway. Aether glanced back before gently setting down the cuff links in the box. He went to make a gesture for Neal to take the small box, but a spark of light flashed through Neal's eyes as he gazed at the small cuffs. Aether frowned at the gaze, knowing it too well.
He had been lenient on Neal when it came to his small habit of stealing shiny objects, but only because he never stole anything that truly belonged to him, but now? He glanced down at the cuff links in the box. His hands clenched the box, the wrapping paper crunching underneath his fingers. How sad it was that he was afraid that one of his own personal butlers would steal from him. Without glancing at Neal he turned around and handed the box to Mina instead.
'At least with her I know they will get to my room.'
"Take this to my room."
"Of course, Young Master." Mina bowed.
"You two." The two butlers flinched. Their eyes darted everywhere but at Aether.
'Ha! Even if I don't have abilities these butlers are still slightly afraid of me.' Aether wanted to laugh at the irony, but instead he shook his head, letting his hair flow side to side. 'It wouldn't be good to make them scared of me. I'm trying to get them on my good side after all.'
With a bright and warm smile, he gently said, "Thank you." His voice was light and airy leaving the two butlers frozen in their spot. Aether did not wait for their reply and left with the dragon and Neal; who were carrying an abundance of items; in tow.
A faint blush rose onto Chance's face. "Di-did you see that!" He squealed, "He smiled! He didn't yell at us, but smiled!"
Ren frowned, "Shut up you idiot!" He whacked Chance over the head. "For all you know he could just be acting. You know just as well as I do that the Frenzel's are not...are not..."
"Not what?" Chance crossed his arms with a small pout, "Nice? Gentle? Actually kind and doesn't yell at us at the slightest of mistakes. I mean didn't you notice that he never got mad at us. He even let us explain ourselves!" He glanced longingly at the door, "The other Frenzel's never allow us to make even a single mistake." He mumbled dejectedly, "It's nice to have at least one that is so kind."
Ren turned away from Chance and coughed in his hand, "Well, what has happened has happened. Let's forget about this little mishap and get back to work. There is a lot to be done."
Chance watched Ren walk away and smirked. Ren may not be open with his feelings, but the redness of the ears told him all he needed to know.
On the other side of the mansion a letter was placed down on Erik Frenzel's desk.
Erik Frenzel paused in his work, glanced at the words on the letter and immediately shoved his work to the side. With slight hesitation he opened the letter with a knife. His eyes glanced over the words efficiently, his face never changing.
Bert could only stand to the side and wait for what was to come.
"I see. So this was his plan. Ha!" Erik dropped the letter and covered his eyes with his hand. With a mocking laugh he leaned back in his chair and glanced at the ceiling.
"Master?" Bert said cautiously, "What has Prince Nox requested?" He leaned forward a bit trying to see if he could read any of the words. He was nonetheless curious, after all he had seen the name of the sender on the letter. Sadly no matter how far he leaned he could not see the words written on the letter.
Erik did not answer right away nor did he yell at Bert for his actions. After a couple of minutes, Erik abruptly stood up, grabbed the letter and without a word threw it into the fireplace. With his hands behind his back he watched with fascination and a dark smirk as the letter curled under the heat, blackening until nothing returned but ashes. Only then did Erik turn around and address Bert.
"A date." He simply said.
Bert frowned, "A date?"
"Yes, a date." Erik's eyes narrowed as he smiled, eagerness flashing through his eyes.
Bert raised his head. His eyes widened in recognition and he mimicked Erik with a simple but cruel smile. "A date. I understand. Nox must really like Aether to ask for a date." He passed as if seriously considering something, "When is this date? Should I go and get him ready now?" Bert's voice sounded genuinely concerned as if he were worried that his Young Master wasn't going to be perfect for his soon to be date.
Erik closed his eyes and waved his hand, "It's not for another week. There is nothing to be rushed, but do make sure he has an appropriate outfit for the small outing."
"Of course." Bert bowed, "I shall go and get everything ready." Bert made no move to move though as if he were waiting for something else.
"Wait." Erik finally said, "Go and tell Leon that he has a chance to redeem himself. He will be accompanying me and Aether on a small trip to the village."
Bert smiled, "Will Master and the Young Master be chaperoning Aether's date?"
Erik scoffed, "Of course. A damn prince was the one that asked Aether on a date. No way in hell would I leave those two alone to do who knows what." Erik sneered at the thought.
Bert nodded, glanced to the side and lightly said "I will go let the Young Master know." With a bow he left.
Erik watched the fire for a long time before retiring for the night.
Later in the evening, when the room was dark and the fire was no longer burning. A lone figure entered the room. They walked towards the fireplace and knelt down. Picking up a fireplace poker, they shifted through the ashes until they found a small piece of burnt paper. With a stern face they gently grabbed the paper, frowning slightly as the sides of the paper crumbled off.
With very careful hands they dusted off any of the ashes to try and view the barley eligible words written on the small paper. A frown painted the person's face as they read the few words.
[twins....villa-...
Uncover......-on....
.........-te Aether]