42 Good...

In the living room, the little boy wasn't wearing any socks or shoes, his small white feet were pulled up on the chair with his knees brought up to his chest. A stuffed lion was squished in his embrace as his dark eyes stared at the cellphone in his hand intensely, as though it were his worst enemy; this was what Samuel saw when he entered the living room followed by a maid carrying a pair of little socks and shoes.

He was momentarily stunned before he called out, "Young Master."

"Gghh!"

Suddenly being called out of nowhere, Zac jumped, his purple pupils contracting in a ring of bright violet and he squeezed the stuffed lion in his embrace until it squeaked.

"U- uncle." Zac looked up at Samuel.

"Is everything alright? It's almost time to leave."

"I- I'm fine." Quickly powering down the screen and shoving the cellphone into his pocket, Zac blushed slightly in embarrassment.

Samuel watched him and didn't say anything more, only instructing the maid to help the Little Master wear his socks and shoes.

"Excuse me, Young Master."

Although Samuel would call Zac 'Little Master' and call Archer and Trooper 'First and Second Young Master', the other staff of the house wouldn't dare to do so. Perhaps when the old Master of house, Steve Ryan, had been alive, Trooper and Archer were still the 'Young Masters' and Zac was the 'Little Master', but that had changed with his passing.

Trooper and Archer were now the rightful 'Masters' of the main house and Zac was the sole 'Young Master', the only reason that Samuel could continue to call them as such was because of the relationship he shared with them, others wouldn't dare to be so presumptuous.

Kneeling before the chair, the woman wanted to help Zac, but the little boy drew back his feet, his small pink toes curling tightly.

"I- I can do it myself."

He wasn't little anymore. Such things, he should do them himself instead of letting others help him all the time or he would only be a burden.

Towards his Little Master's desire for independence, Samuel was helpless. He didn't want the little boy to grow up too fast but it wasn't particularly a bad thing that Zac wanted to grow up; as long as he did not pursue the wrong things, then as the sole heir to the inheritance of two great families, early maturity could only be considered a good thing.

After Zac wore his shoes, it was time for them to leave.

Because of the constant raving and nagging, today, Zac was to spend the day at his maternal family's house, Samuel was against it.

Not only was it because he was not particularly fond of the old bones over there who kept on pushing the topic of marriage onto his Master[1] and threatening to take the Little Master away, he had noticed that the Little Master was also not particularly fond of his maternal family, though he didn't know the reason and Zac refused to talk about it, but Samuel's heart held a premonition.

(A/N: [1] From now on, when Uncle Sam mentions 'Master' it will be referring to Archer.)

In the car, the little boy sat obediently in his spot at the far side of the seat, his seatbelt strapped on and his head lay against the back of the seat as he stared at the scenery moving outside the window. His fingers were picking at the fluffy mane of the stuffed lion in his embrace, his young face expressionless and rigid, reminding Samuel of Archer when he was in one of his more awkward moods.

Samuel could only sigh as he lowered his head to the iPad in his hands to deal with some official matters. For the next hour or so, the car was silent save for the iPad's media audio that sounded as Samuel typed away on the screen.

On the west side of City Central's upper sector, in front of one of the many large and lavish mansions, a black Rolls-Royce went through the gates and pulled up to the front steps where a group of maids in uniform led by a man in a black suit who looked to be in about his early thirties with blonde hair that was meticulously combed back to reveal a pair of spirited and sharp brown eyes, a pair of white gloves adoring his hands stood waiting.

"Little Master, we're here."

Putting down the device in his hands, Samuel turned to look out at the looming structure that was almost twice the size of their own family's mansion and he shook his head at the Vince family's nuevo riche attitude.

If one was to compare, then in the face of the Ryan family, most of the wealthy families in Metropolis and even all of A country could be considered 'new nobility', but in that circle, the Vince family was one of the older ones; their networking, backing and foundation were far stronger than the other families, so their seeming need to splurge and spend to display their superiority when it was completely uncalled for was really something Samuel who lived his life in the conservative and humble spirited Ryan main house really couldn't come to appreciate.

Since his back was turned, Samuel didn't see that the dark purple pupils of the boy behind him had contracted, forming a ring of violet as Zac's eyes darting through the small crowd of people outside as though on the alert for something.

"Come, come. There's no use in just watching, let's head down."

"Mmm."

Zac was jittery, uncomfortable, but he didn't want Samuel to worry and obediently stepped out of the car when the driver opened the door. His features were expressionless, but his hold on the stuffed lion in his arms was strangulating, causing the toy to issue a slight squeak.

The blonde man came forward to greet them with a smile, extending his gloved hand to Samuel while his sharp eyes swept a warm glance over Zac's rigid figure.

"Senior Steward Kooke, Young Master Zac, welcome. I'm glad that you arrived safely." This man was the steward of the Vince family. He was a bit young, but that was because he had only recently taken over the position from his father.

"Junior Steward Taylor's goodwill has been received. Thank you for coming out to greet us."

Looking at the young man who was properly taking on his responsibility in life and living up to his family's expectations, diligently walking down the right path then thinking about his own wayward son whom he hadn't seen in months since he last drove him out of the house, Samuel felt slightly bothered, but he soon shook it off and extended his hand to shake the one that had been held out to him.

"There's no need for Senior to mention it, I'm only doing my duty." Steward Taylor gave a charming smile. "Please come, the Old Madam and Miss Grace are waiting for you inside."

Samuel nodded, looked down at Zac who was just as expressionless as before and taking the little boy's hand in his, followed after Steward Taylor, up the large steps and into the building towards a place he was familiar with, Old Madam Vince's private drawing room.

Steward Taylor knocked on the door and the voice of an elderly woman answered from the other side.

"Is that you, Benjamin? Has Zac arrived yet?"

Steward Taylor, Benjamin, replied, "Yes Madam, the Young Master is here."

"Then what the hell are you still doing out there? Bring him in, I want to see my grandson."

Samuel suppressed the urge to roll his eyes while Benjamin chuckled lightly as he began to push the door open. By Samuel's side, when he heard his Nana's rough speech, Zac perked up a bit, but in the next moment another voice spoke than made his face turn as white as a sheet and the lion in his arm squeaked loudly.

"Grandmother, there's no need to be so impatient."

The door opened. In the quaint sitting space that was unlike the rest of the showy mansion, two women sat in the warm sunlight spilling through the window.

One was elderly with a head full of meticulously combed silver hairs, gold earrings dangling from her lobes. The old woman was sitting in a wheelchair with a blanket covering her legs and although there were wrinkles on her face, she didn't carry a geriatric air but instead exuded elegant nobility and her bright black eyes were filled with vitality that made one feel it wouldn't be impossible for her to live fifty more years. This was the current matriarch of the Vince family, Veronica Vince.

Sitting next to Old Madam Vince serving tea, was a young woman in her twenties. She was dressed in a simple, unadorned white dress and her body carried no jewelry or makeup, her hair wrapped in an elegant chignon atop her head. Her skin was fair and clean and under the sunlight it seemed to glisten faintly, adding a luster to her simple appearance, her small red mouth curved in a smile as she poured the old lady tea then when she was done, she looked up at the people who had entered the room, baby blue eyes curving in a gentle smile as she stood up to greet them.

"Hello again, Uncle Sam." She bowed her head slightly. "Thank you for bringing Zac over personally again today."

"Miss Grace's gratitude is miss placed, taking care of the Little Master is something I take joy in doing."

"Of course. I apologize, for belittling Uncle."

"No harm done." Samuel waved his free hand dismissively and smiled, but the expression did not reach his eyes.

This young woman was the Vince family's Second Miss, Grace Vince, an adopted daughter.

Shortly after Zac's mother, Sarah was born, the then Madame of the Vince family, Old Madam Vince's daughter-in-law, passed away from illness and Sarah's father refused to take another wife so a girl was brought in from outside to keep Sarah company as her sister.

After Sarah's death, the Old Madam's health took a turn for the worse and Grace who had been planning her wedding at the time put things on hold to return home and take care of her, but her shift in priorities caused a rift to grow between her and her marriage partner and the wedding was called off. Now, she lived full time here at the Vince family home, taking care of her grandmother.

Smiling, Grace turned away from Samuel and her eyes landed on the little boy who was still holding onto the man's hand, her eyes seemed to melt into blue oceans, full of love, care and adoration.

"Zac." She called the little boy's name so sweetly and gently, it felt like a warm caress to the ears of everyone who heard it, but the only response she got was the squeaking of the lion in the boy's arms while his little face remained just as expressionless as before and he quietly bowed his head, looking at his feet.

"Zac, what's wrong?" Grace's slender eyebrows knitted together as she lowered her center, trying to meet the little boy's eyes. "Don't you miss aunty? Aunty missed you a lot you know, won't you give me a hug?"

She opened her arms, her mouth forming a shallow smile while her eyes curved up gently, but Zac didn't move an inch, seemingly not wanting to move and when Samuel saw that he asked, "Does Little Master not want to stay?"

"With which ears did you hear him say that?!" Old Madam Vince snapped, her eyes going wide. Samuel ignored her and continued to look down at Zac, much to the old woman's fury.

"If you don't want to stay, as long as Little Master says so, I'll take you with me."

"Uncle..." Zac raise his head to look at Samuel, his eyes full of light. Did Uncle Sam understand how he felt?

Zac was about to open his mouth and say 'no, he didn't want to stay', when that sweet voice called out to him again.

"Zac, be good." Those three words stopped any complaint that he wanted to make from escaping his mouth.

"I'm sure that Uncle Sam has a lot of work that he needs to do today, you don't want to be bother right? Plus, it's been a long time since your last visit, grandmother misses you a lot and so do I, won't you stay?"

Seeing Zac lower his head, no longer wanting to say anything, Samuel flashed a cold look over at Grace and the young woman flinched before showing an embarrassed smile.

"Uncle Sam, please don't be angry. In the future, Zac will have to take on a lot of responsibility. Even though he is still a child, it's important to teach him certain things so that life will not be too cruel to him when the time comes."

Samuel maintained a hard stare towards her for a while longer, causing Grace to break out into a cold sweat where she was crouched on the floor then he suddenly closed his eyes, sighed and shook his head. When he reopened his eyes, they carried an apologetic expression.

"I apologize to the lady, but the Little Master has not been in the best state recently, I was only worried but my behavior was a bit uncalled for. I hope you don't hold it against this old man."

Grace released a breath she wasn't even aware that she had been holding and smiled graciously. "There was no harm done, Uncle Sam was only looking out for Zac."

"Lady is broadminded."

Grace blushed at Samuel's praise and Samuel smiled at her bashful expression then he looked down and patted Zac's head.

"Little Master, I'll be back to pick you up in the evening."

Zac didn't reply, he only lifted his head to look at the elderly man then looked back down at his feet, expressionless as he plucked at Leo's mane.

Samuel didn't know what else to say and so he bowed and bade farewell to the two women and then he was shown out by Benjamin.

Bidding the young steward farewell, Samuel got into the car and the moment that the door closed, the smiling look on his face disappeared, showing a cold and vicious look that would frighten anyone who knew this kind and gentle elderly man.

Soon, very soon, he needed to let Third Young Master look into the Vince family's recent actions, he was no longer comfortable leaving the Little Master in their care.

The instant that the drawing room door closed, Old Madam Vince who had been enduring her anger tossed the pillow and blanket from her lap and shouted, "Audacious!"

She really couldn't stand that Ryan family bag of old bones! Even though he was just a steward he had the nerve to disregard her, a matriarch. Really made her wonder what they were teaching over there and she worried about if her precious great-grandson, their Vince family's scion was receiving the same education, she wouldn't stand for it if he turned out like that old fossil. Absolutely not!

"Grandmother, don't get so riled up over nothing." Grace placated gently as she picked up the pillow and blankets then rearranged them properly on Old Madam Vince's lap.

"Damn old coot!" She cursed and slammed her hand on her wheelchair handle. "Who does he think he is?!"

"Yes, yes. Let's calm down."

"You damned girl! You're laughing at me aren't you?" Old Madam Vince pinched Grace's tender cheek as the girl's eyes were curved up mirthfully. The Old Madam couldn't help but also smile.

Although not an ounce of Vince blood ran in her veins, this girl was truly her granddaughter. Thinking of Sarah who died, that other girl who ran away from home so many years ago and the other one who followed in her footsteps made the old woman's heart ache and when she glanced over and saw the little boy standing there with his head low, she had a sudden desperate urge to see his face so she called him over, but Zac didn't move. He didn't want to go over there.

Seeing the little boy not wanting to come close, Grace sighed and the look she directed at him was helpless and full of doting. She opened her mouth and called, "Zac, be a good boy and come over, grandmother wants to see you."

The little boy's shoulders shook then he slowly looked up at the two women, his eyes devoid of any expression. He turned to glance at the closed door where Samuel had left not too long ago then he turned back and moved his feet to approach them.

"Nana." He called while leaning onto the old woman's lap.

Seeing the familiar face that reminded her of many precious things, Old Madam Vince's heart was full of both sweetness and bitterness as she caressed Zac's little face. She sighed.

"Good child, good child." She praised him for no particular reason, not knowing what undulating waves those words stirred in the little boy's heart.

Yes, he was a good child, a very good child. He wouldn't cause trouble for others and wouldn't make people worry.

He was good, so daddy would wake up. He was good, so Uncle Archer wouldn't give him away. He was good so in the future... Aunty Isabel will not come to dislike him.

He was good, so the people he loved wouldn't leave him like mommy did, they wouldn't leave him alone; he didn't want to be alone.

*Squeak*

The lion hugged in the little boy's arms sounded in the quiet room.