Morning Mayhem

"Where is she?!" Kai couldn't find Aria's daughter anywhere.

To be fair, he hadn't searched around the lower floor yet, but still, she shouldn't have gone that far already, considering it had just been three minutes. After all, she would have to use the stairs, which she couldn't possibly tread alone and at such a fast speed with how short and stubby her legs were.

"Hey! Where are you?!" he called through the last hallway on that floor, then swerved around when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. "Seriously, you! Where did you-"

"Young Master, please calm down." It just turned out to be the head butler, whose wide grey eyes were now regarding him with puzzlement and concern. "We'll find Ma'am Aria soon."

"Oh, umm, yeah," Kai blurted out. "Right, she's… the one I'm looking for."

He couldn't say he was actually searching for her daughter. While it would be much easier to have everyone in the house help him out, that would defeat the purpose of keeping her hidden in the first place. He couldn't let that girl be seen by anyone there -

Especially knowing that they would definitely rat him and Aria out to his father.

'I take no one has seen her yet, so I still have time-'

As if summoned by his thoughts, he suddenly spotted the child strolling down the aisle behind the head butler. She appeared to be having the time of her life as she roamed around the place like she was in a park. He could see her eyes darting everywhere to absorb what must be a luxurious sight to her. Then, as she looked in his direction and started waving at him, he quickly tried to distract the head butler.

"B-By the way, could you inform the people at work that I would be absent today?" Kai requested as he grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him to the other end of the hall.

He offered a nod and chose not to question Kai for more details. "I understand that this is a hard day for you, Young Master. You did love and care for Ma'am Aria despite everything-"

"I love Daddy too!"

Kai jumped in surprise.

But he was quick to recover and shove the head butler to the corner before getting a hold of the girl and tucking her behind the window curtain. "Puh?!" she squeaked, taken aback. That had the head butler looking back around in bewilderment but only to be met by his tense yet serious face.

"What's going on, Sir-"

"Aria is still missing. That's what's going on," Kai interrupted quickly.

"Aria's here, Daddy-"

Kai coughed out loudly. "Hurry up and find her! I don't have all day!"

"Y-Yes, Young Master!"

With that, the poor man rushed off.

It's possible that he still heard all those noises despite his efforts, but at least, he's able to avoid an interrogation that would further put him in a tight spot. Kai almost never raised his voice at any of them, so that's probably why he got kind of scared. While he felt a little bad, especially after he'd just expressed his concern and understanding over his situation, he knew he had to do it.

"Oh, I see!" the child piped in again, head bobbing out of the window curtain. "Are we playing hide-and-seek?"

He scowled down at her. "No, we're not. Just where did you wander off to? You're causing me headaches."

"Aria saw treasures! Lots and lots of them!" the girl enthused, looking nowhere near apologetic.

"Listen, kid," he sighed, no longer able to keep up with her or this entire predicament. "If you don't want me to report you, you better-"

"Young Master? Is something the matter?"

And of course, once again, Kai had to be found by the others.