: Milk & Cookies
Feeling like she had seen a new side to this emotionless looking butler intrigued Mabaya to no end.
"Not everything is based on looks Ma'lady. A person can look delicate yet at the same time still be able to wield a sword. Similarly, a person can look cold but still hold a gentle heart."
"Are you talking about yourself?"
"No, not at all." He quickly denied making Mabaya slip out a small giggle. She never thought that Leone would be this gentle type of a man.
Leone was already mixing together the ingredients for creating cookies, Mabaya continued on gazing at him from the table top feeling entertained as she continued on glancing at Leone who was prancing around the kitchen like a professional.
A few whipping of ingredients and the cookie dough was ready. Mabaya saw Leone pour a generous amount of chocolate chips on the cookie dough and she can't help but feel impressed as the cookies were quickly shaped to circles and was ready to be baked.
"I took the liberty to create the cookies using my personal recipe. I hope you don't mind?"
"That's fine, on the contrary it's my honor to be able to have a taste of Leone's chocolate chip cookies." Mabaya said whilst raising her left brow slightly in mischief.
"Un. The cookies may take a while. Would you like some milk for the mean time Ma'lady?" Said Leone whilst lightly ignoring her attempt at teasing himself . He popped the shaped cookies on to the kitchen oven.
"Some milk would be lovely." Mabaya answered with a grateful smile.
Leone prepared the milk with quick movements and even took his sweet time to plate it delicately on a beautiful looking mug before he dutifully handed his creation to the lady lazily seated on the table top.
"Here you are Ma'lady."
"Thanks, Leone."
After a few minutes of baking, the sweet smell of freshly baked cookies leaked out from the oven and this made Mabaya smile in anticipation.
The oven dinged showing that the cookies was already finished baking. Leone was already wearing a pair of baking mittens so that he wouldn't burn himself.
He popped the cookies out of the oven and lightly transferred them on to the plate. He waited for it to cool down to a reasonable temperature before handing it to the lady who was swinging her legs on the table top looking eager to eat.
Her actions made her look undeniably adorable as she glanced at Leone in an urging way. Her eyes were glistening and her saliva was dripping down the side of her mouth and she quickly wiped it away.
"That smells heavenly, Leone!"
Leone let out a slight smile as he shook his head whilst chuckling to himself before he placed the plate on Mabaya's hands.
Mabaya immediately grabbed a cookie and deeply smelled it before opening her mouth and taking a bite.
Upon eating it she visibly froze in her actions as her eyes constricted in disbelief.
'This is it.....This was the exact taste.'
Mabaya was still feeling disbelieved that she had finally found what she had been looking for.
She glanced at Leone dazedly looking quite silly as her movements stilled.
"Is anything wrong Ma'lady?" Leone was actually observing Mabaya's face, looking forward to her thoughts regarding his baked cookies. He knew how to bake however he hadn't let others taste his creations due to...shyness.
'Why does she look frozen? Does it taste horrible? Did I mess up the recipe?' Leone inwardly panicked as he reached for some cookies that was still on the baking sheet and took a bite out of it.
Leone tasted his creation and found that it tasted decent. This confused him greatly as he glanced at Mabaya who was still staring at him with a look of disbelief.
"Was the cookies perhaps not to your liking Ma'lady? Forgive me, I shall quickly dispose of them." Leone said as he attempted to take back the plate that was filled with cookies to throw them away. He jolted in surprise because Mabaya quickly pulled the plate closer to her in a protecting stance as she snarled at Leone for even attempting to take it away from her.
Leone froze in his steps and he was thoroughly confused at what was happening.
'So did she like it or not?'
Mabaya looked down on the plate that was in her hands and looked back up at the butler who was looking at her with deep confusion.
Mabaya gently placed the plate filled with cookies beside her and she suddenly jumped off of the counter, Leone who was looking at her every move was startled by her actions as he instinctively reached out to catch her. Mabaya let herself be caught as she quickly snaked her arms on Leone's neck as she put all of her weight onto him.
"It was you! Finally! I have found you!" She gleefully yelled.
Leone was frozen and his hands hung awkwardly behind Mabaya, not knowing where he should place them. He could feel the softness of Mabaya's body and her floral scent of roses wafted to his nostrils.
The stone faced head butler was in a state of utter confusion that his head was unable to comprehend what was going on.
Mabaya on the other hand was deep in her happiness as she embraced Leone tightly wishing that she could bring him back to her room with her.
During her past life, when she lived on the cabin, she was a but a noble who basically had no knowledge on how to cook so she used to only eat potatoes and boil them to eat. She was at a lost as to what she should do because her lifestyle went a complete 360. When she had thought that she would soon die of starvation, food suddenly started to appear on her doorstep. On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday there would be bread. On a Wednesday, cookies would appear and on Sundays, it was sopas. Compared to the food she had when she was a noble it truly wasn't much but still, to her in those times, she felt that those foods were one of the best she'd ever eaten. Those little things was what made her look forward to the future... it became her only motivation to continue on living in that god forbidden cabin.
Mabaya placed her head on the crook of Leone's neck and she felt him stiffen.
He must be feeling surprised and confused but Mabaya truly didn't care as she let herself dangle onto him.
Leone could feel her slipping yet she still continued on stubbornly holding on to him. He debated before finally deciding on sweeping her feet as he carried her in a princess carry.
"Should I send you back to your room?"
"Yes, please." Mabaya answered in a sickly sweet tone that Leone didn't expect. "Ah...but my cookies." she added sounding at a lost.
Leone felt his heart jump when he heard Mabaya mention 'my cookies'
"I'll make sure to send it to your room."
"Un." Feeling contented with what Leone said, she went back and comfortably placed her head on Leone's chest.
She could hear his heart hammering out of his chest and she can't help but glance up at the stone cold butler. Her position gave her a clear view of the side of his face and at this very moment he looked unbelievably handsome in her eyes.
They arrived in her room and Leone gently placed Mabaya on her bed. He roamed his eyes to check the room and found it looked quite clean considering the fact that Mabaya never allows the servants to enter her space.
After placing her, Leone was about to turn and leave when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned and saw Mabaya looking at him with grievance in her eyes.
"Are you leaving already?"
Faced with Mabaya's look of fragility Leone turned stiff as he quickly assured the woman and explained himself, "Ma'lady, I'll just go back to the kitchen to fetch your milk and cookies. I'll come back quickly."
"Oh." Hearing his answer Mabaya looked relieved and released her hold, "Remember to come back to me quickly, okay?"
"Yes, Ma'lady." Leone answered and was about to turn to walk away but he was once again held back by Mabaya.
"Wait a second." Mabaya reached for the key on her side table and gave it to Leone. "This is the only key to my room. You can freely come to me at anytime. Ah..... but I forbid you from letting others use it."
Leone was once again feeling utterly lost as he received the key and stared at it dazedly. "Only I can use it?"
"Yes, and only you can enter my room."
Leone didn't know what to feel about this. He may be the estate head butler but he was still a man. He thought that such a thing was unbefitting.
Leone wanted to reject Mabaya and return her key but found himself unable to speak once faced with Mabaya's clear look of happiness. She was looking up at him with watery eyes that reflected his visage, looking as if he was the only one who could enter her gaze. Leone felt that his thoughts were going towards the wrong path so he inwardly gave himself a slap at the back of his head to shake himself awake.
"Then I shall use it wisely Ma'lady." Leone simply said as he bowed and left.
Mabaya kept her gaze on Leone's drifting back and even when the man had already left, her good mood hadn't receded.
Extreme happiness.
Glee.
Joy.
Excitement.
Anticipation.
She was feeling a lot of things but the emotion she felt most was extreme relief.
'Finally I found you. My light, my savior. My possession.' Mabaya thought as she smiled widely as extreme obsession was hiding deep within her eyes.