Red Eyes

"Pardon?"

"You shall become the Grand Duke's personal servant." The butler said, calmly awaiting my response. I could hear the sighs of relief around me.

"I don't want to." Were the words I wanted to say but the only word that managed to slip out of my slightly parted lips was a consise, "Yes."

"Perfect." The butler clapped and turned around, "Come along."

"I need to get my things." I blurted out when my feet remained rooted to the ground. I didn't even have 'things' to begin with.

"You don't have to." The butler responded with an emotionless gaze.

"Yes, right." I nodded like I understood what he meant. An old habit I formed to escape the Queen's punishment anytime I failed a certain subject.

"Do you want to be carried? It seems like you can't move." The butler gazed down at my legs with a slightly raised brow.

"No." I hurriedly answered, "Of course not." Fear and shock was the reason why I couldn't move from the place I stood. I turned my upper body back and waved at Mrs Ann and the rest of the maids, Leticia raised her both thumbs up with a smile while Melanie blew me kisses.

Argh! How much I'd miss them. Come to think of it, if I become an official servant, I can come to see them during my free hours, even bring some leftover desserts that they've always longed for.

With new found determination, I took a deep breath and moved my legs, "I'm ready, Sir." I said to the butler, whose eyes were suddenly flashing with intrigue; it was the only emotion I've seen in his eyes since he came by.

"I thought I'd have to choose another person." He chuckled.

"What?" My eyes widened. He could have choosen someone else? Why didn't I think of that? I should have simply remained rooted to the ground, I thought I'd be beheaded if I refuse to come along with no reasonable excuse. The butler chuckled when he saw the look on my face, "Come along quickly, you've got a lot to learn."

"Bye, Ciel!"

"Come back soon!"

I heard their frantic screams but refused the urge to turn to them. I might loose my valiance if I take a single look at them.

"We only have a few rules; never look the Grand Duke in his eyes, never go against his command, and never betray him." The butler enunciated every word in the last rule while we made our way to the Duchy.

I saw some part of it when I passed by four weeks ago, however, standing right in front of it was a different case. It stood in all its glory, basking with elegance, really befitting of a Grand Duke.

"Come with me, apprentice servants are not allowed to enter through the main door." The butler, who had returned to his cold self spoke.

"I'm still an apprentice?"

"Yes, if you manage to last for a week then you'd become an official servant."

"Lorain would take you to your designated room. Freshen up and meet me down here when you're done." The butler said before leaving me in the hands of a certain servant. His chestnut hair was particularly striking as it seemed to be mixed with a touch of red, not as striking as silver though. Now that I thought about it, everyone that I've seen here had coloured hair. Melanie had blonde hair, Leticia had dark red hair and Mrs Ann had brown hair, even the butler has a mix of brown and grey hair. What colour of hair would the Grand Duke have then?

"Hey." Lorain snapped his fingers in my face.

"Yes?"

"I heard you spaced out a lot but I never knew it was this dire. At this rate, you'd die within a few days."

"Don't jinx it." I mumbled underneath my breath.

"What?"

I hope he didn't hear what I said, it would be a great pain to offend an official servant before becoming one myself.

"Oh, wow, we're here. Thank you, Sir Lorain, goodbye." I slipped into the room and locked the door as quickly as possible.

"Wow!" The room was even better than the one I had in the annex. This one was simply splendid. I looked around to make sure I wasn't in the wrong room. After seeing my uniform and the necessary things a servant would need, I let out a deep breath and jumped on the bed.

"Ah, bliss." Right, I was supposed to meet the butler soon. I jerked up with great effort, it was annoying to leave your comfort zone as soon as you enter it.

"Ick, it's a bathtub." No wonder, the headmaid wished for me to become an official servant in the Duchy. Such treatment for a servant was dreamlike. I slowly stepped into the bathtub after making sure the door was properly locked. My tensed muscles relaxed as soon as I stepped into the cold water. Though, the water was cold, it was the best since we were in the middle of summer.

After a relaxing bath, I quickly put on my uniform, which unsurprisingly, fitted me perfectly. I combed my growing hair and tied it at the back of my head, it looks like I need another haircut.

"Took you long enough." The butler clicked his tongue as soon as I got to the spot we agreed to meet, "Get ready to meet the Grand Duke." He announced.

My heart thumped even harder. My once dead heart have been thumping for various reasons ever since I set foot in the Duchy.

"Your Grace, I've brought the child." The butler announced, knocking on a fancy double door. The black and shining gold intricate designs were sure to catch my eyes.

"Bring the child in." A calm voice resounded from inside.

Child? A nineteen years old was referred to as child? No less, by a man, who's probably no older than twenty-five.

As soon as we were let in, I replayed the rules in my head. One, never make eye contact with the Grand Duke, however, simple rules didn't seem simple to those who are obliged to follow them.

I ignored the dark interior of the room and simply stared at the heavenly being in front of me. His short black hair fell roughly on his forehead and those pair of eyes, even more unique than that of Pelonia's king. Red eyes were rare, rarer than even golden eyes and silver hair, but a man with red eyes was sitting right in front of me. His expressionless gaze lingered on my face for a while, I saw his lips move but I was all too interested in his eyes to even pay attention to whatever it is he was saying. But, the Pelonian royal family was known for their golden eyes, not red eyes; red eyes were know as demon eyes, how hard it would have been to live with red eyes in a kingdom like Pelonia that worshipped the light.

By the time I snapped out of my reverie, the butler was gone but the Grand Duke still had his eyes on me. I wanted to see more of his face but the room was too dark.

"You're finally up."

Did I fall asleep?

"It seems like your habit of spacing out needs to be dealt with." He added with a slightly serious tone.