Luca stood in the darkened hallway in the mansion. He let his heavy breathing slow down as he stood outside the door he was so familiar with. Finally, he let his hand touch the cold exterior of the doorknob and, with a turn, pushed the door in front of him open. There, reclining back in the large, black seat behind the desk placed opposite the door, Felicita was silently reclining back, and with her closed eyes, looked like she was a sleeping princess waiting to be woken up by her prince's kiss.
"Young Mistress!" Luca squeaked in joy upon seeing his beloved mistress.
The sudden shout sent Felicita flying up in a jolting shock, stumbling onto her feet in front of the desk that had caught her before she tumbled over. Her legs gave way and she gently fell back to her chair, her eyes of shocking green looked as if they were about ready to pop out of her head and her stunning pink hair floated gracefully back to her sides.
"I thought I'd never see you again, young mistress," the man whined, rounding the corner of the desk and pulling her into a tight embrace. "I didn't know what to do if something happened to you. I was so scared."
"Young mistress!"
Another young man, this time with brown hair and glasses, came running into the room. He had a panic stricken yet relieved face upon seeing the girl was safe back at the mansion. Pace stopped in the middle of the doorway and tilted his head to one side and looked at the man, who was now turned towards him, that was embracing the young girl. "It's not fair!" he whined, running to the opposite side of Luca and pulling the girl out of his arms and into his. "Luca can't always hog the young mistress to himself all the time."
"Eh? No, that's—"
"And I bet you get all kinds of special privileges too, always being with the Young Mistress and all!" he continued to whine.
"I just—"
"That's not fair, Luca!"
He looked to the desk beside him in a panic, trying to find a way to escape, when he spotted an empty tea cup. That's it! he thought. "Lunch! The Young Mistress needs lunch. I'll bring it in right away."
"And bring some shrimp, and fish, oh, and some Lasagna too!" Pace exclaimed, his taste buds already watering from the thought of his favorite lasagna.
A woman came knocking at the door a few minutes after Luca left. She smiled at Felicita, seeing she was safe from the recent kidnapping incident, and showed Pace a small envelope addressed to him. Pace smiled back at the girl and apologized, saying he'd be right back to help her finish off the food. And, only moments later, Luca came back with a tray of tea.
He looked around, stopping in the middle of the room, where it was now only him and Felicita. "Where's Pace?"
"He had to go out to do something," she said, leaning back into her seat.
"Here." He placed down a saucer with a small cup on top and poured the steaming rose tea into the fine china cup, decorated with flowers and a long dragon.
She picked up the cup and held it to her nose, letting the intoxicating smell into her nose, and then took a small sip, a large smile coming to her mouth.
"I'm glad you like it, Young mistress. I used the herbs you like so much from my garden to make it especially for you today."
Felicita lowered her gaze, placing the cup back down on the saucer. Even the tea she liked so much didn't seem to calm her down as she thought about the incident only hours ago when she was kidnapped from the house and taken hostage. It was a dirty trick, she thought, but it was a good one. In the world of the mafia, dirty tricks weren't that uncommon. Then she remembered being thrown against the wall, not being able to fight the large group of men, even with her Arcana, she was powerless. She remembered the fear that struck her as the knife was plunged at her until her heart stopped when she seen Luca's body fall back in front of her, blood splattering from his face.
"Young mistress?"
The girl's eyes starred at the bandage on the man's cheek, the mark left from protecting her from getting harmed. She let her hand drift up and gently rub against it. His cheeks flushed at the touch of her small, soft fingers.
"Young mistress?" he repeated again, this time his voice softer as he tried to hide the slight shake in it.
"Why didn't you think of yourself first instead of me?" she mumbled. Realizing what she had just said out loud, she let out a small gasp and covered her mouth, pushing her back into the seat.
After his initial shock from her words, he smiled and took hold of her hand. "I don't need to come first if it's for you, because as long as you're safe and happy, I'll always be fine."
-The End-
