Prologue: Moonlit Departure
"Where are you headed, Break? And at this hour of the night...?"
The white-haired man cringed at his lady's inquiry. He disliked lying to her, so he kept his answer vague and concise,
"Just...There is something I need to confirm, ojou-sama."
The atmosphere brimmed with an overwhelming awkwardness as the caramel-haired princess stepped forward to further confront her valet,
"Surely this 'something' could wait long enough for you to notify me of your intended absence..."
If he was any normal being, he would have been completely crushed by her convicting stare. Instead, he responded with an apology in an effort to relieve the environment of its threatening air,
"My sincerest apologies, ojou-sama."
He relaxed at the sight of his lady's forgiving smile.
"Very well. I shall await your return."
As he bowed his farewell, his hair appeared silver in the unsaturated moonlight.
"You have my deepest gratitude."
He entered the hollow carriage with a wave of his hand, and at the crack of the whip, he vanished into the darkness.
(1) "Strangely enough, Ru-kun is occasionally able to comfort me."
(2) "Ru-kun is always so stubborn."
(3) "Fufufu, I do like Ru-kun's hair~"
The crimson-haired duke sat in a motionless posture with a cup of Earl Grey and another of his ancestor's ciphered memoirs. His servant knocked abruptly on the door, halfway ajar, disturbing one of his master's most valued moments of silence,
"R-Rufus-sama, y-you have a guest..."
The duke lifted his gaze to glare at his stuttering valet,
"Liam. You should know to send him away. Do so. Immediately."
Before Liam could apologize, he was shoved aside by a familiar white-haired man,
"Well, if it isn't the bird-brained duke and his solo tea party!"
Rufus grunted at the sight of the unwelcome guest and motioned threateningly with his tessen, "Xerxes Break...no...Kevin Regnard. With what business do you intrude upon my peace!?"
The man named Xerxes frowned, then grinned with slight amusement,
"Now, now! That won't do, will it? What kind of host abuses his guests? I've only just arrived for the festivities..." He lowered his voice in a sudden lapse of playfulness, "...And add this to your library of precious information, Duke Barma: My name is Xerxes. Xerxes Break. And I will respond to no other name, nor insult."
Rufus sipped his tea and retorted,
"My, my. I do believe a host reserves the right to mistreat uninvited guests in this establishment. I do not know what slum of a society you come from, though, Hatter."
Xerxes smirked, unfazed by the duke's retort,
"Obviously I must come from a richer slum than from whence a bird-headed excuse for an aristocrat such as yourself would originate..."
The mortified duke flicked his wrist, expanding his tessen to cover his frown and scowled,
"What nerve!" He glowered at Xerxes, who still maintained the same, unwavering grin, and commented, "I am sure you did not step foot on my mansion with the sole purpose of humiliating me, now did you, Hatter?"
Xerxes pushed Rufus's collapsed servant outside with the sole of his shoe and carefully closed the door behind him. He chuckled as he turned to face the crimson-haired duke,
"Ah, well that might as well be the sole purpose with that untamed attitude of yours, Barma. Fortunately, I remembered a piece of written information in which I believe you will be most interested. Of course, by your own policy, such would only be given at a fair price."
Rufus snapped his tessen shut and stood from the comfort of his mahogany seat.
"Hoh...? You have the audacity to insult me upon greeting, and subsequently request to be an audience to my most valuable knowledge...? Very well, Hatter. Humor me. What is it you know, that I do not?"
Xerxes grinned and retrieved a hand-woven diary and flipped through its pages, wilted by age,
"Ah, but you will be the first to disclose the truth, that is, if you want Cheryl-sama's childhood diary."
He continued to tease the duke by exclaiming,
"Why, Duke Barma, you womanizing bird, you! Your name appears a good fifty-seven times! You can trust my number skills, don't you worry about that. Let's see here: 'Ru-kun', this, 'Ru-kun', that, 'Ru-kun looks', 'Ru-kun sighs', 'Ru-kun smiles', and a whopping fifty-two more where those came from...! Well, Sir Bird Brains, you were quite the popular man, it seems! It's too bad, though, that you'll only get to read it if you satisfy me..."
Rufus blushed and stammered,
"Prove it! Prove that this is indeed Cheryl's piece of literature and I might consider your offer."
Xerxes's grin widened as he flashed the suspicious duke a glimpse of the inside of the tattered front cover signed, 'Cheryl Rainsworth',
"This is undoubtedly her penmanship, do you not agree?"
Contrary to Rufus's previous assumption, this was not merely another one of the Hatter's jokes. In the least, the authenticity of this timeworn diary was not a laughable matter. This was the real deal. He hated the idea of playing into that clown's hands, but the devil was well-versed in the art of temptation. Rufus consciously crept closer to Xerxes's lure as he implored,
"...What is it you want...?"
Xerxes paced toward the flustered duke. He proceeded to seat himself upon the mahogany chair which Rufus had previously vacated. With such ease, he had positioned the almighty Rufus Barma precisely where he had wanted him. He had certainly not expected this egotistical man to dance straight into his conspicuous trap with such haste. As he stared into his slanted, emotionless eyes, an absurd thought crossed his mind. This thought may have lingered slightly longer than necessary, for before he could banish it from his head, the guilt of his mind became the guilt of his lips. Out of inexplicable impulse, the droopy-eyed Hatter pulled in the unsuspecting duke for a lover's embrace.
(4) "Ru-kun is quite adorable whenever I manage to make him blush."
(5) "Ru-kun sighs whenever I tell him he is not honest with himself."
(6) "Ru-kun smiles rarely these days..."
