After a week of recovering, I became well enough to start my duties as the new Redwood butler. Amazingly, my wounds were mending at an unbelievable fast pace, to the point where you wouldn't be able to guess that only a few days ago, I was on Death's door. Martha, who tended to and checked my wounds every single day, was incredibly impressed by my quick healing.

"You are one strong man, Sebastian," Martha had said after she examined me. "If it had been any other person, it would have taken months to recover, if they had lived to begin with. But you...it almost seems inhuman for you to recover so fast."

I blinked as I put my shirt back on.

"Does this mean...something is wrong with me?" I had asked, feeling slightly concerned.

Martha shook her head.

"I didn't mean it like that. But it is just...so unnatural."

She sighed.

"Perhaps this may be a miracle by God. But regardless, you will fully recover in a matter of days."

She had smiled, trying to seem happy and relieved of my quick healing. However, I could see that she was concerned, unsettled even. And I did not blame her, to a certain extent, for my body seemed to be anything but normal.

As the days passed, I began to notice little things about my physical state. Like my teeth. If I were to look closely into the mirror, I could see them at an extremely sharp point, almost like a knife. I didn't know if anyone else had noticed, but I did all I could to make sure I didn't open my mouth too wide. I also noticed that I was quite unnaturally strong and fast, as I would receive strange looks from the servants if I picked something heavy up to easily or reached one end of the manor to the other way too fast. It did not take long for me to control it, to seem normal, but I couldn't help but feel that this was only just the beginning of what I was capable of.

Though, my unusual recovery wasn't entirely bad, as I felt stronger with each passing day, each passing hour even. Plus, the sooner I got better, the sooner I could begin my butler duties, which I was, in a way, looking forward to. When Martha finally said I was well enough to begin, Lady Edna ordered that I was to now live in the servant quarters and out of that bland, empty guest room. Though my new room, which was right between Jasper's and Daniel's, was empty as well, it was not as big to have it bother me as much. Plus, Lady Edna said I could redecorate it as much as I liked, which I very much looked forward to doing.

On my first day as a butler, Daniel told me I had to wake up exactly at six and meet him in the dining room, where he will begin to instruct on the butler's everyday life. I admit, I dreaded waking up that early, but I did not complain. At least out loud.

When I first woke up, I felt like a walking corpse, barely conscious to do anything without falling straight down on my face. Somehow, I was able to get dressed in my new butler uniform, wishing I could wear my pretty, freshly clean red coat instead of the dull black one. Tying my hair into a ponytail, I then left my room and proceeded towards the dining room.

The manor was still fairly dark as I walked through it, the fiery light faintly making its way through the large windows. When it was dark like this, only having a very faint amount of light to see with, I grew to really like the manor this way. It was peaceful, calming and less stressful.

When I finally entered the dining room, Daniel was already there with a cart beside him. From a distance, I couldn't tell clearly what was on it, but the closer I got, I could see there was a tea set on it. Daniel was setting the table, no doubt preparing for Lady Edna's breakfast.

"You are late, Sebastian," he said, not even bothering to look up at me. "Waking up at six, you should have been here at five minutes past six."

"...Is it really that big of a deal?" I couldn't help but ask. "Lady Edna isn't awake yet and you can't blame me for being a little sluggish. This is my first day, after all."

Daniel sighed.

"Yes, but to be a butler, you must be super efficient and always be one step ahead of the master, or in our case, mistress."

Once he finished setting the table up, he walked over to the cart and picked up the teapot.

"However, I'm just warning you for now. After your first full week on the job, I won't be as sympathetic. And I don't say this to be cruel, but that is just how it is."

He gestured towards the teapot.

"Since I already got the table set for Lady Edna, I want you to try and make some tea. Try you best, and if you don't get it quite right, I already made a back up batch. Just do the best you can."

He sat it back onto the cart and took a few steps back.

...What, no long lecture on how high in quality the tea set is? Seems like I'm not the only one who was tired this morning.

I approached the cart, blinking a couple of times at the tea set. Obviously, there was the tea pot setting there, with a box of tea leaves setting next to it and a container full of, what I guessed was, boiling water. Blinking again, I grabbed the box of tea leaves, picking up the small measuring spoon beside it. I placed in two scoops of the leaves inside. Almost subconsciously, I then poured a half-pint of the water. When I was done, I asked Daniel without looking at him, "Do you want me to pour a cup for you to test it?"

"Yes, please do."

I barely heard his voice as I had already begun to delicately pour the tea into a cup. Once I had it at the right amount, I handed it to Daniel. Taking the cup, he studied it for a moment before taking a single sip. His eyes widened.

"Why...this is really good," he remarked, shocked. "Good indeed!"

He looked up at me.

"Have you ever made high quality tea before, Sebastian? There is no way a person with no experience in tea making could make a batch this good on their first try."

"I..."

I could not say.

I stared at Daniel for a moment, his large smile on his pale face sending a shiver down my spine, his brown eyes meeting my green ones. For a moment, I thought I could see a tint of red in them, where my head started to ache. I leaned against the table slightly for support, looking into his eyes again to see the red tint was gone from them.

"I...I don't know. Perhaps I've made tea before," I finally answered, trying to keep my voice steady. "It...just came to me as I made it. I can't explain."

Daniel blinked.

"Are you alright? Your face has gone incredibly pale."

I rubbed my forehead a bit.

"...Sorry, my head just began to hurt all of a sudden..."

Forcing myself to endure it, I straightened up and smiled.

"But I will be fine. And I appreciate the concern. You are so kind, Daniel."

It took awhile for Daniel to reply.

"...I wouldn't say that I am 'kind,' but you are welcome," he finally said, a tad uneasiness in his voice. "But the day is short and there is so much work left to be done."

As the rest of the day went on, Daniel took me in step by step instructions how the duties of the butler went, while also allowing me to work as well. And, similar to the tea situation, most of the things I did came to me subconsciously. From polishing the china to cleaning the windows, I was able to do those tasks without much trouble or instruction.

However, as the day went on, my headache continued to stay with me, if not get worse. At times, I thought I would hear a faint voice, or see something from the corner of my eye. But before I could process what it was, it would be gone just as fast as it came. Was this my memory trying to return to me or was I going crazy? Somehow, it seemed a little bit of both.

At one point, when I was cleaning the windows, I was able to get a good view of the garden outside. Like Christine had said, it was very impressive, all the trees and shrubs evenly trimmed with a wide range of colorful flowers, all evenly aligned, in separate flowerbeds. The garden looked like it could go for miles, a small dirt path flowing through every part of it. I smiled, my mind drifting off slightly as I took in the pretty scenery.

Suddenly, I heard someone scream. My eyes widened, for I could have sworn all the shrubs were in the shape of skulls. I gasped, backing up and blinking a couple of times. When I looked again, the shrubs were back into their normal appearance and the screaming was gone.

What...what the hell was that?!

"Sebastian, is something wrong?"

I flinched at the sound of Daniel's voice. I stood where I was, trying to get my heart to stop beating so fast as I slowly turned to face him. I smiled.

"You gave me quite a scare, Daniel. Did you need something?"

Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"While I am impressed for how well you are performing your duties, and on your first day to say the least, you have be extremely jumpy and distant."

He narrowed his eyes.

"Sebastian, if your head injuries are bothering you, you don't have to push yourself. Just because you are physically capable of taking up the job, your mental state is a different story."

"I...well, my head does hurt a little," I confessed, trying to keep my smile up. "But I don't just want to lay down all day. I-"

"Ahhhhh!"

Both Daniel and I froze as we heard Christine's screams echo throughout the manor. Immediately, we both ran towards the direction of the scream, where we ended up at the library. Upon entering, Daniel gasped and my eyes widened.

Towards the end of the room, Christine stood in front of a coffee table, shattered glass all around her. Tears ran down her cheeks as her whole body shook, her gaze staring blankly at the floor. Martha was right beside her, anger twisting all over her face.

"Christine, you foolish girl!" she cried. "I told you that you needed to be extremely careful with that!"

"Martha, what's going on?" Daniel demanded as he quickly approached them.

When she saw he was there, Christine's eyes went wide with fright while Martha turned to face him.

"Christine and I were dusting here when she was about to dust this table," Martha explained. "I told her that glass figurine on it was extremely heavy and for her to be careful while cleaning."

She sighed heavily.

"As you can see, she did not heed my warning clearly enough."

She glanced over Daniel's shoulder and saw me standing there.

"Sebastian, can you please take Christine away while Daniel and I fix this?" Martha asked. "She is incredibly shaken and I don't want her alone."

I nodded in reply. Whispering into Christine's ear, Martha told her to leave the room as she quickly walked to my side. Clearly overly emotional and fluster, I put my arm around her and led her out of the room.

"Let's go sit down somewhere," I advised. "Would you like to go the lounge, the garden or where?"

"I-It doesn't matter!"

Christine stopped dead in her in her tracks, clutching her fists tightly.

"Don't bother trying to calm me down, Sebastian, I know I'm finished!" she sobbed. "I screwed up big time! I-I-I thought I could handle it, I thought I could show Martha I was fine...but I was wrong! Like with everything else!"

Pushing me away, Christine walked a few steps forward before she fell to her knees, crying uncontrollably.

"...I-I know I'm going to be fired after this! Lady Edna will see my stupidity and kick me out, leaving me stranded and all alone!"

She choked on her words for a second.

"M-Maybe it would be for the best if I kill myself! To get my misery over with, knowing I'm dead anyway! I-I-I..."

At this point, her sobs and cries drowned out her words. I stood where I was for a long moment, not quite sure how to comfort her. If I could at all. Slowly, I got in front of her, leaning down to her level.

"Christine, look at me."

Immediately, she lifted her head up, staring deeply into my eyes.

"Look," I said, "if you kill yourself, all you are going to do is make more work for Daniel, Martha, and everyone else. So what that you broke a glass figurine? It isn't like you trimmed the shrubs to look like skulls or something..."

Christine's eyes widened at that comment.

"W-what? How or why would anyone..."

I smiled.

"See? It could be worse. Like you could have found yourself on top of a cart, rolling uncontrollably down the hallway and then having it collapse, you falling onto the floor and spill tea all over someone's shirt, completely humiliating yourself..."

I paused. Wait...where did that come from?

Well, whatever it was, it was calming Christine down, as she gave a small smile and laughed. While she was distracted, I helped her stand up.

"Come, let's go down to the lounge and I'll make you a cup of tea. It looks like you need one. Badly."

"O-okay..."

Christine looked up at me.

"Y-you won't be riding on top of the cart and spilling it all over me, will you?"

I laughed, giving a slight crooked smile.

"No, I won't. The last thing we need is Daniel yelling at me for screwing up beyond belief... Especially for my first day on the job, that would be even worse!"

Christine chuckled softly in reply as I put my arm around her again, leading her to the lounge.