Chapter 4:

A week was all the time Katyusha needed to adjust to the new household she was currently in. She had made a few mistakes, though everyone thought they were too minor to worry about, but everything else ran smoothly. Never had Katyusha expected to be treated as more than just a simple maid. She was used to being smacked or even had her clothes torn when she made a mistake. Not this time though. This place had a different atmosphere, a different feel to it. It made it easier to work and stay relaxed.

Her duties, for the most part, was caring for the horses and keeping the barn clean. She didn't mind it. She was used to working out in fields or tending to gardens. Katyusha thought it was better suited for her than inside house work. On some days, she would help train the horses to which she mainly took care of Cit. He seemed to like her better than Sadiq anyways.

"Have you ever ridden before?" Sadiq asked her when she fell from the saddle she tried to get up on. The saddle wasn't tightened enough and so it slid a down on the painted horse.

"No," Katyusha replied, picking herself up from the ground. She had been given proper clothing for working with the horses. She still had a white, button-up, long sleeve shirt but instead of a skirt she wore blue overalls that were tucked into calf-high boots. "I've been around them but I've never ridden."

Sadiq got off the black horse he was on and walked it over towards Cit who snorted at him. Katyusha petted him to keep him calm. She was handed the reins of his horse before Sadiq walked over and fixed the saddle, making sure it was tight so it wouldn't slid down again.

"You need to make sure it's tight," Sadiq explained, showing Katyusha how to properly make the saddle stay where it was. "Otherwise you'll have a hard time riding or it'll slip off, or the same thing will happen as it just did."

"I-I'm sorry for troubling you…" Katyusha apologized as she watched the Turkish man's hands move with a swift yet steady motion. Even though she spent time with horses, her father never had any time to teach her to ride. She shook her head a bit, tossing that idea from her head for the time being. She didn't want to focus on the past right now. She had to focus on the task at hand.

"Alright. Try again." Sadiq relinquished the other reins from the Ukrainian woman's hands and took a few steps backwards with his horse to give Katyusha more room just in case.

Katyusha moved back to the side of Cit, placing her foot into the saddle and swinging her other leg over. She smiled a bit when she was able to sit on it properly without the saddle moving on her.

"Thank you, Sadiq," she said as she adjusted herself on it. She waited a moment and waited until Sadiq was on his horse before she gently tapped the side of the horse, the way that the Turkish man had told her to do.

The horse started moving at a slow pace, getting used to the feel of the Ukrainian woman on top of him. Cit snorted a bit, seeming to dislike all of the uneven weight on him, but that didn't last long the more he walked.

"Alright. Try to put him into a canter," Sadiq said, though it was only a suggestion. Katyusha nodded in reply as she gently tapped the sides of Cit again and he quickened his pace a bit, though the rough movements made Katyusha a bit uncomfortable since her chest kept bouncing up and down.

After hours outside training the horses, Katyusha and Sadiq returned inside for their morning meal since Alfred and Matthew had finished theirs and left for the day. All of the servants went to work after their meal.

0-0-0

Matthew softly sighed as he sat in the carriage, heading back towards the house after having a long talk with his father. His brother had stayed at their parents' house, being given a long lecture by their mother. However, he wasn't alone. Violet colored eyes looked up at the man sitting across from him. He had wavy blonde hair down to his shoulders and stubble on his chin.

"Père?" the soft man asked, making the older man look over at him with a questioning look.

"Oui, mon petit garçon," the man replied in his slightly heavy French accent. It was always noticeable that the Bonnefoy family had mixed cultures, especially based on the way that Matthew spoke French a lot with his father but he looked more English than French.

However, Alfred had never really been the one to try and learn French. He would always say 'it's too much trouble! It's not like I'm going to use it anyway!' and then he would be scolded by both of his parents afterwards. Matthew, however, had always thought that learning his father's native tongue was fun even if it were difficult at first.

"Why are you coming back to the house with me?" Matthew asked a bit too quietly, not wanting to upset his father in anyway.

"I want to see how things are going with that new maid your mother hired," he replied as he sat up a bit more in his seat and looked at his son. "If she's not doing a good job then we'll have to get rid of her."

"O-Oh… Well… I think she does a good job. I mean, she doesn't do the normal work like the other maids, but she still does a good job."

The Frenchman raised a brow in confusion as he heard that. Not the same as the other maids? he repeated this question in thought as he slightly peered out the window. He was a bit curious to find out what that actually entailed. Of course, being who he was, his mind on went to one thing but he wasn't going to think about that sort of thing at the moment. He would have to see if his conclusion was right first. His wife, Alice, had always scolded him for jumping to conclusions before he knew the real answer to all of it.

The minute they arrived, Matthew and his father stepped out of the carriage, a dark auburn haired man holding it open for him. "Thank you, Lovino," Matthew softly thanked before he led his father into the house.

"Good day to you, Master Bonnefoy, Master Matthew," Sakura greeted with a bow as she was passing by with some laundry in her arms.

"Good day to you as well, Sakura~" Matthew's father, Francis, greeted back with a smile. "Is everything going well with you~?"

"Yes. Thank you for asking." Sakura gave a small bow once again. "If you will excuse me, I must complete my tasks." Francis nodded in reply before watching as Sakura walked off to complete the chores that she still had laid out in front of her. Francis looked back over at his son, having to look up at him since Matthew was taller than him.

"Now, where is this new maid?" he asked before looking around the room to see if he could somehow spot her. Matthew looked around before he spotted Lucy.

"Lucy!" he called, catching the German woman's attention as she looked over at him.

"Yes?" she asked in her heavy accent. Lucy wasn't one to really talk much when it came to things so her accent was still heavy, despite the fact of how long she had been working in England.

"Do you know where Katyusha is?"

"Last I saw she was outside taking care of the horses."

"Thank you!"

Lucy nodded before she returned her attention to her work with a bucket in her hand. Matthew smiled a bit before looking over at his father who had a slightly serious look on his face, making him swallow a bit nervously.

"W-What's wrong?" he asked, hoping he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Mon Dieu Mattieu…" Francis sighed and shook his head, folding his arms over his chest. "Je croyais vous avoir dit de bien traiter les femmes." Matthew cringed a bit at that, knowing that he always treated woman nicely.

"Père, je fais… elle était juste adapté pour le travail plus…"

"Vraiment?"

"Si…"

"Alright. Let's go meet her then so I can decide if she's really worth keeping around and spending money on," Francis finally said in English as he dropped his arms back to his side. Matthew nodded and the two went outside.

On the way, Francis looked around the garden to make sure that it was being kept. He nodded and continued to follow his son, neither one speaking the whole way. Matthew was used to silence and, in most cases, preferred it than speaking. Though his brother was the one who was more rambunctious than he was and would always be scolded more. Matthew, however, was a bit jealous of his brother for being able to be more open about things. He had learned to be quiet and listen and had always wanted to be more confident with things like his brother was.

Matthew snapped out of his slight daze as they arrived at the barn door. It was opened and he couldn't help but blush a bit as he saw Katyusha softly speaking to Cit. The small bit of light that shone through the small window cast down on her, making it look as though she weren't really there and just a figment of his imagination or some sort of angel. Matthew felt his cheeks warming up as he thought of that.

"Oh!" Katyusha's voice came, making him break from a daze once again as she saw her bow to them. "M-Master Matthew… I-I didn't know you were back… a-and M-Master Bonnefoy…" Matthew was surprised that Katyusha knew who his father was, especially since he had never told her about him. He figured one of the other servants had told her about him, which was probably better that way.

"Katyusha, correct?" Francis asked as he walked up to her, noticing that she was almost eye level with him.

"Y-Yes sir," Katyusha replied, giving a small smile to him.

"How old are you?"

"I-I'm almost 24 sir."

"You don't look that old," Francis commented, having thought that she was about 19 or 20. Katyusha blushed a bit at the compliment.

"I know. I-I don't know why that is," she replied. "I'm sorry for my appearance." She looked down at her clothes, having a bit of dirt on them from cleaning the horses and cleaning the stalls. Francis softly chuckled a bit.

"No, No. It's fine. You're doing your job and I came over unannounced." Katyusha nodded at that but she didn't say anything, unsure of what she could say. "So, are you enjoying your work?"

"O-Oh yes," Katyusha replied with a smile. "It's very fun."

"That's good. Just keep doing it without having to worry too much, alright?"

"Yes sir." Francis smiled and let Katyusha return to her work. He then walked over and saw that Matthew's cheeks were a deep red color, making him wonder what was wrong with his son. He took his hand and pulled him out of the barn, causing Matthew to snap out of his daze once more.

Once they were back in the house, Francis took Matthew to the living room and had him sit down.

"What's wrong with you?" he then asked, turning towards Matthew with a curious look on his face. He wasn't mad but he was a bit concerned about the behavior that he was displaying.

"Huh?" Matthew was confused by the question that his father had asked him, not seeming to have noticed his own behaviors. "What do you mean?"

"You've been acting strangely since we went to the barn," Francis pointed out as he sat down next to Matthew, looking at him in the eyes. "Why is that?" Matthew felt his cheeks heat up again as he began to fiddle with his glasses.

"I-I don't know…" he replied, not really sure of what it was. He didn't know anything about how he was feeling and it even puzzled him when he actually thought about it. "Maybe I'm getting sick or something…"

Francis frowned as he heard this from his son. He walked over and placed a hand on his forehead, noticing that it was a bit warmer than it should be. "Mattieu… you should go rest, alright?"

"But… what about tonight?"

"I'll have one of the servants get you up before then, alright?" Matthew nodded as he stood up and walked out of the room. Francis watched before softly sighing, running a hand through his hair. He knew how much Matthew worked, probably a lot more than Alfred did so he didn't mind having Matthew rest up for a while. However, the Frenchman really hoped that it wasn't anything worse than a bit of overworking on his part.

I hope that's all it is… Francis said in thought as he sat down on the couch and gave out a soft sigh. If it were something else other than that, then he would probably have a hard time trying to explain it to his wife. He knew she could be a real pickler when it came to things about her sons. With a deep breath, he stood up and walked out to check things out more.

Of course, when he saw Katyusha walk in from outside, he walked over to her. "Katyusha, can I ask a few questions?" he asked as he looked at her in the eyes. Katyusha blinked but nodded in reply , wondering what it was that he would need to ask her. Francis guided her into the living room and had her sit down across from him.

"What's your full name and your age?" Francis began questioning, deciding he needed to know this.

"Katyusha Braginskaya," the Ukrainian woman replied. "I'm 23 years old."

"I see. Do you have any family?"

Katyusha looked down at she was asked this, gently taking a bit of the cloth on her pants into her hands. It was a hard subject for her to speak about, especially since she didn't know much about where they were.

"I…I have a brother and sister, both younger than I am. Though… I'm not really sure where they are." Francis raised a brow in confusion, wondering what that meant but he decided he wouldn't ask. He could see the hurt expression in her eyes and how much it hurt her just to speak about it. He wondered if it meant that they were dead and she didn't want to admit it or if she really didn't know anything about where they were.

"I see," Francis softly said. "Why did you decide to be a servant? I'm sure you could have gotten a job somewhere more to your skills."

"I tried them," Katyusha replied. "I always got fired because my chest was always knocking things over and breaking things. I… I also wasn't the most graceful person either. N-Not saying it's changed much, I'm still like that it was just better for me to be a servant because I could do things that could be more suited to me."

"I see. Do you like working with the horses?"

Katyusha finally looked up again and gave a small smile. "I do. I've loved animals since I was a child and I always helped my father when it came to the barns where he worked."

Francis smiled at hearing this. "That's good. We really could use someone to care for them more. Not saying the Sadiq isn't doing a good job, but he has a lot of other duties that acquire his attention."

"Yes… I-I saw that…"

"Normally we couldn't let a female work in a barn, but I think it's fine as long as you're enjoying yourself and you're doing a good job."

"Thank you sir. I-Is that all? I have to get back to work."

"Yes. That's all. Thank you for taking the time to talk." Katyusha nodded before she excused herself and went to go change so she could start to help clean the hallways with Lucy. Francis waved to her as she left before his smile faded a bit. "She's three years older than Matthew, even though she doesn't look it."

Francis shrugged as he stood up once more. He was probably just overthinking things anyways so he wasn't going to really bother trying to figure out if Matthew actually thought Katyusha was pretty or not. However, it didn't mean that he was going to give up on that idea all together. If he needed, he would get involved in that sort of thing and remind his son of the status that the two were in and how different they were. A servant of lower status and a master of a higher status. Different worlds that could never intertwine.

A/N: OMG! I did not realize I hadn't been updating things for stories lately I feel so bad about it, I'm really sorry. This chapter has been finished for awhile now and I thought I had uploaded it but then I saw that I hadn't! I'm sorry! Please enjoy this chapter and thank you for enjoying the story thus far!