Ai: Sorry for not updating in so long, but I just finished a test and now I feel like really relieved.

Usui: Is school difficult for you?

Ai: Not for you maybe… but for me yes.

Misaki: Studying and school are important. Although I do study a little too much sometimes…

Ai: Aha! Misaki! You finally admitted it! But anyways, I have some happy news for everyone! Well… just exciting for me actually.

Misaki: What is it?

Ai: So for my old readers who were here when I was trying to decide whether or not to drop this story, this current chapter is the last chapter you all read before I revised the whole thing. However, the next chapter, chapter 15, is a completely new chapter that has never been released. (^_^)

Misaki: That's great! You're finally writing a new chapter!

Ai: Haha! This must be so confusing for my new readers. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please just disregard everything I just said and continue reading the story!

Usui: So can we move on with the story?

Ai: Totally irrelevant, but how do people wink?

Usui: Alright… moving on then. Ai doesn't own us.

Chapter 14:

Right after Misaki agreed to the marriage, Grandfather began the wedding planning. There was not a day when she wouldn't see wedding planners scurrying about, ordering the poor maids around. This morning however, there was no sound of people running all over the place. It was unnaturally quiet. Only until Misaki looked at the calendar did she realize the reason. It was December 25, Christmas Day.

She sat up slowly and glanced at the window by her bed. Everything outside was completely white. It had snowed a couple days before, but since everyone had been playing in that snow, it became a giant dirty mess. It was nice to see fresh snow. Especially on Christmas Day. A knock on the door broke the tranquility in the room. Assuming that it was just a maid delivering breakfast, Misaki climbed out of bed and opened the door without a second thought. She was then shocked find herself face-to-face with not a maid, but Usui.

After she agreed to the marriage, Misaki had been avoiding him at all costs. She needed to accept the fact that Usui would no longer be in her life anymore. That and also the fact that she didn't want to lie to him anymore. Usui was going to find out sooner or later.

For the longest time, the two just stood in their spots and stared at each other. Usui's eyes raked up and down Misaki's figure. A sly smirk appeared on his face.

"Did Misa-chan dress up just for me?"

Looking down at her current outfit to see what Usui was talking about; she realized that she was wearing a small, tight, and sheer nightgown. Smacking herself for not grabbing a jacket, Misaki tried to explain.

"Sh-shut up! It's not like I wanted to wear this! I just don't have anything else."

And it was the only thing she could wear. After Grandfather saw her clothing choices, he replaced her entire wardrobe with "more acceptable" clothing, "fit for a Walker Lady" as he had put it. The "more acceptable" clothing consisted of countless tight, revealing dresses, and an endless supply of lingerie.

Usui was still staring at her, and Misaki grew impatient.

"What?"

"Misaki."

His tone took her by surprise. It was serious, and all traces of playfulness from before disappeared. There was something about his face, and it looked… hungry.

"Y-yes?"

Then, as quickly as it came, the seriousness was gone. It was replaced by a charming smile that Misaki hadn't seen since high school

"It's Christmas," he said.

"I know that. You don't have to remind me."

"So come with me."

"Where? Everything is closed."

"Just trust me."

Misaki considered her choices, but finally decided to turn the offer down. She had already succeeded in avoiding Usui for this long. It wasn't worth starting all over.

"I'm sorry, I have something I need to attend to."

"It's Christmas Day."

"Thank you for reminding me."

With a sigh of defeat, Usui looked away, slightly annoyed and hurt. Then, he turned around, kissed Misaki's cheek, and leaned towards her ear. "Merry Christmas." Unable to think of a reply, Misaki just stood there like a statue as she watched the blondie walk away. Finally, she gained control of her body and closed the door. Gerald often walked down this hallway in the mornings, and she did not want him to also see her in this "nightgown".

Although she turned down Usui's offer to leave the castle, Misaki realized that she hasn't been outside the castle grounds for a long time now. Everyday, she had to "train" to become a suitable wife for Gerald. It was stressful business, since most of the training involved the two of them being locked up in a room so that they could "warm up" to each other. Seeing that both of them hated the other, the fact that they both came out of training alive was a miracle. That aside, it probably was time that she went outside again.

"Well, I don't have any training today, so I might as well enjoy myself."

Reaching underneath the bed, Misaki pulled out a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, and a nice warm coat. They were the only casual pieces of clothing that were saved from Grandfather's wrath. She quickly slipped them on and combed through her hair a couple times, satisfied with the end result. Now all she had to do was decide where to go. Despite the fact that Misaki had been living in London for two weeks already, she realized that she didn't even know what the streets even looked like. This was a great opportunity to get to know London.

XXXX

Sneaking out of the castle was actually quite easy. There were fewer guards than usual, and Misaki with her petite figure easily was able to slip through a large crack in the walls surrounding the garden. After escaping the castle, she made her way towards the town that Usui had taken her to. It took a while of walking to get there, but it all paid off when she saw the sight that greeted her.

Though all the stores and restaurants were closed, there were lots of people wandering around outside and enjoying the snowy weather. All over town, the shrieking laughter of the children could be heard. Though the sight was heart-warming, Misaki wasn't all that interested in staying. She wanted to go somewhere quieter, where she could sit down and think. The lake immediately came into mind. The problem was, she didn't know how to get there exactly.

For the hour or so, Misaki went around the city trying to find the little lake. What were the odds that no one else seemed to know about the lake? When she asked them, they all shrugged and went on their way. Finally however, she found a little patch of forest that clearly had a trail going through it. Misaki wasn't sure where this would lead her, but at this point, anything would do. And so, she followed the trail deeper into the forest. Since all the leaves had fallen, it was easy for her to see that beyond the ebony trunks of the trees was a small lake. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth. This place wasn't where Usui had taken her, but it was probably the same lake. Just a little more upstream.

Tired from all that walking, Misaki collapsed onto the bank and took a deep breath. It had been a long time since she was allowed enjoy a snowy day without worrying about rent, heat, and food. It also felt good to be free. Free from worry; free from the castle. Now she understood why Usui hated the lifestyle there. After a while, it started to suffocate you.

A noise coming from the forest behind Misaki brought her out of her thoughts. She turned around and standing there was a slender girl that looked nineteen or so. She had dark brown hair that was cut short and a pair of greyish blue eyes. Her rosy lips were open with surprise.

"Oh I'm sorry! I hadn't realized there was someone else here," the girl apologized.

"No it's okay! I hope I'm not trespassing or anything…"

"Not at all. This is a public lake. It's just that most people like to stay more downstream. It's not common for me to find anyone here."

"I see." Misaki relaxed a little. Suddenly, an idea struck her. "If you're going to stay here, could I possibly join you for the rest of the afternoon? I'm new here and I have absolutely no idea what to do or where to go."

The girl was surprised at first, but then her expression changed to one of happiness. Misaki decided that she liked this stranger, even if they only just met. This girl was so amiable, and she wasn't like the other ladies that came to the castle. Those women were all fake, from their personality to their appearance. This girl however, was normal.

"Sure! I'd love to have you with me. If you don't mind me asking, if you're new here, then where are you from? Where are you staying?"

"I'm from Japan," Misaki answered immediately. "I'm staying in the Raven Castle."

"Are you…Miss Misaki Ayuzawa by any chance?!" she gasped.

"Yes, I am! How did you know?"

"You see, I work at the castle and lately there has been much chatter between the staff saying that the Misaki Ayuzawa had come to live in the castle. You can't even imagine how excited I was! I love your designs so much!" the maid exclaimed in a giant tumble of words.

"Oh, well I'm glad you like my designs."

"Although I have to say Ms. Ayuzawa, I hadn't expected you to be able to speak any English, much less this well."

"Thank you. I took lessons in Japan." Misaki held back a smirk. It was pretty amusing to find people surprised by the fact that she spoke fluent English. Nowadays, practically every big business owner knew English; she was no exception. Still, she had to thank Igarashi for taking time to teach her.

"Well now that you know who I am, could you tell me your name?"

"Oh! Right. Sorry. I'm Alice."

"Nice to meet you," Misaki smiled. "By the way, what kind of work do you do for the castle? I mean you look like you should be in college."

"Oh that. Well actually, my family is having…financial problems," she said slowly. "So, um, I decided to come out and look for a job instead of going to school. I work as Mr. Gerald's personal maid."

"Gerald's…personal…maid?"

"Yup. I'm sure you're familiar with Mr. Gerald's sickness. He often needs assistance for simple tasks, and that's what I'm here for. I stay with him 24/7 and attend to his needs."

"Is it…nice to work for Gerald?"

Misaki tried her best not to scowl or scrunch up her face in disgust. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like for Alice to be attending to his every need. However, she was totally thrown off guard at the girl's answer.

"Oh yes! It's actually really nice. Mr. Gerald is very kind to me. In fact, he's a very sweet and gentle person overall. Which is why I think I'm so lucky."

The Gerald Misaki knew was most definitely not kind, sweet, and gentle. He was the opposite; sly, spiteful, and cold.

"You're not serious, are you?"

"I mean, he is a rather moody person, but once you get to know him, he's…different. All his life, Mr. Gerald has suffered from diseases that were forced upon him. He never got to do the things other people his age got to do, and it really made him feel terrible about himself. Once you understand his history, it's hard to hate him."

"What do you mean by 'diseases that were forced upon him'?"

"Oh. You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"I'm not sure if it's in my place to tell you this, but Mr. Gerald's diseases... they exist because his parents were first cousins."

Misaki knew in the back of her mind that Alice was telling the truth, but she just couldn't believe it. This meant that Usui's mother's first marriage was…incestuous?

"I… I didn't know that about Gerald…"

Alice shrugged. "Not many people do. Just a select few in the castle and me. After all, incestuous marriages are scandalous now. The Walkers wouldn't want this to get out."

"Huh. Well I guess that explains a lot," Misaki said after finally regaining her composure. "Well Alice, it's getting kind of late and I'm a little hungry, so I think I'm going to go back to the castle now."

"Oh! You're leaving now?"

"Yeah. It was fun talking to you though. I hope I get to see you around in the castle."

"Oh definitely! Do you need me to walk you back?"

"No thanks. I think I know the way."

"Sure. See you then!"

Misaki waves one last goodbye before heading back to the castle as fast as she could. There was just something unsettling about this new discovery. Just like Alice had said, incest equals scandal. If that's the case, then why did Grandfather allow this to happen? It was his daughter after all. And besides, she was the one marrying Gerald, so she should have been told about this matter. Grandfather was hiding something, and Misaki was determined to find out what it was.

"What else are you hiding from us, Grandfather?"

XXXX

Misaki stared at the wrapped package sitting neatly on her perfectly made bed. It was waiting for her when she came back, and attached was a little note.

Misaki thought hard about who the sender of this present could be, and decided it was either Grandfather, Gerald, or Usui. Slowly, she removed the note and opened it. As it turns out, it was Usui.

Misaki, I hope you like the present. Too bad we couldn't have spent more time together. I hope your first Christmas in England was fun. See you around.

- Usui

P.S. I hope you use it well~

"Use it well?" Misaki asked out loud, puzzled. Though she was happy to have received a gift from Usui, she also felt guilty about it since she hadn't gotten him anything in return. Shaking these thoughts away, she opened the package carefully and pulled out a warm scarf. It was a lovely shade of blue, reminding Misaki of the time when Usui had given her his scarf after saving her from the Idiot Trio. Something at the end of the scarf caught her attention. Sewn into the scarf were the words "To Misaki Usui".

"You idiot," she said with a sad smile. "Always keeping your hopes up no matter what. Except this time, we've really lost."

Pushing her negative emotions aside, Misaki unraveled the scarf and just as she was about to put it on, another significantly smaller package tumbled out from inside the scarf. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that it was actually a pack of underwear. Lacy see-through underwear to be specific.

"So that's what he meant by 'use it well'," Misaki said through gritted teeth. She scowled at the underwear before tossing them on top of the wardrobe with the other pieces of clothing she never intended to wear.

"I totally should have seen this coming," she grumbled again, but her face softened. "Thanks anyways, Usui. I hope you have a good Christmas too."

~!~

Ai: I apologize if this chapter was very crappy. It was a rushed chapter since I hadn't updated in a while. I promise though, when I have free time, I'll go back and edit it.

Usui: You left me out of this chapter...

Ai: I was originally going add you in, but you already had a whole chapter with Misaki. Besides, I just felt like not including you. (^.^) Sigh. Anyways, I'm like really sick right now, and I have lots of tests coming up, so I'm going to go on an official hiatus until mid-June maybe.

Misaki: Mid-June? Okay take your time. I hope you do well on your finals.

Ai: Thanks Misaki! How about you Usui? Any words of encouragement for me?

Usui: I was originally going to say something, but I already said something to you in another chapter. Besides, I just felt like not encouraging you. (^.^)

Ai: Wow… using my own words against me I see. Well just to you know, remind you again, I control the turn out of this story.

Usui: But we all know that you won't do anything too dramatic because you still have your readers who are waiting for a happy ending.

Ai: Are you sure about that, Usui? Are you sure I won't add any random dramatic, heart-twisting scenes and scenarios?

Misaki: We should probably stop talking now…

Ai: Good choice. And since I was so mean to you, Usui, will you do the honors?

Usui: Reviews everyone.