A/N: Hello! :D I'm back and this time, with a longer chapter~ Sorry if it isn't really good though, because I had some sort of a writer's block . Please enjoy!
Mikan followed the butler down the corridor before stopping in front of a wooden door. Turning the knob of the door, she pushed it open and was immediately greeted by a gust of wind. The windows of the room were open. The walls were painted a beautiful lavender hue and the silky golden curtains, just like what she saw in the grand hall flew aflutter. As she walked in with the butler tailing behind her, she got the full view of the room. The room was arranged simply – a dressing table, an armoire, a bed with a canopy and a coffee table right in the middle of the room.
"It's beautiful…" she voiced her thoughts out loud.
"Master specifically designed this room for you, I helped, of course," the butler said with pride.
"Thank you, I've never seen anything like it," she stood there, still awe-struck.
"Please take a rest while I get the tea," he slowly retreated out of the room and shut the door gently behind him.
Mikan sat down on the soft bed. The sheets of the bed felt cool to her touch. To be honest, when she first heard of the 'predator' and 'prey' practice, she thought it would be one of a violent nature, who knows it would be anything like she was experiencing now.
She heard two knocks and the door creaked open – the butler had returned with a tiny push cart, with a tray on top of it. And placed on the tray were an intricately designed teapot and a matching teacup.
"Don't you want a cup as well?" she asked out of goodwill.
"No thanks, I'm not that thirsty," he lifted the tray off the push cart and placed it on the coffee table while Mikan made her way there.
The butler pulled the chair out for her to sit. On her face appeared a look of confusion, but she then realized once again, she was now in the household of the nephew of the Master and this was probably something that she would be seeing more often.
"Thank you," she thanked the butler, still feeling a little awkward.
"Please get used to it, my lady," he gave a weak smile once again.
She could certainly get used to the way of living here. Everything was too different for her to even understand. The butler poured the lukewarm tea into the teacup and the mild scent of chamomile wafted through the air. Chamomile was exactly what she needed to calm her nerves down. He placed the teapot back onto the tray and stood by Mikan, keeping silent.
"Please sit down, I insist," she tried to sound as persuasive as she could. Having someone serve her was weird enough, now to have someone wait on her as she slowly sipped her tea was worse.
"No thank you my lady, I'm content with standing here, please do enjoy your tea,"
It was as if that sentence had stuck a chord in Mikan's heart, she felt that she understood the butler clearly. As someone who had grew up listening to the label 'lower class', she simply could not understand the relationship between the servant and the masters of the house. Because in the end, weren't they all human?
She stood up abruptly and held the butler by his hand. Pulling him to the chair situated opposite her, she pulled the chair out and made him sit down.
"I can't talk to someone if he's standing beside me, it doesn't feel right,"
The butler was shocked, because not even Natsume had managed to force him to sit down.
"I understand it is part of your job to wait on us, but you see, I'm not really a part of this family, you don't have to treat me this way," she explained clearly to the butler before he started protesting again.
He gave a look of submission, deep inside; he was touched by the young lady's kindness. He watched as she lifted the teacup to her mouth and took a small sip from it. Her hazel brown orbs widened momentarily and then they were replaced with the sweetest eye smile he had ever seen when the warm tea travelled down her esophagus and into her stomach.
Mikan caught sight of him staring at her, not with love, but with the gaze that a father would look at his daughter with.
"Mister butler, have you had any children?" she asked out of curiosity.
"No, I never had, I had started serving Natsume-sama since he was a young kid, even if I had gone out looking for a wife, no one would want an old geezer like me," he chuckled softly.
Mikan simply smiled. Seeing someone laugh in this house was like a sign of life. Her 'predator' spoke few words and Ruka was someone hard to click with.
"I've always seen Natsume-sama as my child; I have watched him grow up after all. He used to be a cheerful child who would walk everywhere with a spring in his step and greet everyone with a smile that could melt everyone's hearts," as he spoke, the sadness hid behind those eyes that have accompanied him for more than half of a century.
She kept quiet and looked at the butler with an intense gaze, prying him to go on. Ever since she stepped into this hell of a mansion, Mikan had only exchanged a few words with her 'predator', barely enough to know anything else other than that his name was Natsume.
"His parents loved him so very much; they'd never abandon him for work and showered him with love, although he was never spoilt. Then, things changed when the Hyuuga family started to exert more power over the upper class families. They became something like royalty; people would try to get on their good side by all means, but of course, there would be people, who would try to bring harm to them, assassinate them, and cause them so much grief so that they would fall from where they were standing," he carried on with much emotion in his words.
She then learnt that Natsume was kept away from too much exposure to the media, and that his parents had to force themselves to stay away from Natsume as much as possible in order to steer clear of trouble. Unknowingly, she found herself staring into an empty cup, tea all gone. If she thought the rich had it all smooth sailing, she was definitely wrong.
"Since then, Natsume-sama had this misunderstanding that his parents no longer love him and have decided to abandon him for their work. Of course, he wasn't so immature that he would blame his parents. He understood that it was all for his own good… But no matter what, when one is deprived of parental love, regardless of what reason, one would eventually divorce himself from emotions, no?"
Mikan nodded, even though she would not have exactly understood what he was saying. Her mum had always been by her side, no matter rain or shine. For 16 years, she had received her mother's unconditional love. Although she would be teased sometimes for not having a father, it didn't bother her, because she had a mum. How terrible it must have been for Natsume to not have a mother by his side physically. How terrible indeed.
"My lady, you must help him. Try to get him to open up, I'm sure you can do it," he patted Mikan's shoulders, as if he was begging her to save his master from falling further into darkness.
"I will, I mean… I'll try my best."
A/N: Once again, thank you for reading~!