#chapter 1b

Welcome to Funtimes At Work, a Five Nights At Freddy’s fanfiction! What follows under the cut is the first chapter of the story, ‘Diego’s First Day.’ This chapter is 10,074 words long. In order to make this post easier to manage, the chapter is cut in half. This half is 4,421 words long. This chapter half is available to read under the cut.

“Dean… Dean-Angelo,” Dean-Angelo thinks to himself, reassuring himself of his knowledge of his own name. His friends sometimes call him “D.A.” What a strange thing to think you could of forgotten, Dean ponders to himself, furling his brow as he sits in his bed. Soft overcast light peaks through the lowered blinds of his window, gently falling upon the floor of his bedroom in neat consecutive rows. The cool sounds of pattering rain and a whistling breeze can be heard outside. Dean turns his gaze towards his alarm clock. “1:45pm” it reads in harshly indifferent digital numbering. “Time to get up, I guess,” Dean says, breaking his fugue to drag himself out of bed. Dean has been having strange dreams recently. In which, he catches glimpses of outlandishly different worlds, bizzare creatures, and horrid events. However once Dean wakes up, he can only barely recall any but two of these visions. One is a recurring nightmare in which Dean is assaulted by an indistinguishable shadow figure, but is always cut short before Dean can retaliate. The second is whatever Dean dreamed last night, of which he cannot remember a thing, but left him awaking with an overwhelming sense of loss, and confusion. And nausea, Dean thinks to himself as he brings himself to his feet in the center of the room, the churning feeling of sickness roiling firmly in the pit of his stomach. He makes his way dizzily towards the bathroom.

After a quick shower and cleaning himself up Dean heads towards the living room, his nausea still present. He had stood around in the bathroom for several minutes, waiting to see if he would vomit, hoping to have gotten it over with so he could relieve himself of this troublesome sickness, but it was to no avail. This nausea was the persistent kind, the kind  of nausea that sits in your gut like a rock, simmering all day, but never boiling to the top, a constant incessant reminder of discomfort. In fact, the only things Dean had been able to achieve in the bathroom, is that now he had minor headache to accompany his unease. “Mom!” “Buddy!” Dean calls out as he passes an empty kitchen into his empty living room. He was the only one in the apartment “I guess they’re out right now,” Dean says to himself and the sound of the breeze picking up outside. “Good thing I don’t have school or work today, I think I’m getting sick,”

Dean decides to skip breakfast, feeling a mixture of too much discomfort to cook anything, and doubt in his ability to keep food down. Making it just does not seem worth the effort. He sits down on the couch to relax and watch T.V. instead.

“...strange weather patterns have been continuing to exponentially increase in recent months,” reads an anchorman on the television “Experts are at lost as readings continue to diverge, even from normal predictions of global warmi-ksshht,”

“Ugh, News,” Dean sighs as he changes the channel.

“...Cult activity on the rise as more and more fringe religious groups announce radical predict-ksshht,”

“...Scientists warn globe as strange foreign energy readings are discovered above major population centers across the worl-ksshht,”

“...is your local weather. Winds are on a sudden and unpredicted upturn in the greater Sacramento area. It is advised to be on the lookout for storm warni-kssht,”

“Why is it always just News,” Dean complains to himself, as he turns off the T.V. His headache beginning to become a minor nuisance alongside his nausea. The wind outside now begins to howl. “The News has been on a lot lately,” Dean thinks to himself  “all kinds of crazy people and weather going on everywhere. I guess the world is just going to Hell,” Dean quietly chuckles to himself before groaning in discomfort. He pulls himself up from the couch to find another distraction.

Before his sickness could get any worse Dean decides he should take some medicine. Popping a couple of Over-the-Counter pills from his medicine cabinet he hopes that his symptoms will soon ease. Dean then walks back to his bedroom deciding to use his computer to distract himself. He begins to browse the internet, but this does not help for very long. Social Media talks about all the same topics as the Television News, and it is equally just as boring. Dean does find some joy however, when he begins chatting with his friends on their online group messaging board. Most of them are offline at the moment, but a couple are there to talk.

“Damn the wind is crazy right now,” Deans friend Matt texts to the group chat. Matt is almost always online, and usually the first to respond when anyone else sends something.

“It really is, I saw some tree branches get blown down,” Dean’s friend David responds.

“Yeah I can hear it right now,” Dean adds as the wind continues to steadily wail on outside. They continue to talk like this for a while, and it is a welcome distraction for Dean. But it does not stop the continuous rolling in his stomach, nor the growing pain in his skull. Dean mentions this sickness to the group chat, as well as the current absence of his mother and godfather, the tediousness of the News, his boredom, and again his discomfort. The three of them discuss these points and then eventually move on to other topics.   They reach a point in the conversation is which David is in the middle of typing some rant about a recent game, when suddenly Dean’s cellphone belts out a shockingly loud alarm. The alarm tone rings painfully through Dean’s head, reverberating with the throbbing pulse of his migraine, and sending another wave of nausea up from his stomach. In his discomfort Dean picks up his phone to see what the alarm is about. “WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT: EXTREME AND UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER. PLEASE STAY INDOORS,” It reads concerningly.

“Hey Did you guys get that WEA alarm just now?” Dean asks the group chat, as the wind howls inconceivably loud outside. Dean decides takes this moment to raise his blinds and look out his window for the first time today, and he is disturbed to find the cloud formation that is forming overhead; A massive hurricane-esque spiral of dark clouds, beginning to slowly spin inwards above. This massive form is concentrating at its center in the direction of downtown. Just looking at this spectacle seems to cause Dean’s migraine to throb even worse, and his stomach to turn over twice. Even Dean’s limbs are beginning to feel weak.

“Yeah I’m going to have to go,” Dean’s computer dings as Matt responds to the group chat. “My dad wants me to help quickly strap things for down for the storm,”

“Yeah, I should be going to,” David adds.

“Oh… okay. Later guys,” Dean attempts to type back into the chat, but his friends are already gone. Dean is alone once again. His head suffers as if it were being drilled into. His stomach roils in unease like a ship tossed at sea. And his limbs and body feel torrid and heavy as if he were left out to bake in the sweltering sun. He cannot bear it any longer. He rises up in an effort to go find more medicine, but his own two legs no longer have the strength to hold him. His vision blurs. He stumbles as the room spins dizzily around him. His burning fever barely allows him two wobbly steps, before his knees fold underneath him and he comes down. Slapping a hand to the wall, he is lucky to guide his decent, coming to kneel in front of the window, he rests an arm on the sill. From here the wind outside practically screams in Dean’s ears. The screeching sound of ungodly wails rips through the trees and at the walls of Dean’s apartment, as the vortex of clouds in the sky spins rapidly now, like water going down a drain. Rain pelts the side of the building in heavy sheets, as Dean suffers in silence, kneeling in front of this window. His body feels like it’s burning itself away. The world outside continues to cry on, resonating with the pain inside Dean. It too feeling as if it were tearing itself apart, and then suddenly.. It does.

A crack of lightning and roar of thunder wail deafeningly across the land, breaking through all dissonance. This shocks Dean out of balance, as it shakes his whole apartment, forcing him to grasp at the window sill to keep. He gazes painfully out the window at the dark gray sky above as it strangely begins to shift in hue. In the distance he sees the eye of the storm begin to widen as a crimson overtone bleeds out across the heavens. Dean winces in pain as the ground beneath him continues to shake violently. Then he sees it, off in the distance, emerging from the center of the reddening storm, a bulbous shape bulging out from the widen gap in the clouds. Likely miles in diameter, this mysterious shape is incomprehensibly huge. The clouds begin to part, and Dean is struck by a wave of stabbing pain once more as this shape emerges; A humongous glassy sheened dome, fiery amber in color with a deep dark void-black gash of a slit in the center, pushing down from the very heart of this violent vortex. The eye of the storm becomes an actual eye, unnatural, gargantuan, and devilishly reptilian, gazing down at the timid earth beneath it.

Dean, still kneeling, finds himself dumbfounded at the events that have just unfolded. He is unable to comprehend, and his vision begins to fade. His limbs grow even even weaker, the room begins to spin wildly around him, and all of his senses scream in such pain that he is begins to fall numb. Gazing out he sees the massive abhorrent ocular gazing in turn at the ground directly beneath it. Then suddenly, Dean sees the ceiling, as the last of his strength gives out, he falls onto his back in the center of his room. His vision is almost completely dark now.

“Wow, you’d think after this many loops you’d be desensitized to this initial wave of unholy energy by now, but I guess not,” Dean hears out of nowhere, recognizing the familiar voice. Above him he is barely able to make out the faded figure of the young man with the blonde hair.

“C-Chris?... What the fu-,”

“Me?” you exclaim, as if startled from an impossibly lengthy slumber. You do not remember anything.

“Yep, That’s you. At least one of them is,” the voice of young man replies. You look down and are shocked to find six kneeling bodies, charred absolutely beyond recognition. These burnt husks of whom they once were lie in a precise circle, all facing a mysterious ornate box, perched glowing in the center of their scorched remains. “It’s a pretty gruesome sight, isn’t it? I’d be in shock too, if I hadn’t seen you guys do this a dozen times already”

“Do what a dozen times already?!” you attempt to call out, only to realize you do not have a mouth with which to speak. In fact, you realize you do not have any sort of corporeal body, at all. You are nothing but your thoughts and what you can see from your position; floating several feet above one of the charred bodies. You look up to find five small floating flames, flickering, but still glowing a bright brilliant blue. They are level with you, and are also floating several feet above the various other burnt corpses. “Am I one of these little flames?” You think to yourself, “Are we connected to these bodies?” You still can not remember a thing.

“At least the scenery is kind of nice. In an eierry sort of way” the young man’s voice continues, he sounds very familiar to you, as if you should know who he is, but it is only now that you realize you cannot even see the young man who speaks to you.

You look out to the scenery of which he refers, and are again startled. You, the ring of burnt bodies, and more accurately, the mysteriously glowing ornate box, are in the center of an incomprehensibly massive crater. Ginormous waves of earthen ground ripple evenly out from the center for at least a mile in every direction, like the waves of an enormous stone thrown into a giant pond, frozen in place. The static ringed-waves of devastated landscape, glimmer a soft purple-hued black sheen of obsidian under an overcast sky. The thick blanket of clouds above, a dark lavender-gray of ash and smoke hung in the atmosphere, drifts lazily east towards the horizon, in the same direction as the smaller plumes of smoke and dust that dances along the dark inky crests of scorched earth. The sun is but a pale faded glow directly overhead, hidden by thick smog. In the distance you can see the expended match sticks of what were once trees, surrounding you at the edges of the clearing, pointing outwards at acute angles, blown down by the whatever force caused this devastation. Here in the center of the crater are cracks in the ground, still glowing the passionate orange of embers clinging to thier heat, and at the very center of these cracks is again the box; ornate, mysterious, and emanating a strange radiance.

There is a long moment of silence as you, and seemingly the five other wisps, ponder the surrounding scenery, before the voice chimes in again.

“Oh sorry! I forget, you all probably still think this is the first time you have gone through this.” the voice pauses once more “I wish you guys could actually talk back right now. You all talk back so much, all the time. It’s weird to not hear you now, y’know” The voice states, seemingly in reassurance of itself, rather than in search of any confirmation. You doubt you could even give it a meaningful response, considering you still can’t even find whoever it is speaking to you. The voice seems to come from all directions at once, or perhaps from within your own mind, or whatever non-physical existence acts as it.

“Y’all probably not going to remember anything after this. You never do.” The voice continues matter-of-factly “To be honest, I don’t even know if any of you even remember anything right now.” This frustrates you as you struggle, as hard as you can, to try and remember anything, anything at all, from before you woke here shortly ago, but it is to no avail. It is as if your memories simply do not exist anymore. Perhaps you don’t even exist anymore. The thought of this is foreboding, and makes you uneasy. Yet despite this overwhelming feeling of dread you can’t help but feel, somewhere deep inside of yourself, that there is something that you need to be doing.

“It’s weird though,” continues the voice again, a little more light-heartedly than before “I don’t know whether y’all know what you’ve been through or not, or if you know just how many times you’ve been through this, yet despite how much or how little explanation I give you all each time, you’re all willing to go through this process again and again.” the young man’s voice sounds of that of concerned but proud parent at this point “That’s the power of determination I suppose”

You still don’t understand anything to which this young man’s voice refers, yet you believe he speaks the truth, as you feel that gut feeling from deep withinside yourself begin to grow. A turmoil of emotions; anger, confusion, loss, regret yet also companionship, triumph, wisdom, valor, and above all this, you feel determination. You feel as if you, as if all of you, have been greatly wronged, and although you comprehend nothing of which this voice speaks, you believe fully that he is offering you a chance, once again, to undo what has been done. You notice the five other wisps surrounding you begin to swell and spark, as if overcome with similar emotions.

You hear a warm chuckle from the voice as you assume he witnesses this “Well I can’t hear any of you, but it looks like you’re all ready to go, so let’s get back to business,” he says.

The wind suddenly begins to pick up. Sand and ash whip eastward as a soft column of light begins to shine down on the box right in the center of your circle. You can vaguely hear what sounds like a harmonic chorus carried along on the cacophony of the breeze. You look up the soft beam of light, but it becomes difficult to look towards the source. It shines much brighter than any sun normally should, even more so than it should hidden behind the thick layer of smog that still hangs in the sky. Yet despite this, you are able to make out the shape of person fading into existence, descending from a point in the sky that you are certain there was not a figure before. As the figure descends towards the ground, the intense light and cacophony of wind begin to dissipate, once again returning to their previous levels of overcast sky and gentle breeze of dust and smoke. The figure comes to stop, still floating about a foot off the ground. It is a young man, who you’re certain you should recognize. Definitely the source of voice that has been speaking to you, but you simply can not remember who he is. He is tall and lithe, wearing plain clothes. He smiles warmly as his blonde hair floats gently in the breeze, glowing similarly to the box beneath him, backlit by a radiance eternally behind him, despite the angle from which he is viewed. He looks around the circle with stunning green eyes, giving each wisp, including you, an understanding nod before leaning down and examining the box below.

“Ah, fine craftsmanship as always you guys,” he speaks, the voice you were hearing coming from a definite source now. The box glows stronger as he nears “Well, let’s open this up. Shall we?” The box glows intensely now, beginning to hum ominously as the young man places a hand on both sides of the now brightly lit box. The young man closes his eyes, and an intense look of concentration forms on his face, when something unexpected begins to happen. The boxes ornate intricacies begin to unfold from themselves. However, unlike that of normal box which would reveal a space inside for something to be stored, every time this box unfolds from itself, another seemingly mechanical intricacy pushes out from within the box to fill it’s space, causing the box to seemingly grow larger. This happens on every visible surface, as the entire mass continues to glow brighter and hum louder. This shape of seemingly infinite density, continuing to mechanically unfold from itself, revealing more and more volume, as it doubles, triples, and then quadruples in size. The intense looks of concentration is still plastered on this young man’s face as he guides this bizarrely mysterious, ornate unfolding box, once small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, now the size of a small child. This ordeal continues for a while longer, until the young man finally lets up as the now strange polygonal shape stands in the center of the circle. Roughly the size of a refrigerator, it glows a painfully brilliant bright white, and hums unbearably, like a million swarming bees. You’re almost forced to avert your gaze from whatever this young man has conjured from the box when suddenly the bright light and intense humming bursts away in a cloud dust and hiss of steam.

You are stunned once again, almost angered in fact as this new object stands in the center of your circle, more shocking than anything else that has happened in the last few minutes. The object is a large, roughly refrigerator sized metal box, with one of its faces, presumably the front side, having a section pushed inwards. A black glassy screen backs this concave segment, and a control panel runs across the bottom. All sides of this machine are covered in foggy glass bulbs, and glossy, colorful paintings, at least a couple decades old in style. Then out of nowhere, with a flickering stutter, the machine jumps into life! The bulbs click on, as they begin to flash rhythmically, to dramatic orchestral music sung out by the boxy machine in a buzzing electronic chiptune. The glossy paintings on either side of this contraption, lit by the pulsing lights and accompanied by the 8-bit soundtrack, depict a variety of demonic figures, monsters, angels, and other strange creatures. All of this surrounds a central image of six heroic looking figures in intense battle with a single, massively oversized devilish being. Everything being painted in a bright, dynamic, popping technicolored 80’s retro fantasy style. The backlit sign on top of the frontend of this machine reads “Hell’s Land” as the screen below glows with a simple image. White gothic text on the black background reads “GAME OVER” and a subtext beneath “Play Again?” Below that are six pixelated images of flickering blue wisps, rhythmically floating up and down, in line with the only six buttons on the control panel beneath.

“Well here, it is” The young man finally speaks once more “What’s supposed to be your guys’ last resort, here again for who knows how many times now” he looks on at the machine, his smile attempting to conceal a furled brow of pain and frustration, but he quickly shakes this emotion away “I’m sure you guys are going to win this time” he reassures. You a feel a bit a uneasy for a moment, but your determination still burns strong. “Whenever you’re all ready, we’ll begin the process”

You don’t care what the process is, you think to yourself, something terribly bad has happened and you already know it is you who needs to make things right. You trust this man to help you do so. You are already ready to go. Suddenly a short tune of electronic chimes plays from the machine as it reads “CHAMPION ONE: READY” across the screen. One of the pictured wisps does a little flourish as it turns a soothing shade of green. You’re shortly followed by all five of the other “champions”. Each wisp turning a bright green both on screen, and in the air surrounding you, all with short chiptunes. The young man gives another comforting, yet almost sad looking smile as he watches this happen. “Yep, you guys are as ready to go as ever.” He gives off a sigh “I really hope you guys can do it this time. Good luck!”

Then out of nowhere there is an Earth shattering crash of thunder. You whip around to see what’s happening, but when you turn back both the young man and the mystic arcade machine are gone without a trace. Once again you are alone. Five other wisps, six burnt bodies, no glowing box, all in the center of this massive crater, and everything is quiet again. That’s when you notice something strange happening once more. Almost imperceptible at first, you begin to sense an eerie shift in the weather and world surrounding you. Everything seems to be less colorful, and moving slower. The thick blanket of clouds once drifting lazily to the east, now barely crawl at a snail’s pace. The plumes of smoke, and whirlwinds of dust that once danced along the ground in the same direction, now feel unnatural, moving at a such pace that would not support such movement. The color continues to slowly drain out of the already bleak landscape, taking the last bit of vibrance this world had left.  Eventually it all comes to a stop; the clouds, the smoke, the dust, all frozen in place as unnerving semi-transparent sculptures. It’s a completely gray-scaled motionless landscape. You thought it was quiet before, but now it is utterly and uncomfortably silent. Not even the gentle whistle of the breeze exist anymore to give you solace. Only stillness and silence persists.

Then out of nowhere once again the young man’s voice begins to speak. Only now he is somber, almost entirely emotionless, yet his words are booming and a feel overflowing with unnerving power.

“By the powers of Creation, we craft this vessel’s hull,” his voice rings out with immense energy.

“And by the powers of Destruction we render this path null,” again there is an Earth shattering crack of thunder.

“By the powers of Heart we guide our heroes’ home,”

The noise of a gentle breeze returns again as you begin to notice some color and movement returning to the world.

“And by the powers of Space we retrace the lands that they roam,”

The universe begins to pick up speed once more, but, strangely, you notice, the clouds above now drift west.

“By the powers of Mind we parse fates by which we are bound,”

The world around you does not stop gaining momentum, but looking towards the ground to examine the new wind pattern, you’re perturbed to find the small jets of smoke streaming from the ground still point east. The smoke now materializes from thin air and retracts back into its source, as the whirlwinds of sand and dust retrace their familiar patterns,”

“And by the powers of Time we command them all unwound!” Your entire surrounding environment seems to be backtracking itself at an ever increasing rate. The wind becomes a howl as the overcast sky runs towards the western horizon. Flashes of debris whip by, and ever growing  snakes of smog burrow back into flames from whence they came.

Yet you six glowing green wisps continue to persist, your charred bodies still beneath you as the universe continues accelerating in reverse. The smoke grows into burning fires, and crevices reignite molten glows as the world around you presumably returns to source of all this devastation. Then, again out of nowhere, it happens, and you’re barely able to catch it. The entire heavens above turn a burning crimson red as you are shaken to your very core by the ghastly noise of monstrous laughter in reverse. You peer upwards just in time to see the very face of horror itself materialize from the sky above, an arm larger than any imaginable building reaches downwards, as massive sparks begin forming in every direction, and then suddenly nothing, but blindingly intense, unbearably hot, wrathful light, consuming your entire being.

“But we can only go back from whence we begin,” the young man’s voice speaks out a final time.

“To alter your fates, you must try, try again,”

The light is then gone again in an instant, as well as another several dozen flashing images. The world around you moves at an incomprehensible pace now. Events are here and gone before you can even think to fathom a detail. Days and nights strobe by in fractions of seconds, as the heavenly entities above whip across the sky at impossible speeds in the wrong direction. You can vaguely just make out the blurring lined movement of people interacting below from day to day. In fact you are able to make out what you think are six unique blurring motions of individuals. The six individuals consistently group together, and are almost always centered beneath you. It’s difficult to see, but you just might thing one of them, is occasionally more than one however. Then suddenly, before you know it, the reverse begins to slow down. You can clearly make out all six champions now. You feel yourself drawn around as you now hover specifically above one them in particular. The five other wisps are now dragged around above a respective champion as well. Those must be your friends, you think, and this one, this one is you? You don’t know what to make of any of this, but before you are even able to form a thought, the reversing world around you comes to a halt, and the five floating wisps and champions are gone. It is only you now, and what could only be yourself sleeping below. Then as quickly as everything else, you suddenly feel the unmistakable force of gravity, and you’re ghostly form is falling. No, not falling, being pulled down towards your body. You have no time to react before you come crashing down into your physical form, and before you know it, everything has gone black. 

While writing this, I admit, I know that this chapter is kinda frustrating, but it's male vs female mentality problem... can't really be helped, esp since I imagine Louis as really innocent minded so... there's a lot that he won't understand.

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Chapter 1B – Louis POV

It’s been a week now since I’ve been her temporary butler. I feel like the more that I’m around her, the more mistakes I keep making…

Last week, she requested that we go to see a movie.  During the drive there, I watched her from the rear view mirror. She had such an excited look on her face that I couldn’t help wondering what the movie was that she was so excited over.

Once we arrived, I got out and opened the door for her. She exited the car as though she was walking on air. Again, her level of excitement made me wonder.

Well not sure how many people have read 1A, but thanks to the people who "liked" it. Glad to know there are some people who have given it a chance. As mentioned before, Chapter 1B is Luke's point-of-view of what happened in Chapter 1A. Enjoy~!

-Sleepy Riceball

P.S. Not sure when I'll get around to Chapter 2. I'll most likely be busy for quite some time, but rest assured, it will continue... eventually...

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Falling for you – Luke Version

Chapter 1B

It was a week ago when she arrived here at Liberty Castle. She was invited by Prince Keith to be his royal designer and it was clear how excited she was. At the time, I didn’t think much of her, other than that she was the new hire. However, as the days go by, the more and more I find myself attracted to her. Every day she would need me to escort her to her different work places and then back to her room. Normally I would find such helplessness rather annoying, but for some reason, it’s different when it comes to her.

“Luke!!!”

The sound of Prince Keith calling for me woke me out of my daydream.I looked at the clock. It was only eight am. Knowing this, I hurried out of my room and then dashed over to look for Prince Keith over at his room.

“Prince Keith!” I called out while standing in front of his door, “Did you call for me?”

“Yes! Come in!” growled Prince Keith.

I opened the door, walked in, and bowed. “What seems to be the problem, your highness?”

“It’s this dress shirt. Look at it! It looks baggy on me!” He frowned in front of his vanity mirror.

“Should I take it back to the designer?”

“Yes!” He growled as he took the dress shirt off and tossed it over to me. “Let her know that I hate it. Honestly! She should know this!”

“Of course. If you’ll excuse me, your Highness.” I bowed and Prince Keith wafted his hand telling me to leave.

I hurried over to her room. As I stood there in front of her door, I hesitated for a moment. What if she is still asleep? However, this could not be helped. I gently knocked. No response. I knocked a little harder the second time. Again, no response. “Maybe she is still asleep?” I thought aloud and decided to open the door.  I slowly turned the knob and lightly pushed the door forward. There she was in front her desk, seemingly lost in thought. I walked over, placed Prince Keith’s dress shirt on her bed and then looked over her shoulder.  She was attempting to draw a map of the castle.

“Alright, here’s my room, and the room that is ten to the right from mine is the… library.” she said.

I couldn’t help, but chuckle a little before saying, “Actually that room is−”

She jumped out of her seat. “Oh!” She let out a sigh of relief. “It’s only you, Luke. You scared me for a second.”

“I apologize, Miss.” I said as I bowed.

Surprised by my gesture she said, “Oh! No need to apologize!”

I couldn’t help, but smile since most young ladies wouldn’t think that way. I then turned her attention back to the map that she was drawing. “As I was saying,” I pointed, “that room is not the library, but a storage room.”

She started to blush. “…oh…”

She is really hopeless, isn’t she? I then decided to ask, “Would you like me to retrieve a map for you?”

“No, it’s just that… I prefer one that is detailed, but more on the simple side. One that pinpoints where I need to go and some notable rooms so that I won’t get lost.”  

I held back my laughter from seeing her being so flustered when explaining. I bowed and then said, “Well, if you do not mind, I would be honored to make such a map for you.”

“Oh, Luke, I couldn’t possibly burden you when you already have so much to do.” She paused for a moment. “Speaking of which, why are you in my room?” She gave me a puzzled look.

I gestured to the dress shirt and then explained, “Prince Keith stated that this dress shirt is too loose for him to wear and requests that you make it more form-fitting.”

She took the dress shirt, observed it for a few seconds, and with a big smile on her face, she said, “It will be an easy fix. I’ll hand deliver it to Prince Keith by noon.”

I smiled in acknowledgment, bowed, and started to walk towards the door.  

“Luke, I….” she suddenly said in a panic.

I turned around and chuckled, “I understand. Shall we get going then?”

She nodded. I waited for her to get her things and then we headed out. A few minutes later we arrived in front of the Designer’s Room.

“Thank you, Luke,” she said.

“It was my pleasure.” I bowed and excused myself.

I could hear the sound of her high heels walking into the room as I continued walking forward down that hallway. I then started to go make my rounds. It is my duty, after all, even as a Butler-in-Training, to make sure that everything is in order in the castle. Luckily for me, operations were running smoothly so I was able to finish my rounds early. I then decided to head back to my room. This was the best time, after all, to sketch that map for her.

“She wanted a simplified version of a detailed map, right?” I thought aloud and started sketching as best as I could. When I finished, I picked it up and looked at it straight on. “I’ll have to apologize for my handwriting…”

Suddenly, someone knocked at my door. “Luke, are you in there?”

I quickly folded the map and tucked in away in my pocket. “Ah! Y-yes! Come in!”

One of the servants walked in with a pile of papers in his hand. He took some papers from the top of the pile and handed it over to me. “Luke, these are for Prince Keith. Could you deliver them to him for me, please?”

“Of course.” I said and I took the stack from him.

He thanked me and then he went off to deliver the rest of the pile.

I looked at the clock. It was a quarter past noon. I knew that at this time, Prince Keith would be at his office so I started to walk over.

I wonder if she’d still be there. She did say that she would be delivering Prince Keith’s dress shirt to him by noon. Thoughts of her filled my mind. I continued to walk down the hallway while daydreaming. Suddenly, someone ran into me!

“Oh no! I’m so sorry. I’m sooo sorrryyy!” a voice yelled.

I recognized the voice. “It’s fine. No harm done.” I said as I started to pick up the papers I dropped from our collision.

 “Luke, I’m so sorry! Let me help pick those papers up.” 

“No need to, I got them all.” I said as I picked up the last few pieces of paper.

She was silent for a moment. “I’m so useless…” she uttered.

I looked at her and I could see tears starting to form in her eyes. I gently smiled as I tried to encourage her, “Please do not say that. You are still new here. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” It was then that I realized that her face was very red. She doesn’t have a fever now, does she? She seemed fine this morning, but with colds…I couldn’t help myself, I had to ask, “Miss, are you alright? Your face is very red.”

“I-I’m fine.” She squeaked.

Is she trying to hide the fact that she is sick so I wouldn’t worry? “Are you sure? Your face is very red. Do you have a fever?”

“No, no. I’m fine. I’m absolutely fine. I just came from Prince Keith’s office. You know, just delivered his dress shirt. That’s all.” She said while being very flustered.

I suppose she doesn’t want me to be alarmed about it. It’s best if I just played along. “Ah, so everything is good now?”

“Yes, he approved of it. So I’m just going to go back to my room and rest for a little bit.”

“Will you be able to find it without any problems?”

She paused for a moment then her eyes met mine. She whimpered, “…Luke…”

I laughed at how adorably pathetic she looked. “Please wait right here. I have to hand these documents over to Prince Keith and I will be right back to escort you.” She nodded and I hurried over to Prince Keith’s office so that she would not have to wait long.

I knocked on the door. “Prince Keith, it’s Luke! I have new documents for you!”

“Come in, if you must!” groaned Prince Keith.

I opened the door , walked over to his desk, and placed the documents down.

“Really, Luke?...” He flashed me a look of annoyance.

“It cannot be helped, your Highness.” I smiled. Just then I noticed that the Prince Keith’s dress shirt was buttoned incorrectly. “Your Highness, the buttons on your dress shirt!” I gestured to the button. Keith looked down, sighed, and then started to undo the buttons.

“That designer was here. I changed into the dress shirt that she had to fix.” He grumbled.

Then it clicked for me. My heart started to beat a little faster. “You changed in front of her?”

“Why is that so surprising for everyone today?!” He snapped.

“My apologies.” I said as I bowed. It makes sense now. She doesn’t have a fever, she was blushing because of Prince Keith. I was such a fool to think she was thinking of me. I couldn’t help, but feel a little sadden from finding out the truth. I didn’t want to remain in the room much longer so I then asked, “Is there anything you need, Prince Keith?”

“No, there’s nothing. You can go.” He said as he finished buttoning his shirt.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me…” I placed my right hand over my heart, bowed, and then left. I started to walk back to where she was. After I turned the corner, I saw her still there, patiently waiting for me. I felt a little pain in my heart as I slowed my pace down. Many thought were running in my mind. She likes him, right? He is a prince, after all. But…no! I cannot assume that she was blushing because she was attracted to him. What if, she is just shy. Yes! That’s right! She’s just shy. Besides, Prince Keith shouldn’t be undressing in front of a young lady anyways. I talked myself into feeling a bit of relief before I had to talk to her.

“Shall we get going?” I asked as I approached her.

She nodded. I couldn’t bring myself to walk alongside her as we normally do so I decided walk ahead. She soon trailed behind. What am I thinking? I shouldn’t be thinking this way about her. It’s only been a week and I’m already acting this way. This isn’t how a butler should act!

While lost in thought, suddenly I hear her say, “I’m sorry Luke. You’re always having to escort me.”

I was caught off guard by her words and automatically answered, “No need to apologize. It is my job after all, to look after everyone in castle.” It was the answer I am so accustomed to saying.

“But still!” she whimpered, “I…I shouldn’t add more work for you…”

I looked into her eyes and noticed she was about to cry. Never had I ever met someone who ever cared so much as to whether they were a burden to me. Without a doubt, she is such an endearing commoner.  

“I appreciate the sentiment,” I laughed, “but truly, I do not mind. Especially when it comes to such a lady as yourself.” As though surprised by my words, she suddenly turned from looking at the ground to looking at me. “I see your face isn’t red anymore,” I said, wanting to tease her a little.

“Oh? That’s good then…”

I noticed she started to blush. The image of her reddened face earlier flashed in my mind. I felt like my heart was in knot. I just have to know. No, I need to know what was going through her mind earlier. I looked deep into her eyes, paused for a moment and then asked, “By chance, did something happen between you and Prince Keith?”

She turned away. “No. N-nothing special happened. Just that I handed the dress shirt to him and he tried it on, then told me to leave.”

I felt a pain in my heart after seeing her reaction. “Ah. Well, that’s good then. You see, Prince Keith can sometimes be quite the…”

“Ah… I see.” She said rather coldly.

Trying to elicit the answer I wanted, I continued, “As I’m sure you have noticed, Prince Keith is a handsome man and many women are attracted to him.”

“Yeah, I could imagine that…”

I couldn’t take it anymore. “Well, what about you? What do you think of Prince Keith?”

“Huh?” She suddenly turned to look at me. I stared at her, hoping for the response that I wanted, but then she turned away. We continued to walk in silence. I could see how red she was turning. I suppose, I got my answer. Sadly, it isn’t the one I wanted…

I took a deep breath, “We’re here,” I said.

She looked to confirm, bowed to me, and made a dash for her room.

“Wait!” I shouted.

She sheepishly turned to face me. Her face was so clearly red. It only pained me to look at her. I quickly reached into my pocket and gave her the map that I sketched for her. “This is for you, Miss.” She took it from my hand. I bowed to her and then said, “If you’ll excuse me…”

“Ah, yes…um… thank you.”