Bambi and the Duke

A few years passed where little Vivian had grown older to the time from when Leonard had gone to live at the Rune's mansion. The girl had grown to be at the age of thirteen, grown up in height and mind where she had come to the age where one started to understand the world she lived in.

She wore a dress which was a pale olive color that was gifted by Mrs. Carmichael. She was wearing her shoe when she heard Paul call for her,

"Vivi, are you ready?" there was a knock on the closed door.

"Yes, Paul! I will be there in two minutes!" she said getting up and starting to braid her blonde hair. Pulling out the little hairs near the side of her head, she pushed the mattress to take the penny's she had collected and received for her work before leaving the servant's quarters room.

Having taken the day off both Paul and Vivian had planned to visit Paul's sister's family who lived two villages away from them. Vivian who had grown up under the care of Martha and Paul had no one but them to be called the closest family she could have.

"I am ready, Paul," Vivian came hurriedly to be scolded by Paul.

"Vivi!" she was loud and it wasn't good for servants to be loud, "If you aim to be a housekeeper you need to learn the basic etiquette of how to behave like one."

"Yes," chirped Vivian who didn't mind his scoldings. Paul's scoldings were as good as her listening to it in one ear and leaving it out in the other one. Paul was going to be there once she would want to move to another household where she could aim to be a housekeeper which was the highest level for a female servant. As Martha and Paul were the ones to look after the Carmichael mansion, she could easily learn to be the best housekeeper.

"But don't tell it to anyone," reminded Paul. Pureblooded vampires and the humans who belonged to the higher society didn't take it well when they lost their maids to another family. Vivian was a different case as she was never bought from the slave establishment nor was she a former maids relative where she was obliged to serve the family. And even though she was free to choose where to work at, he believed there was one certain person who wouldn't agree to it.

The young master, master Leonard was close to the girl who was now happily chirping about something she had found in the attic while she was cleaning yesterday. The young master and her had met when they were children and strangely, their relationship had continued with the letters that they often exchanged in a month to keep in touch as Leonard didn't stay at Carmichael's mansion.

Though they didn't spend as much time as they used to before, something told and nagged him that the young master wouldn't be happy to hear it. There was a time when he wanted to burn the letter which Vivian had written as burning the master's letter could lead him to punishment. He wanted to do so knowing this was going to lead to something very big when they would grow up into adults.

Paul had seen plenty of cases like this, where the servant and the master or the mistress fell in love to only be heartbroken. Humans didn't have a place in the elite society, at least not in the pureblooded families as many refused to acknowledge relationships like those due to class and kind differences. The last thing he wanted was for his little Vivi to have her heartbroken. But in the end, he had sent the letter she had so earnestly written to the boy. He didn't have the heart to burn it, they were children and he somewhere hoped things would change in the future.

But how would have Paul known what the future held, that one day the little children would share more than a maid and master of the house relationship?

Once they reached the village where his sister lived with her husband and son, Vivian jumped out of the local carriage they had used to board and she hurried Paul along with her, "Walk fast, Paul!"

"I am getting old here, Vivi. You go ahead," he said to see her shake her head.

"How can you say you're getting old when you haven't married. You don't even have children yet," Vivian's words were innocent but it made Paul realize the non-existent family which he couldn't have to call as his own. Sure he had a sister but a man needed a woman. As if realizing what she said, Vivian apologized, "We'll find you a person soon."

"Women are difficult to woo, Vivi," the housekeeper said to feel Vivian link her arm around his hand, "They are like butterflies. You think you have caught them but you haven't," he shook his head, "They want something more than what I can offer."

"You don't need women like those, Paul," Vivian quickly responded with a frown on her forehead.

"True, but you will find many to be like that now as everyone wants a roof and food on their plate. They want to have a man who could provide the things that other married or at least the decent earners can provide them."

"One day I will earn myself, Paul and then make the man fall in love with me," declared Vivian making the man laugh next to her.

"I look forward to it, Vivi. Seems like my sister repotted the plants since we last arrived here," Paul noted looking at the small house which belonged to his sister's family.

After being close to Leonard, the next person Vivian had grown close to was Charlotte but outside Carmichael's residence, it was Thomas, Paul's nephew who she had grown fond of as a friend. Thomas was the same age as Leonard, a human who was warm-hearted as the family Paul was related to.

"I made gloves for you," Vivian handed the gloves she had knitted by herself which was far from being called gloves but it was the attempt that made it special. Having learned to knit by Thomas himself who helped in the house earnings, the girl believed he deserved the first knit of hers.

"They are lovely, Vivi," Paul's sister encouraged her looking down at the glove Vivian had passed to Thomas, "In time, you will be able to knit much more better."

"Yes," chimed Vivian with happiness.

"Thank you, Vivi. I shall treasure this," the boy looked down and then up at her with a smile, "By the way, if you are looking for wool, Mr. Hans has been selling them fr cheaper rate. Maybe you can use them until you start to knit professionally. You can earn money from them," of course, that was one of the reasons why she had started to learn it. The money she received from the mansion wasn't enough, it was never enough for anyone but just a little less than one could consider it to be sufficient to leave the household and be on their own. It was so because the owners or the masters who belonged to the house didn't want to leave the servants easily. It was one of the ways to keep a servant around by making them work for them until the end of the time.

Some time passed with Vivian hovering around Paul's sister who was cooking a new dish where she tried to learn what all was being used when they heard a knock on their door.

"Thomas, can you go see who it is," his mother called for him to open the door.

Hearing some shuffling noise and words, Vivian decided to go check on who had arrived at the front door. When she looked to see who it was, a wide smile came to form on her lips.

"Leo!" she greeted with happiness.

But he wasn't alone. There was a man who stood right behind him, brown hair, red eyes who was tall in stature. Seeing him Vivian wondered who it was before Paul and the rest of the family in the house bowed their head in respect.

"Good morning, Lord Nicholas," they greeted, Vivian bowed her head but she couldn't help herself from looking at the man. He sure was handsome to be called the Lord, thought Vivian to herself.

Leonard who noticed Vivian's eyes on Lord Nicholas, turned slightly to look at him to say, "You can go back home now. No need to follow me," Lord Nicholas had planned to only drop by Carmichael's mansion but after seeing Leonard who wanted to go visit the village where this certain girl whom he had been exchanging letters was, the man couldn't help but follow him.

"Don't be so green, Leo. It doesn't look good," Lord Nicholas patted Leo but before either Vivian or Nicholas had the chance to properly meet each other, Leonard stepped inside and pulled Vivian's hand so that she could follow him out from the back door of the house.

Everyone stood stunned. One because of the Lord's presence. Two, because Leonard hadn't greeted a word but had pulled the girl with him.

Lord Nicholas hadn't got the opportunity to look at the girl clearly before the boy had pulled her away. Giving them a smile, he stepped inside the house to speak, "Apologies for not informing beforehand. We were passing by when Leonard mentioned about your humble home. May I?" asked the Lord when he had already invited himself in.

The family were too shocked to have a Lord in their house, Paul quickly pulled out the best chair and cleaned it with the sleeve of his shirt before offering it to the Lord,

"Thank you for looking after master Leonard, Lord Nicholas," Paul offered his words to have the Lord smiling.

"It is my duty to look after my subjects, he is only one of them," Lord Nicholas replied even though it was a lie everyone in the room nodded their head. To think the great Lord of their Bonelake had stepped into their home, they felt it be a fortunate day. When silence came to fall, Paul asked if they would like to have something to drink or eat.

Paul's sister's eyes had widened, what could she offer to the men here who were used to having the finest food while their's were something that was cooked to get through the day with minimum use and maximum quantity.

As if to have noticed the reaction, Lord Nicholas smiled, "That wouldn't be necessary. Our visit is a short one and we would need to leave as I have work," he smiled before the atmosphere turned awkward with silence again. With both Vivian and Leonard not at home, the people there didn't know what to speak.

"Leo, where are we going?" asked Vivian to feel his hand that was around her wrist loosen and let go, "It is good to see you," she beamed when they halted to a stop, her smile stirring something in the young Leo's heart and mind.

"You too," answered Leo, turning back to see that they were a few steps away from the house, "I thought you would be home today," it made her smile more by his words which meant he had come to meet her specifically.

"It was the time of Hallow and the market would be selling things cheaply." Like him, even Vivian had grown up. She had cut her while her body had started to gain womanly features, he cleared his throat to look away.

"What makes you think they do?"

"Thomas said so," she answered for him to nod.

"I doubt it would be cheap. With the time of festival around, merchants would like to see their goods for a higher price to gain more return value. What do you want to buy?"

Vivian bit the inside of her cheek, "Just a few things," though the boy didn't question on it, he did note that she had begun to hide things from him, "I am learning to knit from Thomas."

"That's good, you can be more useful with your time," he responded back looking at her.

"Yes, I even made one and gifted it to him," this caught his attention.

"I see. I must get going now."

"So soon?" there was a look of disappointment on the girl's face which somewhere reduced the brewing jealousy in his heart. That's right, thought Leonard, miss me while you spend your time here. Leonard had too much pride to ask for a knitted piece from her while Vivian was clueless as to what happened.

"Nicholas has some urgent work," he said starting to walk back to the house.

"When will you come next?"

"I will let you know in the letter," he replied and glancing to his side he saw the girl that reminded him of a wet puppy in the rain, "Don't be sad, dummy. I will come to see you soon," seeing her nod, he then said, "Now don't come to see the Lord. Return back in only when we are gone."

She looked at him confused as to why he would say, "Why not?"

"Because he eats cute girls like you," were his words before bidding her a bye.