Chapter 21. Skinny Little Stick Arms

The next day was a Saturday.

The sound of sweat beads dripping onto the wooden floor had resounded in the gymnasium. A yell broke out amongst the clangs of swords. Azalea hurriedly picked himself up from the floor, then swung his wooden sword at Willow. The maidservant swiftly blocked all of his attacks, with not a single fluctuation across her indifferent face.

"It's my turn!" A deafening roar came from behind her.

Willow spun on the spot, kicking Azalea away without looking. Turning to the back, Willow blocked Daphnne's incoming attack.

"Are you sure you want your opponent to know that you're attacking?" Willow questioned. For some odd reason, a sliver of mischief and smirk had fleeted through her eyes.

Daphnne blushed, with the flush reaching to the roots of her ears.

She tried to babble her way out of the mess, "Um- I just didn't want you to get hurt!"

Willow let loose a funny smile. "How are your skinny little stick arms supposed to hurt me?"

Daphnne wanted to retort that her own arms were not even as skinny as hers—but decided to shut her mouth. She should be grateful that she got such a smart and promising instructor. She will become stronger this way for sure...!

"It's noon already." Lucilline yawned. He and Percival sat on the bench together.

Augustine was busy shoveling dirt back in Duke Rubius' manor.

"I will go buy some lunch for these dear hard-workers." The longer Lucilline looked at his friends' progress, the happier he became. For some odd reason, he wanted to reward them a treat. "I'll be back in a jiffy!" His slender figure ran out of the gymnasium.

"Ah-" Percival panicked. "I'm coming with you!"

He ran after the third son of Duke Rubius.

Out on the streets, the roads were busy with carriages guided by tamed horses. Lucilline strolled on the streets, bypassing several lampposts. By his side was Percival, whose back was straight due to his nervousness.

"What kind of lunch is Lucilline planning to buy?" Percival asked, curious.

Lucilline stopped in his tracks. "Here."

Percival turned to look at where he stopped—it was a desserts shop.

"...Lucilline, do you have a knack for sweets?" Percival couldn't comprehend how a person could eat desserts for lunch. (This is coming from a person who eats baby tomatoes for lunch)

Lucilline didn't answer. He directly dragged Percival by the wrist, leading both of them inside the small store.

The fragrance of delicious cinnamon buns had permeated in the shop, with a warm embrace lingering in the atmosphere. Percival's mouth almost watered upon smelling the scent. It smelled of sugar melting on the surface of roasted toast—which were just taken out from the oven—still fluffy and buoyant.

"Hello there, could I order—" Lucilline listed his order to the cashier.

There wasn't a single customer aside from them inside the shop. The empty seats had irked Percival's curiosity. "How come there's no customers?" His voice was small.

Lucilline heard him and flashed him a smile. "The shop owner is a commoner."

Just that one sentence had made Percival understand.

By his side, his hand clenched into a fist, as if balling all of his frustrations in one motion—

"Come on!" Lucilline tried to cheer him up. He grabbed Percival's hands in a swoop, with his cold black-laced gloves assaulting the brown-haired nobleman's skin. Cold gloves touched warm hands. The friction between the two temperatures made Percival feel as if mist was about to spew out from their touch.

Lucilline smiled. His teeth were exceptionally white, reminding one of the moonlight's beauty. "I'll treat you to a dessert of your choice from this shop. Would that work to make you happy?"

For a moment there, Percival's heart stopped.

He blankly nodded. "Mn."

Percival paid for a ready-made strawberry shortcake, and a peach one. The strawberry was extremely red, as if it was a ruby gem, repeatedly polished and glossed over. Percival was even able to see his own reflection within the glossed sugar.

He and Lucilline took a seat outside on a table.

Lucilline ate the strawberry cake with his fork.

Percival took the peach one.

While eating, Percival appreciated the taste of brief sweetness, blinding his taste buds with their assault. However, it wasn't too sweet. The cream made him unable to talk from being stunned at the flavour.

A wisp of breeze blew past.

Percival's long locks of brown hair had been blown with the wind. The ribbon tied at the end of his ponytail had flown gracefully, like a dove spreading its wings. He couldn't understand why, but for once, the weight on his shoulders seemed to disappear, as the taste of cream and sugar became more prominent with every forkful of cake.

The nearby trees had rustled their leaves, enjoying the breeze and warming sunlight. They bathed in the goodwill of nature.

Percival too, did the same.

His long eyelashes captured Lucilline's attention. The black-haired nobleman began counting every eyelash he could see from up close.

Finally, Percival came back to himself.

He was greeted with the attentiveness of Lucilline—

Percival, "..." What is going on here?

He nervously coughed. Not daring to look at Lucilline, his eyes shifted back down to his peach cake. He hurriedly finished up the cake. Lucilline's strawberry one remained untouched. Not a single smear of cream was found on his stainless fork.

Percival finished his peach cake.

With nothing to do, he waited for Lucilline.

However, the latter seemed to be dozing off to the wanders of the wind. Percival wondered if Lucilline could hear what the winds were saying.

Slowly, his eyes travelled down to look at the unfinished strawberry cake...

Lucilline came back to himself. He was thinking about how similar Azalea and Willow looked. It turned out that they were indeed siblings—however, it was only recent that the older sister managed to recognize her younger brother—only to be unrecognized by the latter.

The scenario was quite sad. Lucilline could only send his best regards to the white-haired maidservant.

He took up his fork, then planned to shovel into his strawberry cake—

He paused.

Lucilline's eyes met Percival's, whose hazel brown irises had the former stiffen.

Slowly, Lucilline unfroze. He slightly understood what Percival was thinking at the moment. Without hesitation, Lucilline pushed forwards his plate of strawberry cake. "I'm not that hungry at the moment. Go ahead and dig in."

Percival was puzzled. "But, Lucilline-"

Lucilline did not allow any excuses. "Just eat it. There's no need to be polite."

Upon hearing that, Percival did as he was told. He took his fork, then scooped himself a forkful of strawberry cake. Eating the slice, he tasted the burst of sweet strawberry, which complimented his earlier peach cake...

Slowly, a smile of satisfaction rose from his face.

Lucilline was surprised. He didn't think that the only son of Duke Delta was like a child in disguise. Percival was like a little boy, who wants to eat cake, but didn't dare to voice his thoughts.

He should just do whatever he wants to do. Seeing the brown-haired nobleman relishing the taste of strawberry, Lucilline felt his heart warm up.

He was the third son of Duke Rubius; the youngest child to be born.

Lucilline had only felt spoiled by his older siblings, but he had never spoiled anyone else. This is quite a nice feeling, he thought to himself.

"You're like my younger brother." Lucilline smiled.

Immediately, Percival almost spat out the cake in his mouth.

Percival: ???

"But I'm older than you?" Percival gasped. And taller than you? He let that last thought remain unsaid, afraid that it'd irritate the black-haired nobleman.

Lucilline didn't answer. Instead, he just smiled.

Percival had to continue to eat the strawberry cake. Later on, after he finally finished demolishing the cake, Percival sighed a breath of satisfaction. It turned out that Lucilline wasn't the only one with a sweet tooth.

All of a sudden, Lucilline handed him a handkerchief. "You have some cream on your face."

Percival: !!!

Like a cat's fur rising to the heights of possibly touching the skies, Percival immediately took the handkerchief. He busily wiped away his face, making sure that not a single bit of dust remained. His thoughts raced with trepidation. I have truly embarrassed myself now! I'm the only son of Duke Delta! What if I humiliate my father? And in front of Lucilline too...

His thoughts came to an end, as Percival noticed the rising grin that the black-haired nobleman tried hard to put away.

Lucilline is laughing at me..? All of a sudden, Percival realized that his face had no cream at all...! He was tricked...!

"L-Lucilline, you—"

Blush had scattered all over Percival's ears, making them burn in great shame. He flung down the handkerchief on the table, refusing to wipe his own face anymore.

Lucilline held in his laughter.

A fleeting trace of mischief was written across his golden eyes.

"As expected, you're so naive, Percival." He began to narrate. "I told you that there was cream on your face, and you just believed me like that? Aren't you the most prim and proper nobleman of all? How is it possible for you to get cream on your face?" Everything he said made sense.

Percival's face burned crimson red.

He pursed his lips, feeling embarrassment crawl up to the roots of his ears. I was so distracted that I didn't even think twice!

"See? Now you should understand why you're like a younger brother to me?" Lucilline smiled. "So gullible and sweet. When I left to buy lunch, you immediately followed me out of the gymnasium like a lost child. When you were frustrated at your own helplessness of the lack of customers at this bakery, you hid your anger like a child afraid to be reprimanded for throwing a temper tantrum."

After every sentence, Percival felt like he was completely seen through.

"You looked at my plate of cake sneakily. You finished your own, and clearly wanted to have a taste of mine, but didn't dare to make a move. And now... you believed me instantaneously about cream being on your face, and even took my handkerchief." Lucilline analyzed.

His gaze went strict. "What if I was a bad guy? What if I was leading you to not a bakery, but a dangerous place? What if that handkerchief I lent you was poisoned?"

Percival felt like stars were spinning around his head, making him dizzy.

He was puzzled. Why would Lucilline be a bad guy? Why would he ever do such horrible things? And most importantly...

Why does Lucilline think of himself as a bad guy?

"Oh, our order is ready." Lucilline saw that the cashier had waved at them from inside the bakery shop. "Let's go bring back the dessert to our friends. They must be starving." He smiled, interrupting Percival's thoughts.

Percival didn't think much of it. He nodded, "Mn."