Shafts of morning light came through the paned windows in (f/n)'s room, as she went to hide herself in the sheets, but something stopped her from doing so. Her mind still foggy from sleep, she didn't know what it was, but she did know that she wanted to sleep more. When she went to locate the hindrance, she felt something lightly touching the left side of her neck.

Freezing up, she peered over her left shoulder to see Edgar smiling at her. Once she saw him, all cloudiness left her mind, as her cheeks gained a crimson color. She looked away from him, only to end up facing him a few seconds later, since he had turned her from lying on her right side to her left side. Instead of saying anything immediately, he placed his lips against the right side of her neck in a series of light kisses. In between these, he whispered, "Good morning."

Her cheeks turned a brighter crimson, as she tried to hide her flushing face in his chest. A light chuckle from his lips followed, and she muttered out, "Good morning," as well.

When Edgar finally stopped embarrassing her, he removed his arms from around her waist and sat up in her bed. She rolled back over onto her right side and faced away from him, pulling the sheets over her head, since she still wanted to get some sleep. He didn't move to stop her, but he did voice, "Before I let you go back to sleep, (f/n), I would like to discuss the plan for dealing with my brother. No one will overhear us in here."

To indicate that she was listening, she mumbled, "Go ahead."

"It's not a complicated plan, but it will cause you to interact with my brother. Granted, as you know, I would rather have you stay a significant amount of distance away from him. Still, if you do that, he'll know that you didn't accept his plan. So, I want you to head to his office and tell him that you'll accept. I won't tell you the location of it, but I want you to wander into his side of the upper level of the house and look for it. This will make your action more genuine looking."

"So, you're not going to get angered if I talk to him again?" she asked, having a hard time believing that.

"No, I'm not going to because you're doing so to get rid of him. Now, after you confirm your acceptance with him, you'll inform him that you have managed to get me to agree to teach you how to make the different toys. Afterwards, I want you to leave his office, stating that you're going to work with me for a few hours. This way he won't be as tempted to try and keep you in his office."

"That's it?" she asked, thinking originally that it was going to be much more complicated.

"Yes, and by the time that the winter holiday doll is ready, everything to ruin him will be set in place."

"You're going to be doing work on the side, then?" she questioned further, noting that there had to be something that Edgar had up his sleeve.

"Of course, despite my limited connections, I do have those that will always guarantee my safety as the head of the company. Besides, I also know of all my brother's connections. So, if the need requires it, I'll have one of my connections contact the ones on his list. Granted, I don't think that I'll need to go down that route," he answered before getting out of the bed and heading over to the door leading to the bathroom. "I'll wake you up once I'm done with a morning shower," he added, as he opened the door before he closed it behind him.

                                                                              ~~~~~~~~~~

She was now heading over to Frederic's office. After Edgar had woken her back up, she had changed and had met with Edgar in the dining room. Once they had finished breakfast, she had immediately made her way up to upper east wing, while Edgar had headed off to his workshop.

Since she didn't know which door led to Frederic's office, she quietly opened each one. Of course, some were locked, but of the ones that didn't deny access, she hadn't come across his office yet. She did try the door that she saw him come out of the previous night, yet that was one of the locked ones. Perhaps, his office door was locked. Frustrated at this possibility, she tried the last door and found it locked as well.

Huffing in irritation, she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the window at the end of the hall. Edgar would get worried if she took too long, yet what was she supposed to do? Frederic could be behind any of the locked doors, but he didn't answer when she even tried knocking on them. Was he still asleep, or was he currently somewhere else than in the house?

Hearing a doorknob turn, however, she immediately looked around to see which one it was. It was the same door that Frederic had come out of the previous night. She pushed herself off the window and coughed lightly to get the male's attention once he was standing in the hall. He was wearing a purple button-up, black dress pants and black dress shoes.

Upon leaving his room, he turned over to (f/n) and smiled once he saw her. "So, I take it that you have come here with your decision, (f/n)?" he inquired, as he closed the door behind him. He walked over to her and stopped once he was a few feet from her. "What have you decided?"

"I'll help you. I really do think that expanding the company is a good idea. Besides, Edgar will remain in the company regardless, so I'm fine with pushing him to a lower position."

A grin spread across his lips, as he answered, "Excellent, has Edgar agreed to show you how to make the various toys?"

"Yes, in fact I'm supposed to meet him in his workshop soon to start."

"Even more splendid, I'll take care of the business arrangements in order to build a new store. You just continue keeping Edgar in the dark, and I can guarantee that you'll be extremely happy once the business deals go through. You'll be traveling around the globe before you know it," he replied, taking a step closer to her and extending out his right hand towards her face.

(F/n) moved away from his hand and took a step back. "Frederic, I may be helping you, but my feelings are still for Edgar. That hasn't changed, so please remember that," she mentioned, making it clear that she didn't and wouldn't feel anything like that for him. She did feel a strong disgust and dislike for him, though. Granted, she would keep that hidden, so that Frederic wouldn't grow suspicious.

"Ah, of course, I'm sorry if I troubled you. Perhaps, in the future that might change, since I doubt that my brother will like you very much after this is over," he voiced before he turned on his heel and headed downstairs.

Until he was out of sight, she wore a concerned countenance. Once he was gone, she let out a quiet sigh and was relieved to be out of his presence. A smile soon touched her lips, though, since she could finally enter the workshop after a little over three weeks of not being able to. She assumed that the doll would be covered from her view, but she wondered if Edgar would actually show her how to make the toys, since he didn't officially confirm that point.

Reaching Edgar's workshop door, she opened it, entered and closed the door behind her. Edgar was sitting on the bench that she usually sat on. Off to the right of him, a sheet covered what she assumed to be the winter holiday doll. When she went over to him, she laughed lightly, as he was leaning his head back against the window and snoring softly.

His hair was tied up in a green ribbon, while a simple white t-shirt and brown lounge pants covered his form. She was glad to see that he no longer worried about his hair covering his left eye, since the left side of his face was quite visible at the moment. Regardless, she assumed that he hadn't meant to fall asleep.

Since she knew that shaking his shoulders wouldn't work, she leaned forward and whispered his brother's name to him. Edgar blinked open, and he stared back at her with a frown on his face. "Why do you have to wake me up with such cruel methods?" he murmured, sitting up and pushing some loose strands of hair out of his face.

"You don't seem to wake up any other way unless you wake up on your own time," she commented with a playful smirk on her lips.

Rolling his eyes, he stood up and walked over to his work desk. He pulled out the chair and signaled for her to sit in it. As he did so, he asked, "He didn't try to do anything, did he?"

"Well, he was going to rest his hand on my face, but I back away and told him that I didn't want such a partnership with him. I was only there to help with the expansion," she answered, taking a seat in the chair, glad to see that he was actually going to teach her to craft some of the toys.

Pushing her chair in for her, he went over to her right side and leaned against the desk. "Good, always report to me if he tries anything. I don't want him getting too close to you," he remarked, as he earned a nod from her. "Now, let's start on your first lesson."