Edward: "........"
He thought about staying, but he doubted he would learn more about the New Thomas while the subject himself was asleep. In fact, it was more beneficial if he could ask Ms. Baker about the change in his brother. More than the rest of them, Clarisse had a closer relationship and was more intimate in his brother's business.
So once the maid was finished with making her young master more comfortable, Edward took the lead and led her out of the room. Once he closed the door, he pondered how to approach the topic to Thomas' caretaker, who was known to be very protective over his youngest sibling.
"... Thomas seemed tired as of recently," Edward began subtly, taking the chance to speak before Clarisse could dismiss herself.
The stone-faced maid stilled as she stared briefly before lowering her gaze, her expression unreadable as always, before slowly answering with a quiet voice, "...Yes. Young Master Thomas has been taking naps more frequently than before." In fact, before she had to leave home to help her family, her young master had never taken naps period. Even as a young boy, he was always planning, always scheming, always doing something that would hopefully get him closer to his father.
When she first began working in the Rosetta estate, she was barely over 16 years old and just another pretty face among the maidservants. The Rosetta's had never treated their employees unfairly and Clarisse never had any grievances towards the Masters and Misses. Both father and son were the perfect examples of gentlemen and handsomeness, and the mother and daughter were as graceful and elegant as they were beautiful. Other than the royal family, the Rosetta's couldn't be compared to other nobles and within the hearts of many commoners, especially those who had close contact with them, they were the shining models of nobility.
But when the Master came back with Young Master Thomas, the atmosphere around the estate changed. While Anais Rosetta was never the image of warmth, her expression would become increasingly icy at the mere mention of the youngest son. She treated the child disdainfully and her behavior was only encouraged by her husband's even colder attitude.
Clarisse, at the time, never understood why the Master brought back his illegitimate child when his response to said-child was to ignore and/or avoid him. Surely, Thomas would have been much more well off with his mother, who while was probably not as well off as the Rosetta's but certainly more caring for her own son, but she wasn't paid to speculate about her employers' affairs. Even when the Master steadily started to act uncharacteristically and started to 'scold' his youngest son while emphasizing his other children's accomplishments with a strange desperation, she had stayed silent.
After a while, maybe because of the fact that Young Master Thomas was once a commoner and that his gloomy figure seemed terribly lonely, Clarisse took the responsibility of becoming the child's caretaker.
His step-mother despised him, his siblings didn't seem to like him, and his father ignored him before repeatedly trying to compare him to his older brother and sister; it was a pitiful situation for someone as young as the youngest master. And throughout the years, though she had tried her best to stem his loneliness and to keep him from thinking darker thoughts, her efforts were never enough.
Then, after leaving her young master in the care of her co-worker, the darkness in his eyes had completely disappeared and instead was replaced with a new, never-before-seen lightness.
The change was so sudden, it was almost like having a whiplash. For the next couple of weeks after, Clarisse was almost convinced that someone had taken the real Young Master Thomas and replaced him with a sloth-like child.
Of course, the idea was ridiculous and full of faults-- it was an open secret that the youngest wasn't well-received. It was questionable whether the Rosetta's would do anything at all to bring back their illegitimate child back if he was kidnapped. Not to mention, Clarisse had yet to see a ransom note-- though it was possible for her employers to have kept it from her...
At the very least, she wasn't the only one baffled by the change. Out of all of the Rosetta's, the only one who knew Young Master Thomas the best, ironically, was Young Master Edward. If he hadn't spoken up about it, she would still be wondering whether her charge's change in personality was due to her own hallucinations.
"Is there a reason why Thomas is behaving this way?" the eldest young master ventured, obviously seeking for an explanation that Clarisse couldn't give despite his tame words. She also wished for some kind of reasonable explanation as well, but the only one with a possible answer would either be Young Master Thomas or Amir.
As a maidservant, it would hardly be subtle if she asked her charge outright about his new behavior and whenever she tried to allude to it, she was always given this confused expression as if the young master had no clue what she was talking about. She gave up after a while and set her sights on her co-worker, who was even more frustrating to confront. Though he confessed to being uninvolved with the youngest master's personality change, his mystifying smile -though barely a smile, just a small rise of the corner of his lips- seemed to say otherwise as if he knew something that the maid didn't.
"...This servant does not know," was Clarisse truthful response. "Perhaps because Young Master Thomas has adopted a new schedule." Going to the academy later and leaving the academy earlier than most noble, it almost seemed as if the child had socially isolated himself from society. The maid was well-aware that the times before and after classes were scheduled for young masters and misses to make connections among the gentry, but her young master had stopped participating in those kinds of events, therefore had a lot of free time on to... well, nap, apparently.
Clarisse didn't know why her charge decided to past the time by sleeping, but admittedly, the other looked much more relaxed and happy in doing so. Their days had passed very peacefully due to Young Master Thomas' new lifestyle but as a result, the youngest master and the rest of the Rosetta's acted as if they lived separate lives and in separate houses.
Though Clarisse was glad to see that her young master wasn't trying to torment himself anymore, remembering the child's loneliness and how hard the young boy had tried to gain his father's love, she was a bit distressed by the clear chasm between them.
Despite Young Master's Thomas obvious absent, no one went out of their way to look for him. And though he was regarded as a ghost by his family, as if he had never existed for the past several years, there wasn't a ripple in the youngest's expression or feelings, as if the child had forgotten he had a family.
"New schedule?" Edward questioned, nonverbally asking for clarification by raising an eyebrow.
Clarisse had no intention of acting coy or secretive since she didn't think her young master had done anything wrong or suspicious, so she responded to the inquiry immediately, "Young Master Thomas had rejected all social invitations from his... acquaintances..." The maid tried not to let the distaste seep into her voice. She had met some of these 'acquaintances' briefly and if the past Young Master Thomas' wasn't so conscious of his reputation among the nobles, those people would probably lead her charge to become completely amoral. "Young Master Thomas had also not been visiting the salon before or after his lessons; therefore, he was given more time to do... other things." Namely sleeping, but there was no need to point that out.
At first, the eldest young master stayed silently, probably pondering over her words, before releasing a resigned sigh, his expression slightly pinched though Clarisse wasn't sure of the reason. "... And nothing else?"
The maid blinked, her face giving nothing away. "Whatever do you mean, Young Master Edward?" she inquired softly and missed the flash of disappointment that passed through his ice-blue eyes.
Though he wasn't sure what to expect out of their conversation, he was left with more questions than answers.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't aware of his little brother's choice in 'friends'. There were a couple that was Edward's age and they had been known around the circle for their questionable pastimes and tastes. It wasn't hard to tell that they were just playing around with the young boy and would mock him behind his back. Because they thought Thomas to be beneath them, they never took him seriously and never involved him in their activities, but what if that changed? What if they decided to bring Thomas to the flower district or to one of the black market beast arenas? Of course, it could only be his younger brother's fault for associating with such people, but...
He never considered facilitating the youngest's social circle-- it certainly wasn't any of his business who Thomas hung out with, but Edward couldn't see things ending well for the young boy the longer he interacted with those people.
It was good that Thomas decided to ignore them, he couldn't help but think.
"Nevermind," Edward replied rather coarsely, turning away from the maid to make his exit. "Continue as you were."
Feeling as if he had encountered a dead end to his so-called impromptu investigation, his chest felt a little stuffy as he left his younger brother's caretaker behind without looking back.
Should it be surprising that this attempt went nowhere? Should he be looking for a resolution from the person who was the problem in the first place? But Thomas was not a problem now, or maybe it was just the calm before the storm.
What did he hope for? To see the other lamenting? For the other to start regretting? For forgiveness? But who were the one forgiving and the one being forgiven?
He was not sure if he knew anymore.
...--------...
Author's Mini-Brain Theater:
Me: Okay, let's make the Rosettas this completely evil and unforgivable cannon fodder family--
Brain: But we like Xander.
Me: What does Xander have to do with--
Brain: Edward is Xander's best friend. We don't want to give Xander a bad best friend! Besides, if Thomas face-slapped Edward, doesn't that mean Xander is our enemy later on? (๑•́₋•̩̥̀๑)
Me: ... Good point. Then maybe Katherine can be the typical villainess--
Brain: If Edward's cool, then Katherine has to be cool as well! (ू˃̣̣̣̣̣̣o˂̣̣̣̣̣̣ ू)⁼³₌₃
Me: Goddamit, fine! (ﾉꐦ ๑'Д'๑)ﾉ彡┻━┻ At the very least, the father--
Brain: He's a good friend and a trusted advisor for the Royal Family!
Me: （；¬＿¬) You really like the Windsors, huh?
Brain: They deserve all the goodness in the world. （*'∀'人）♥
Me: At the very least, let the mother be this bitter old woman.
Brain: Okay!
So basically, I originally planned for the Rosettas to be the typical cannon fodder family basically created to show off Tanaka's awesomeness (as you can probably tell from the first chapter lol), but as I got to know the characters, they developed personalities of their own. >.>
This obviously means that I cannot write 2D characters. My life (and writing) would have been so much simpler if that was the case...
You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net