The King's words still resonated sharply in Vivienne's mind.
"If you actually confirm and catch him doing something bad again, then you can stop him."
Her father had warned her against rash accusations, insisting on proof if she truly believed her older brother, Kilian, was up to no good.
"His recent behavior... it's far too strange. Too polite. Too unlike him."
Vivienne murmured to herself, her brow furrowed.
"If proof is what Father needs, then proof is what I'll find."
Driven by a cold determination, Vivienne decided she would gather that evidence herself.
She quietly trailed Elara, Kilian's personal maid, all the way to the bustling kitchen.
There, she watched, hidden behind a large pillar, as Elara prepared a room service trolley, not just for one person, but with enough food to easily feed two, perhaps even three.
Vivienne's eyes narrowed. What in the world? she thought.
"That's an absurd amount of food. Kilian rarely ate much, so what was he going to do with all that food?"
This was highly suspicious. This was her chance.
She followed Elara silently, her footsteps light, as the maid pushed the heavy, wheeled trolley down the grand corridors, heading directly towards Kilian's bedroom.
Just as Elara nudged the door open and slid inside with the abundant breakfast, Vivienne run forward.
Moving with silent precision, she swiftly approached the door and, just before it could click shut, she subtly extended her foot, quietly catching the edge of the heavy wood.
"Thump"
The door remained ajar, leaving a narrow, barely noticeable gap.
From her vantage point, Vivienne watched everything unfold.
She saw Elara push the gleaming room service trolley towards the small table and, with practiced grace, begin to lift the gleaming domed covers from each dish.
As the covers came off, rich aromas wafted even to Vivienne's spot in the hall, a symphony of savory meats and sweet pastries.
Vivienne watched as Elara efficiently set down the porcelain plates, silver cutlery, and crystal glasses, each dish a small work of art.
Her confusion began to rise as she saw her brother, not angry or demanding as usual, but looking at the sheer quantity of food with genuine surprise.
"Wow! That's a lot of food for a breakfast, Elara," Kilian exclaimed, turning to the maid.
"Are you sure that's only for two people?"
Elara looked a bit embarrassed, and Vivienne saw her admit softly,
"I might have taken a bit more than just for two people, Young Master. I thought you needed to eat more."
Vivienne's brow furrowed.
"Needed to eat more? When has Kilian ever cared about that?"
Then, she watched, utterly bewildered, as Kilian chuckled and shook his head.
"Elara, I can't possibly eat all this by myself."
He then pointed to the other chair across from him, looking at her with an inviting smile.
"Come on, sit and join me."
Vivienne almost gasped.
"He's asking his maid to sit and eat with him?!"
Elara's eyes widened, and a look of absolute panic flashed across her face.
Her cheeks flushed a deep red as she immediately began shaking her head vigorously, her hands flying up in a frantic, dismissive gesture.
"Oh, no, Young Master! I couldn't possibly! That's... that's not allowed! I'm just a maid!"
Vivienne could hear her stammer, clearly distressed.
Kilian's smile widened a bit further, still pointing at the chair across from him.
"Are you really going to make me say it, Elara?" he asked, his voice still gentle.
"Say what, Young Master?"
Elara asked, still panicking, her gaze darting between him and the inviting chair.
Kilian's smile stretched even wider, and his tone became significantly more playful.
"This is an order, Elara," he declared.
Vivienne tensed.
"Oh no, he's going to order her."
An immediate, powerful urge to storm in and intervene surged through her.
She knew Kilian's "orders" to maids never ended well, often resulting in tears or worse.
Her hand instinctively clenched into a fist, ready to burst into the room and confront him.
Just as Vivienne was about to shove the door open loudly, she heard Kilian's next words, and her hand froze on the doorframe.
"I'm ordering you to sit there and join breakfast with me, or you're going to make me sad."
He even looked down, pouting slightly, though it was clearly, obviously fake.
Vivienne was so utterly shocked by this bizarre declaration that she stumbled backward, almost losing her footing and nearly falling comically onto the polished hallway floor.
She quickly regained her balance, pressing herself back against the wall, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"This... this is a new level of strange, even for him."
Elara was equally shocked, her only reply a soft, bewildered "Ehhh?!"
Feeling utterly defeated and having no choice but to follow an order, Elara slowly took a seat in the chair across from him.
When Elara looked up, she found Kilian looking straight at her, smiling.
Vivienne saw the maid quickly look down again, her face growing even redder.
Vivienne watched as Kilian's smile softened, a curious expression replacing his playful one. "Elara," he began, gesturing vaguely at the spread.
"Did you... did you happen to cook any of this yourself?"
Vivienne saw Elara, still quite shy, slowly lift a hand and point towards the corner of the table where the sausages, eggs, and bacon lay.
"I... I only started to learn how to fry food recently, Young Master." Elara mumbled, her voice barely audible.
"It's because I'm tasked with cleaning duty, so that's the only type of food I know how to do."
"Is that so?" Kilian mused aloud.
He reached for a bowl of steamed rice and took a generous scoop, then, without hesitation, used his spoon to add a piece of sausage, a fluffy egg, and a slice of bacon to his plate.
Seeing him prepare to eat it, Elara quickly protested, her hands fluttering.
"Young Master, you don't have to! It... it might not be suitable for your taste."
But Kilian merely glanced at her, taking a spoonful of rice piled with a bit of everything to his mouth.
Vivienne watched his eyes widen slightly as he chewed.
"Mmm!" he hummed, his expression genuinely pleased.
"It's really good, Elara! I think you could even start your own breakfast restaurant already!"
Vivienne saw Elara's eyes grow wide with surprise, a happy smile blooming on her face, quickly followed by a flush of shyness.
"You don't have to lie, Young Master."
Elara murmured, looking down.
"I'm not." Kilian immediately countered.
He stood up slightly, leaning over the table and scooped a generous portion of eggs, bacon, and sausages onto Elara's plate.
Then, he also took a warm, flaky croissant and one of the golden-brown sweet pastries from the basket, placing them carefully beside the savory items.
"Have you ever tried one of these before?" he asked, pushing the plate gently towards her.
"Here, try this with me."
He watched her, and when he saw her still hesitating, a soft smile played on his lips.
"Ah, don't make me order you again, Elara."
Vivienne witnessed Elara's final defeat.
Hearing the same phrase from Kilian again, Elara finally picked up her spoon and fork, and slowly began to eat.
Even though she was eating slowly, still worried and unsure, seeing her finally take a bite made Kilian smile.
Vivienne then saw Kilian reach for the glass container of coffee, but Elara immediately stopped him, her hand gently touching his wrist.
"Please let me do it, Young Master," she said, her voice soft but firm.
"At least let me still do my job."
Kilian paused, then put the coffee container back down.
"Alright then." He said with a slight shrug.
"But make sure to help me finish all of this food, okay? I don't want to waste it, especially the ones you made."
Vivienne watched Elara's smile brightened considerably, chasing away the last lingering traces of her earlier panic and shyness.
The worried crease in her brow smoothed out, and a more relaxed posture settled over her as she began to eat with a little more confidence, a soft blush still dusting her cheeks but now with a hint of genuine contentment.
She seemed less like a maid forced into a situation and more like someone genuinely enjoying a shared meal.
A strange mix of relief and heightened alarm churned in Vivienne's gut.
This was certainly not the confrontation she expected, nor the cruel act she'd anticipated.
Realizing she had already overstayed her covert watch, intruding on a moment that was, surprisingly, almost tender, she decided to step back.
Quietly, Vivienne pulled her foot away from the door and retreated.
She moved silently down the hallway, her thoughts a tangled mess.
"He's still suspicious" she thought.
A persistent knot of unease tightening in her stomach.
"Too suspicious. Something is wrong. My intuition is telling me something isn't right."
Despite the seemingly harmless, even kind, interaction she'd just witnessed, Kilian's complete change in demeanor was baffling.
It made no sense. But for now, she would leave them alone.
Elara deserved to enjoy that breakfast, undisturbed.
***
/I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If its alright, please drop a comment or a powerstone to help me keep making this world bigger!