Episode 13 Continued - Curious Kitten
“You peelin the apples alright?” Taylor said, leaning in close to see what I was doing. “You need help at all?”
I shook my head, smiling kindly at him. “Ah, no. I’m alright.”
“If you say so,” he shrugged before going back to what he was doing, “this pie is going to be delicious, I tell you. Clarice makes the best apple pies! And makes like hundreds of servings for all of us! Don’t tell me how she does it, I have no answer for ya.”
I just continued peeling the apples, being very careful that I didn’t cut myself.
“So, Yumi…” Taylor said then, lashes lowering, “I wanted to apologize about earlier.”
I stopped peeling, staring down at the apple then.
“I feel so very rotten about what I did earlier,” he said, still dusting the flower in a mesh pot. “It was horrible of me.”
I started peeling again, not answering.
“Yumi,” Sebastian said then.
I gazed up then, finding him stepping over to us with a bag of flower over his shoulder.
“This is what you wanted, correct?” he said.
“Ah, yes!” Taylor stood and hopped over to him, kindly taking the bag and tossing it on a pile of empty ones. “Thank you, Sebastian! I appreciate you going out of your way to do this.”
He just nodded. “My pleasure.”
I ignored their conversation and kept peeling.
“My,” Sebastian said then, making me gaze up. His brows arched as he looked at my bowl. “You call this peeling? They’re shreds at this point.”
I gazed down then, eyes widening when I just realized all the apple slices were shredded rather than peeled.
“Oy!” Taylor said then, eyes widening when he picked up a slice. “He’s right! How are we supposed to eat this?”
I quickly stood and bowed before Taylor. “I am very sorry! I had no idea!”
“Yeesh…” he said then, dropping it back in the bowl. “I don’t even know how to cook these into a pie… the skin is mixed in with them.”
Sebastian just dusted off his hands. “Oh, it’s quite alright. If we add some sugar and bake them, we can turn them into apple crisps. It shouldn’t be that much of a hassle.”
I glared at Sebastian then, but he ignored it and kept smiling.
“Hey!” Taylor said then, eyes glowing in elation. “You’re absolutely right! We do have to peel the apples again, though. I’ll go grab some more. Be right back!”
He then jogged off to the warehouse tent; where they kept all the uncooked food.
I gazed over at Sebastian then. “Did you really have to bury me deep like that? That was distasteful. Especially in front of him.”
“Well, master—” he paused, “ah, wait, no. I have to call you Yumi because you told me to act like your friend in public. Good friends correct the other, don’t they? If you peeled them wrong, I would tell you, and then offer a solution.”
I gritted my teeth then. “You know very well I don’t know how to do this, and didn’t offer to help in the slightest.”
“You told me to get the flour,” he stated then.
“Yes, but knowing you that would take three seconds, not five minutes!”
He smiled then. “What can I say? Watching you try to work hard is adorable. Because you’ve never worked a day in your life.”
I glared sharply. “Are you seriously going to be this way?”
He gazed up, eyes glowing a dark red. “I warned you about your order, master. I really did.”
“So you’re going to treat me like this?” I said. “In front of him? Fine then, I won’t take this from the likes of you.” I then smiled sarcastically. “Sebastian, this is an order. When Taylor comes back, peel all the apples in an orderly fashion, and then dice them just the way Clarice wants them, understand?”
He smiled then. “Of course, my lord.”
“And then I will investigate Sam’s tent further without the likes of you bothering me. It is almost eight anyway, and he left two hours ago. You said he won’t be back until morning?”
“Indeed,” Sebastian said then.
“Fine.” I tipped my chin up as my smile sharpened. “Be a good butler and peel them correctly, huh?”
He gazed up at me. “Master, are you sure you can search all by yourself? If you ordered me to do so and stayed here. I can do it within seconds.”
“Yes, but I think you’re more useful peeling apples.”
His lashes lowered in annoyance, and I watched his brow twitch.
“Be a good butler, won’t you?” I then waved to him and walked off, feeling his eyes burn into the back of my head.
I continued walking, the smile remaining on my face because I felt very pleased with myself.
Payback is a bitch. This is what you get for forcing me to read that heinous play, and then forcing me to do work. You vile demon.
I then continued forward, trying to look somewhat normal as I made my way to the main tent.
But once I made it there, a voice stopped me:
“Oh, hey! Yumi!”
I froze in place, teeth gritting.
Was I caught?
I then turned around, brows drawing together when I saw Clarice jogging toward me from the other direction.
I lightly caught a hold of a gun in my pocket, lashes lowering as she made her way toward me.
She’s the one who tried to kidnap me. She sent that secretary after me.
“Hello!” Clarice said then, stopping in front of me and smiled. “My name is Clarice! I don’t think we’ve met.”
I blinked, brows drawing together.
Such a warm smile for such a cold person. Who is this woman?
I released the hold of my gun and returned a grin. “My name is Yumi! It’s nice to meet you!”
She just bowed in front of me before standing up straighter. “I just thought I’d give you a warm welcome, you know… because you’re new here and all that.”
Bullshit. Warm, my ass. She tried to kidnap me, after all.
She’s very good at faking, though. I will commend her on that.
“I saw your play and thought it was phenomenal!” Clarice said, closing her eyes kindly. “You have one hell of an acting voice. I love how you talk all proper whereas the rest of us are so casual.”
“Really?” I said, brows drawing together. “I thought we all talked the same. I guess I’m immune to my own accent.” I laughed.
“Indeed,” she said, then gazed up, “hey… I know we just met and all that, but can I ask a favor?”
I watched her suspiciously but kept up the act. “Sure!”
“So, as you probably heard, Sam is out for the rest of the night. And we have no shows tonight, you see, but you’re more aware of London than I am.” She held out a paper slip. “These are some things that I need for my act tomorrow. You have to leave the carnival to get them. Just makeup and such, would you do me a favor and go get them?” She closed her eyes, laughing nervously. “I have a lot to do tonight, so trying to find my way around London is something I have no time for.”
I lightly took the slip from her, nodding. “Sure, thing!”
“Thank you so much, Yumi.” She pressed her hands together in praise. “This means everything to me, I promise you.”
I just turned toward the direction I came. “I’ll get on with this, I swear on it.”
She nodded, and I jogged off.
She’s a very good faker, but she is an actress, faking emotion is in her job title.
I know that she, Sam, and James are all in on this, and this is probably a trap set up for me so she can try to kidnap me, but I don’t care.
I have my resources, after all.
I kept going until I met the kitchen tent, and I walked in, finding Sebastian alone in here, pulling something out from the oven.
Taylor was gone again.
I blinked when I saw about a hundred apples peeled and diced in a large bucket, and I gazed up at him. “All finished, I see?”
He set the tray on the stove—which was clearly the apple crisps—and gazed up at me. “Indeed, I am fast, and you know this.” He pulled off the oven mitts. “I see that you’re done searching?”
“Sadly, not,” I said, stepping over to him. “I was stopped by that actress, Clarice, who asked me to get her some things from London.” I handed him the list.
“That’s odd that she would ask you to do it. She doesn’t even know you.” He gazed up. “You do see that this is a trap, right?”
I nodded. “Indeed, but I have to do it or else she’ll suspect I’m up to something.”
“How are you going to get things done while being hunted? Let alone that you still have to search through Sam’s tent.”
I gazed up, smiling dangerously. “Oh, Sebastian. That’s why I have you.”
His lashes lowered in annoyance.
“Get everything on that list done,” I instructed him, “it’s an order. And I will search Sam’s tent while you are gone.”
“Master, you are being hunted,” Sebastian said then. “You know I cannot follow orders—”
“My safety is not in question while I’m here,” I explained to him, my smile turning sadistic. “Because Clarice thinks I’m going on a shopping spree. Whatever things she has, they’ll be tailing the streets and expecting to find me. If I’m here and I do not get caught, then they will not find me.”
Sebastian’s lashes lowered. “It’s only a matter of time before they figure it out, master.”
“Then you better be quick.” My eyes glowed in amusement.
He gazed down at the list. “Buy dresses from the Victorian era, eye shadow, mend the other dresses….”
He sighed then, clearly exhausted from all the work.
“Better get on with it,” I said then, smiling, “Sebastian.”
He gazed up. “Indeed, my lord. I will.”
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