My vision blurred as I felt something stuck in my throat. I couldn't speak. My head moved to look down at the girl staring at me. She looked at me expressionlessly and then asked,.
"Butler, are you okay? You look pale."
"I am fine. Miss Ayla, thank you for your concern… I seem to have been dazed by your lively appearance." My mouth moved on its own, and without any control, I found myself bowing my head down in deep respect.
'What is happening here?!'
The little girl nodded and smiled gently in return.
"You should take care of yourself; you are the only one we can play with right now."
My hand moved, pressing them over my heart. I lifted my head and politely smiled at her. "My lady, your words are too kind for someone like me. I can only do my best for you and the young master."
Ayla's smile widened; she took my hand in her own two small hands and told me enthusiastically before pulling me toward her.
"Thank you, Butler. Let's wake Leo up; he must be asleep right now!"
'Okay, Asher, now is the time to stay calm. Currently, I am in an unknown place, and presumably not in my own body, with little to no control over it.'
… This is not looking good, no matter what I think about it. And where is Franz?
I moved my eyes to my left. I can't move my body, but I seem to have some semblance of control over my reactions. The place I was currently being dragged to by Ayla was a corridor; it was a luxurious-looking place with red carpets and decorative items adorning the walls and small items left in the open over tables, such as a flower vase.
My thoughts felt slow as I was unable to observe things clearly in time. I tried to activate KairosFlow, but nothing happened. Not panicking, I tried again, prying deeper into myself this time, but to my utter despair, my perception of the world did not change.
"Butler, are you really alright? You look as if you have seen a ghost." Ayla asked curiously with a look of concern.
The butler looked at her, his hand now pulled back. He touched his face, then nodded.
"Yes, I am perfectly fine, Miss Ayla. I just noticed the maids have not cleaned the vases properly today… I will give them a warning later; please forgive their mistake."
'Yes, I have seen a ghost! And no, I am not fine at all, young lady!' I wanted to shout this aloud for everyone to hear, but alas, I don't seem to have any luck.
Ayla looked at the flowers looking as good as always; she tilted her head in confusion and walked toward them gracefully.
Her big eyes squinted; she looked at the red petals of the rose, then at the flower vase itself. But she couldn't find any fault in them.
She looked at me sharply, then asked in a small voice.
"But what's wrong with them, Butler? They look as beautiful as always."
My lips started to curl up as I leaned toward the flower vase; my hands moved to touch it. I turned it to the right and pointed at the top corner.
"See this petal, Miss Ayla? It has started to lose its color; the maids should have cut it down… And as embarrassed as I am to say, they have also not cleaned the table properly."
My finger ran through the table once in a straight line, and I pointed my gloved finger at her face, where a sprinkle of dust remained.
'Is this what people call a perfectionist?'
Even though my condition was not the best right now, I couldn't help but comment after seeing such actions. The flowers looked absolutely fine, and the dust was nothing more than a small sprinkle that could have travelled through the wind.
Ayla pursed her lips; she sighed and took a step back. Then in an embarrassed tone she told it with a soft laugh. "Ahaha, yes, I can see that… Um, no need to give them a warning; it's okay. Ah, mistakes happen."
My lips again curled up into a small smile as my head bowed to her in respect.
"Miss Ayla is truly the embodiment of virtue; I will make sure the maids work perfectly from now on."
'No, please don't.' Ayla mumbled but nodded with a soft smile.
"Let's go, or Leo won't wake up." She hurriedly once again started to pull my hand with her.
My steps followed after as I found my head nodding silently toward her; my eyes were fixed at her small back. I can't move them anymore.
'What should I do? I can't move a single muscle now!'
Panic finally started to seep deep in me. I couldn't even take a deep breath to calm myself anymore.
The feeling of being trapped was not worse than being drowned in that crimson sea.
This time I was not feeling oppressed by an unknown pressure, but rather having no hands to move, no legs to walk, and no mouth to talk with was the real reason for my mind to feel tired.
But it was not enough to break me; this can slow me down but never stop me.
I had met a godlike being, and she had threatened to kill me if I ever died… So how could I even think of being defeated?
Being killed by her would be far worse!
Click—!
I looked at the door that was opened by me. I stood aside, letting Ayla walk inside.
She smiled and entered the room enthusiastically with bouncy steps.
"Butler, please open the curtains." Hearing her request, my figure moved immediately. I held the curtain strings and started to roll them down. The dim light room was greeted by the morning's soft glow, illuminating the room.
The room was clean and neat, with a blue color theme that seemed to grasp a certain noble taste of the room's owner perfectly.
At the bed lay a figure wrapped in a blanket; he shivered and raised it further up, hiding his face. Ayla's face brightened as she hopped on the bed like a rabbit.
She crawled toward the sleepy boy and started to shake him with giggles echoing in the room.
"Hehe… Leo, Leo, wake up! Father is coming back today!"
'Father? Is the lord of this place coming back?'
I made my way to the table in the middle of the big room, carrying a tray and a glass of water. Then, I slowly walked over to the bed.
"Miss Ayla, if you and younger Master Leo wish to greet the Lord of Pristel, you will need to hurry. He might come anytime now…" My voice echoed in the chamber, making Leo kick the blanket away in a hurry.
'Priest? Wait, isn't that the noble name Franz spoke of'?
"That's fast!" Leo shouted as he looked at Ayla and then at me.
His hair was messy, a shade of black and blonde that suited his young face. He looked again at Ayla and said in a cheerful voice. "Big sis, we need to hurry!"
Ayla blinked, then started to giggle, her cheeks flushed.
"You need to hurry, silly; I am ready to greet him." She told him and patted his head.
Leo squinted his eyes, then looked at me.
"Butler, help me!"
I smiled and nodded.
"Of course."
"Big Sis, can you help Mr.Nits?"
Leo asked with a pleading expression, and Ayla smiled at him and stood up.
"Alright," She removed the blanket from his foot and grabbed a grey ball of fur lying there.
The cat yanked at the sudden pull and moved to look at the perpetrators.
"Mr. Nits, don't be lazy; Father is coming back after three months. We need to look our best to greet him."
"Meow…" The cat purred as Ayla held him affectionately, his tail moving left and right in pure content.
The butler handed the glass to Leo, then helped him stand up. Ayla, meanwhile, started to comb the cat's fur, her hand brushing its head, while the white brush with golden-plated color made the cat look more regal as it moved slowly over its back.
'This mansion presumably belongs to a noble, and that noble is called Lord of Pristel by this body.'
I couldn't help but doubt what was happening here; House of Pristel was a noble family that died fifty years ago. So how could I possibly be here, especially in someone else's body? So did I travel back in time? Are Ayla and Leo dead in the future?
'No, right now I should focus on how to get control over this body. I was able to change this body fascial reactions previously, but after that, whenever I tried to make changes, something resisted those movements… What could be done in this case? Why was I able to do it at that time but not anymore?'
I looked at Leo, whose clothes were being changed by the butler. His hair was still wet after the shower, but the butler buttoned his shirt one by one.
'What if I try to make my movements the same as this body? It sounds feasible.'
Instead of doing something new, I tried to focus on the hand movements, then slowly tried to sync my commands with the exact work he had been doing.
My fingertips touched the button, then slowed down as I had wanted to.
'It worked!'
A small change happened; the process of helping Leo slowed.
"What happened, butler?" Leo asked with a small smile.
'Alright now, the next step.'
I could influence the body by being in sync with it, but the question was, could I speak with that rule as well?
I slowly made the head look up and forced it to smile. A small resistance tried to push my control, but I kept it going.
"I was thinking young Master Leo has already turned five years old; time is moving fast."
'Good, my guess was correct!'
This was a guess, but it was okay to be wrong; this question was something a butler could ask these children. And with how comfortable they both are with this body for Ayla, a noble's daughter, to drag him by hand, his relation with them was anything but shallow.
Leo blinked, then turning his head away, he pouted with a loud huff.
"Butler, I am six this year, not five!"
From behind Ayla's giggle came, making Leo's face flush in embarrassment. He turned his head in her direction and then shouted in a meek voice.
"B-Big Sis, don't laugh!"
"I am sorry, young Master Leo, you looked as noble as the day I met you." The butler answered.
"No, butler, Leo is just cute as always… Hehe," Ayla commented from the back, making Leo's pout grow bigger.
"You both are bullying me!"
"Ahaha…"
Both children bickered, but I didn't let it distract me. I continued to make my thoughts sync with the body, gaining a small amount of control over it.
'Now then….'
The butler took a towel; he stood up from his kneeling position and made Leo sit on the chair beside his bed. Then started to rub his head….
'Danger, Danger!'
I let go of the control immediately; my mind just now seems to have vanished in the middle of those actions, as if what I did just now was normal.
Then all the rules clicked in perfectly. The rules for my control of this body were quite simple.
'I can't do something that the butler's body isn't supposed to do.'
'I need to play the role of butler in sync with him to make small changes; big changes will get rejected.'
'And most importantly, if I stay in sync with the butler for too long, my control would get better, but my consciousness would get destroyed.'
These were the rules I had arrived at after all the observations. The key was how to not lose myself while getting my control over this body better. This was not going to be easy…
Leo was finally ready; Ayla smiled at him with the cat sitting over her lap.
The butler turned to look at the window upon hearing the carriage sound; he then took two steps toward Ayla and Leo and then told them in a gentle tone.
"It sounds like Lord Owen has arrived…"