Nobody was eating.

They were all gathered underneath the shade of the trees. The soldiers and drivers were talking amongst themselves, but no one touched their food. Hyde tried not to grimace, his sister sat all by herself on a crate while watching the crowd converse. The older soldier had thanked her profusely for sparing them the cost of a stallion but not one of them laid a hand on their meals.

“Um...Rhine?”

Silence answered him. It was rather deafening.

It was also alarming.

If Hyde learned anything from observation of the female species, when they talked—you had to get used to it. Women talked more than men put together. You had to learn how to tune out most of their chatter and be able to pick up what they truly wanted to say. Or what you needed to remember. But when they became silent? That was the scary thing. Even the great men would cower in the face of female wrath. His father had been a good example already. The young noble sighed inwardly, it was no use. He wouldn’t push his luck.

He resignedly took a seat beside his sibling, looking at the food presentation that could have made a connoisseur choke in their own saliva. His sister always took things up to eleven, so it would be a shame if nobody started eating and appreciating all her hard work. It didn’t matter that she did none of the cooking. He reached out for one of the dessert plates, roseberry tarts lovingly gathered together—and received a slap on the hand.

“Stop.”

“Ow!”

Hyde flapped his hand around, trying to soothe the pain that his sister inflicted. Swatting him like a fly? He frowned at his sister.

“What gives Rhine?”

“How impolite of you to start eating!”

“What do you mean? I was being nice!”

She narrowed her eyes at him, returning an almost identical frown to his own. She lifted her chin, an indignant expression on her face.

“How can you not remember our father’s wishes? The Falcon House strives to emulate a bond as close as family between its soldiers and leaders, thus we all eat at the same time.”

Hyde lifted a brow, motioning around them.

“Um, everybody is here? Well, except for the stallion, but we lost that one you know?”

Rhine slapped a hand on her forehead, shaking her head slightly.

“Sir Gus is still not here!”

Hyde should have known that this was what she meant. He crossed his arms together and grumbled underneath his breath. Despite not being an actual soldier, she wanted to wait for the butler. Didn’t butlers usually eat before or after serving their masters? In any case, this was a hedge against him and the desserts. It was no use trying to be nice to Rhine after all, she hardly noticed.

“This is why we should have gotten the other soldiers to go with him.”

“I know, I was the one who thought of it—”

“Actually no, you got concerned some time after he was gone.”

Hyde tried not to snicker, she had mentioned all worst case scenarios of the butler getting injured.

“But who knows what happened to him?”

“Don’t you have faith in your dependable butler?”

“What is that supposed to mean?!”

“Hey, look who’s here!”

James’ jubilant and sudden declaration had his sister immediately whipping her head into the road’s direction. Hyde smiled tiredly, he was sure that this was almost as bad as their childhood squabbles. He glanced into the same direction. And lo, the butler was arriving on horseback, the cart tied to the horse. Rhine already seemed to feel better already. He was a bit relieved. He couldn’t remember most of it, but he was sure that he ended up with his first lost tooth thanks to her.

---

“Ah thank you Lady Rhine,”

Hyde eyed the butler, who ducked his head sheepishly while receiving some beef stroganoff in a bowl from his sister. Hyde then bit into his roseberry tart and mechanically chewed the desserts. Rhine was more than happy to serve the butler, it was like a mother coddling a baby.

“You’re welcome sir Gus…Hyde quit chewing like a rabbit!”

Oh, so this was how things went? Favoritism was quite noticeable now. He slowed down his pace but shoved another tart into his mouth. What did his sister even see in the butler? Hyde tried not to think about it. She threw him a glare to which he promptly ignored and added another tart into his mouth.

“Hyde!”

Her tone was scolding and upset, before she turned to look at the butler and suddenly adopted a conciliatory voice.

“...do forgive my brother’s manners. He tends to be such a pig.”

A small chuckle would escape the butler’s lips, before he would sip some of the soup. Hyde tried not to snicker, was he a rabbit or a pig? She should decide already.

“I think I am already quite used to his eating mannerisms lady Rhine, I do serve your whole family after all.”

Yeah, the butler was right on that. Hyde gulped some lemonade juice, relishing the sour tangy taste as it washed away the remaining tarts in his mouth. His sister forgot about that didn’t she?

“Oh right, how silly of me.”

She was more embarrassing than how he was acting right now. Maybe he should just eat with his friends, Tom after all needed some cheering up after the horse incident. He sighed to himself, if only he didn’t care about his sister.

“Please don’t think of it too much Lady Rhine.”

The butler replied to his sister with a smile. Hyde bit back a groaning sound, this was something he never noticed before. When did the butler became as smooth as butter? Or when did Rhine became a giddy girl? Wasn’t she thinking on how the other people would think of her if she was quite affable with the butler? Did his father consider that fact if Hyde didn’t actually come along?

“So Gus…”

“Yes Sir Hyde?”

Gus politely inclined his head towards him. The man seemed to adapt another persona with him, the impeccable butler that could do no wrong. All professional and sometimes acting like he and Hyde were conspiring buddies. It kind of made him feel queasy, it reminded him too much of the people in the nobility and royal court. Each and every one was holding up a mask that were deemed to fool everyone.

“How’d you manage to attach the cart to the horse? Wasn’t it supposed to be heavy?”

He raised a brow, playing a smile on his lips. Maybe he was as bad as everyone else in the court. But did anybody notice it all? Was he the sole one to notice it? The fact seemed to have escaped Rhine’s grasps but he held onto it like water to a dehydrated man in a desert. His mother’s vague words about the butler still haven’t been ignored; he would get to the bottom of it. The butler simply tilted his head at him.

“Ah, does Sir Hyde not know the special effects of an enchanted cart?”

“It’s supposed to be heavily protected against damage, meaning if you let one roll down… it’s almost like one of those battering rams. It could also cause much trouble if a cart would be allowed to roll down the road.”

Hyde frowned, it felt like he was holding on to straws now. Was there another effect? He could have sworn that enchanted carts only held that effect. A smile would grace their butler’s lips, and somehow it only further etched the curving down of his lips.

“The enchanters thought of making the cart almost lightweight when you need to attach it to your beast of burden. So normally it’s heavy but you can also make the cart almost as light as a feather… does that satisfy your curiosity Sir Hyde?”

“Quite much. Thank you Gus.”

Hyde would glance down at his empty plate, so he was wrong. He grimaced and finally took some morsels of meat to eat. It was a sting to his pride right now. He had been quite suspicious of the butler on something that could have been easily explained if he had known more of the enchantment effects. He was a bit of an idiot right now, he looked at his sister. Rhine’s gaze at him clearly meant that she agreed with him on that part.

“I also thank you for your apparent concern sir Hyde.”

Apparent? He glanced to see the butler already partaking of his meal, as if the conversation was simply… simple? He frowned and sighed to himself. Their mother would have already done something if the butler posed as a threat right? He didn’t need to worry or fret too much… but it was unfair that their mother and butler were both hiding something. He could feel it.

“Um, Sir Hyde?”

He lifted a brow at Gus. What did he want now?

“Would you like some more lemonade?”

Definitely hiding something. He gave the older man a grin.

“Sure thing Gus, thanks!”