Chapter Text
He had those eyes. Eyes where you couldn't tell if they were a sunshine yellow or a tart green. Eyes that were forever interchangeable. Eyes that were infinite. They would never leave his head, and, frankly, he didn't want them to.
Carpaccio sat up in bed for the fifth night in a row, head titled back. Sweat formed in beads and dribbled down his temples as he kept his hands occupied by clutching the silky duvet. His burgundy hair twisted and curled into forty directions while his own eyes looked tired and annoyed. Getting visions of this mystery person has been such a hassle. Not once has he seen a color so specific and intricate.
The traditional alarm clock at his bedside began blaring as it hit seven am, and he smashed the "power off" button into the golden encrusted rim. Love Cute kicked the door open, a pan and wooden spatula in hand.
"Hustle up and get out of bed! We have guests coming over for brunch and I still need to touch up my hair!" She smacked the utensil against the iron skillet. Clatter rang out through his ears and he tossed a throw pillow at her.
"Shut up and let me get changed then. Prick." Carpaccio rolled out of bed and frowned at her. Love grunted and slammed the door behind her as she left, finally giving him the privacy he needed this early in the day.
Wait, what was he supposed to wear again?
★
He poked and prodded at the lanky stalks of green beans on his plate. Carpaccio had always preferred fruits over vegetables, he just wished Abel and Abyss would catch onto that soon enough. Marissa, his mother, laughed and mingled with the guests on her end of the table. Daren, his father, didn't return the gesture. Leaving Aron Irvine to drink his wine in silence.
Lauren Cabasse stood at Marissa's side, metal tray pressed tightly to her chest. When she first came to the castle about a month ago, she immediately tried to win Carpaccio over with her fake pouts and occasional grips on his arm. Claiming that someone as handsome as him should smile more. That was the first straw.
"Nii-nii, stop playing with your food." Celine, his three-year-old sister, stated with a huff. "You look dumb. And Lemon-chan doesn't like dumb guys." Despite her words, she slipped a few strawberries and apple slices onto his plate. Ones that she had picked when the garden's caretaker wasn't paying attention.
On the topic of Lemon Irvine, she had just been gazing and sighing dreamily at Mash Burnedead. Who, by the way, had just shown her the way to the bathroom when she almost professed her love for him on the spot.
She's the princess of Citronia, and the next queen. An alliance was made between her father and his own, so that the eldest son and the eldest daughter of both kingdoms would marry and further strengthen the generational bond. It was stupid and neither of them wanted to do it. Sure, Lemon was beautiful and sweet enough. But she just wasn't his type. Carpaccio didn't really know what his type was, actually.
"Lauren, would you be a dear and pour me some more water?" Her voice broke through his daydream, and the servant girl nodded. Her smile seemed all too sugary to possibly contain good intentions. With a slight nod and the lift of the pitcher, the requested liquid was dripping down Marissa's hair and soaking through her velvet dress. Gasps emerged from everyone, and Celine's plastic fork clattered onto her plate.
"Oops! Was that enough water for you, ma'am?" Amelia Irvine dabbed the woman's laced neckline as Lauren just giggled behind her gloved hand and watched. Daren's grip on his champagne glass tightened severely, but Carpaccio was the only one that actually did something.
He stood from his seat and the chair scraped the marbled floor, his little sister's Elsa cup filled to the brim with orange juice in his hand. Lauren raised an eyebrow as he came closer, fully expecting him to see that she wasn't afraid to disrespect those who she thought deserved it.
'Yes! He's finally come to his senses!' Getting all giddy, she beamed at him as if she didn't just humiliate his mother in front of company. "O-oh, Carpacci-"
"Don't call me that." Lauren scoffed but she screamed when the ice and sticky juice was dumped over her head. Ruining her makeup that she had done perfectly for a chance to get him to see how gorgeous she was. "Pack your bags and get out. You're no longer welcomed here."
"Ugh!" She wrung out her blue-silver hair, evidently frustrated that he was immune to falling for her. "Screw you anyways, I don't even wanna serve an asshole like you who doesn't know a pretty girl when he sees one!" Once she was finished with her whole spiel, Marissa sighed and wiped the corners of her mouth.
"I deeply apologize. We may have to cut this visit shorter than expected."
Amelia put a hand on her husband's shoulder and gave him a look. Aron cleared his throat and downed the rest of his Romanée-Conti.
"Well, thank you for hosting this little get-together." He pulled his cerulean blazer on and tipped his hat at Daren. "We'll be back next in a few days for the masquerade. Take care in the meantime."
A gust of snowy air burst into the room when the double doors were opened and then shut in an instant.
"Hey! Gimme my cup back!" Celine tugged on his sleeve, her other little hand extended and demanding. Carpaccio clicked his tongue, but he placed it into her grasp. The little girl was off into the kitchen right after, dark red pigtails bouncing in time with her steps.
As it was just him and both of his parents in the dining hall, Carpaccio could tell he was in for quite the lecture.
"Sweetheart, what in the world were you thinking? Firing another servant like that?!" Marissa slumped into her seat, her lipstick smudged and pursed. "You act like we have them at our disposal. They're human too, dear. It's hard finding new hires in today's economy-"
"I'll find someone. Someone who isn't a complete idiot and knows their place here." Carpaccio turned on his heels and trudged over to the exit, capturing the handle firmly. He balled up Celine's puffer jacket and tossed it at her when she came running to see what the sudden commotion was about. "We'll be back before supper. I promise, I'll bring the new hire back."
★
The horse-drawn carriage clicked and clattered across chipped cobblestone, drawing clusters of people closer. They stopped in front of a worn-down tavern, drunk men stumbling in and out of the constantly revolving door.
"Nii-nii, what if we go in there?" Celine's breath fogged up on the glass as she stared at the pub with stars in her eyes. "It looks like a lot of jobless people love that shop!" The driver slowed the carriage, but Carpaccio shook his head.
"No. That filthy place is too dangerous for you to go in. I doubt you'll make it past the ID check anyway." She crossed her arms and pulled her knees closer to her body. "Drop us off around the corner." He commanded. The coachman grunted affirmatively and tugged the reins connected to the two Friesian horses. They stumbled back but didn't cause a scene. Carpaccio was the first one to step out. Celine followed after, still sulking. Fluffy white snow crunched beneath their boots as they walked hand in hand.
"Can we go to the trinket store on our way back? I wanna get a unicorn statue!" She stared at him expectantly while beaming, unlike earlier.
"We came here to find a replacement, not add to your glass animal collection. You can ask Tron or Cello to take you a different time." Celine whined as her eyes got glossy and the tip of her nose shifted to red.
"You never let me do anything fun..." She murmured, dragging her feet through a loose pile of snow. Glancing back the the tavern, she wished she could grow up faster so that her mean older brother couldn't boss her around anymore.
He dragged her into the one pharmacy on this side of town. Hardly anyone shopped there, but it was crowded enough that you needed to say "excuse me" to grab some shampoo.
"Alright, you can go look on your own, but no leaving the store. Got it?" Carpaccio let go of her wrist and let her roam free. The pharmacy was fairly small, so she wouldn't get lost too easily.
Celine skipped away, twirling around and laughing. Freedom! She smirked in the direction of the sliding door and tiptoed over to it without coming off as too suspicious.
A bell dinged and the glass slid back, revealing the outside world. The carriage stayed in its' original spot even though the coachman was talking to someone else off to the side.
"Pretty ponies, here I come!" Celine rushed down the sidewalk and towards the trinket shop, but another building caught her attention. The same tavern Carpaccio had warned her about. "On second thought..."
She tapped her finger to her chin and grinned. The door to the pub was already open, since some random lady was slumped against it, bringing in the icy wind.
A young man, probably no older than sixteen, gently moved her into a warm corner near a candle in the windowsill. Celine followed him in before he could shut the door completely.
"Hey, mister!" She yanked a string from his soiled apron, and he turned around frantically, clearly not noticing that she was two feet shorter. "Down here!" The bartender froze as he processed the situation. He had let an actual child into a bar.
"Oh my god, oh my god! Kid, how did you even get in here?!" He panicked, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her violently. "Okay, um, you need to leave, right now. Where are your parents?" Celine shoved him away, now pointing at him.
"I need you to come with me, mister! It's very super important to my Nii-nii!" She pleaded. Her face morphed, looking like she was on the verge of crying with her bottom lip jutted out and quivering. "He kicked out one of our maids, and we need a new one or else mommy and daddy with ground him forever!"
"I-I already have a job? I don't think I can help you, ma'am."
"What if I take you to him? He's a better explainer than me!" She took his arm and dragged him out of the tavern, mustering up all her strength to get him to the door. "He's not far, I swear!"
Celine pushed it open with her right shoulder, grunting and clearly struggling. While she was occupied, the man tried to bet back behind the counter to serve customers, but this girl was stronger than she seemed.
When the door gave out and finally swung open, Carpaccio was standing outside. Arms crossed and brows furrowed. She stopped as soon as she caught sight of him, averting her eyes.
"God, what did I tell you, Celine?! I said no running off and you leave the minute I let go." He hoisted her up into his arms after plucking her from the stranger's side. "Just wait until mom and dad catch wind of thi..." Carpaccio trailed off. He did a double take, completely drowning in the warm color he had been looking for.
A swarm of butterflies erupted inside of his stomach, heart bouncing around in his ribcage like a cat pouncing on furniture. His cheeks got hot, a contrast to the chilly breezes.
For a second, all he could see was that boy. The entire world had been shut out and it was just them. No one else mattered, since had found the eyes he was searching for. The kindest, softest, most selfless eyes.
"Nii-nii, you're staring." Celine slapped his forehead a few times to snap him out of his trance. She snickered, finding great amusement in seeing him malfunction like this.
"Uhm, sir..?" He waved his hand in from of the other's face to see if he could get a response. Carpaccio blinked and began stuttering, his legs turning into jello.
"Wha- huh, uh..." He was at a loss for words. Simply stunned by how beautiful this boy was. No, beautiful wasn't enough. Maybe alluring? Whatever. He didn't have time to think about the millions of phrases he could use to describe this angel.
"Are you her brother? She came into the pub searching for "new hires". Could you explain it a little further?" Shit, he did not catch anything he said. The safe option would be to answer "why is your sister trying to turn me into a servant?"
"M-my apologies for the hassle, but Celine right here is helping me find replacements for our last maid. She met none of our standards for someone employed in the castle." Castle?! Was he hearing him right? Were these two actually...
"Did you say castle? As in Magias' biggest piece of property which houses the Luo-Yang family?" He was shivering now. Either from the cold and the fact he wasn't wearing a coat, or because he had spoken so casually to literal royalty.
"Precisely."
"Ah, I'm so sorry!! I should've introduced myself!" The bartender bowed and embarrassment began to sink in. "I'm Finn Ames. It's great to meet you!" Finn smiled and Carpaccio knew his heart melted into sappy goop the minute he saw the corners of his lips upturn so gracefully.
Celine took hold of her brother's white-collared button-up, pulling him in to whisper in his ear for a good minute and a half. The teen they had left out of their conversation kept glancing in the direction of the tavern, hoping he could fo back inside where they had heaters and food.
After a long while, Carpaccio gazed at him when the two siblings were done with their chat. Celine was buzzing, unable to stay still. Her grin stretched so wide it might've taken up seventy percent of her face.
"If you're willing, how would you like to work for us, Finn?"