6 Chapter VI

The red-head shifted to be more comfortable on the tree branch slowly as he lifted the box in his lap and opened it. The brunette watching the young man blinked in surprise. He had thought the young master had drunk away the memory of the box. Or had decided to ignore its existence by choice. 

Shaking his head, the brown eyed man's pupils turned instead to focus on the fish before him. Raising the kitchen knife in his right gloved hand high so that it glinted in the lights of the kitchen, Beacrox's eyes glinted in like manner as, within seconds, the large fish was de-scaled, decapitated, gutted, and de-boned to perfection. The apprentice cook clapped with stars in her eyes as she then quickly took notes of the chef's technique.

Beacrox was silent but couldn't help the small smirk on his lips as the apprentice was quite competent in how she took her notes on his work before frowning when he saw the ink smudges on her hands from how fast she was writing and drawing what she saw. Looks like she needs further training on proper cleanliness before they could move from fish to red meats…

After some light instruction, the young apprentice had the fear of death in her gaze as she fiercely scrubbed her hands in the sink. Beacrox's gaze went from the girl back out the window to see that the young master was still up in the tree but had rested the box on his lap as the red-head looked up, leaning against the tree. The brunette's eyes studied the young master silently as he kept an eye on the apprentice's hands in the corner of his eye. 

Beacrox frowned a bit as he looked at the young master. So many years of trouble, curses, and broken bottles… and yet, as though it was just yesterday, Beacrox could remember the scene seared into his memory of the baron on his knees after the Lady's funeral, desperately holding onto Cale and how the small small redhead, stood strong, holding the both of them upright against the onslaughts of grief they both felt. That was the night they had become closer than they ever had been and also the last night Cale received any form of physical affection from his father. The baron's breakdown took place just three days after the funeral and after that night, the baron disappeared for a whole month, or rather, that's how it felt at least. He dived into his office and only allowed the butlers and his aides to enter and holed himself in the office so much that he had a cot moved into the back of the office behind a bookshelf so that he wouldn't have to leave for sleep. The man acted like an emotionless husk of a man with only the success of the barony existing within the man's mind. He avoided the young redhead like the boy was a vengeful ghost.

Through this, the barony greatly prospered quite quickly as the baron had a sharp mind for business. Beacrox couldn't say he approved of the fact that the baron waited a whole month before leaving his office once to visit a neighboring noble. And when the baron left to visit the neighboring noble, Beacrox could remember Cale hearing that his father had left his office finally and how brightly the boy's face had lit up, after being so down since the funeral. What happened after that… Beacrox felt his brow twitch at the expression that had appeared on the young master Cale's face and how quickly it had disappeared into a blankness that was even harder to see. Not that Beacrox would've ever admitted to such a feeling. But if he put further effort into the boy's meals from then on and 'accidentally' dropped a few ghost peppers into the baron's breakfast's for a week… Well… Even a perfectionist can find dust on their gloves. He just accidentally mixed up the labels for the Paprika and the ground ghost pepper seed only catching on a week later… The following pay cut was worth it in the brunette's opinion.

Beacrox's brow twitched lightly, causing the apprentice's whole body to jolt in fear as her eyes showed alertness, watching and waiting to hear what she had done wrong, even as she swiftly returned to her task of descaling the salmon in front of her with deft twists of the wrist, as she had been shown earlier by the master chef.

The brunette let out the faintest of sigh before he shifted his gaze once more to the task at hand, there was no way he was letting the help ruin the Baron's dinner just because the young master was doing something quite out of character…

But that hardly poses a problem for if he decides to watch the redhead through the corner of his eye.

The redhead is hardly a problem worth giving attention to, but the box… the momento from the first lady of the home is quite precious… It would be a shame if the trashy young master were to ruin one of the last momentos of the lady. Though the baron probably has no more memory of the box's very existence. The height of the willow tree could damage the box rather badly if it were to fall…

The brown eyes man decided to alert his father of the young master's position next that he saw the butler as the man would no doubt pass by shortly as he looked for the young master. The Baron had assigned Ron to keep an eye on the young master due to the young man's state when he was brought home by the elder butler the previous evening. Speaking of, there's his father now. 

Beacrox let's out a low whistle that could hardly be heard by an untrained ear and caught his father's sharp gaze that he then directed, by looking out the window beside himself. Ron, who stood just outside of the window, nodded following his son's gaze to the charge he was watching from afar. "Something seems different about him today." Was the quiet murmur Beacrox registered in his ear before his eyes caught on to a drastic discrepancy in his kitchen.

Beacrox's eyes narrowed as the young chef-wanna-be missed the perfect cut on the fish's neck and he went on calmly to instruct the woman that, for unknown reasons, definitely not cause he was making a 'happy' face as he showed her how to do it. Again. For the third time, was shaking like a leaf as he showcased the proper way to decapitate the fish type of salmon. 

With Ron, who stood just outside the kitchen window, he calmly listened to his son's mildly agitated teaching as his eyes stayed trained upon the young master who seemed to be meditating under the sunlight that beamed onto the tree branch he rested on. Ron's face crinkled as a small twinge in his upper lip might have suggested a smile for just a moment.

The young master did look quite a bit like the First Lady when his face wasn't askew in an unpleasant manner. This Ron can still remember how he was as a wee pup, running all about the garden with his mother gracefully chasing after him with the brightest of smiles adorning her face…

Ron pushed away the train of thought abruptly, that pup was no more and the First lady was no longer around. This Ron must be suffering the effects of becoming an old man, to allow such sentimentality. He straightened his already perfect stature and then proceeded to walk deeping into the garden, towards the young pup's place of rest.

Cale cracked an eye open as he heard a twig snap and looked down from his relaxed position at the grounds below and spotted Ron quietly standing at the base of the tree.

There's no way that Ron would've snapped a twig accidentally, he must have decided to announce his presence to Cale without verbally interrupting the peace and quiet of the garden. He could respond in acknowledgement but that's hardly necessary for the assassin could probably tell he was faking being asleep to begin with. Not to mention the scary and grating sound of a knife being sharpened that emanated from the kitchen, what a frightening moment of 'like father like son'.

Cale tilted his head back against the core of the tree as he thought through the discovery he had found within the mysterious wooden box. It was a book. Well, more of a tome with how thick it was, but the odd part was how upon touching it, the tome disappeared and instead there was a small piece that said, "You're welcome." with a small smiley face accompanied with wavy red hair, from a red ink, under the message.