Ambivalent | Alois Trancy

02| Tea

As much as you hated being there, you had to admit that the beds were comfortable. The only reason you even felt like getting out of bed, was when Hannah brought in breakfast.

She placed it on the night-stand, watching as you rose up like the dead. You smacked your lips twice, before looking at her, "What's the agenda today?" You pulled your covers off, before sitting upright at the edge of the bed.

"We're meant to show you around, unless you'd rather have some tea in the courtyard," she said, pulling your nightshirt off. Replacing it with a cotton undershirt, you turned around and put on the corset. You held your breath as she tightened it, already used to the routine.

"Could we have tea first and then the tour?" You had a feeling that Alois would be present during the tour, you'd like to avoid him as much as possible.

Sitting back down on the bed, you pulled your stockings up and tied the ribbon to keep them in place. "Of course Miss, let me tell Alois of your plans," she said, grabbing the main part of your dress.

"Just [y/n]," you corrected, reminding her of the conversation the night before, "and does he really have to know?"

"He likes to know what everyone is doing," she said, buttoning the pockets underneath your dress. "Besides, he might want to join you."

"Well, that's silly," you groaned inwardly, but otherwise let Hannah carry on with dressing you. It was over soon and you followed her outside.

She walked you to a small shaded area, where there was a table and chairs on concrete ground. Tea and biscuits (among other treats) were set up there, making you feel giddy. Of course, this giddiness didn't last long when you noticed Claude (you assumed that was his name. Alois had referred to him once) and Alois standing next to it.

Obviously arguing, you tried to resist the temptation to turn around and hide away. You heard them go quiet when you walked up, but neither looked happy.

"If it isn't the master of the house himself," you dully said, sitting down. "What an unfortunate happening we have here," you watched as Hannah poured your tea, marveling at how she did so gracefully.

Grabbing the cup, you added in some cubes of sugar and mixed it, trying to ignore the glare you knew you were getting.

"As well as being horrid company, you're also a glutton," Alois snapped, watching as you stirred your tea.

As if trying to piss him off, you grabbed the cup of sugar and dumped the thing in your cup. "Why don't you keep your disgusting words to yourself? I'm sure no one here wants to hear them," you said, almost struggling with stirring the mountain of sugar with your small portion of tea.

"Claude, do you see how mean she is to me? Are you sure we couldn't refund her or something," it was amusing to see him put on this needy act in front of his butler. He acted as though he was an innocent in all this.

"I'm not a piece of property you can just buy and sell however you please," you slammed your spoon on the counter, clenching your other fist next to your side. "And if you want to get rid of me so much, I implore you to."

"I'm going to get more sugar, master, it seems we've run out," Clause seemed to want to remain a neutral in this. Seeing as how he dashed off as quickly as humanely possible, he also seemed unable to handle your petty squabbles.

Alois glared at the direction he went, beige returning his sharp glare to you. "I might just, you've been a shit guest ever since you got here, but I'm sure you'd be worth lots of money in the Red Light District." You knew he was calling you a pretty face, but obviously it wasn't a compliment.

You grabbed the tea kettle and reached across the table, dumping the hot liquid on him. Sitting back down, you turned to Hannah, "I would like the tour now." You looked at her, her eyes wide and unbelieving, until she slowly nodded.

Walking off, you ignored Alois screaming for Claude.

After running away from Alois, you watched as Hannah walked around the castle with you. You were trying to find a quiet place, one where Alois wouldn't go to often.

Apparently, Alois didn't go anywhere other than his room and the dining room (the courtyard as well, but not as often). This made it easy for you to find places where you could be without him. Flipping through a book talking about agriculture, you quickly became bored and tried to find another one.

"Hey, Hannah, I was wondering, could we go to the kitchen?" You asked, placing the book back on the shelf. She nodded and began walking you there.

On the way, you noticed the bathroom being used. Now, you noticed this because the door was open. Maybe it was because Alois was used to living alone, but he didn't seem to know the concept of closed doors.

You didn't see much, just his wet and mad face. Quickly walking by, you began talking about different sweets with Hannah.

"I think that we should have some toffee for dessert tonight," you suggested, thinking about it.

"What kind of toffee?"

You weren't sure what toffee, you were never told which one your parents bought. "Surprise me?" You said, shrugging your shoulders.

Hannah nodded, opening the kitchen door. You looked around at it, seeing that everything was in a certain place. "Who's the cook here?" You looked around, seeing no one in there.

"One of the three triplets," she answered, which gave you no real information.

"Oh," you went along with it anyway, assuming you would meet the triplets soon.  Hannah showed you out of the kitchen and asked if you would like to see the garden. You said yes, not having anything else to do.

The garden was beautiful. Yellow roses grew close to the manor, each one looked healthy and taken care of. The garden had the standard English rectangle pattern, the bushes not having a branch out of place. The paths were patterned stone, some of the off paths being gravel.

It was a nice place and you enjoyed the trees.

The courtyard was to the left of the manor, where one of the garden paths led. You looked at one of the flowers in the flower bed, not recognizing it. "What flower is this?" You pointed to it. It was bell-shaped and bright yellow, different than any plant you've seen before.

"That's a Chinese Lantern Lily," she told you, lifting one of them up, "Master Alois got them as a gift from one of his suppliers."

You didn't ask for the background information, so you decided to ignore it. "They're quite pretty, I like them," you let yourself smile, rubbing your thumb underneath the petal.

You walked along, asking for more plant names. They took your mind off of what happened earlier today and they were pretty to look at.

Looking beyond the flower beds, you saw a cluster of white flowers. "What're those?" You asked, wanting to get a closer look at them.

"It's Giant Hogweed. I wouldn't recommend touching it, it's very poisonous," Hannah told you, as if she guessed that you wanted to go near it.

"What would happen if I did touch it?" You looked at the flowers, wondering how something so pretty could be so dangerous.

Hannah thought for a minute, before responding, "The sap on it would cause blisters and it could make you hypersensitive to the sun for a few months."

"So, hypothetically, if I did touch it, I wouldn't be able to leave the manor?" You looked over at her, holding your hand.

"You could, but you'd have to bring a parasol," she said, quickly adding, "but you mustn't, it's very dangerous-"

You held you hand up to stop her, "Don't worry, I wasn't planning anything. Just wondering."

"Shall we go back inside then?"