Bab 13: The mysterious Shaun Somerset
"Lady Manchester and young master Derrick, how are you?" a familiar voice spoke from a table behind them. Ishmael cursed his luck; he did not think he would ever come across one of the six aristocrat ladies Odd-Looking had introduced to him on the day of the banquet, and not especially the cold and mysterious Lady Augusta Somerset. "We are fine, thanks, and how are you?" Sarah responded with a hint of confusion in her voice; she had already forgotten who this woman was since she had not interacted with her during the banquet.
"That's good to hear, Lady Manchester; I am fine as well." Augusta responded with a smile. The rest of the consumers in the café all widened their eyes at Sarah; news of a new city governor had already been printed out on the paper, and many people already knew, but due to the fact that there was no portrait of it, they all knew the name of the person and their information, but had never seen them before. And when this odd group of two aristocrats and two servants entered, no one would expect the new governor to have breakfast in such a place.
So, when they heard the surname and the way Lady Augusta, who is a well-known aristocrat, addressed her, they almost fell off their chairs in shock.
Since Ishmael's was facing toward Augusta's table, he kept his head down, daring not to utter a word. Simon saw his friend's awkwardness and smiled internally; it was a very rare sight to see him in such a state. After all, Ishmael had a type, and Simon knew it very well, and the young aristocrat lady also fitted the criteria, but not only her...
Augusta was here with her brother Shaun Somerset, a famous musician renowned throughout the whole kingdom. His brother shared the same good looks as his little sister, with identical black hair, albeit his was shorter and stuck to his forehead, much like Simon's. His pale white skin gave him a mysterious charm; he wore a simple linen shirt not full-buttoned, revealing his bare chest, and on his fingers were rings. His black pants and shoes were all simple. Shaun's way of dressing was completely different, giving him an artistic feel.
This quaint café belonged to Shaun, who purchased it after its original owner died of a heart disease two years ago. The reason he bought this café was because they had spent most of their childhood coming here, and it held a small place in his heart. Since Shaun was always away, whenever he would return from his tours, he enjoyed spending time with his little sister, and this café of his was the perfect place for the both of them. They would talk about the places he had been to and their cultures; well, he mostly did the talking while his sister remained quiet.
"Is that our new governor? She seems alright." Shaun smiled, asking her. Augusta nodded but gave no answer; her eyes seemed to be gazing upon a particular individual the governor had with her, following his sister's gaze, even he was slightly surprised.
[Oh, new competition] He smiled at his thoughts; he was one individual who knew how good he looked, and it was certainly hard to find any guy that gave him competition, but now, right here in his home city, just behind him, was a young man about the same age as him in a navy butler's uniform, staring at the plate of food in front of him.
[It seems like you have taken a liking to the governor's butler, little sister, sadly father would never approve.] He thought after taking his eyes off Ishmael. "You do know it's rude to stare, right?" He asked his little sister with amusement in his tone. Augusta retracted her calm gaze and directed it intensely to her brother. "Who was staring?" Shaun chuckled a bit and shook his head; it seems like this was going to get a little interesting for him.
At Sarah's table, everyone ate their food quietly, with no one saying a thing until Derrick broke the silence. "You were right; we need to take a break from Selena's cooking." He spoke with food in his mouth, which made his mother step on his foot under the table. "Where are your table manners?" Sarah asked, but Derrick only stared at her with a wronged expression. Putting her cup of tea down, she looked towards Simon, but her gaze lingered on Ishmael first. "I'm pretty sure you now have all the knowledge of the various routes of Denil?" She asked him. Simon nodded, remembering to address her properly in public spaces. "Yes, milady, Herman has taught me all of them." Keeping his answer short and direct, he turned to Ishmael, who seemed a bit out of it.
"And what about you, Ishmael? You now have complete control and knowledge of the manor?" Sarah asked, but no answer came. Since Simon was closer to him, he could see the movement within Ishmael's right eye, frowning slightly, he kicked Ishmael underneath the table, seating up straight, like he was jolted awake, he cleared his throat, embarrassed, "Um, forgive me for the lack of concentration; can you repeat your question, my lady?"
Ishmael apologized. On the other table, as Shaun was busy making fun of his sister, he paused for some few seconds, having felt a slight disturbance not too far from him. [Was that...spirit essence? Here....in my café?] Shaun's smile disappeared, and an unreadable expression graced his face. Augusta noticed the change in atmosphere around her brother but kept quiet; she knew Shaun would act strange at times, and it was all after he was kidnapped back as a child. Shaun was kidnapped for one full year until the kidnappers brought him back to their doorstep, and everyone that day, her brother was never the same. He was still him, but much stranger, and he would do weird stuff sometimes. At times, she would catch him staring at a wall for no particular reason.
"Excuse me one moment, sister," Shaun left and headed for the restrooms, leaving his sister with a sad look. Once inside, he locked himself in. Quickly taking out from his pocket a small wooden coffin similar to the ones used for corpses. But this one was not even pal sized,and it was completely covered in inscriptions, just by taking it out, the light in the restroom dimmed.
Shaun held it in his palm and started praying a strange prayer; "Within my palm, I hold the coffin in which a divine item rests, gorged out from the all-seeing cherubim. I pray to the angel that lost its eye to please lend me its divine vision." The inscriptions on the wooden box faded, and the box opened slowly, revealing a blinding light from its confines. The golden light floated out of the box under the calm gaze of Shaun, who had only squinted his eyes a little, having seen this plenty of times before. The light started to fade away, revealing the cause of the blinding radiance, a pupil-less eyeball floated in front of him, and soon the eyeball began to wither away on the spot, leaving behind a golden monocle.
The monocle floated to his left eye and fitted perfectly; the eye behind the monocle also became pupil-less, and his face became filled with dark veins, and his ebony hair turned ashen. Heavily breathing, he turned to face the door of the restroom, and from his left eye, the door became none existent; everything was laid bare before his eye. From the restroom, he could see the people in the café chatting and eating their food, but his target were neither of these ordinary people; he was looking for the person covered in spirit essence. Spirit essence would manifest as golden light around a person or an object; the brighter the light, the stronger the essence.
Looking past his sister, a faint glow caught his eye, coming from the man his sister had been eyeing. The light was not too strong, but it was present.
"Oh, it's...you...butler. Your secrets are laid bare before my eye." The veins on his face darkened, and blood seeped out of his eye, looking directly through the butler; he saw the brightest light he had ever seen, and from the butler's soul, a shock wave sent him hurling back against the wall, and his monocle flew off, and the tiny coffin sucked it in before closing shut, and the inscriptions appeared again. The veins on his face slowly faded, and his left eye returned to its normal appearance. Slowly getting up, he chuckled a bit in excitement. [Finally.]
In the café, right a few minutes after Shaun had left, Ishmael was busy conversing with Sarah when he suddenly felt naked; the hairs on his body stood, and he felt exposed, as if someone was looking at his soul, but he tried to keep his thoughts calm, and he carefully looked around, trying to see who was observing him. But after a few seconds, the feeling stopped, and the uneasiness he felt ceased. Taking a deep breath to calm his raging thoughts, he smiled at Sarah's words.
"You are right, milady; I will try to keep that in mind, although I am currently focused on serving you; I do not think I can manage a romantic relationship." He spoke with a smile. Sarah shook her head; "Nonsense, I'm sure you can. You are handsome, both of you, and you are good meant; a lady would be lucky to have you." Sarah spoke with a sad smile, as if she was reminiscing about a certain point in her life.
Simon merely smiled and gave no answer; Derrick, however, was smiling like an idiot, seemingly imagining outrageous scenarios. After a short while, someone came to their table; it was the man who was seated with Augusta, he resembled her quite a lot, the man's sense of fashion was strange, but even he could not deny the man's good looks;
"Lady Manchester, I'm sorry I could not manage to come to your banquet; I was still out of the city. We have not met yet; I am Shaun Somerset, firstborn and Heir of the Somerset household." He bowed. Sarah smiled; "Mr. Somerset, I have long heard of your renowned name; I am a fan of both your controversial music and fashion. It is an honor to meet such an influential figure." Sarah stood up and performed a curtsy. "Likewise, I believe you will make this city into the number one city of our kingdom. With that said, milady, can my sister and I join you? It is but a rather crucial matter that I need to address with you." Sarah nodded, feeling a sense of foreboding. Ishmael studied the man as he spoke and noticed the collar of his linen shirt was a small bloodstain.
Now his interest was piqued. Standing up, he gave up his seat for Shaun, and Simon did the same for Augusta, but Shaun urged them to seat with them. They grabbed Shaun and Augusta's previous chairs and joined them.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone