章節 32: Don't make that kind of expression

"Chael, why are you crying again?"

The little boy sniffled and wiped his tears. "D-Dad didn't like me" his voice cracked and continued to compress himself in the corner of his big room.

That blurry figure crouching in front of him pats his head. "Didn't I tell you that it's not true? Your dad loves you so much" he brushed Liechael's hair and smiled.

Little Liechael titled his head and tried to look at that blurry figure. "B-But dad s-said t-that mom d-died because of me" his eyes started to well up in tears again. He clenched his little hands, trying to restrain himself from crying again.

Before he could wipe his cheeks, that figure hugged him and tapped his back for comfort. "It's not your fault, so don't blame yourself"

"Young master?"

"Young master, wake up"

Liechael rubbed his head and lifted his upper torso. He saw Vlad sighing. "Young master, why are you so hard to wake up today?" he asked in dismay, while checking the time, scared that the guy would be late.

"I-.." Liechael paused. "I have a dream." he lowered his gaze and looked at the clean blanket covering half of his body. His sleepy eyes became more docile. "I dreamed that I was crying in the corner and there was someone comforting me," he said.

That long sentence made Vlad freeze. The second son of the Ross Family never became open to him like this. Usually, Liechael will just brush everything off with his giddy attitude, but after falling from that tree, he changed so much. The boy changed so much that it almost confused everyone. Vlad wanted to ask why, but then he remembered what happened yesterday between him and Chairman Ross. "Young master must be very tired" He said it instead while looking at the boy's swollen cheeks.

Liechael made a small yawn and left the bed. He put on his slippers and went straight to the bathroom.

Vlad was left there fixing his bed and preparing his uniform. While he was scanning at his young master's closet, something got his attention. A red scarf hanging next to Liechael's winter jacket. His hands moved unconsciously and caressed that scarf. That slight touch made him remember someone he's missing so much.

It was his son's present to Liechael.

The bathroom door opened, pushing Liechael back to his bedroom with a towel around his waist and a small one for wiping his hair. He winced upon hitting his cheeks with his hands accidentally.

"Young master, let me treat your cheeks after you put on your uniform. Do you need any help?" Vlad insisted.

"I can do it." His young master started to groom himself in front of the mirror while Vlad just observed his expressionless face until he was finished.

Both headed down to the dining table to eat breakfast.

As usual, his Aunt Lucielle was there. Eating breakfast with her tea while reading, but this time it's not a newspaper. Her laptop was opened in front of his eyes. She looked quite busy, so Liechael only gave her a short greeting. "Morning," he uttered.

Madam Lucielle adjusted her glasses and paused her fingers from typing. She scanned the boy across the table and saw his swollen cheeks with a bandaid. "What happened to your face, Chael?" she asked.

"Dad---" Liechael stopped. Is it really okay to call this man his dad? He pondered for a second. "He slapped me," he replied.

That straightforward answer left Madam Lucielle's jaw half open. She immediately gazes at Vlad, who's beside his nephew. She gave him the 'Did he really get slapped?' look, which made the butler nod his head.

Madam Lucielle sighed in dismay and glared at Vlad once more with her 'I told you to stop him yesterday' look. Vlad felt the chills from the woman, but tried to remain his composure. He replied with a 'He's too stubborn' look.

"I can sense you guys." Liechael gulped his milk and stood up. He looked at the two alternatively before picking his blue coat. "I'm fine, I'm going now" then he walked away with Vlad following behind him.

After a minute of making sure that the two already left, Madam Lucielle took out her phone and dialed some familiar numbers. It took almost half a minute before she got an answer from the other line. "Hello? Good morning, this is Chairman Ross' secretary. What can I do for you?"

Madam Lucielle frowned. "Where is Charles? I need to talk to him" she said it with an authority that the secretary from the other line recognized her voice immediately. Even if he was Liechael's father, she's still Charle's older sister.

"I'm sorry Madame, but the Chairman was at a very important meeting right now," the secretary said in a sad tone of voice.

It made the woman sigh. "Okay, tell him that I needed to talk to him after his meeting. I'm on my way to the company" she hung up the call and finished her morning tea after closing her laptop. Madam Lucielle exited the mansion with this disappointed expression written on her face. She called her driver and asked him to hurry to the company.

***

Liechael entered the school as usual. Even if there are students looking at him. They were probably curious about what happened to his face. He just let them be and head to the art class. Liechael had this new proposal in his mind that he wanted to share with Miss Carrein and other members as well.

He slid the door open and the first thing that greeted him was Alaena, carrying some boxes with Justin helping her. It looks like they're cleaning the art room.

To Liechael's surprise, Alaena let go of the boxes and cupped his cheeks instead. Her eyes were full of concern. It made the guy freeze in his stance. He wanted to utter a word, but it only left him speechless.

Alaena focuses her eyes on the guy's cheeks in her palm. "What happened to your face? Did you get into a fight?" she asked suspiciously.

Again, Liechael's eyes widened a bit with his ears turning red and hot. He couldn't avert his gaze because the girl was squeezing his face. "I-I'm fine," he uttered.

This time, the girl let go of his cheeks. She pouted and said. "If you're really fine, then don't make that kind of expression"

Liechael realized that he was looking at her with sadness in his eyes.