"Xerxes!"

Uttering a "shhh" to a giggling voice in the tree behind him, he spun around to greet the one calling for him, "Good day, Shelly-sama~~"

Her voice was a mixture of worry, anger and frustration, "Enough with this farce! Where did you hide Sharon?"

He drawled playfully, "Whate~ver are you ta~lking about?"

"You're not frantically searching for her, then you must know where she is."

"Maaaaaaaybe?"

"Stop it, Xerxes, she has a sewing lesson to get to. And she just recovered from her cold, she'll get sick again if she plays in the snow. Help me find her!"

Break cocked his head to one side as if reconsidering their actions, but he reached a conclusion almost instantly and grinned, "No."

Shelly was genuinely taken aback for a moment, "Are you defying my command? That's rather unusual coming from you, Xerxes."

"Forgive me," he bowed dramatically, "But I am Lady Sharon's valet, and she has explicitly declared that I am not to reveal her whereabouts to anyone. I am afraid not even Shelly-sama can overrule my lady's orders."

"Does this warrant punishment?" he asked when she didn't respond, trying to make it sound like he wasn't wearing a really annoying smirk right then.

She heaved a sigh and gave him a flick on the forehead, "Don't spoil her."

He bursted into a fit of giggles, "Oh my, did I? But I was merely following your example, Shelly-sama."

"You...!" she stuttered when she realised she couldn't refute that. "Never mind! I'll go find Sharon by myself!"

She sent him a glower before continuing to scour for her daughter.

"My lady," Break turned to the tree after Shelly was gone, "You can come down now."

The child leapt out of the tree with a gleeful "Woohoo!" and fell right into Break's arms.

"My lady!" it was not nearly as much of a fun moment for the now frantic valet, "Please be careful! What would you have done had I failed to catch you?!"

"I knew you'd catch me," she beamed innocently.

"How so?"

"Because mother would have you beheaded if you didn't."

He grimaced at the truth in that statement before putting her down on the ground.

"So... what do you want to do with this free time, my lady? It is not enough for us to venture out to town."

"Ehhhhh? But why not?!" she pouted and yanked on his hand, "Let's head out and return by dinner time! I want to have some fun after being sick for four whole days!"

"It's exactly because you had been sick for four whole days," he knelt down to look her in the eyes, "Shelly-sama will have me beheaded if I allowed you to fall sick yet again so carelessly."

"She probably wouldn't if it's something so trivial. She doesn't have time for this," Sharon pouted bitterly.

He recounted how the busy Shelly hadn't had many opportunities to check in on her sick daughter in the past few days, just when she wanted to see her the most.

In a way, Sharon playing 'hide-and-seek' with her mother right now was a kind of self-satisfaction. She longed to feel like her mother was devoting a great deal of attention to her.

"Where are you, my adorable girl? I'm going to tickle you once I find you!"

"No! Kevin, help me! Papa's going to catch up to me!"

He briefly reminisced about a similar child he had once watched over, and cherished, as one would a dainty flower.

He balled his fists, "You ought to refrain from having Mistress Shelly worry so much, my lady. You and I both know good health is one luxury she never had."

"It'll be fine. Mother isn't so weak. That's just an excuse to ignore me when she's busy."

He kept his "If only that's true" unsaid, because it wouldn't make any difference.

And because they were found.

Sharon squealed in fright when her mother wrapped her in a bear hug from behind out of the blue.

"How did you realise we were back here?!" Sharon crossed her arms, "Did Xerx-niisan gave you secret signals without me hearing or something?"

"I'm your mother, I can see right through your little tricks," Shelly gloated, stroking the child's hair gently, "Come along, let's go back inside."

"I don't want to! I don't want my sewing lesson!" Sharon shouted and hid behind Break.

As the mother-daughter bickering continued, Break found his mind wandering off to somewhere else.

That child.

That small child.

The child he tried desperately to erase from his memory, and yet couldn't bear to let go.

The child he had failed to protect.

But now it was as if a second chance was bestowed upon him, or a cruel repeat of events. Nevertheless, he must once again unsheathe his sword and cut down those who harm his lady.

Another small child. A child with a loving smile and a kind heart, inherited from her mother no less. A child who loved him as a brother and whom he cherished as a sister in return.

It was such a bliss to be with her...

...and it was such torture.

For every second that came to pass, he was plagued with immense dread. Such a pure, adorable, angelic child...

...what if he plunges her into a ruthless sea of crimson again?

What if these hands, soaked in the blood of one hundred and sixteen, besmirch her innocence?

Such a small, delicate flower, what if her stem goes 'snap' when he approached her?

The Red-eyed Specter feared few things. But this notion was sufficient to torment him with countless nightmares that seemed far more authentic than his reality. A reality he never dared so much as to even think he deserved.

He was pulled back to said reality by said child letting out a tiny scream, "Mother!"

He failed to catch Shelly when she toppled over him.

"Are you alright, Shelly-sama?" they sat in an awkward position, but he managed to bolt to his feet and offered her his hand immediately.

"I'm sorry, mother, I shouldn't have pushed you," Sharon apologised sheepishly.

"I'm fine," Shelly took Break's hand and stood up, "It really is a pain to move around in this gown. Now, Sharon, you're all drenched with snow too. Let's go back inside, or you really will catch a cold again." They probably had a brief snowball fight when Break wasn't paying attention.

The child reluctantly conceded (perhaps out of guilt after pushing her frail mother) and took her mother's hand.

"Come on, Xerx-niisan, you too," she then extended her other hand to him, smiling from ear to ear.

He mustn't.

He must never allow all the filth and sins and blood on his hands to defile that small, pure, unmarred hand of hers.

He must never...!

He did.

Gingerly taking her tiny hand into his own, he gave it a light squeeze, just to make sure it was actually there and it wasn't all just in his head.

He should've fled. He should've rejected the invitation. But he couldn't resist this small hand as warm as a hearth in this numbing winter.

The child pranced in joy.

The child pranced in joy.

She twirled around to offer him a carefree grin.

She twirled around to offer him a carefree grin.

With a voice as sweet as a canary, she called to him blithely.

With a voice as sweet as a canary, she called to him blithely.

"Kevin!"

"Xerx-niisan!"

His selfish desire, a filthy thing, led him to deny his own vileness and connect with this innocent angel.

But for the first time since he was hurled into this despair-inducing future, he felt almost as if he was... forgiven.

So he swore to never let go. He swore to never allow something like last time to happen again. This time around, he would make sure to never do anything that would make this child shed tears.

---

Years later

He might not be able to see. But he could still feel.

He could feel the tension in the air, the heaviness in the silence that he dared not interrupt, the ever so tiny sound she made when she clenched her fists and trembled.

Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.

Sharon was not going to be fine and he knew it.

How the hell could he have let Reim talk him into this?

He mentally steeled himself, for in all likelihood, she would fall to her knees and bawl, begging him to tell her that it was not true.

She stepped towards him. So he prepared himself to embrace her gently and whisper that there was no need to cry over the withering of a vile creature such as himself. Although he was fully aware that she would continue.

But something was amiss.

From the blurry silhouette of her he could barely make out, he assessed her posture. She was not hunching down, not covering her face, not clutching the sides of her dress anymore.

She was... facing him.

"Then... I suppose we have no choice," she shattered the silence with confidence, "Prepare yourself, Break. Because I shall lead you myself, and teach you to dance step by step."

"Come now," she demanded with all the authority of a noble Rainsworth heiress, "Take my hand."

The image of her extending her delicate hand in the same way all those years ago flashed before his eyes.

My lady...

Since when have you grown so tall?

Since when do you sound so mature?

Since when have you... shared such an undeniable resemblance with Shelly-sama?

He genuinely had to remind himself that it was not Shelly who stood before him with such pride and elegance.

He might not be able to see. But it did not make a difference.

Her radiance had reached his heart either way.

How could I have not noticed what a beautiful woman you have grown up to become, my beloved little lady?

Gingerly taking her hand into his own, he gave it a light squeeze, still deep in his amazement.

He smiled with a hint of sadness. He mourned how he had failed to see her as she grew, and now it was too late. But he was relieved that the warmth of her hand had never once changed over the years.

She smiled with him, guiding his hand to her waist, lacing her own on his shoulder. Gazing at his face all the while, she took a step backward, leading him forward.

Leading him forward on this beautiful and cruel and captivating and melancholy dance called life, until the day his body rot away like his eye, they would keep on dancing...

...hand in hand.

---

The End