16 Young Master (2/2)

At that time, he would really be alone.

But, such is the life of the lord.

...

Aside from Alphonse, the person who saw the young master the most was probably Edgar, the head caretaker of the Proulx stables.

When he had been ordered by Alphonse to keep watch of the young master when he was to enter the stable's premises, he had been against it at first; thinking that he would just become a babysitter for a spoiled brat.

Being discriminated against by the nobles ever since he was a child for being a muggle-born, he had no positive thoughts about their kind.

But, upon their first meeting, his assumptions were crushed.

The feral beast that all of them were having trouble with was tamed directly by the young master.

Right then, the ability he was most confident in had been destroyed in front of his very eyes, causing him to rethink his entire existence.

Fortunately, he recovered quick and began to warm up to the child; teaching him the proper way to feed, groom, and care for his new partner.

Now, his impression of the young master was of a diligent child who has the mind of an adult and the heart of a dragon.

...

Casimir walked out of the stables in his thick, winter coat, being followed by Noir who was smelling the air tentatively.

On this mid-december day, Casimir had woken up to snowflakes falling from the sky gently. For a while, he just stood in front of the windows to admire the beautiful scene outside.

He then thought, since Noir was originally from Africa, he had never seen snow before so, he decided to let him out of the stables to enjoy the scenery with him.

”Come on, Noir! It's not that bad! I promise!” Casimir encouraged him.

Cautiously, Noir stepped on the snow and was surprised by the coldness, looking at Casimir as if blaming him.

An eight foot tall beast was actually so scared of snow! Casimir laughed to himself at the thought.

”Come on, you big baby! It's really not that bad!” Casimir laughed and walked on the snow. ”See? Nothing bad is gonna happen.”

After much reassurance and encouragement, Noir finally stepped into the snowy world.

Suddenly, a single snowflake fell on Noir's nose, causing him to stare at the intruding object cross-eyed then, he sneezed.

Casimir finally couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing.

Noir stared at him and, if a Skaduwee could scowl, it probably would have already done that.

In the end, the two of them just sat under a peach tree that had long grown bald and enjoyed the sight of snowflakes falling gently from the sky.