The Count's Strange Guest (6)
After this, constant practice began, practice and more practice. Vincent, initially frightened, suddenly became more confident and easily left the room. As he continued to walk, he became more aware of his surroundings.
However, it was still not easy for Vincent to go alone: after the first success, for some reason the gentleman could no longer reach the door on his own. He kept falling.
The problem was that as he fell, he gradually lost confidence in himself. Sometimes he cowered in fear, and sometimes he could not move for a long time, resting his hands on the floor.
In horror, he crawled along the floor, climbed onto the bed and pulled the sheets over himself, as if he was trying to hide.
-...There is someone here.
“It’s just me and my master here.”
- Don't lie to me. Someone else is here. He wants to kill me.
The past left deep scars on him. Now I understood why he was hiding in his room. Vincent wasn't afraid to walk. He was afraid that when he left the room, someone would try to kill him again. This fear followed Vincent at every step. He constantly wrapped himself in sheets to hide, and thus protected himself.
“Sir, why don’t you think about it from a different perspective?” It’s as if you are now going on an adventure, into pitch darkness, not knowing what awaits you ahead, what you will face. Of course, this is very scary, but if you don’t even try, you will remain in this darkness forever.
-...
“It takes courage to go on an adventure, and now is the time to be brave.” Don’t worry so much, because next to you there is a voice that only you can hear. He can be your adventure buddy, your loyal friend, and even a family member. He is invisible, but will always be near you.
- If you kill me...
- Believe me, I will never do this. I'm just here to help.
I took his trembling hand and pulled him into a hug. I wanted to help him find courage.
- Doesn't sound very plausible...
“Why would he ruin such a moment with his sarcastic comments?”
Luckily, Vincent quickly calmed down and gained enough confidence to walk alone. Now he can walk to the door without falling halfway. The gentleman flails his arms in the air and stumbles, but I am proud of him for not giving up.
“I’m always watching you,” I say. - Don't fall.
And I pat him on the back encouragingly.
– You can handle everything.
***
I untied the knot in the cloth I had wrapped around the gentleman and swept up the cut strands. Vincent ruffled his short-cropped hair. It was an easy haircut, but it didn't turn out as bad as I imagined. Of course, it would be better if we invited a professional hairdresser to cut it properly. But it would be difficult to let another person in on Vincent’s secret, so I did the haircut myself.
“Did you really have to go that far?”
– It turned out very neatly, it looks good.
With his hair cut, he looked even more impressive. Vincent's appearance definitely stood out from the crowd. He was certainly popular with the ladies. I was pleased to see him well-groomed, so my efforts were worth it.
- Bring me some clothes.
- Oh, if you're talking about pajamas, then here they are.
– Another one, for going out into the world.
It was unexpected. He did not take back his words. I opened another chest of drawers for the first time in my entire stay here. Shirts, vests, coats, trousers, ties, shoes... Where are these shoes?
I rushed around the room like a whirlwind, collected my clothes and handed them to him. Vincent took off his pajamas and put on his suit.
Impeccably dressed, he looked like Count Vincent Bellunite. A true aristocrat. Just one change of clothes could change his entire appearance. The thinness had not disappeared, but he still looked impressive.
- Cane.
I looked at him silently as he stood with his hand outstretched. Cane? Having come to my senses, I looked around the room again, found a cane and handed it to him. He took it and froze. He seemed to be trying to lean on her to walk. In any case, everything was ready.
I left the room and closed the door behind me. A moment later, Ethan arrived.
-Where is Vincent?
- He's waiting inside.
– Did you train a lot?
Ethan narrowed his eyes slyly. It seemed like he knew we were practicing. He really is terrible.
– Today is a beautiful day, ideal for a walk.
- It's clear.
- The buds have already bloomed on the branches.
- What? – I asked, perplexed, and he just laughed. It was a laugh that I had heard many times, but for some reason I was wary. It feels like I'm missing something important.
Meanwhile, Ethan stood at the door. But he could not easily pull the handle and enter the room. I saw how he tensed. There must have been hundreds of thoughts running through his head right now. All we have to do is wait for him to open the door.
“I’m worried that you couldn’t change anything.”
- Just take a look for yourself.
- Necessarily.
Gathering his resolve, he pushed the door. Surprise gradually colored his face. Watching his reaction, I also looked into the room.
As expected, Vincent stood in the very center of the room. He tapped his cane on the floor.
Ethan blinked.
- Vincent?
Vincent looked up at Ethan's voice. His face was stern, outwardly untouched by anything, but I saw that tension was hidden under this mask.
Vincent began to approach us, leaning on his cane.
He practiced this many times, even turning in the right direction. I was worried that he might get nervous and fall, but fortunately he walked confidently.
Vincent quickly walked to the door and finally left the room. Ethan, who had been watching him unblinkingly, spread his arms out in delight.
- Vincent! – he exclaimed, almost bursting into tears.
But Vincent behaved quite cruelly. He suddenly raised his hand, took another step forward, and swung his cane towards Ethan.
Everything happened in an instant.
Ethan ducked in fear and I blinked in surprise. The cane, missing its target, cut through the air and hit the window in the corridor.
There was the sound of breaking glass. I looked in horror at what happened. The window glass shattered and scattered on the floor. An ominous voice echoed down the corridor:
“One more threat like that and I’ll kill you.”
Vincent looked straight, Ethan seemed to shrink under the weight of this gaze. He lowered his hands, which were covering his face, and looked at Vincent.
- I'm your friend.
-You threatened me.
-...
Taken by surprise, Ethan fell silent. The gentleman let go of the cane, leaving it sticking out of the window frame and turned around. Ethan finally straightened up and stared at the broken window. After a moment of stunned silence, he came to his senses and began to approach Vincent.
- Get out of here.
With these words the door slammed. Ethan was shocked by what he saw. His friend had just chased him away, closing the door in his face. In the end, he could only stand there, staring ahead.
- He got very angry.
- Definitely.
I pulled my cane out of the window. While I was thinking about what to do with the fragments, I heard laughter coming from somewhere. I turned to see Ethan laughing hysterically. He completely lost his mind.
- Yes, our Vincent is back.
Yes, Ethan is completely distraught.
I shake my head at his smirk, the corners of his mouth twitching. Ethan knocked on the closed door, smiling widely.
-Vincent, can I come in?
There was no answer again, but Ethan pushed the door. Not far from the entrance stood Vincent with a very eloquent look that seemed to say: “Why are you still here?”
- Don't look at me like that. I have something for you.
Ethan took something out of his coat pocket and handed it to Vincent. It was a letter. He placed it in the master's hand.
- This is from Violet.
Violet! At the mention of the familiar name, my gaze moved to the letter in Vincent's hand. He also looked down at the envelope.
– I heard that you do not answer her letters. She was worried, so she insisted that she should come to you. I managed to convince her, in exchange for the fact that I would personally deliver a letter from her.
– How is she doing?
- It's okay, she's fine.
- Glad to hear that.
Vincent didn't open the envelope, just held it in his hand and turned away. Ethan followed Vincent to his bed as he sat down on it.
– I promised that I would come back with an answer, so write it.
- No.
“I don’t intend to give up either.” Maid, bring me a pen and paper, please. Ethan said, looking back at me.
I looked at Vincent, who looked strange. I wondered who Violet was, but I couldn't bring myself to ask because of Vincent's displeased face. I bowed and left the room.
Later that day, Ethan managed to receive a response to the letter.
***
It was late at night and I couldn't sleep. I left the room to get some fresh air when I suddenly noticed a light at the other end of the corridor. It was Ethan with the lamp.
- Why are you not sleeping?
- And you, Sir Christopher?
– I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to take a little walk.
“I can’t sleep either.”
I thought about leaving the annex, but that would have been rude. Instead, I put the lamp on the windowsill and opened the window. The flames swayed in the cool breeze. While I was watching him, Ethan came and stood next to me.
-You're mad at me.
- I?
“You gave me advice, but I ignored it.”
“So you did this on purpose?” Well, even if that was the case, he shouldn't have apologized. Masters almost never listen to their subordinates.
“You don’t need to apologize, it’s okay.”
Ethan scratched the back of his head.
– Do you think I’m a bad person?
– I can’t deny it.
Ethan laughed. I laughed with him.
But the laughter was short-lived, and silence reigned in the corridor. I shuddered from this gloomy atmosphere.