Chapter 16 - Take A Break

Raymond knew that his father's birthday was approaching and he would need to go to the castle to attend the yearly banquet that was to celebrate it. He would have to interact with all the people he found insufferable. And that thought alone was enough to bring pain to his head. His mother would want to know if he was getting married soon, his father would back her up and his older brother would say that even if he had a pretty face, he would never be compatible with anyone.

The banquet really got on his nerves and every year he would always try his best to evade it. There were years that managed to evade it, but he would get in a heap of trouble after and would have to spend extra time at the castle because of it. His older brother would always be present whenever he spent the time there and attempt to make him feel bad because of what he did.

Lucan would always be there to try and take the attention away from him but he could only handle so much of Landon's criticism and then Raymond would switch the subject to something else which would put the attention on him again.

His third brother, Rory was only twenty, a year older than Lucan, and he was silent, but he was not cold like Raymond. He was more on the shy side and did not like to be the center of attention much. But when he did speak, he would say something that was smart and would usually silence the room before going back to acting like he did not exist.

The banquet hall was large and so when all the officials and royalty gathered to celebrate the King's birthday, they also brought their servants with them. It was seen as a sign of wealth if someone had a lot of servants. There was no need to really have them attend, but they were there just as something to be shown off. Raymond was the only one who didn't have anyone attend with him.

The times he had attended, his servants would be trying their best to get his attention. They would help him with his dishes and try to get as close to him as possible. It had been five years since Raymond attended with someone after the embarrassing times he had suffered the previous years.

And this year, just like always he was planning to avoid it. He would not even visit after to spend time with them. There was too much that he needed to do and if he had not been reminded by his brother then he would not have known at all.

He had been working into the late hours of the night and he woke up early in the morning to get his work done. Raymond had been working to solidify some laws in Equiron so that when his brother went into power, he would not be able to undo them easily. He knew that Landon's goal was just for power and not to do things the right way. He would not let him get his way easily and so he was working to come up with ways to secure the lives of the people who lived in his county.

Raymond was sure that he would aim for taxes first and try to suck as much money out of the people as possible. He was already wealthy and the royal family was in no way in need of any more money. But that was just the nature of his brother. He had tried to talk to his father about it but there was nothing to be done. Landon would be the King, and so he could only prepare as much as he could.

Lilith stood at the entrance of Raymond's room. He had not even bothered to leave it. She was not sure what he was working on so diligently, but she knew that it would probably kill him if he continued. If this was the age where there were screens to stare at, she was sure Raymond's eyesight would be horrible and he would have a headache all the time.

She carried his lunch and medicine. This time, Lilith requested that Raymond's lunch be something portable, and so she suggested sandwiches. Thick and filling. She wanted to get him away from his work. Even if it was just for ten minutes.

"Mr. Cavill," she called, announcing herself but he did not look up from the papers he was reading.

Lilith walked through his door and rested the food on the edge of the table. Raymond's room was laid out so that it was two floors. He slept on the second floor and he had a mini-office on the first one. Lilith would be made to go back and forth to bring him papers that he had left in the other location. It was hard to always know what he was talking about and so Lilith had to start remembering what he was working on.

"Mr. Cavill I have your medicine. Please put down the papers and take it."

Raymond still did not move. The more time she spent with him, the more familiar she got with him and she was able to even start a conversation with him. He would usually give her one word or very boring answers to the questions she asked but at least it was something. Lilith did not feel like she had any special liberties with him, but she still wanted him to know that she worried about his health and so she had to help him.

Pushing her luck, she put her hand over his papers and pushed them down to the table. That finally got his attention and he looked up at her with a frustrated look.

"You don't get to look at me like that when I'm just trying to help you. The world will not end if you take a break." Lilith picked up the water and the medicine. "Take it."

"Lilith-"

"You can get mad and scold me later, but you won't be able to work if you don't take this medicine and eat."

She gave him a challenging stare, daring him to lift the papers up. After a couple of seconds, he sighed and put down the papers, taking the water and medicine from her. After he took it, he went to reach for the papers again but Lilith stopped his hands, which earned her another look from him.

"You have to eat now. And no, you will not be eating while you work."

Lilith walked around the desk and grabbed onto Raymond's arm. This was probably something that could get her yelled at but she would feel bad if she didn't at least try.

"What are you doing?" he asked, trying to push her away. For a moment, Raymond panicked, it was just a split second long but he thought that she was doing what all his other servants had done. Was she trying to get close to him? Was she trying to be touchy with him so that he would like her?

Raymond considered Lilith someone reliable and she did not act the same way his other personal servants had. He would have hated to have tried again after all these years and be met with the same as last time. But his worries were quickly squashed by what she did next.

"Getting you up." She pulled him up from the seat. "And getting you outside."

Raymond raised his eyebrows. "I have work to do. Do you not understand?" He tried to sit back down but Lilith kicked in the chair and pulled him away from the desk.

She took the tray of sandwiches and placed it in Raymond's arms. He seemed to be too stunned to resist her and Lilith took advantage of that and pushed him out of his room and down the hallway.

"Today, you're eating outside and you're going to have to get physical with me if you want to get back into your room," Lilith said as she pushed him.

"I'm clearly stronger than you physically," he said, even though he did not resist her.

"We'll see about that."