The World Went Silent

Chapter 16

"Oh, it's snack time!" Rin giggled as Nii-san came into the room with a silver platter that had a serving of brioche on it. Things were all better now, after all that green-haired girl was dead so the prince had to accept her proposal now! Rin didn't know why her servant was acting so weird. It wasn't like she had done anything wrong.

"I hope you like it, my lady," Nii-san smiled. Rin smiled back. She always loved it when her servant made the brioche himself. He had even once tried to teach her how to make it but she had failed. He'd fixed it though, so it was all good.

"Please join me, nii-san!" Rin beamed at him. For a moment, the blonde-haired servant looked confused, then he smiled and sat down across from her at the small tea table. Even if the prince of blue hated her, he was still going to marry her and her servant would still be there, so Rin was happy.

The tea time went by in laughter, and Rin didn't even notice that her servant's laughter may have only been half-hearted. There was no reason in the world that she could think of that her servant would be unhappy about.

Right as they were finishing up, the purple-haired man who was Rin's minister walked in. He was obviously panicked.

"P-princess…!" he said. Rin looked over at him with disinterest.

"What is it, minister?" the blonde princess asked, rolling her eyes.

"Outside… there's a rebellion…! We don't stand a chance! They're coming to get you!"

"What?" both the princess and servant said in unison. That wasn't possible! Who would ever dream of trying to capture the princess of yellow? It was unheard of.

"Minister, take the servants and leave this place," Rin ordered to the shocked minister. The purple haired man quickly nodded and ran off. "You too, nii-san."

"No."

Rin stared at her servant in shock. Why wasn't he running? Did he just tell her 'no'? "That is an order, servant!"

"No!" he snapped, then his gaze turned soft again. "I can't let you fall to them."

"I don't think I have a choi-" the young princess was silenced by her servant placing his fingers on your mouth.

"Yes you do," he whispered softly, before taking her by the hand and leading him to his bedroom. Why was he…?

Before Rin could even fully comprehend what her servant was doing, he was pushing a bundle of folded clothes into her arms. "Here, take my clothes. Put them on and escape immediately…"

"Nii-san!" Rin cried, but she couldn't keep his hands away. He was too strong for her. Despite her protests, he managed to dress her in the clothes he had given her, as well as dress himself in the dress Rin had been wearing. Lastly, he carefully took the black ribbon out of his hair and tied Rin's up with it.

"They'll kn-" Rin started to protest, but didn't finish her sentence because of the servant's fingers again. He didn't really think they could trade places without anyone noticing? What would happen to him?

"Don't worry… We're twins, so surely no one will notice." He handed her a photograph, and all at once tears ran down Rin's cheeks. How could she… how could she have not noticed?

"LEN!" she screamed. "NO! LEN…!" A wave of feelings washed over her. Guilt, for what she had done. The sins she had committed. The fact that her servant was her twin brother… and she never realized it! She knew that they were going to send him to the guillotine. How could she let this be – how could she be reunited with her twin brother only to have him stripped from her again? How could she deal with losing the closest person in the world to her?

"Leave this place!" he snapped, glaring down at her like Rin had before so many times. "That's an order!" Rin just sat there, staring up at him in utter shock. She forgot him She forgot her own twin brother, and now he was leaving her. She couldn't believe it.

"Len…" Looking up at him again, Rin flinched at his harsh glare. Then his gaze turned soft and he kissed her forehead.

"Don't worry," he repeated, then shoved the girl by the shoulders towards the door. Tears flooding her eyes, Rin started to run. Where she was going, she didn't know, but she needed to get as far away as she could. Her cheeks were wet from the crying, and her heart was wrenching, but Rin knew that Len wouldn't let her come back. Ever.