WARNING: 

The chapter will contain scenes that may trigger trauma or may make you feel uncomfortable. Please read with caution or do not proceed at all if you feel like you cannot read any further. And just a friendly reminder, this is a Rated R story so a lot of these scenes can be found throughout the book, so I suggest you decide now if you still want to continue.

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THE ORANGE SKY SLOWLY turns dark as night finally falls on us. I look out of the car window, wearing the suit that master Claudio generously bought me, staring at the townspeople who were locking their doors before it gets completely dark. 

    At first, I didn't know why I had to go with him, and for a moment I thought I was even special, but then I realize that Lino literally has a scar on his face that would creep out the guests, and then there's Adie who's only sixteen. It would be dangerous to bring her to such a party. So yes, I am apparently the only decent-looking one out of the three of us.

     Isn't that just great? 

     "It seems like Ms. Sunny is very familiar with you," I say as I turn my head to look at Claudio so I wouldn't be able to think of anything else other than the fact that I'm going to a party with him for whatever the reason might be.

     "I knew her since I was a kid. We bumped into each other a couple of times, and back in the day, people called her Alberto Garko. Her parents had a lot of trouble putting pants on her most of the time, but Sunny still managed to win over them, wearing skirts and dresses around town like no one was watching," Claudio says with a soft expression, probably remembering the exact moment that he was telling me about.

     "So you met in such circumstances?"

     "You can say that. While I was in town with my mother, I saw her wearing this pretty pink dress that she said she stole from her sister. But instead of matching it with makeup, her face was covered in bruises instead. Since my family was doctors, I knew how to treat others' wounds at the age of eight, so I snuck her in and treated her in secret," Claudio explains, surprising me because for a second he sounded like a decently nice person.

     "How romantic," I sarcastically say, making Lino–who was in the driver's seat–glare at me through the rearview mirror.

     After our quick conversation, the car ride eventually becomes quiet. I was trying my best not to make the atmosphere so awkward, but I just couldn't. There was just something so wrong about this entire situation.

     As I was trying to think of something to say, Lino suddenly looks back at us and informs us, "We're almost here, young master."

     Master Claudio nods his head and fixes his bowtie before looking back at me with a serious expression. "You'll be meeting a lot of people at that party. You don't have to speak to any of them at all. You just have to stay beside me and act like a responsible butler."

     "And for what reasons?" I ask, still confused about why I had to come with him.

     "I have not been back to this town for almost two years now," Claudio reveals, making me furrow my brows in confusion.

     "Two years? But Winter told me you just got back from a two-week trip," I clarify, and Claudio nods his head to agree to it.

     "That's right. Though I usually travel a lot, I've actually never left town and have been staying at the manor for two years. Of course, the townspeople obviously don't know that," Claudio explains to me, which made more sense now. No wonder the people were so excited to see him again.

    All this time he's been hiding in the manor. This doesn't make sense because he said that he grew up in the manor. Then why do the people not know that he lives there? I really don't get it.

     "So what does your absence have to do with me?" I ask him.

     Claudio adjusts himself in his seat and looks straight at my eyes before saying, "Since I haven't been around for years, I'll have to mingle and somehow catch up with the others. That will be enough distraction for you to perform an important task for me."

     "P-pardon? Can you say that again?" I ask, making sure that I didn't hear him wrong just now. "Did you just say...task?"

     "That's right," Claudio says before moving closer to where I'm seated. "In the mayor's office, there's going to be a file there with the name Adeline Winchester. I want you to acquire it for me."

     My eyes widen from shock, not because he was asking me to steal something from the mayor's house, but because of the name that he mentioned.

     "Adeline Winchester? You mean little Adie? Why would the mayor have a file of her in his fuckin' house? What the hell is going on?" I continue to ask, now demanding answers because this whole situation just turned upside down. I thought I was just going to the party with Claudio to look pretty. I didn't know that I was going there for a fucking heist.

     "So this is why you told me that I'm not coming with you as your butler?"

     When Claudio looked like he wasn't going to answer me, I pause for a second when a thought suddenly went into my head. "W-Wait a goddamn minute. Did you...did you kidnap Adeline? Is she supposed to be missing? Is that it?"

     "We didn't kidnap her," Lino immediately defends, but Claudio raises his hand to stop him from saying anything further.

     I look at the two men that I was with inside the car, trying to convince myself that they wouldn't be evil enough to kidnap a mere child. I was starting to panic inside because I never signed up for such a thing. 

     "Oh my dear Bishop," Claudio suddenly says with a softer tone, obviously trying to calm me down. "I told you didn't I?" He then asks, lifting his hand and touching my cheeks, his cold palm almost making my body shiver. He looks at me with such gentle eyes, and then he leans over and whispers, "I don't like you asking too many questions. One more word from your pretty little mouth and I will stitch it shut with my bare hands."

     My body freezes at that moment and reality comes crashing down on me again. It made me realize something important that I have briefly forgotten because I was blinded by the way he acted around me. It made me realize that just because someone teases you, or if they buy you nice things, it doesn't mean they're good people. This isn't a rom-com movie. I'm not some kind of teenager in love.

     This man is the town's hero, Claudio Romano, but at the same time, he's doctor Giovanni de Vincenzo, the man who the entire town of Capo di Monte was afraid of. He was the myth that made people shiver in fear every night. Such a title isn't something that I should have disregarded so easily.

     For a brief moment, I have forgotten about all that. I forgot that I'm here to work for him; not to make friends with any of these people. I didn't move to that manor just so I could play house with them. My mother practically sold me to this man. I'm nothing but his possession now.

    And I even had the nerve to damn Marcelino about how he was fooled to follow Claudio when I'm in the exact same position as him too. I didn't even notice.

     "Do you understand now, Bishop?" He asks, moving his thumb around my cheek as a way to comfort me.

     My body automatically calms down, almost like I was some kind of animal in a circus that's being tamed by a ringleader.

     "I apologize, master Claudio. I will find the file and acquire it for you without fail," I obediently tell him, and Claudio smiles and nods his head, glad that I finally understood what he meant.

     "Do this well and I'll reward you," he then adds before pulling his hand away from me, and I gulp and nod my head back like that was the only answer I could give him.

     Eventually, we arrived at the mayor's house with no more fuss. There were a few cars parked outside, indicating that there are only a handful of guests that are invited to this dinner party, which will be harder for me since I have to look around this mansion to find that file without getting caught. I guess I just need to look for a way on my own.

     "We're here, young master," Lino says as he parks right in front of the entrance of the mayor's house. 

     I immediately step out of the car and open the door for master Claudio. Master Claudio heads out with a serious expression on his face, and as I close the car door for him, Claudio fixes his coat first before finally walking inside the mansion.

     The mayor's house was a large white mansion that somehow contrasted how barren the manor is. The garden was beautiful, and there was even a fountain in the middle. It was more like a president's house than a mayor's.

     The moment we got inside, we were welcomed with classical music and the smell of wine and women's perfume. Two men greeted us at the entrance and led us to a dining room where the other guests were. Expectedly enough, the moment we got there, the guests start swarming around Claudio like flies around a flame.

     "Mr. Claudio Romano, so the rumors are true. You really have made your most awaited return," this older woman with a strong perfume scent says as she moves closer to him to give him a kiss on his cheeks.

     Claudio smiles and kisses the woman back. While everyone was trying their best to get the chance to talk to him, another man arrives in the dining room, making everyone's attention shift to him.

     "Claudio! Everyone in town was talking about you," the man says.

     I turn around and saw an equally good-looking man approach us. Standing beside him was a beautiful woman wearing a red skin-tight dress that embraced the curves of her body. She automatically made the other men look her way, while the other women looked at her with such envy.

     "Ah, Mateo Ricci, you look rather dashing," Claudio greets, and the two approach each other to shake hands.

     It looks like they're friends.

     I stare at the man named Mateo from head to toe. Master Claudio was already tall, but he easily towered over him. His hair was a dark shade of brown, his eyes looked green, and his body was refined. He was like a Greek god.

     Mateo eventually looks in my direction, suddenly making me flinch because of how intense his stare is. I thought he was going to ask Claudio who I was, but he ignores me and continues talking to Claudio instead.

     "I heard you were in Paris. I was there for a couple of days. It's a shame that we didn't get to meet each other there," he tells him.

     "I was a bit busy with my research," Claudio then answers.

     "Oh yes, your research. I guess it would have been rude of me to waste a renowned doctor's precious time."

     Claudio laughs at the statement, and the two finally take their seats to join the other guests, leaving me with this beautiful woman that Mateo was with.

     "Good evening," I greet, grabbing the woman's hand to kiss the back of it. "My name is Bishop. I am master Claudio's personal butler. It is a pleasure to meet you."

     The woman smiles and gracefully nods her head before pulling her hand away from me. "I see. No wonder I haven't seen you around before. Master Claudio hasn't been back for such a long time so I was surprised that he brought someone unfamiliar."

     The woman looks back at Mateo to check what he was doing. When he sees that he was still busy talking with the other guests, she looks back at me and says, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. I'm Isabella, Mateo's courtesan."

     "A man like sir Mateo deserves such a breathtakingly beautiful woman. I envy him," I say back, making Isabella giggle.

    "Don't flatter me, sir Bishop."

     "Bishop would be fine," I say with a lower tone, and a sly smile instantly appears on her face.

     As more guests start appearing, Isabella eventually takes a seat beside Mateo at the table while I had to stand behind master Claudio since I'm just his butler. I realize that there were other courtesans at the party too, but none of them sat beside their respective clients. It seems like Isabella is a famous woman among the other courtesans. I bet she costs thousands.

     "We're really glad that you decided to attend today's party, Claudio. As much as we enjoy sir Mateo's presence, your appearance has made this party a lot more pleasant," another woman with a big belly says, making Claudio chuckle.

     "This is the reason why I'd rather not have Claudio around. He steals the spotlight from me," sir Mateo jokingly comments, making the people at the table laugh.

     Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and surprisingly enough, the atmosphere was good. I was expecting that it would be tense and awkward, but everyone was just there to enjoy themselves.

     "And this must be the butler that the townspeople were also talking about," someone suddenly says, immediately making everyone shift their attention to me. As a butler, I'm not really allowed to speak to the guests when my master is around so I didn't say anything and just bowed my head to greet them back.

     "He's as pretty as everyone says. Maybe even prettier than the whore that I'm with," a man with a long nose says, making the other guests at the table laugh even though there wasn't really anything funny about what he said.

     "Aren't you going to introduce him to us Claudio?" the woman who gave Claudio a kiss earlier asks, but Claudio just laughs it off as he takes a sip of the water that was served to him earlier. It seemed like he wasn't going to tell them who I was so there was no point for me to introduce myself to them either.

     I was worried that someone would directly ask me though, but thankfully, a bell rings and a door opens, suddenly making everyone stand from their seats. I stare at the door as well and was surprised to see an old man in a wheelchair wearing a clean white coat. I'd think that he's about eighty years old, but he might be older because of how his skin is. His teeth even looked rotten.

     "Mayor Winchester. Thank you for hosting another party for us," a man says, instantly making my eyes widen from shock.

     Did he just say...Winchester?

     If I remember correctly, Adeline's last name was—

     Oh my god.

     "It's my pleasure," the mayor says with such a soft and shaky voice that I almost couldn't understand what he was trying to say. How is he still this town's mayor? He could barely even talk.

     When everyone was greeting him, Claudio suddenly touches my back and pushes me towards the old mayor who smelled like powder and milk. When the mayor saw Claudio, his face immediately brightens.

     "Claudio..." he says before suddenly coughing. The woman who was pushing his wheelchair for him immediately pulls a handkerchief to cover his mouth and wipe it for him.

     "Thank you for inviting me to your party," Claudio says, and the woman leans towards the mayor's ear and whispers something to him. He probably couldn't hear well either so she has to say it directly to his ear.

     The mayor doesn't really say anything, but then the woman looks at Claudio and tells him, "It would be rude of us not to invite you, Dr. Romano. After all, your family has been my father's doctor for years. This little gathering is just a small token of our gratitude."

     Oh, so she's the mayor's daughter. That explains it.

     "Shall we eat?" The mayor weakly says, and everyone returns to their seats while the mayor sat at the middle end while his daughter sat on her right.

     As everyone was finally back in their seats, waiters arrive with the first dish, which was the appetizer. The moment I saw and smelled what it was, I immediately knew that it was chicken consommé, a clear soup that's made from flavored broth. As one of the waiters placed the soup in front of master Claudio, I lean to his ear and whispered, "The soup is mostly made of chicken and white eggs. Are you allergic to any of them, master Claudio?"

     "No, I'm fine," he whispers back. "I'm only allergic to peanuts."

     "Understood."

     I obviously didn't know that he was allergic to peanuts, so when the main dish arrived soon after, I looked at the waiter and asked him, "Are there any peanuts in the dish."

     "Ah, yes sir. Peanut oil was added to the gravy," the waiter says, so I took the plate in front of Claudio with no hesitation and gave it back to the waiter. "Please, may I ask for a new dish? And tell the sauté chef if they could make the gravy without the peanut oil. My master is allergic to it."

     The waiter was surprised, but he immediately nods his head and says, "Y-Yes, right away sir."

     As soon as the waiter leaves with Claudio's dish, the guests couldn't help but look at me with amusement, probably surprised after hearing my voice for the first time.

     "Oh wow Claudio, your butler really knows how to do his job well. I haven't seen someone so meticulous. Would you mind if I borrow him for a while?" one of the female guests says, and I could see Claudio smiling with satisfaction.

     As I said before, masters bring their courtesans or butlers to show off their status. How good a butler is will reflect on how high their status is. It's just the way this type of lifestyle works.

     While everyone was admiring how I acted, the man with a long nose suddenly starts staring at me with a grin, making the hair on my skin stand. He wouldn't stop staring so I had to look away from him instead.

     "Here you are sir," the waiter says as he arrives with the dish shortly after.

     The dinner continued with ease, and everyone enjoyed their food and wine like normal. As everyone was now in the momentum of things, I knew that this was the perfect opportunity for me to take my leave so I could search for that file that Claudio mentioned earlier. So I lean towards master Claudio's ears again and whisper, "Where can I find the office?"

     Claudio was laughing at a joke that he heard from one of the guests, and without even removing the smile on his face, he leans back to me and answers, "It's probably on the second floor. The mayor doesn't have a lot of guards so you just have to be quick."

     I nod my head and pull away from Claudio before excusing myself to take my leave.

     The mansion was massive, but I was able to find the stairs that leads to the second floor. Thankfully Claudio was right about the guards because no one was there when I arrived, which was a bit strange. In the hallway, there were a couple of doors and I had to slowly open them one at a time"I can't believe I'm doing this spy shit," I tell myself until I finally open a door where the office is.

     I sigh in relief and enter the office before quietly closing and locking the door behind me. I hurriedly went to the desk and opened the drawers, checking the files one by one, my heart beating fast because of how nervous I was.

     After about a couple more minutes of searching, I finally found an envelope with the word Adeline Winchester on it.

     "Holy shit, it's actually here," I say as I stare at the envelope. I was tempted to check the contents of the envelope, but sadly it was sealed. Master Claudio would find out that I opened it. Darn it.

     After rechecking if I got the right folder, I hid it underneath my coat and secured it properly so it wouldn't accidentally fall off me. When everything in the office looked normal, I took a deep breath and stepped out of the room. The hallway was empty so I couldn't help but sigh in relief again, but as soon as I closed the door, a figure suddenly appeared at the hall's end, almost making my heart drop.

     "What are you doing there?" he asks, and I immediately turn to face him and answer, "I apologize, I was looking for the restroom. Master Claudio said that it would be on the second floor."

     The man approaches me, and I realized that he was actually the weird long-nosed man who commented about how I was prettier than the whore that he was with, which was such a disgusting thing to say.

     His presence instantly made me feel uncomfortable, and my instincts told me to just leave, but somehow, I didn't want to get caught. If I just leave him without saying anything then he might interrogate me.

     "The restroom? I'll lead you there," he tells me. And even though I didn't want to be alone with him, I nod my head and thank him instead because I didn't want him to find out that I was snooping around.

     "So, how long have you been Claudio's butler," he suddenly asks.

     "I would rather not answer any questions regarding my personal and work affairs with master Claudio," I respectfully answer, hoping that he wouldn't ask me anything further.

     The man looks annoyed by the way I answered, but he thankfully doesn't ask me anything about it. Instead, he asks, "If not with Claudio, have you been with other men?"

     "I'm sorry?"

     "Oh, no need to be so defensive. Claudio has a reputation to be such a playboy so it would only be natural that he'd want a piece of you, isn't that right, you pretty slut?" he says, touching my back and slowly sliding it down to squeeze my butt.

     The action made me flinch, and I immediately move away from him, my back facing the wall so he wouldn't be able to touch my behind again.

     "What the hell do you think you're doing sir?" I ask with an angry tone, and he looked at me like I lost my mind, like it was my fault for reacting in such a way.

     "How dare you raise your voice at me? You peasant!" He shouts, slapping me with the back of his hand.

     My cheeks burned, and for a moment I almost lost my balance, but then the man grabs me by the collar before pinning me on the wall. His hand starts exploring my thighs and crotch as I try to push him away, but I couldn't move. My body wouldn't let me.

     "No, s-stop," I struggle to say, but then he pulls a handkerchief in his pocket and shoves it inside my mouth. My eyes then widened from shock when I saw him unzipping his pants.

     What the fuck is going on? Why is he doing this all of a sudden?

      "Hmmm..."

      My saliva starts oozing out of my mouth as I continue to try and push him with my trembling hand, but he was just too strong, or rather, I felt too weak, and he was enjoying how vulnerable I was against him.

     He laughs at my current state and leans close, licking the saliva that was dripping on the side of my mouth, making my entire body tremble.

     "You like that? Oh, I bet you do."

     The man then pulls out his dick and presses it on my crotch. My eyes were almost filled with tears, and just when he was about to unzip my pants, my vision becomes hazy and my entire body turns limp. But as I was seconds away from fainting, adrenaline kicks in and I immediately gather my strength to stand back up.

     I look around the area to assess the situation. I was in a hallway, and there was a man kissing me on the neck, making me look back at him with disgust.

     "Looks like I'm a bit late," I say after pushing the handkerchief out of my mouth using my tongue, making the man in front of me stop so he could look back at me with a confused expression.

     His eyes were filled with lust and excitement. I could tell because his hard dick was pressing on me like he was pointing a gun. But when our eyes meet, I grin in his direction and immediately grab him by the neck, finally making him let go of me.

     "W-What are you...What are you...doing..." he struggles to say as I slam his body on the wall with all my might.

     "Were you having fun? I'm sorry to interrupt," I say, the grip on his neck becoming tighter and tighter until he was about to choke.

     "My name is Alice, and if you touch this boy again...I'll push you into a rabbit hole and chop off your precious little head," I tell him before grabbing his cock and squeezing it so hard until his screams were heard throughout the mayor's mansion.

to be continued...