Professional Ethics

With the coffee mug in her hand, Lillian quietly followed the old butler. She didn't need his help since she had Zak to guide her to the training grounds. But turning down the old man's polite offer would be rude, so she decided to go with the flow.

She wondered why he was being so nice towards her. First helping her with the breakfast, and then taking her to the training grounds himself when he could have asked anyone to take her there.

"Don't let your coffee get too cold. You won't like it that way." the old butler's gentle reminder pulled Lillian out of her thoughts.

It was then she realized that she was just holding the cup in her hands without even trying to finish it. It would be much better to finish it before they reach their destination.

"Oh! Yes." She muttered softly. "Thank you." She thanked him for his kind reminder. If it wasn't for him saying that out loud, she would have probably forgotten about the cup in her hands She would have ended up hating herself later for wasting another mug of some expensive coffee.

Though she couldn't be blamed for being too lost either. Her mind was too busy observing her new surroundings.

"Just doing my job, Miss." The old butler spoke up in a loud and clear voice.

"You can just call me Lillian, Sir." She shook her head and suggested to the old man, only to be turned down.

"I am sorry, but I can not do that."

"But you are much older than me. You should call me my name." She added, trying to persuade him. What she said wasn't wrong either. She found it weird that an elderly man was using a title to call her when she should be the one doing that.

It was fine by her if it was the chef boy doing it since he didn't look much older than her own self. Even if she wasn't comfortable with it, she could always turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to it. But doing the same when it came to Robert, the old butler, was hard for her.

"But you are the guest here. My professional ethics don't allow me to call a guest by their name. You have to just get used to it." The old butler spoke up, refusing to agree to her request.

"I will keep that in mind." Lillian muttered to herself as she lowered her head a little. It seemed like she had no other option except to get used to it. She was hoping that it would not take too long for her to get accustomed with the weird feeling of being called by an honorific.

She stared at the deep golden-brown creamy liquid which was dancing in her cup as she walked behind the old man. Bringing the marbled cup close to her lips, she took a small sip at first to check the temperature of the coffee. After her tongue had made sure that the coffee wasn't too hot, she gulped down a mouthful of the rich, creamy liquid.

A satisfied sigh left her lips as the warm liquid travelled down her throat. This only earned her a low chuckle from the old man who was walking ahead of her. A faint pink blush tinted her fair cheeks as she hung her head lower in shame. She was internally berating herself for not having a better control on her emotions before the old butler.

But then again, she couldn't recall tasting anything more delicious in her entire life. As the thought popped in her mind it soured her joyous mood. She had no life before coming here. The time she had spent in the old warehouse under the watch of those goons couldn't be called life. It was more like a prison for her.

Not only did she not remember anything about her past life, she was devoid of any freedom even in the confinements of the 'jail' since she was the special hostage unlike the other children.

She took another sip of the rich liquid, keeping her head lowered down. Unlike the first time, the coffee tasted much bitter. Instead of providing ease to her taste buds, the warmth only tingled them as the liquid hit the back of her throat.

She retracted the cup away from her lips and frowned while staring back at the dancing golden-brown liquid. She could tell that the coffee was still hot from the small clouds of steam which were escaping away.

'It's just your mood.' She thought to herself. She was hoping to blame the coffee for the bitter taste in her mouth, hoping that Mark's words were true. To her dismay, that wasn't the case. The bitterness was left behind by those bad memories in her mouth.

"Careful."

She looked up from the mug in her hand, her feet coming to a stop when she heard the warning. She saw an elevator door up ahead which looked like the same one which she had taken before.

"Why are we taking this elevator?" She couldn't help but question the old man when she realized that it wasn't exactly the same elevator. It was just the appearance which looked the same when in reality it was located in another corner of the same floor.

"The main elevator is connected to every floor whether it is above or below the ground. Though there is one floor on which the doors of that elevator never open." He answered politely.

"The training grounds." Lillian spoke up, more to herself, and got a firm nod in return. "But how could an elevator lead us to the training 'grounds'?" She added.

The old butler chuckled lightly before pressing his thumb over the button which was actually a scanner. The blue light which was lining the button turned green and the elevator's doors slid open.

"You will see." He motioned her to step inside.

Not given any other choice, Lillian nodded her head and walked inside. The old man followed her in and pressed his thumb over another button which was located on the right wall of the elevator.

Lillian noticed that there was no panel for numerous keys corresponding to the floors which meant that the elevator only worked for one place, the training grounds. She was lost on her own world when she heard ping and the elevator started to descend down.