Chapter Text
As an assassin, being hired by someone from the society's highest echelon wasn't a common occurrence for Lilac. Naturally, contacting a mysterious, unidentified assassin who is rarely even seen would be extremely difficult, especially when you belonged to the higher ranks and had likely never even heard about his crimes. On the rare occasion though, some people could manage to pull a few strings with their connections and locate the assassin, just as he had finished completing another one of his contracts. So it came off as a total surprise to Lilac when he was hired by someone from the Yogurt family, the wealthiest people in the country.
Plain Yogurt was rather creative with his request to kill his brother. He offered to pay Lilac handsomely if he agreed to pose as Yogurt Cream's bodyguard for a few days before finally ending his life. Lilac was honestly impressed by the idea, there wouldn't be anyone protecting Yogurt Cream to keep the assassin from doing his job, and he would be the closest person to his target, which could also allow him to gain some personal information. So he agreed on the condition that Plain Yogurt would ensure that he wouldn't get caught, which is why he was now following his employer through the grand corridors of the Yogurt mansion to meet his new target.
The hallways seemed to stretch longer and longer with each step Lilac took on the marble floors. It was like a maze filled with different hues of purple and lavender, sometimes accented with sparkling gold or pristine white. Most of the hallways were filled with arches on the roof or walls, decorated with detailed designs of the usual color palette, sometimes even adorned with a few gems that would sparkle under the glowing crystal-like chandeliers that hung from the ceiling.
Lilac found it unusual, how quiet everything was for a mansion that belonged to a supposedly large family, the only sound in the air being his and Plain Yogurt's footsteps. They would occasionally run into a few servants who seemed to be preparing for a large gathering, though they would always stay silent, not even making eye contact with Plain Yogurt. But it wasn't awkward for any of them, and neither of them enjoyed making small talk either, so they didn't make an effort to break the silence.
So after passing different grand staircases and wide hallways, they eventually arrived at a more simple corridor, where Plain Yogurt finally decided to stop in front of a single door.
"This will be your temporary quarters," Plain Yogurt opened the door, revealing to be a small and simple room after Lilac decided to peer inside, "The room over there belongs to your target. Fortunately for you, the lock can be easily picked," He said, referring to the double doors from across the hall.
"Is he in there right now?" Lilac asked flatly as he set his satchel down on the small desk of his room. They were probably the first words he ever muttered that day.
"If he was, then I wouldn't have spoken so openly about sneaking in." He could hear the eye roll in Plain Yogurt's tone.
"I am merely concerned that how long it took for us to get here, reaching your brother would waste more of my time." the assassin made his way towards the door where Plain Yogurt was waiting with his arms crossed.
"If I could, I would rather spend less of my time on this," Plain Yogurt replied with an annoyed look, "And if I were you, I would be dreading to meet my brother."
"Do you even know where this 'Yogurt Cream' is?" the name alone seemed to irritate Plain Yogurt as they started to walk away.
"Of course I do," Plain Yogurt scoffed, "Knowing him, he could only be in one place at this time of the day."
"Who is it?" came someone's reply after Plain Yogurt knocked on the double doors similar to the ones across Lilac's room. The corridor they were in was slightly dimmer than the rest of the mansion, but it was also more lively than the one they were previously in, having a few more doors and even some paintings displayed on the cream colored walls.
"It's me, Plain Yogurt," Even though it was a simple phrase, Lilac could tell that Plain Yogurt had forced a slightly more cheerful tone.
"Oh," Came a hesitant reply before the almost inaudible sound of shuffling could be heard from the other side of the door, "Well come in then."
Lilac noticed how Plain Yogurt quickly tried to straighten himself out in the corner of his eye, adjusting his belt to hide the dagger that hung from it and putting on a more bright look on his face, before finally gripping the doorknob and stepping inside the room.
Lilac was immediately met with a sudden change of brightness as he followed Plain Yogurt into the room. The light cast from a single large window that overlooked the coastal areas of Yogurca, sunlight reflecting on the blue ocean making it sparkle like sapphires. A small crystal chandelier remained unlit above the ceiling, along with the other few lights and lamps in the corners of the room. Tall bookshelves lined the walls, filled with all the different kinds of literature, though most of them seemed too organized to the point that they seemed to be untouched. The heir also seemed to enjoy putting his large collections on display, including expensively framed paintings that adorned the walls and even small sculptures that decorated the bookshelves.
"So, were you planning on speaking with me about something?" Yogurt Cream asked casually, seated behind the desk with his lavender hair loosely let down below his shoulders, refusing to put down the philosophy book that he seemed to be invested in, but Lilac could notice how he purposefully seemed to hide his face behind the leather tome.
"Yes, actually," Plain Yogurt replied as he strolled past one of the white sofas in the middle of the room, "I wanted to introduce you to your new bodyguard."
"New bodyguard?" Yogurt Cream finally looked up from his book, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the purple haired stranger standing beside Plain Yogurt with an unreadable expression on his face.
"To summarize, father and I have recently discussed about your safety as being the heir to all of his fortunes, and he was concerned about you possibly having a large target on your back," Lilac had to keep himself from rolling his eyes at how Plain Yogurt had to say it that ironically, his fake worried tone didn't help much either, "And he agreed to allow you out of the mansion once I hire the best bodyguard for you, so I made sure to do so right away."
Plain Yogurt had finally piqued his brother's interest, as Yogurt Cream approached the assassin with an inquisitive look on his face. Lilac wasn't one to judge other people, but he certainly didn't expect a noble heir to look like how Yogurt Cream did. Unlike Plain Yogurt, Yogurt Cream was much less intimidating than he initially expected. A deep blue gem that complimented the colour of his lavender hair adorned the white turban he was wearing, the latter making him look slightly taller than the assassin, which was only slightly true since it seemed that Lilac would look just a few inches shorter if Yogurt Cream would discard the accessory.
"That's- very thoughtful of you Plain Yogurt," Yogurt Cream smiled at his brother, the other attempting to give at least a small one back, "I've always wanted to travel around lately, the mansion does get small when you're always stuck in it." he tried to joke.
"And I don't think having someone around all the time would be much of a problem," he then turned to Lilac as he snapped open his fan, the assassin mentally flinching at the sudden action and the stare of his heather eyes, "I mean, she does look quite pretty."
Both Lilac and Plain Yogurt's calm expressions changed to ones of disbelief in the blink of an eye, especially for the former whose face was now red in embarrassment.
"Wha- Lilac is not a girl!" Plain Yogurt hurriedly corrected, making Yogurt Cream's flirtatious expression drop in an instant.
"Oh, m-my apologies!" the heir's shoulders tensed as he immediately hid behind his fan in shame, hastily fanning himself in an attempt to calm down.
Lilac noticed how Plain Yogurt seemed to sigh in annoyance in the corner of his eye. "I sincerely apologize for my brother's behaviour," he told him while still keeping the formality in his tone. "He can be quite- you know what I mean," Lilac caught Yogurt Cream awkwardly looking away at his words, "But it wouldn't be much of a problem now since he knows you're not a girl."
By now, Lilac had already gotten over his initial shock of the situation, but instead of feeling bad for the heir's embarrassment, he teasingly glared at him, making Yogurt Cream flinch in response.
"A-anyways, were you going to continue, Plain Yogurt?" he quickly turned to his brother who now had his arms crossed.
Plain Yogurt sighed, "Because of some certain events that happened with your previous bodyguards, and because father specifically requested so, I had to make sure that I hired only the most skilled bodyguard for your safety."
Lilac couldn't help but wonder how Plain Yogurt knew about that, not that he was the most skilled bodyguard, but the most skilled assassin. The only people who called him that were all of the teachers in the school he attended, and no one would call anyone 'best' unless they had someone to compare it to. Maybe Plain Yogurt had been planning all of this for much longer than he expected.
Or he could just be lying to Yogurt Cream. It wouldn't be much of a surprise since he already did lie to him about Lilac being a bodyguard. Besides, saying so would just make trusting Lilac easier for Yogurt Cream, who knows?
"Really?" Yogurt Cream asked as he raised a brow.
"Of course!" Plain Yogurt assured, "Lilac is more skilled than any of your previous bodyguards. He is also very observant and he can be very stealthy, so he can keep you safe even at parties, and you wouldn't have to worry about people noticing him."
"Well, that does sound...interesting," Yogurt Cream hesitated, turning to Lilac's direction again, "But, does he talk?"
Plain Yogurt gave him a confused look.
"I mean, not to be rude anything," Yogurt Cream snapped his fan close, "But you're the one who had to correct me a while ago, "
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Plain Yogurt told him, "Lilac is just a man of few words, and he would also prefer to stay professional."
"If you say so then," Yogurt Cream shrugged, "But I think he'll warm up to me eventually, no one can ignore me for long," he said smugly.
"Yes, I'm sure of it," Plain Yogurt muttered, the slightest hint of disgust in his tone. And in an attempt to finally end the conversation, he looked up at one of the small clocks hung on the wall.
"Oh, and Yogurt Cream, would you mind giving your bodyguard a tour of the mansion?" he asked, trying to sound like he didn't just want to run out of the door, "I have quite a busy schedule today and he has to locate all the exits for...emergencies."
"Alright, I have nothing else to do anyway," he abruptly grabbed Lilac's wrist, taking the assassin by surprise, "good luck on- well, whatever you're doing," he said in a cheery tone before practically dragging Lilac out of the room.
The assassin shared a final glance with his employer, before finally letting Yogurt Cream lead him to who knows where.