Silvio Ricci - Smexy Butler Teim - Another Terrible Summary
(Silvio: "Do something that makes me want to serve you.")
Here is my irreverent, only nominally-guaranteed accurate rendition of Silvio's butler story.
One day, when Rio’s called away from the castle on business for one reason or another, Emma is woken up by Silvio of all people kicking in her door bright and early. He saunters in, gloating about how he’s heard Rio is gone and ordering her imperiously to accompany him as he goes out today.
Emma, of course, is less than thrilled by this idea and turns him down flat, much to his irritation. He insists that she doesn’t have grounds to refuse a guest’s request, and scrambling to come up with an excuse that will fit with her ‘noblewoman’ cover story she tells him that it’s her day of leisure and her father forbids her from going anywhere without a butler in attendance. No Rio, no butler, no outing - aw shucks.
But Silvio just looks all shrewd at that. “So if there was a butler, there wouldn’t be any problem?”
She hastily adds that Rio’s the only butler that’ll do for her, but Silvio dismisses that as her just being self-centered. She has a very very bad feeling as he leans over to say something she can’t hear to one of the servants, who looks baffled but leaves to do whatever he’s asked - and then he tells her she’d best meet him in the drawing room in a half an hour. If she tries to weasel out of it, he’ll have her brought there even if they have to make her, he threatens.
Furious at how goddamned IMPOSSIBLE this man is, she’s nonetheless resigned to having to comply…and thirty minutes later she’s outside the drawing room, bracing herself for whatever may come. Only to open the door and nearly keel over in shock at the sight that greets her - of Silvio, lounging on the top of a table dressed in a butler’s uniform.
“So, you’ve got nothing to complain about this, do you Mistress?” Silvio points out all triumphant. “Now there’s no reason for you to refuse to go out.”
She’s still trying to wrap her brain around this whole thing, just abject denial NOPE NO NU-UH. Silvio as her butler?? It does not compute, especially given that his rude, lackadaisical attitude just proves that he doesn’t have any REAL intentions of serving her. She asks if he really wanted her to go out with him that badly, and he agrees that’s part of it - but the bigger part is how delightful it’s gonna be to stick it to that ‘damn dog’ Rio when he finds out that Silvio was Emma’s butler.
She tells him his attitude is shit for a butler, and he says that’s because he hasn’t accepted her as his mistress. And any lady who can’t control her butler is simply incompetent.
She’s bristling at that, firing back that she wouldn’t want a butler like him anyways, but that only seems to amuse him.
“Oh? Don’t get cocky. If I tell you I’m going to be your butler, you’re just going to have to go out with me,” he insists. “But mainly…if you want me to act like a proper butler - do something that makes me want to serve you. That’s the beautiful thing about dogs, isn’t it?”
She’s trying and failing to ignore how her heart does an unsettling flipflop when he sticks his tongue out all provocatively at her with that.
Resigned, realizing he’s not going to give this up, she reluctantly agrees to the whole debacle, much to Silvio’s evil delight.
Much later, she’s back in her room utterly exhausted from taking him around Rhodolite all day. He’d wanted to sightsee apparently and she’d been his impromptu tour guide - but he’d never lose the rude boy attitude and she was drained from trying to hold onto his reins all day. Especially given that he hadn’t listened to a single thing she’d said.
Still…she supposes there’s some saving grace in how he had seemed to thoroughly enjoy every moment of today.
Now dressed back in his normal clothes, Silvio returns to her room and haughtily says she proved a more useful guide than he’d expected. She’s mainly just…did you still need something? And he proclaims he thought he’d give her a reward for her hard work today.
She’s freaking out as he pulls her in with his arms around her waist, spluttering about what he’s doing.
“What’s the use in getting upset over something like this? You’re my mistress, aren’t you?” he tosses back on a smirk.
She’s still NOPE NOPE, trying to protest when he cuts her off by stroking a hand at her hip, as if chastising her for talking back, and she’s gotta snap her mouth shut on the noise that’s trying to escape her at that (you can practically hear Emma furiously just telling her brain NOT HOT NOT NOW hahaha)
He’s gloating about how she suddenly quieted down, and then his stupidly ridiculously handsome face (her words even not mine, the tsun is strong with this girl) is drawing near and she closes her eyes - only to feel his warm fingers and something cool at her ears, and she realizes when she reaches up to check and looks in the nearby mirror that he’s hung exquisite pink jeweled earrings from her ears.
He says that if she’s a lady she should be wearing splendid things like this - she’s too drab and a noblewoman’s gotta keep up appearances. Before he breaks out in a smirk. “Well…unless you are a commoner, right?”
She’s scrambling to cover for that, only making it worse when she tries to say she can’t accept something so expensive and he calls her out on the fact that a lady wouldn’t consider these all THAT expensive. And all haughty he says she can’t try and measure his standards by hers. With an arrogant laugh, Silvio suddenly turns his attention back to her ears, all mirth slipping away. “Be sure to keep them on in front of that damned dog.”
She’s thinking OHHH so that’s what this is all about, but she’s certain he wouldn’t take them back even if she insists so she’s left with nothing to do but thank him for the gift. He finally lets her go and makes to leave, in all sorts of a good mood, when she notices he’s got some flower petals caught in the fur ruff of his cape. She calls out for him to wait, reaching out to pluck them free…
When he just yeets himself away from her like she’s scalded him, leaping far out of reach.
He’s scowling and blushing and demanding to know what she’s doing, and she tries to explain about the flower petals.
He’s still scowling, even harder now maybe, but his face is still flaming she notes as they just stare at each other for a long long loooong silence.
“...Your face looks red -” she starts to point out.
“You’re imagining things,” he interjects. “I don’t care if there are petals, don’t come near me.”
Suspicion finally dawns on her then, the inkling of an idea, and she literally starts hunting him down, prowling across the room until she’s close enough to reach him again, but before she can touch him he’s grabbed her hand and he’s scolding her that she can’t just do whatever she wants because she’s his mistress.
Then he starts mussing up her hair and she’s squawking indignantly, demanding to know what he’s doing - they devolve into bickering where he tells her he doesn’t have all day to waste on her and she counters he seemed pretty dang free all day today!
“That was observation, stupid,” he scoffs, and after another brief stroke of her hair, he leaves the room as if running away.
Poor Emma is just left standing there, rooted to the spot, her hair still a rat’s nest as she’s trying to process what just happened. How it’s apparently alright for him to touch her…but not for HER to touch HIM??
But it hits her then that she may have just stumbled across his weak spot, and she thinks how if she learned anything from him today it was to suss out your opponents weakness and use it to make them obey you.
His words from earlier come back to her. “But mainly…if you want me to act like a proper butler - do something that makes me want to serve you.”
And thinking ahead to the next time Silvio says he’s going to be her butler, she laughs to herself - suddenly looking forward to the prospect.
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