Won't you believe me? (Servant no more - book 2)

Chapter 7

Wei Wuxian was very relaxed and enjoyed immensely petting A-Yuan's hair. The child in his lap was so young and innocent, it did not know of any hardships yet. Or at least should not know, Wei Wuxian was one of the most suited people to say that the world could be a cruel place, even to small children. He hoped that it was not the case of this particular toddler.

The sun on his skin was warm and he felt amazing. He could not remember the last time he had had such a peaceful moment like this. Or at least one this long; there had been plenty of beautiful and breath-taking occurrences ever since he had come to the Cloud Recesses Manor. Lan Wangji was simply too good to him, it was hard to believe that a master could ever be so considerate of him.

And yet, it was the truth; Wei Wuxian had already decided he would no longer doubt Lan Wangji's intentions. He just wanted his time in the Cloud Recesses Manor to never come to an end. He would be perfectly content if he could spend the rest of his life just like this, sitting in the small grass field with Lan Wangji and playing with A-Yuan and the rabbits.

However, he knew this was not possible. He could not sit idly here even for a whole day, he still had his duties to take care of. He was just a servant, he had to work in order to earn his keep. He would feel terrible to be inconveniencing his masters. Although Lan Wangji would perhaps not punish him for that, he had after all not done anything even when Wei Wuxian had fallen asleep in the library the day before, but it would still not feel right. But his other masters could see this differently, they were the ones paying a hefty sum of money to his adoptive parents. He had to work hard.

As if he had called upon it, Lan Wangji suddenly stood up. Apparently, it was time for him to continue with his inspection of Wei Wuxian's duties. They had been delayed for way too long already, his master surely had other important things to do than to spent his time with him and watch him take care of the dogs. He would have to finish quickly so he could be assigned his next duties. He still thought there would be something more for him to do, certainly his master would not tolerate him slacking off for much longer.

Lan Xichen had told him yesterday that Wei Wuxian should be Lan Wangji's companion. But this revelation of his duties was very mysterious to him, he did not understand at all what was expected of him. It was causing him no small amount of panic and fear. He could not afford to not do his duties properly, if not a punishment, then Lan Wangji's disappointment would come if he did not perform well enough. They could also send him back to the Lotus Pier Manor which would be the last thing Wei Wuxian wanted.

The tricky part was, he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

He had already tried serving Lan Wangji in the morning, just like he had done for his previous masters who had taken him as their personal servant. But his current master had not been happy at all. It seemed like helping him with getting dressed, washing his face or serving breakfast was not something Lan Wangji approved of.

Wei Wuxian had literally no idea what else he should do. When Wen Chao or Jin Zixun had taken him as their personal servant, they only ever wanted to humiliate him and to let him do basically anything for them, from putting on their robes to washing their body in a bath, to serving as a stool for their feet and a living shelf for anything they wanted him to hold for them. Or to be the outlet for their anger since he was forbidden to ever make a single sound no matter how much he was being beaten. But it did not really seem like Lan Wangji was interested in any of those.

It truly was a mystery. One that Wei Wuxian would have to solve as soon as possible if he wanted to be allowed to stay in the Cloud Recesses Manor. Not right now though.

He could feel his master's eyes on him and he shuddered internally. He was making Lan Wangji wait despite not wanting to disappoint him. He should go quickly and continue with his day under his master's supervision.

He had to stand up first though. The only problem was that he was not completely free to do so. He looked down at the sleeping A-Yuan and wondered what he should do. He did not want to wake him up lest the child would start crying. He could even be surprised and scared to open his eyes in the arms of someone he did not know well, he was still so young after all.

Wei Wuxian did not want to cause the sweet and considerate toddler any discomfort or distress. And he could not just pick him up like that, he had to go about his duties which would be impossible while carrying the child. However, he could not let his master wait any longer for him. He was at his wits' end, immediately recalling hundreds of instances when he had let someone wait for him and the consequences it had always resulted in.

To make matters worse, Lan Wangji was now even prompting him to follow, still gently and patiently but he should not have had to do that. Wei Wuxian would have to be more careful in the future.

"Come, we should go."

Not knowing what he should do at the moment, only wanting to obey his master's order, Wei Wuxian carefully scoped the toddler into his arms and stood up. Although it did not help in the slightest in what he would do next. He really could not be walking around and trying to perform his duties while he carried A-Yuan.

Would Lan Wangji be terribly angry if he left, just for a second, and passed the child to his caretaker Mo Xuanyu? It would be the best possibility how to resolve the situation in order for him to be able to go perform his duties under Lan Wangji's watchful eyes and the same time, having the toddler being taken care of properly. A-Yuan was one of his masters too after all.

But he felt frozen to the spot. He was not sure he was allowed to take even a single step from Lan Wangji's side, not even talking about making him wait all that longer. He knew that this particular master would not punish him for every small thing, he was however unsure of where the line was drawn. Surely Lan Wangji would end up punishing him for something one day or another, he was just not clear what would trigger it.

So, the only thing he could do was stay on the spot and do just what he had told himself he definitely could not do, making his master waiting.