Earth

---

"Two weeks have barely passed since Jonathon Branton, Owner and CEO of Helios Corporation, announced that he favored his youngest child, Layna Branton as the next CEO of the company. Most people are concerned, not knowing that the Branton family even had a third child," The news reporter started on their top story for the day, though it was the same story that had been running for at least a week now. Jonthan Branton had gone on a late night show to talk about some upcoming products in the market, and ended up in a conversation about what would happen when he retired. It only took a day for the news to spread, everyone knew that this mysterious Layna Branton was at the top of Jonathan's list for CEO.

"After that people had been stationed outside of the Branton's estate for an entire week, trying to catch even a glimpse of this new face that was seemingly impossible to catch." The reporter continued. That weekend had been the day of the attack. Layna had been out in the gardens by herself, enjoying the fresh air when she was attacked with a knife and left to bleed. Her brother, Felix, had been the first to find her and rushed her to the hospital. There actually had been news and paparazzi that had gotten pictures of her bleeding out and being carried by her brother. Anyone that tried to get the images published suddenly disappeared. Anyone that knew what had happened was now afraid to speak, knowing full well that they would disappear too.

The girl sat there in her large bedroom watching the news report. She knew what happened next, after she was able to get on her feet again, she had to go to a press conference and explain that just because she was at the top of her father's list didn't mean she was actually going to become the next CEO, her brothers and other employees were still likely candidates. She didn't know why she continued to just sit there and watch, she did have to start getting ready for school. She was going to be late otherwise, and she knew that her father would be angry if she was late on her first day back. Still, she was so reluctant, knowing that everyone in the school now knew she was connected to this celebrity family.

She winced a little as she stood up, her wounds hadn't quite healed completely. She was in good enough condition to go back to school, and that was good enough for her it seemed. She had been the one to insist that she go back to school, that she continue on with however much normalcy she could keep. It took her a little bit to actually get dressed and comb her hair for the day, but once she was ready, she knew that there wasn't much time to sit around and contemplate whether she had made the right decision or not.

She grabbed her bag, that was still pretty much empty, since her father wanted every item that she ever used be inspected for safety reasons. She wasn't sure how she'd be taking notes or doing anything productive when she was basically going to school with nothing, and there was that whole issue that there were still a bunch of reporters waiting at the front gate of the estate. They weren't going to let up until they got their own personal interview with Layna, who had refused to talk to anyone.

When she felt she was ready to leave she opened her door, knowing that she should have left nearly five minutes ago. She wasn't sure exactly what she was doing. Her father had explained that things were going to change and that now she'd have to have a bodyguard with her at all times. She knew who the bodyguard was, it was their head butler Corvo, someone she had rarely even talked to, though that wasn't too much of a surprise, she rarely talked to any of the house staff members. It also left her with not knowing exactly what to do when she was about to leave. Was she supposed to find him? Was he going to find her? She didn't know how this was going to work at all.

When Corvo was younger, he was a lot more aggressive than he was now. He may have had a bed to rest his head on, but it was in an orphanage that could not even properly provide for every child it had. Before he learned to become a thief, it was not uncommon for him to go days on end without food. Every scrap countered and the general mood around the place was horrible. Tempers flared, fights started, and at one point, a kid had been killed in a conflict about stolen food. It was nothing compared to the heaven that he was in when his parents were alive, but since he was so young when they were killed, maybe that was just him remembering it incorrectly? Well, either way, Corvo was one of many young men who could only eat when they stole or fought for it, and you don't grow up with the kindest heart in those scenarios. The thing that separated Corvo from the rest was that he just simply desired nothing more to life. He could be bored, so long as he ate and drank. It was only when others got the funny ideas to rob a store that he was ever involved, and it was only because he simply could give no reason not to.

But things have changed since one night had him staring at the barrel of a gun. He started as nothing more than a simple brute, being the muscle for whatever he was needed for. But eventually, he became more than that. He was no genius, but through manipulation of his one goal in life, he was formed into a proper person to serve the Branton family. His aggression had an outlet in the form of those who opposed the family, and his lack of any real desire meant that he didn't mind doing busywork in the least. He learned anything he would ever need to know to further this goal, and his natural affinity for fighting was improved upon by years of training with the best the underground could provide. And so, the street rat became a thug. A thug became a butler. A butler became the Head Butler.

But now the Head Butler was a bodyguard, too.

He was not unknown to this kind of work, as it was something he was constantly forced to do as a "thug". Dealers couldn't be left defenseless, after all. But it would be the first time he was ever asked to protect something so... fragile. A girl? Well, she was the daughter of one of the few people Corvo actually respected, but she was still a schoolgirl who knew very little of the dangers that plagued the underside of her father's company. Someone like that was going to be a lot harder to safeguard, compared to someone who had signed on for this kind of thing. The added pressure of this being a Branton was there too. If he failed to keep her safe, then he might not just simply be fired.

Well, no problem. That was just a possibility if he failed to protect her, which he decided he would not let happen. He was resolved to punch even a god down if it threatened someone he was assigned to protect. That was just how it was. A man with no true goal other than survival was really good at putting every bit of effort he could into whatever he was doing at the present. Just let them try to get through him!

Her door opened.

"Hello, Master Layna." Corvo greeted with a blank look on his face, having already been waiting outside the room for a while now. He was beginning to question if he should go in there and check on her, but that seemed like needless worry. "If ya--" He immediately cleared his throat. He had tried to make it a habit to not speak informally around a member of the family, but it wasn't always easy. "...If you have everything you need, then we can leave. You may quickly eat breakfast here or at the school, simply decide and we'll go from there, but we'll be taking an unmarked car from a rear exit so that we don't attract the crowd from outside."

Corvo was aware of how the day was 'supposed' to go. From the moment Layna Branton awoke, he was to escort her to school. From there, she would attend school. After that, he would pick her up and bring her home. The schedule was relatively easy, though minor variations were possible. He was also encouraged to interact with her more than in the past. Whereas he did not have any active role in her life before, he would spend as much time with her as he could now. At home, this would mean that when he got a break from his duties at a butler, he would need to be near her. Of course, if for some reason she was to depart from the household, then so would he. His duty as a bodyguard were the priority, so his other duties would then be relinquished to another staff he decided was suitable when he was away.

That should be easy, right?

---

Layna nearly jumped back a bit when she was greeted by Corvo. She hadn't expected him to be right there waiting for her to come out of her room. It probably would have made her rush a bit more in getting ready if she that had been the case. She didn't really think that anyone would go that far in the household, not with how busy she figured the head butler would be dealing with his own duties. She knew things were going to change, but she didn't expect that to mean there were going to be actual people waiting around for her all day. Though, now that she thought more about it, that's basically what a bodyguard did anyway. They followed the person they were protecting around and waited around when they couldn't go into a specific area. She'd have to just get used to the fact that she had a bodyguard now, and get over the fact that he'd be waiting for her sometimes.

"Good morning, Corvo," Layna finally responded, she wasn't too sure what she wanted to do, but she did know that she couldn't eat breakfast quick enough not to be late to class. She had already cut it extremely close with how slowly she had gotten ready. She knew that her father wouldn't approve of her being late to class and it'd probably get the attention of some of her classmates that knew that she was never late or even missed a day. Though, she had already missed quite a bit with being in the hospital for a while, and that alone would attract attention. Not to mention that now everyone knew for sure that she was related to the famous Branton family. This day was just not going to be good in her mind. "I'm going to skip breakfast today, I've already wasted enough of my time this morning. I can't be late to class, father wouldn't be happy if I was."

Layna started heading for the rear exit of the house, thinking it was best to get to the car as fast as possible. There wasn't a whole lot of time if she wanted to make it to class on time. She hated the idea of being late for her first day back, even though there was still a part of her that was extremely nervous with going back to school at all. It was a terrible feeling, all of this anxiety just balling up in the pit of her stomach and making it hard to breathe or even think. She was glad with already coming to the decision that she wasn't going to eat, she was pretty sure that she wouldn't be able to keep down any food that she tried to eat with all this anxiety. She had to keep up with some kind of normality and she knew that this was good for her. If she stayed home all day, she wouldn't get anywhere new. Plus, she didn't want to wait when it came to getting her degree, she was so close already.

Maybe he should have been standing back a bit further? Her reaction to his appearance was rather entertaining, and he could swear she that with a bit of training, she could break a record or two with a hop like that. But as fun as that was, she was his new master and a member of the Branton family, so he couldn't simply disrespect her like that. So, Corvo managed to keep himself from smiling and instead bowed. "Forgive me for frightening you. It was unintentional." he apologized sincerely. Surprising his clients was not a part of the job description, so he would do his best in the future to prevent that from happening again, so long as it didn't interfere with his actual bodyguard duties.

Corvo had assumed that because she greeted him and spoke of her plans for breakfast that she had not thought twice on the scare, which was great. Something so small bugging her would indicate that she was immature, or confrontive. Not that he had really seen signs of this before today, but it was not as though he had too many chances to actively speak to the young master either.

Corvo continued behind Layna, only passing her when she reached the door and opened it for her, as one might expect a butler to do. Once she had made her exit from the home, Corvo then took the lead and led her to the aforementioned car, which was nothing special, really. It was an SUV which was more than likely worth more than anything a middle-class citizen could reasonably afford, with so many functions inside of it that Corvo was sure it would take years of investigating to locate every function. The ones he had been taught were how to use the built-in TV, camera in the back to help him park, and, of course, how to actually drive the damned thing. He was not the best at cars, though. He preferred walking to where he needed to be and had not really had a chance to drive until he had begun climbing the underground ladder. Technology was not his strong point, one could say.

Luckily, he was not even the person driving this vehicle. A designated driver was assigned to them, and Corvo himself was simply made to sit in the back with her for protection against anything that would rear its ugly head. Invisible to the untrained eye, there were a few spare firearms hidden throughout even this throwaway vehicle in case of any surprises. Corvo hoped that they would prove to be unnecessary, and that he could get through even the small task of escorting a girl to school without any complications or firefights.

Considering his affinity for trouble, that was unlikely.

Opening the door to the SUV, Corvo once again bowed, allowing her to enter first. The driver was seated and had already turned the vehicle on, so they were set. "After you." and just like the door seconds earlier, he entered only after she had done so. Courtesy was a foreign concept to Corvo before being taken under the Branton's wing. His speech was a lot more vulgar, he was a lot more selfish, and he had not a bit of interest in acting like a little slave. But after coming to respect the head of the Branton family, his ways changed soon enough. Or rather, he was simply capable of hiding them. He still would speak informally while he was not in the presence of those that required proper speech. Perhaps one could notice the forced formalities? He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, but it didn't matter either. As long as he did not offend people he was not supposed to, then that was just what was needed of him, yes?

"We're in. You may drive." he ordered, after everything was shut.

So, now what? He realized that he might be spending a lot of his mornings in a car with his client, in silence. He could not simply strike up small talk with the girl known to avoid the staff.

This would be... troubling. He did not mind quiet, but this would be... awkward quiet. A bad kind of quiet.

Turning to Layna, he spoke with no real intentions besides removing the silence in the SUV. "I am confident that you are already aware of this, but... do tell me if there are any requests you have, Master Layna. I am at your disposal, of course."

---

Layna didn't know what to do with the butler, none of the house staff even went near her unless she approached them. She wasn't sure if that was because she had a problem talking to them or if her step mother had demanded that she didn't get treated like the family. Either way, it meant that she had a habit of doing everything on her own rather than have other people do it for her. Which made her feel weird just having other people do things for her now. The only time someone did anything for her was when she was younger and her dad was helping her get ready for school or teach her how to clean her room by herself. That was years ago now, nearly decades. She had no idea what it was like to have others doing things for her like the rest of her family, except when it came to having meals made for her. She was learning how to cook on her own, but she doubted she'd use that skill often.

She got confused while they were walking when Corvo walked past her to get the door. Layna blinked a bit when he opened the door for her. She looked at him for a moment then realized that this was what he did. He was a butler. "Th-Thank you," Layna muttered keeping her head down when she walked through the door and continued on her path to the SUV. She knew that it wasn't normal to thank the staff in this household, but she couldn't think of anything else to do at the moment. She had already been completely confused by him opening the door in the first place.

She still wasn't prepared when the butler did it again with the SUV's door, but at least this time she stopped herself from saying anything and just got into the vehicle. Her cheeks grew red from embarrassment. Which just made her even more embarrassed as she realized that she was blushing. How was she supposed to be the next person to run a crime organization when she was blushing because she didn't know how to react to someone holding a door open for her? She looked out the window and tried to ignore the other person in the car. She didn't want him to notice the red on her cheeks.

Layna glanced at Corvo when decided to speak to her. She felt her face cooling down and figured that it was alright to look at him now. She already knew what he had said to her, but with the timing it sounded like he was trying to get something out of her. She thought about what to do about it and sighed. "Thank you. I would be much more comfortable if you just called me Layna rather than Master Layna. Also, if you'd just let me open my own doors that would be great," Layna looked back out the window, this time trying just to keep her mind off of the idea of going back to school. She didn't want to go back, she was getting more and more anxious about the idea of returning to school the closer they got.

Had he done something incorrectly? That was the only explanation he could think of when he was told that he should no longer hold the doors open for her, or to refer to her by only her name. To he, who was used to these kinds of things by now, it was nothing if not odd. Layna Branton was perhaps the one he was least familiar with in the entire household. It was because everybody else managed to talk to him, while Layna never did. So he was only sure of what information he was given on her upon receiving this mission. That did not account for her personality, because that was something you could only truly learn when dealing with a person, after all.

He wasn't sure what he did wrong, but he was convinced that it was something. He would look at what he was doing and try to correct it once he pinned down what the problem was. "If that is your wish, Mas--I mean, Layna." it felt odd to simply say her name by its lonesome. People above his status always had something before their actual name to indicate their worth, but how he was referring to her was exactly how he referred to his friends or those underneath him. He did not like this, why was she doing this? It was... awkward.

Corvo opened and closed his mouth a few times as the car ride went on, but was unable to bring himself to speak anything of note. She certainly did not seem approachable just yet. So, as one might expect, the ride there ended up being silent except for the exchange early on. He was used to these situations, but only when he was with people who were busy with transactions or the like. Complete silence... was odd.

The car pulled up to her school.

"I will be in the immediate area, simply call me if there is any complications. I will eliminate them as quickly as possible, Layna." he said this in a serious tone, particularly putting emphasis on the 'eliminate' part, as though he was some determined exterminator. But perhaps that was what he was. It was unlikely someone would attempt a hit while she was in the school itself, but the moment she left? It was probably fair game. That said, it was no as though he could simply go back and busy himself with his other duties. No, he was the one to respond to any disturbances that involved her, so he would need to be right next to the school, ready to jump in at a moment's notice.

He would probably end up waiting just far enough away so people did not mistake him as some sort of stalker or the like, and until she left that school, he wouldn't leave the area either.