The Villainous Cruz Family - Chapter 22

Suffering from his fever still, Albert groggily opened his eyes. His body felt heavy and weak, sticky with sweat.

“W-Water…” Albert groaned with a croaky voice. There was no reply to his mutter. The house was as silent as it was when he first woke up. Albert staggered out of bed, his bare feet flinching slightly at the coldness of the floor.

“Mother? Father? Is anyone home?” Albert called out. He searched throughout the house, opening and closing doors only to find the rooms empty and without a single soul.

Hand held against his chest, Albert gazed upon the couch in the living room. Usually, they’d be crowded on the couch, the twins fighting for the remote, Vin watching on in annoyance, Victoria amused and Ian worried. Kin and Joan would laugh and lightly reprimand them while Cain was as invisible as ever. That is…usually…

A ragged and worn out couch surfaced in Albert’s mind. Shocked, he shook his head, as if to shake the image out of his mind. He ran his fingers though his hair, disgusted to feel the sweat soaked inside.

‘Guess I’ll just shower for now…’ He thought to himself. Then, a small voice inside added, ‘Maybe they’ll be back by the time I’m out.’

A long, long shower later…They still weren’t home.

Albert sighed and put on his slippers. He roughly rubbed his dripping wet hair with a soft towel enough so that it was just wet and trotted over to the kitchen. On the kitchen island was a bowl of porridge along with a note stating: Mother and Father are going out on business. Remember to eat your medicine after eating. The chef will be coming by to cook lunch for you later.

Albert scrunched the note up and chucked it in the bin. He then placed the porridge in the microwave and watched it spin. Meanwhile, he felt his forehead, ‘still burning up.’

Albert simply shrugged, ignoring the headache and heat of his face. He grabbed the porridge, sat his ass down on the couch and turned the TV on. Too lazy to pick a show, Albert just chose a random channel that played boring shows that don’t interest kids he shoved the ‘tasteless’ porridge into his mouth. Slowly, the sick child drifted off to sleep, the half eaten porridge in between his crossed legs and damp towel draped across his shoulders.

——

“Thank you for accompanying, Victoria, young miss.” Cain put up a gentlemanly facade and went down on one knee and kissed the back of Victoria’s slav- cough, friend’s hand.

The young girl blushed slightly, a little flattered yet embarrassed at the same time. People around them were whispering to each other, ‘wow, a bonafide rich lady!’

Ignoring them, Victoria hugged Cotton and gave a slight smile to the girl. “Thank you, see you tomorrow.” She then got into the car, her smile vanishing as soon as the door shut.

“How was your day today, Milady?” Cain started driving away.

“Tiring.” She swished her hair and sharply exhaled. “My classmates did stuff for me but none of them were as good as Albert. Hah, as expected, Albert really is the best at understanding what I want.”

“He should be better the day after tomorrow so you’ll just have to put up with it until then.” Cain said, accustomed to Victoria’s brashness.

“By the way,” began Victoria, “you smell like blood.”

“Ah? Really?” Cain began sniffing his dress shirt. “I sprayed cologne to cover it up though.”

“Yeah, so much that it’s obvious you’re covering something up.” Victoria huffed with disdain.

Cain awkwardly laughed, “I just got back from a mission with Boss and Madam. I rushed here because we were almost done and I needed to pick you up.”

“Hmm.” Victoria hummed. She suddenly sat up straighter as if she just thought of something. “Doesn’t that mean Albert was home alone today?”

“Uh, yes and no? The chef should be taking care of him right now, since about lunch time.”

“Is that so…” Victoria spoke no more, snoozing until they arrived home.

As soon as they pulled into the driveway, the two were greeted by a solemn looking chef.

“Welcome home, Milady, Cain.” She greeted.

“Thank you, Annie. What’s wrong?” Inquired Victoria, having detected the anxiousness in the middle-aged chef’s voice.

The three of them walked into the house as Annie explained, “The young sir has collapsed again.”

“What?” Cain gasped in surprise. “Why?”

Annie sighed. “He fell asleep on the couch, hair wet and porridge in between his legs.”

“Idiot.” Victoria walked through the hallway and into Albert’s room. Standing at end of his bed, she frowned. “Dumbass.”

She then left, leaving Cain confused and the asleep Albert unaware about what happened.

“Annie, can you make me a chocolate milkshake? Oh, and make some for the kids too. They should be back soon.” Victoria ordered, sitting down on the couch. “Oh, and Cain. Call Mother or Father and tell them how dumb Albert was. They should be done with their business by now.”

“”Yes Milady.”” The two echoed.

As Cain was making his call, sounds of the kids chattering resounded from the door.

“Welcome home, everyone.” Victoria greeted with a smile. “Do you know what Albert did today?”

“”What, what?”” The twins were immediately curious.

Victoria’s smile turned almost malicious. “He went to sleep on the couch with his hair still wet and made his fever worse. Now you’ll have to wait extraaa extraaa long for him to play with you again.”

The twins had caused a ruckus this morning because they realised that Albert wouldn’t be able to play with them for a few days because he was sick. If they were to learn that that few days may turn into a week…

“”WHAT?! How DARE he!”” The twins exclaimed, furious, as expected. They barged into Albert’s room, jumping onto his bed.

“Albert!” Screamed Iris.

“Why did you get sick again!” Atlas shouted.

“W-wha-?” A confused Albert opened his eyes.

“”You’re not allowed to get sick anymore!””

“???”

“”You have to play with us!!!””

Albert’s eyes were swimming and his head throbbing from the noise.

“Now, now, kids. He won’t get better if you disturb his sleep like that.” Victoria chuckled from the bedroom door.

“”But he was being a bad boy!””

“You can yell at him when he gets better.”

The twins puffed their cheeks and reluctantly left the room, the still confused Albert left to sleep in peace.

Later that night, Victoria slipped into Albert and Ian’s room. Ian was sleeping with the twins and Vin.

“…Victoria?” Albert’s sleepy voice echoed in the dark room.

“Why are you awake?”

“I don’t want to sleep.” Albert whined.

“You have to.”

“No, I don’t want to.”

Victoria sighed, he was starting to sound like a five year old now. “Why?”

“The fire keeps coming closer…I’m scared…”

“What fire?”

“The fire. The monster won’t stop laughing at me.”

“Father’s water won’t let the fire hurt you. He’ll kill the monster too, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“…That’s right, Father is strong after all. Stronger than the monster.”

“That’s why, you should go to sleep now.”

“…Okay…” A few moments later, his breathing softened and he was asleep.

After confirming with Cotton that he really was sleeping, Victoria turned to leave only to feel a pair of eyes concentrated on her once again. She sighed and faced him again. “I thought I told you to sleep.”

There was a long silence. “…My head hurts.”

“That’s why you have sleep. So you’ll get better.”

“Better? Would it be better if I just sleep?” He shook his head. “No, I have to wake up again, I have to…”

“…”

“Victoria.” Albert grabbed Victoria’s wrist. “When, um, I wake up…tell me what I said, so I don’t forget.”

“…Weird, but ok.”

“Tell me, ‘Wake up.’”

“Okay?”

He let go of her arm as if relieved and instantly fell asleep.