As the years had gone by, Florian had become more reclusive. He’d begun learning to take over his father’s company and what little time he had was spent either alone or trying to reconcile his friendship with Elle. He had meant many times to make visits to the Earl Trancy, but it just seemed to get put off further and further, until he assumed that Alois must no longer think him a good friend, and would more likely be angry than anything else to see him again. And he knew very well that this was cowardice on his part, but he told himself that he had more important things to focus on.
And now he was twenty-two, an adult of high society, working closely with his father in the Delaroche family business. Rose was still ever at his side, and somehow didn’t appear to have aged a day since she was first assigned to be his handservant, but he didn’t mind much. It was she that kept him sane and healthy, stopping him from over-working or stressing himself.
It was at her suggestion, in fact, that he had made a visit to the local park. While it was coming to the end of the summer, there was still some sunshine and warmth left, and he found his stroll to be pleasant. That was, until he found his leg suddenly being besieged by a small dog. After being forced many times to care for multiple awful bichon frisés belonging to his aunt, he had taken a strong dislike to small dogs, but he remained polite and faked a smile all the same.
"It’s quite alright, dogs are social animals after a-" he stopped as he was interrupted with his own name. He looked up at the other and almost stumbled back in surprise. "Alois? Earl Alois Trancy? Good lord…"
The younger blond was stunned, eyes focused solely on the young man in front of him. This had to be some sort of dream, it just had to be. When was the last time he’d even seen Florian? He believed he invited him to his birthday ball a few years back when he turned eighteen, and they’d barely seen each other before or after that. Now he was a twenty-one year old earl, working for the Queen, trying his hardest to dodge proposals from every woman he came across. Yes, he’d been busy and he had grown, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t find the time for an old friend.
How did one even act around an old friend? He’d never experienced this before, save for one time he found one of his old cellmates, but that was another story. Getting a grip on Percy’s leash, he tugged the dog away from Florian, standing himself up, clearing his throat. “It’s…er…been a while, hasn’t it?” What the hell was he doing? That was no way to start a conversation. This was his former best friend, not some businessman he’d met at some family gathering. “So…what have you been doing since I saw you last?”