Hello my lovelies. I understand that I have updated in quite some time and for that I apologize. However, even though I love to write, I am doing less and less of it because at the moment I have two jobs, full time school, and a sick grandmother that needs to be cared for. I will try and update more frequently, but that is all I can say for now.

Enjoy!

That evening, Caroline met her new lady's maid and smiled at her warmly.

"I can't believe Ronald had you come all the way here in this weather." Caroline said thinking about her old acquaintance.

Ronald was always one that made her feel superior when she felt inferior. He was kind and had an easygoing manner most of the time, but she now noticed that there were times his eyes gave no notice of any emotion whatsoever.

She wondered why that was, but she wouldn't pry.

"His lordship needed us, my lady. That is why we came. He is a good man." The girl said as her dark green eyes lit up and a small smile touched her lips.

"He is." Caroline smiled and realized that her lady's maid fancied Ronald. That was interesting…

"What is your name? I fear my manners have left me after this fall."

"Oh nonsense," the girl said. "My name is Annie, my lady."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Caroline said as Annie came towards her and helped her stand up.

"My lady, will you be joining their lordships in the dining room?"

"I wasn't going to, but yes I think I ought to. Would you like to join?" She asked even though she knew that it was unheard of to have servants sitting at the same table as the aristocracy.

"Oh no. I thank you for the kind offer, but I shall be okay with the rest of the staff." Annie said as a blushed suffused her cheeks.

She looked away from Caroline and then looked back at her.

"Would you like me to dress your hair? I am not originally a lady's maid, but I am certain I can do something with your lovely tresses."

"Why thank you, that sounds marvelous." Caroline said and Annie helped her to the table.

She smoothed her hair and then began whisking the strands elaborately.

Before they knew it, Caroline's hair looked magnificent. Her hair was in a low bun and moved to the right. There were several braids and some of her golden curls framed her face.

"You look enchanting, my lady." Annie complimented as she took a step back and smiled.

"Thank you, Annie."

With a small nod, the maid curtsied.

"My lady, would you like me to call for the footmen? I am sure your ankle is still paining you."

"Yes, perhaps that would be best. I am feeling a lot better, but when I walk, I can feel the stiffness."

"I will call for them, my lady. I will be back before you know it."

"Thank you, Annie. You are a marvel!" The blonde announced, a bright smile on her lips.

With a shy smile, the shorter woman made her way out of the bedchamber.

Soon thereafter, Caroline was led into the dining room with the help of the footmen. The men were already sitting there, but as soon as she entered they stood up.

"Caroline, you look lovely." Ronald complimented as he made his way over to her in order to pull out the chair for her.

Klaus grumbled to himself and watched his friend with narrowed eyes. It seemed Ronald truly did wish to court Caroline, but Klaus was not going to stand idly by as he did so. No, he would court her as well and in the end he would come out the victor.

"How are you feeling?" Klaus asked as the footmen began setting bowls of soup before each of them.

"My ankle still pains me, but I think I shall be as good as new in a few days." Caroline answered and then she looked around the dining room and noticed the decorations lining the wall.

"Who did this?" She asked, the curiosity evident in her voice.

"I did," Klaus said after he cleared his throat. A small smile touched his lips and he was waiting for the blonde to smile back at him, but it was to no avail.

Instead she watched him with distrust in her blue eyes and he wondered why that was. He understood that he wasn't at the top of her list of favorite people, but surely she could have smiled at him in acknowledgement.

"Do you not like it?" He asked then, truly wanting to understand why she was looking at him the way she was.

"I do like it, but forgive me for having a hard time believing that you would do this all. From what I remember, the only holiday decorations you liked putting up were mistletoes."

"That's true," he said, realizing that there was no point in arguing with her. After all, she would probably give him one of her famous cold glances and he wasn't currently in the mood for that."

"So Caroline, tell me… How is it that you got stuck here with this big old oaf." Ronald interjected, sensing the tension in the dining room.

Caroline gladly turned her attention to Ronald and gave him of her warmest smiles and he smiled back.

Klaus cleared his throat and looked down at his plate angrily. Why did Ronald have to put on his charm for Caroline when he clearly knew that Klaus was the one that was interested in Caroline?

"That is a very good question, Ronald. I believed that Rebekah would be in residence when I got here, but apparently she was held back because of the storm. Trust me, when I found out that his lordship was here instead, I was just about ready to turn on my heel and find the nearest inn, but that was to no avail. Not with this ridiculous blizzard making itself known…"

"Surely, I am not that bad of a companion." Klaus said as his hands clenched into fists and he looked at the blonde beauty with narrowed stormy blue-gray eyes.

"You're an awful companion, my lord. I'll not be saying what it is you did earlier, but I am certain you remember." She said looking down her nose at him.

Klaus scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest before he stood up and walked out of the dining room…

When Caroline and Ronald were alone, Caroline looked over at her old friend and a small smile appeared on his lips.

"That was something, huh?" He said and a smile appeared on her lips as she looked down at her plate.

"It was, but I am about done with his nonsense. Nik has to grow up and realize that not everybody is going to fall at his feet and worship him as though he is some god."

"You know that he has feelings for you, don't you?" Ronald asked as he looked her directly in the eyes.

"You must be joking. Have you seen the way he treats me? The way he has treated me since we were younger? Please… He has no feelings for me or any feelings at all for that matter." She shrugged looking away from her old friend.

"Caroline, I truly believe that he loves you, but I don't think he has yet realized that he has a real chance of losing you if he doesn't clean up his act."

"Ronny, I don't know where you're getting this nonsense, but I'd like it if we just dropped the topic of Nik altogether if that is okay with you."

"Care, just give me a few minutes. I want to see both of you happy and I really believe that the both of you love one another. I get that he hasn't exactly showed it, but I am certain that is because he thinks it is not masculine for a man to care about a woman like he cares about you. You should have seen him cutting down that tree for you. He knew that you wanted a Christmas tree and in this ridiculous blizzard he went out and cut it down."

"Christmas tree? What are you talking about? I didn't see any Christmas tree."

"Well that is because you haven't yet been in the main drawing room, but as soon as dinner is over, we shall retire there."

"I don't understand him." Caroline said under her breath as she crossed her arms over her chest and slouched in her seat even though she knew that it wasn't the most ladylike thing to do.

"What don't you understand? Klaus has a hard time showing how he truly feels, but I do think that you should give him a chance."

"If I give him a chance, his ego will probably go higher than this bloody ceiling. I don't want to do that." Caroline stated as she looked up at the ceiling.

"Well then, how about a little plan… A charade if you will." Ronald offered as a mischievous look appeared in his eyes.

"What do you have in mind?" Caroline asked, immediately leaning closer to him to get a better understanding.

"How about we make our dear friend Klaus jealous."

"Jealous? How do you suppose we succeed in that?" The blonde questioned, the curiosity evident in her voice.

"Well, by nature men are very jealous creatures and I think that if we push the dear old boy's buttons, he'll finally understand that he wants to make you his wife and will stop acting like a child and grow up."

"I suppose we could try it out…" Caroline said, thinking about Ronald's offer. "And to be completely honest, I'd love to see Nik squirm." Caroline said as a devious little smile appeared on her lips.

"Perfect!" Ronald cried out as he took ahold of her hands and gave her a kind smile. "Klaus isn't going to know what hit him when we'll be done with him. I give it a couple of days before he calls me out for trying to take you away from him."

"A couple of days… No, I am sure he won't give in so easily. I think that by the new year he will finally realize that there is a real chance of me never becoming his."

"Perhaps," Ronald shrugged. "This should be fun."

"It will be." Caroline winked and the two of them returned to their dinner.

Klaus sat in main drawing room and looked out of the window sulking. The snow was still coming down hard and there was absolutely no light from the moon present.

He swirled the amber liquid in his glass and thought about Caroline and how she had reacted so coldly when he so happily announced the decorations were his doing.

He understood that perhaps he shouldn't have acted the way he did when he first learned that they were going to be stuck at the manor alone, but that didn't stop him…

His gaze then locked with the Christmas tree and he scoffed as he looked at it. He was certain that Caroline wouldn't even notice that it was there when she entered after dinner in Ronald's arms no less.

A few minutes later, the blonde did just that and Klaus noticed that she was looking up at Ronald adoringly as he carried her in his arms. His hands clenched into tight fists and he growled under his breath as they sat down side by side.

"How was dinner?" Klaus finally asked when he was able to get his boiling feelings under control.

"Perfect," the two said in unison acting as though they were the only two in the room.

"Over here," he said as he snapped his fingers. Their heads turned in his direction and Caroline's gaze landed on the Christmas tree.

"How beautiful." She said as a small smile appeared on her lips.

"You like it?" Klaus asked, immediately perking up.

"I do. It is the perfect size and the decorations on it are lovely. When did you have time to find a Christmas tree?"

"Earlier today. I knew that you would like having a tree during Christmastide hence the reason why I got it."

"With my help." Ronald stated matter of factly and Caroline giggled.

"If I remember correctly, you were acting like an annoyed boy that was being put to work." Klaus said, a tight smile on his own lips.

Both Caroline and Ronald ignored him by speaking to one another. Then, Caroline decided that she wanted to play the piano so Ronald offered to help her to the piano.

She agreed happily and didn't even bother hearing Klaus when he offered the same thing.

When they got to the piano, Ronald set Caroline down gently and she reached for the sheet music.

"Would you like to turn the pages for me, Ronny?" She asked gently and he nodded obligingly.

Then, Caroline began playing a beautiful piece and Klaus realized that he was mesmerized by her. The way she sat at the piano. The way her nimble fingers ran across the different keys… She was perfect and he wanted her for himself.

There you have it, my darlings! So, the plan has been put into motion and in the next chapter I believe I'll be writing about the interactions between Caroline and Ronald in Klaus's company. It should be fun, huh?

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~Hana :p