The Guardian of Disney [A Disney Fanfic]

𝔖𝔭𝔬𝔱𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨 [𝔓𝔞𝔯𝔱 3]

☆.｡.:*　𝒜 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓁 𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒞𝓇𝓊𝑒𝓁　*:.｡.☆

"Thank you so much, John," a gentle voice said. "I... I don't want to think about what might have happened if you hadn't been there."

"It was nothing, Miss Contessa. I'm glad I was able to get him out of there, and I'm glad that I was able to get to you before anything happened."

"Please, just call me Y/N. Contessa was the name he gave me." There was a pause. "Can you let me know when he wakes up?"

"Of course. Please, make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you."

Footsteps faded away and Cruel pushed himself up from where he lay on the couch. There was a teapot whistling somewhere in the distance and he groaned at the sound. He hurt and ached all over. And there was something wet on his face. Cruel's eyes blinked open slowly and he was met by the familiar sensation of Buddy's tongue licking his face all over. He groaned and gently pushed Buddy away.

And then he realised he was alive. The last thing he could remember was the Baroness leaving him tied up in the burning flat, having taken Jasper and Horace away so they could be framed for his murder. He didn't know where Y/N was. From what he had seen, she hadn't been in the flat when the Baroness had shown up. So hopefully she was all right.

"Tea, Mr Cruel?"

Cruel's eyes shot to the door. John, the Baroness' butler, was standing at the door holding a tray with two teacups and a teapot on it.

"Why am I alive," Cruel snapped, forcing himself up and pulling on the coat that had been draped over his shoulders. He recognised it immediately as Y/N's. He could smell the scent of her shampoo on the fibres.

"Because I dragged you out of the smoke and flames before they consumed you," John answered. He stepped into the room and set the tray of tea down on the table.

Cruel picked up Buddy and held him close. He noticed that Wink, who had been resting on the back of the couch behind him, suddenly jumped off and trotted away into another part of the house.

"I have something for you." John reached into one of the pockets of his blazer and pulled out a folded handkerchief. Inside was a familiar ruby necklace, set in a gold frame, hanging from a small golden chain.

"You found it," Cruel asked.

"In the fire," John answered. "I can assure you it's been, uh, thoroughly bleached." He took the necklace into his hands. "May I show you something?" When Cruel nodded, John twisted the necklace and revealed that the part of the necklace that Cruel had thought to be a simple bow connecting the pendant to the chain, was a small golden key rather than just a simple chain.

"I didn't know it had a key," Cruel asked, taking it from John. He stared at it for a moment. "What's it to?"

John gestured to a small box that was sitting on the coffee table. "This."

Cruel stared at John briefly, still wary of the man, before scooting a little closer to the box. He slid the key into the lock and turned it. With a click, the lid of the box opened and Cruel pulled out a slip of paper that had been tucked inside. It was a birth certificate. And in the spot where the child's name had been written, Cruel noticed a familiar name. Estel. The name that he had been raised with. The name that he had all but left behind when he assumed the Cruel persona.

Name, if any
The Hon. Estel von Hellman

Cruel stared at the birth certificate. Why would his mother have had a necklace that opened this box? He was not Estel von Hellman. Was he? Last he knew, he had been Estel Miller, son of Catherine Miller.