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The paper flowers started to appear on the floor in front of his door only a few days after he arrived at the manor. They would appear in the morning and after dinner. One after another, Matthias wasn't quite sure what to do with them, and he couldn't throw them away mindlessly after seeing how carefully crafted they were. Did whoever put the paper flowers in front of his door know that was to his room? He doubted they were truly for him, but when the flowers started to come bunched up into mini bouquets, he began to feel a little special.
The first paper flower was a camellia. He accidentally stepped on it coming out of his room, but he saved it and kept it on his desk. He wondered, that day, if that paper flower was really meant for him or not. Surely there was someone next to him who was more deserving of such a craft. The paper flower that showed up after dinner was a sunflower that Matthias also accidentally stepped on.
He quickly asked his next door neighbor, the embalmer, if the paper flower was meant for him. The man seemed a little spooked but kept his calm composure. He let out a soft 'no' before returning to his room for the night. Matthias looked down at the paper sunflower curiously, then he heard footsteps coming from the hallway behind him. He turned around to face the person walking,
"Excuse me," he said, loud enough for the person to hear. They stopped in their tracks, standing stiff straight. "I found this paper flower in front of my door, and I feel it was not meant for me," he continued. "So, I was wondering if, ah, if you knew who this belongs to..?" The person quickly shook their head and ran to their room and shut the door immediately. With a disappointed sigh, Matthias returned to his room and placed the paper sunflower next to the camellia from that morning.
The third paper flower was a tulip, and the one after dinner was a lilly of the valley. The fith paper flower was a blue star, and the one that came later on was an orange rose.
The seventh paper flower was a lavender. By now, Matthias had enough of the paper crafts to make a bouquet if he so wanted to.
That day, he consulted the gardener to see if she had anything to do with the flowers. She only giggled at his question and directed him to the library to a few books on flowers. He sat down at a small table with a few books, picking one up and looking through the glossary for the specific flowers.
As he slowly read through, a nice feeling resonated within him. Happiness, maybe? He couldn't quite tell. A small smile graced his features. Maybe the flowers were meant for him after all. He heard a few books fall and someone running out of the library fast.
That night, when Matthias returned to his room, a yellow tulip and a singular pink rose were tied together in front his his door. This continued for a few weeks: a paper flower in the morning, attend games (if any), dinner, and a paper flower at night. Of course, by now, he had heard of Y/n L/n, the origamist, but he could never find them in a manor, not even in games either. And no matter who Matthias asked, no one ever said where they were. It was as if everyone was helping them hide from something. He couldn't help but feel like he had something to do with it, as though they were afraid of him.
The thought didn't exactly boost his confidence by much at all, but he could fight the bad feelings off when the paper flowers continued to arrive. He assumed it meant that Y/n could see him, but he couldn't see them. If that was the case, he hoped they would show themself to him one day.
Looking at the floor when he opened his door, Matthias noticed a difference. Instead of one paper flower, there was a small bouquet of them. He picket up the bouquet of paper gardenias with care and placed them on his night stand, next to a few stray flowers from the previous weeks. He had acquired so many paper flowers that they flooded his desk, so he had to place them in random areas in his room. Although, he did get a few vases for them and that cleared up a lot of space.
Matthias had found no sign of Y/n that day, but he did come back to his room that night to two bouquets: one being a bouquet of forget-me-nots, and the other a bouquet of pink roses. He smiled a little, at the thought that maybe getting two paper bouquets in the same night meant something.
The next morning there was a bouquet of white chrysanthemums, and that night there was a bouquet of white lillies. And the morning afterward, there was a bouquet of ivory roses, and that night there was a bouquet of lavender roses.
When Matthias opened the door the next morning there was no bouquet of paper flowers. Confused, he looked down the hall but there was no sign of one. Perhaps they grew tired of making paper flowers for him, or perhaps they lost interest in him as a whole? But that couldn't be, those flowers held meanings he just couldn't ignore.
He didn't realize what day it was until he walked the halls of the manor, seeing the decorations, and seeing people in the manor trade gifts and heartfelt words. Matthias felt his stomach sink with disappointment that his secret admirer he didn't leave a gift in front of his door like they usually would do.
Matthias walked back to his room, coming from the main living room of the manor. The devastating sound of creaking wood and gears clinked and ground together beside him.
"Too bad everyone ignored you!" Said Louis. "Did'ya see? Everyone looked at me!" Matthias opened the door from the foyer, leading to the upstairs level of the manor, and Louis skipped beside him. Matthias said nothing in response, opting to ignore him lest he wants to feel further down in the dumps. Once he stepped in front of his room and turned the handle to open the door, and hand suddenly slapped against the wall causing him to jump in suprise and turn his attention to the noise. He focused his attention on the mystery person with a pounding heart, only to be surprised once again.
A survivor he hadn't yet met in person greeted him with (e/c) eyes glimmering with excitement, cheeks tinted a bright red, a bouquet of paper flowers and a pink envelope with a red heart wax seal. Within the bouquet were carefully crafted red roses, lavender flowers, daisies, and red snapdragons.
Matthias's voice caught in his throat as he cautiously accepted the envelope and tore the wax seal to open it and took out the card inside to read it.
"Dear Matthias,
Happy Valentine's Day!
I'm sorry if I disappointed you for a while before this, I wanted to wait until the perfect moment to give this to you. I just wanted to tell you that I really like you, and I'd like to spend more time with you! So, I wanted to know if you will be my Valentine's!
Yours truly, Y/n L/n, the Origamist."
Matthias felt his face flush red. It was them! Finally, he meets Y/n! His features were graced with a small smile when Y/n moved the bouquet closer to him. He cleared his throat,
"W-Would you..." he hesitated, knowing Louis would be with him, "...like to come in?" He asked them. With a delighted smile, they eagerly nodded their head. Matthias opened the door to his room and stepped aside for them and then followed in afterwards. Louis's face hit the closed door with a thud and a groan followed afterward.