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"It happened again." Charles Augustus Milverton cursed while he checked his face in the window. "Damn this strong sunshine." He cursed and sat down on the sofa with a sigh. "Please, bring me the usual cream, Ruskin. I don't want to stay like this for a week." He ordered his secretary who just nodded and went to the bathroom without a word. When he came back, he had the mentioned cream in his hands. Mr. Milverton closed his eyes and let Ruskin take care of his sunburn injuries. Ruskin was silent while he gently pampered his employer's flustered cheeks and he only started to talk when he was completely done with the job. He was hesitant to speak at first, but in the end, the fear that Mr. Milverton would once have a serious problem thanks to the sun opened his mouth.
"Sir, I am concerned with this situation." He started in a quiet voice.
"With what situation?" Mr. Milverton tilted his head. As the cream began to make an effect and eased the pain of the sunburn, he became less annoyed. This encouraged Ruskin to continue.
"With how the sun affects your skin, Mr. Milverton."
"It was always like that." Mr. Milverton shrugged his shoulders. "Due to my pale skin, I got terrible sunburn injuries anytime I needed to go outside. At least, nowadays it can be avoided more. There is no need to worry for me." He noted, trying to reassure Ruskin. But Ruskin was already deep in his own worries. He hated watching the injuries that the sun caused to Mr. Milverton's beautiful white skin and he was also sure that it wasn't just painful, but not healthy either. Someone so ethereal and from a certain aspect, fragile like Mr. Milverton, shouldn't go out into the sunlight unprotected. Ruskin liked his employer and he didn't want to lose him - so in the last few days, he kept thinking about this problem and came up with something which had the chance to solve it.
'It will not be good in the long-term, sir." Ruskin kept insisting and his tone became more confident. "You can't go outside to the sun like that."
"Don't think that it makes me happy." Mr. Milverton grimaced. "You can see that I try to arrange my things to avoid sunny days as much as possible. I use carriage and only walk if it is necessary. But it is sometimes inevitable to go out on days like that as well. I can't stay under the roof for the rest of my life."
"But maybe... you can bring a little roof with yourself." Ruskin brought it up shyly, knowing how silly this sounded. Mr. Milverton let out a chuckle, amused by what he thought to be a joke.
"I am sure that you are happy to hold the house above my head." He noted with a smile. Ruskin shook his head.
"I was rather thinking of an umbrella, sir. Similar to what women use when they take a walk in the park."
Mr. Milverton blinked and stared at Ruskin.
"You can't mean this seriously. To showcase to the entire world that I have a weak point." He hissed from the dissatisfaction. Ruskin expected that he would bring this up. Mr. Milverton hated nothing more than needing to come across vulnerable.
"It is not a weak point, it is merely a physical trait." Ruskin tried to argue with his employer. "It is not your fault, and at the same time, you can't do anything against having a skin which is sensitive to sunlight. You just need to accept it as an existing problem that you need to solve. And the easiest way to solve it is through using the umbrella."
Mr. Milverton didn't reply immediately. Ruskin saw that he started to think through what he said. When he spoke again, he could hear that he was not as much against the idea as he was before - but he still didn't give in.
"I would look like a noblewoman. I don't want to resemble a noblewoman." He stated vehemently. Ruskin quickly nodded.
"I can assure you, sir, that you will not. We will get a fancy, black umbrella made to fit your needs that you can also use as a walking stick. It would just make you more elegant, sir, more majestic. No one would say a bad word about your appearance. And you will not feel the pain caused by the sunlight anymore."
Mr. Milverton stayed silent at first. Ruskin hoped that he would stop opposing him. Then his employer let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. He gave an agreeing gesture with his hand.
"Fine, I will give it a try. I don't know why it's so important for you, but let it be."
Ruskin was relieved by the answer. He gave a grateful bow to Mr. Milverton.
"Thank you, sir." He said and he added in his mind. It's important for me because you are important to me.