"WHAT?! You absolutely cannot make me some kind of nanny—especially for him!" I yelled, making Lisa jump. Like every other woman in the manor, she was a maid—two years older than me, to be specific—and currently tending to my injured left eye. It was still morning. Somehow, I'd gotten through the night, even if I barely managed to shut my eyes for a second.
"Today is my first day actually stepping into the manor, and you all expect me to take on that duty?" I stood up abruptly, but Lisa gently pushed me back down.
"Will you stop yelling? You'll wake the lord."
The lord? The one who couldn't even eat a proper meal and never left his room? I doubted he'd care about a bit of noise. The rest of the servants, who had paused their so-called breakfast, were now staring at me. Yes, I was throwing a tantrum—but could anyone blame me?
"Happy birthday," Rael teased from across the table. I hadn't even noticed him sitting there, quietly smirking at my outburst.
"Ha. How funny," I muttered sarcastically.
"We've decided. That's final," said Orin, the head servant. He was old but still carried himself with strength.
"Please, Orin, don't do this to me." I pleaded. Orin had always been like a father figure to me, and I respected him deeply.
"No. This is your punishment for breaking that gold plate," he said firmly.
From the corner of my good eye, I saw Lisa and the other servants nodding solemnly like he'd just delivered some powerful speech.
"At least tell me for how long," I mumbled.
"We discussed that too. You're in luck—the lowest we could agree on was two years."
"Two years?!" I nearly choked.
"Two years," Orin repeated, almost like he wanted the words engraved into my skull. "You'll be caretaker of Lord Caelvorn."
"Why though?" I asked, still trying to make sense of it all.
"Why not? House Eboncrest is falling apart. The second son isn't doing anything to fix it, and they're bleeding money. Someone has to take responsibility."
Why us, though? Why did the servants have to clean up after a noble family's mess?
With a heavy sigh, I gave in. "Two years. That's it, right? No more?"
"Hold still," Lisa interrupted, still working on my eye.
"That's not an answer," I muttered.
Lisa avoided my gaze. I didn't blame her. Who wanted to hear a teenager whining, anyway?
"Your eye…" she winced. "It's swollen and purple. How did it even get like this?"
I didn't want to admit that my curiosity had gotten the better of me and led me too close to the lord's chambers. Technically, I never entered—just saw his room from the outside.
"I… fell," I said through bites of my pancake.
"You fell?" Lisa raised an eyebrow.
"It sounds believable," Rael said with a disgusted face. "I can definitely imagine you falling."
Rael was my childhood friend—two years older, but that never mattered. We used to play behind the manor until we got scolded by the family who used to live there. But that was before everything changed.
Once Rael turned sixteen, he started working like crazy, and our time together faded. Unlike me, he had a father. Not a good one, but still a parent. Sometimes Rael would show up to work with bruises. Sometimes he didn't show up at all. His dad worked at the manor too, and thanks to him, I met Rael.
When we were younger, I asked about his mother, not realizing how painful that topic was. She'd passed away from an illness no one could cure. I eventually learned that some questions weren't worth asking.
His dad left the manor once Rael was old enough to work for both of them.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, furrowing my brow.
"I dunno," he chuckled, brushing it off.
"Whatever it is, don't let it happen again," Lisa said sternly, ending the conversation.
The rest of the servants began standing and preparing for another exhausting day.
"What do we even do if there's only one person in the manor who doesn't leave his room?" I asked.
As if answering me, most of the servants headed out, while a few remained.
"We clean the house. And we make sure Lord Caelvorn is safe at all times," Lisa replied.
Safe? From what? The sunlight?
"I start today, right?" I asked reluctantly.
"If you mean being the lord's caretaker—yes. You start today."
Great. Not only was I being forced to serve House Eboncrest, I had to serve the second son of that crumbling legacy.
"Good luck, Eva," Rael said, standing and brushing his wavy brown hair back with a grin.
I couldn't resist his smile—and just like that, I found myself smiling back. He walked toward the manor.
"Your first task is to serve breakfast to the lord," Lisa said.
Simple enough.
"Is the food ready?"
The chef handed me a tray loaded with pastries so beautiful and fragrant they almost made me cry. We weren't allowed to eat the same food as the lord. That was one of the many rules. I'd tried to memorize all ten or twelve last night—anything to distract me from the events that took place.
Rule Four: Do not share. Whatever the lord eats or sleeps in cannot be touched by servants—unless it's part of our duty. A weird rule, but strangely understandable.
The pastries smelled heavenly. Croissants, golden and flaky, with soft centers—at least, I assumed. I'd never tasted one. There were brioches, pain au chocolat (which I'd always called chocolate bread), and glossy donuts stacked beside Eccles cakes.
My mouth watered. Even the fruit—strawberries, apples, and others I couldn't name—sat glistening on gold-trimmed plates. The same kind I dropped yesterday.
Rael sometimes brought me strawberries from the village. They were my favorite.
Then I noticed a dark, shiny liquid served in a porcelain cup. Chocolate. It could be drunk?
One particular fruit caught my eye—bright red, seeded, and bursting with juice. My curiosity was on full alert.
"You done staring? Hurry up," Lisa snapped, dragging me back to reality.
Food was definitely my weakness.
"I just got carried away," I muttered.
"All this for one person?" I asked before I could stop myself.
"Don't worry about that. Just follow me," Lisa said, waving me along.
The tray was heavy—nothing like the tiny plate I usually carried.
"Whoa…" I whispered as the grand interior of the manor came into view. I'd always known it was massive, but now it felt like a maze. One I could get lost in forever.
"These stairs lead to the second floor. His room is the fifth door on the right. Don't do anything stupid, alright?" Lisa said. Her voice carried concern, which sent an uneasy chill through me.
Now here I was. A door away from Lord Caelvorn.
Goosebumps prickled across my skin.
"And whatever he does," Lisa added, her voice suddenly cold, "you make sure you don't leave that room with untouched food. Understood?"
I nodded, but I wasn't sure I understood anything at all.